In order to remember the lessons we have learned in recent years I would like to write a ‘best practice’ article on preparing a boat to overwinter (unattended) in very cold climates. It would be great to use this thread to collate the experiences of others.
Simon

Hi Bill,
Not in any particular order and with respect to the numbers from your posting:
5, Living aboard is wonderful and, yes, one of the joys in the 12 years we lived aboard full time was that we did not have to winterize.
4. Antifreeze in the UK for fresh water systems, I found very much more expensive, which made winterizing far more of a challenge. I am glad to return to inexpensive antifreeze. But, I agree, when in doubt, use more.
3. A good reason to have a caretaker check occasionally and have some fresh antifreeze ready at hand to top up the bilges supply.
2. By lead acid I assume the batteries to be flooded. Flooded batteries last according to maintenance (topping up the electrolyte, charging regimen, etc.) and the quality when bought (which vary widely). Alchemy relies on good quality gel batteries which I have been very happy with for over 2 decades now and am very familiar with. That said, most cruisers who wander widely (and anchor a lot) are opting nowadays for AGMs which have a few attributes that make them a (small) step more desirable than gels.
2. I also never disconnect during winter storage.
1. There is a necessary vigilance around boats (salt water) with electricity that exceeds the vigilance necessary in other areas. We become seduced into thinking that we can operate as if we were at home on land: and we cannot. I do not like leaving boats plugged in un-attended for lengths of time. The anti is too high: when mishaps occur, they are usually serious. I am back in the Americas (Canada now) and one of the first things I did was to survey my long un-used 110 AC system and I am about to get a professional survey (something I believe every one should do every decade or so: an electrical survey by a qualified and certified marine electrician). Fires scare me more than most anything on a boat. We are upgrading our shore power plugs to “Smart Plugs”, something I believe every boat will be required to do in the future as they are so much safer and also looking into upgrading our galvanic isolator.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy