Boat advice

[GEEZER]

I think the main winterization thing with stern drives is to be sure to drain the engine block and any low lying spots in the cooling water lines. You can find the engine block drains on the sides of the engine below the exhaust manifold and above the oil pan. If it is a v-6 or v-8 there will be one on each side. An inline 4 or 6 will have one - maybe two of them. There might be petcocks or just plugs, either way I'd recommend pulling them out to be absolutely certain to get a good drain. If you don't, you'll find a cracked & maybe destroyed engine next spring. If you're gonna use the boat after the nights get below freezing, always drain it. When you take it out after draining it, be damn sure to put the plugs back in. I didn't once & when I got about halfway across Strawberry I thought the boat seemed to be getting awful sluggish. About that time my buddy saw the water coming out from under the hood & filling the back of the boat. PANIC - PANIC - PANIC. Then it dawned on me & I frantically fished around in the bilge 'till I found the plug & got it screwed in. Only took the bilge pump 20 min. to drain the boat & about twice that time for my blood pressure to return to normal.
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