I have just been on to the marina to put a new Boat Safety Certificate on to a boat that a customer has just purchased from us, for the record I am not a boat safety examiner it was just the certificate itself I was putting on the boat.

While I was doing this a few thoughts went through my mind, firstly what a nice day it is, sun shining blue sky, a marina full of brightly painted canal boats, with stoves burning inside them to keep the occupants warm, the second point was what about all those narrowboats moored on the marina that don’t have stoves burning on them, have the owners winterised their boats for the cold months that lie a head?

When you think about it, a narrowboat spends its life in a fairly hostile environment, the majority of the time the boat is sat in water it has regular contact depending on the man at the helm with other narrow boats steel work, solid oak lock gates if you are not careful, concrete or brick can be a hazard. So maintenance of your boat is essential.

The Sales Team here at Whilton Marina are here seven days a week to help you through the mine field that can be boat ownership. In a few short paragraphs I have mentioned a raft of things that are important considerations when you are thinking about owning a narrow boat. The Sales Team here has many years of experience in all aspects boat ownership so we are able to offer free advice and comment on any burning questions you might have, we are not here just to talk about selling or buying a boat.

So back to my original thought pattern winterising your narrow boat, should you do it?

The answer depends on what you intend to do with your narrowboat, but in the vast majority of cases your boat should have some level of winter attention to insure the harsh days a head do not do costly damage to your boat.

Depending on the level of use you are going to give your narrow boat over the winter period the minimum you should do is check the anti-freeze density levels in all the boats cooling systems. The amount of antifreeze your systems require should be checked in the owner’s manuals for the particular device. Engines or central heating systems on boats without antifreeze can fall victim to the frost which can lead to split pipes and cracked engines which can be costly to repair.

At the marina we offer all our moored boats a brokerage boats a winterising service, ask the team for more detail, but I hope as the blog evolves to share some more tips with you

Until next time.

Andy Robinson