Boats Don’t Need to Freeze

If you store your vessel in the Chicago cold, it is imperative to winterize any engine, generator, or really any system on board with water before your boat goes into storage. They must be protected from bursting.

The antifreeze we use has rust inhibitors built-in. Many of our inside-heated storage customers choose to winterize their engine systems, as many engine manufacturers like Volvo and Mercury recommend winterizing to protect them from rust. It’s all about protecting the internal engine surfaces.

Numerous non-storage customers come to Chicago Yacht Works to be inspected only to find that their engine blocks were cracked. When asked they winterized their systems, the answer was either “no,” or “I think so.”

Don’t let this be you. Let the pros do the work.

Any system on the boat with water in it needs to winterize if stored in the cold. You may need to winterize:

Air conditioners

Fresh water systems

Grey water systems

Black water systems

Hot water tanks

Washdown pumps