Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Finishing up

We spent all day yesterday completing the task of winterizing Onapua. As well as replacing the water with antifreeze in the engine, head and water tanks, I had to disconnect the batteries, drain the engine water pump so that the impeller wasn't sitting in antifreeze all winter. I loosened up the engine belt and swapped it end to end. The worst thing I discovered was when I came around to adding distilled water to the batteries. Each of my 4 batteries needed about 16 ounces to bring the levels up to cover the plates. Terrible! Thinking about it afterwards, it is probably due to the fact that I have been Motoring through all the locks on the Erie Canal and the Trent Severn Waterway and have been overcharging the batteries.

I met Dan and Francine when I was in the Caribbean doing the Cuba Salty Dawg Rally and they were the ones who suggested that I check out the North Channel. Dan has been helping me and I must say that I had no idea how much effort winterizing a boat takes.
I bought a huge tarp from harbor freight and we had to cut it down to fit.
Then we had to turn the edges to make a hem and install grommets. The idea is to stop the tarp flapping in the wind by pulling it tight around the boat. In the end it looked very good and I am confident that very little snow will get inside the boat.
It was a very sad day leaving her and knowing that I will not be back until May of next year. So check back to this blog again in 6 months, when I will resume my cruising this time hopefully in Lake Superior. In the meantime I will be going down under to NZ to enjoy another summer.