Where to go from here (for the winter)

General
1

I hope every one in New England is on hard or has a haul date that wants to be by now. If not why not? I would be interested in where you plan to go,
Brian

2

If you are looking for a boatyard, I use Midway Marina in Haddam, CT. It is 15 miles up the Connecticut River. Not that far from Westbrook. They know Nonsuches and have about 10 in the yard this winter.

You may do as much or as little DIY as you desire to your boat while in the yard.

Ward Woodruff

N33 #8 Margery

Niantic Bay, CT

3

Hi Brian,

Southpaw will be spending this winter at Spicers in Noank, CT

 In the water
 Mast and Wishbone up
 Shrink wrapped

My last boat a Cal 34-3 sloop owned since 1990 always wintered in the water.
I believe it is safer there.

Fran Cichowski    Southpaw N30U Spicers Noank CT
4

Flashcat 30 will be in the water this winter at the Fairwinds Marina in Warwick RI as I could not find a yard in the Warwick area that had affordable space on the hard. This is my 2nd season owning her, still looking for a good year round Marina. I started out using Safe Harbor Apponaug but found them to be very expensive, especially for storage and service. Last spring I received a 5k+ service bill for touching up the bottom paint and commissioning the engine and fresh water systems. I need to learn how to do this routine maintenance myself, can’t afford maintenance service bills like this.

Today I’ll be traveling to Warwick and winterizing the fresh water systems and take a look at draining the raw water system in my Nanny N4.38. The owners manual says it is mandatory if the engine will be experiencing frost & I’m sure it will be soon. I’ll take a look on YouTube to see if there are any instructional videos before I depart.

If there are any Nunsuch owners reading this that have a Nanny N4.38 their input and suggestions on the raw water drain procedure would be very helpful as it looks a little difficult to me.

Dan Dudley,

Flashcat 30 ‘88 NSU30

5

Will checkout the Midway Marina in Haddam, CT, thanks for the heads up. Are there any bridges on the way there getting in the way?

Thanks, Dan

6

Old Lyme draw, RR bridge. It opens on demand subject to train traffic, channel 13. This bridge is undergoing renovations.
East Haddam swing bridge. It opens on the hour at your request channel 13. This bridge is newly renovated.

7

Thanks for the suggestion Ward. I know the yard. I will be spending my second winter at Pilots Point Westbrook. It is getting more expensive each year and if we are to keep Spirit~Wind another year ( health issues ) I will be looking at Midway.
Brian

8

Dan,

The engine related items you need to attend to to prevent freeze damage are:

Engine heat exchanger
Engine seawater pump
Engine seawater strainer
Transmission cooler if yours has one

Either drain all of those devices (on the heat exchanger, only the seawater side not the engine antifreeze side) or suck non-toxic antifreeze through all of those devices.

To drain the heat exchanger, remove the seawater intake and outflow hoses from the heat exchanger. One of them is likely low enough to drain the water.
To drain the seawater pump, loosen the impeller cover.
To drain the transmission cooler. Remove both hoses.
To drain the seawater strainer, remove the plug at the bottom of the strainer.

To go the antifreeze route, disconnect the hose from the engine intake seacock. Place the hose in a bucket of non-diluted, non-toxic antifreeze. Start the engine. Shut the engine off when you see pink coming out of the exhaust. Two people might be a help with this.

By draining the engine components, you will have a perfect opportunity to remove the engine heat exchanger end caps to inspect and service the heat exchanger. You can also remove and inspect the seawater pump impeller.

I hope your wintering location is well protected from waves.

Ward Woodruff
413-847-0620 cell

9

One more item on draining for winterization. Drain the waterlock muffler.

Page 68 of the Nanni 4.38 user manual gives easy to follow instructions for freshwater rinsing and installing antifreeze in the seawater system. The only change to their recommendations that I suggest is to substitute non-toxic antifreeze from the hardware/boat store. Do not dilute this type of antifreeze. Use it straight from the jug. This stuff is already diluted as packaged. Additional dilution will deplete the freeze protection.

Here is the link to the Nanni manual.

https://nannienergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DGBXXT09004C-N4.38.pdf

10

Thanks for the help and advice!

After doing some additional reading in the manual I see it reccomends running the engine every 10 days or so to prevent buildup of material on the raw water intake port. I am considering not do the winterization so this the engine could be run as reccomended. I would keep the engine room well above 32° by using a small space heater in the cabin as I will be plugged into 30amp through the winter months. If the power goes out for whatever reason I have the propane space heater that functions well that came with the boat as a backup. What are your thoughts on this?

11

Dan,
It’s not hard at all to winterize the raw water side of your motor. West Marine sells a screw on cap with a hose connection for the raw water strainer that you can take a short hose ( think washing machine hose ) to drop in a 5 gallon bucket. Then dump 2 or three gallons of the pink RV & Marine antifreeze ( Walmart 3.99/gal ) in the bucket and run the motor until you see the pink stuff coming out the exhaust thru hull. Done. I think the plastic cap is way overpriced but saves a lot of trouble disconnecting the intake hose. I bought one a few years back after going thru the misery on disconnecting the hose.
If the motor has antifreeze on the raw water side there is no worry of build up of raw water deposits and there are no worries about power outages.

Brian Cayer
Spirit~Wind
N30U 419
Westbrook, Ct

1 Like
12

Thanks again Brian, Sounds a lot easier than dismantling several parts of the engine as described in the owners manual, I’ll see if I can find one on Amazon. Do you have a proper name or link to the cap on the West Marine website?
Thanks!
Dan

13

Dan
Found this at Defender

https://defender.com/en_us/trac-ecological-strainer-flushcap-adapter?utm_id=150072902321&utm_campaign=19735474061&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid&utm_content=649671815414&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19735474061&gbraid=0AAAAAD_ojemuvFIEhH2d_57r8SQIeeMtJ#615=31092

14

Dan
P.S. there are different thread sizes of this model.
Don’t ask how I know that.
Measure your thread OD when ordering or bring your cap with you if you go to a marine store.
Brian

15

I live in southern California now, but spent the first 62 years of my life in Oregon where most boats remain in the water year-round, but where the air can get into the teens or single digits for short spells in the winter. In my experience, you can’t trust electric power. Nor can you trust an automated backup heat source. Nor can you trust yourself to run down there and check on it frequently.

Hauling the boat is safest and I did that during my snowbird years. Winterizing in the slip is second best, but make sure the marina staff knows not to try and start your engine. Leaving it operational would be the riskiest.

If you plan on using the boat through the winter you need a multi-faceted approach. Start with those basics, but add two things: First, cultivate the loyalty of your marina staff. Christmas gifts, quality liquor, etc., will help, but actual friendship will go farther. Some marinas in Oregon used to even go start and run your engine if it got super cold. They charged for the service and you still couldn’t totally count on them. And second, be prepared for the possibility that something might go wrong.

So here’s an option you might consider. If you aren’t planning to use the boat, winterize it, then have a diver clean your hull - including all through-hulls - before you start the engine in the spring.

16

Thanks again Brian, I ordered one of these. Hope I can figure out how to use it.
Dan

17

Make sure when purchasing ‘the pink stuff’ if you are winterizing the raw water side of your engine that you use the one labeled “For water systems and engines”! There is another formula that is for “water systems” only… this means internal fresh water (sinks, shower), not for use in the engine…

They look the same but they are not.

Easiest method for the engine is as previously described - close the raw water intake thru-hull, detach the hose from the thru-hul, put the hose end in a bucket w engine suitable ‘pink stuff’ (my system takes 2 gals of pink stuff) turn on engine, when bucket is empty, turn off engine. I use a sponge or papertowel to soak up the water that remains in the thru-hull tube to which the hose was attached, then reattach the hose. Leave the seacock closed!

Place a note w your engine key to open the seacock before starting the engine in the spring. You only have to open the seacock on the raw water intake when commissioning in the spring and then start the engine and you are up and running. No draining of lines, etc.

You can hang a bucket beneath the stern exhaust port to catch the pink stuff if you desire, but it is non-toxic so there really shouldnt be an issue with it going into the water.

Peter Grabow

S/V CAKE WALK III

18

Thanks for the help and advice!

After doing some additional reading in the manual I see it reccomends running the engine every 10 days or so to prevent buildup of material on the raw water intake port. I am considering not do the winterization so the engine could be run as reccomended. I would keep the engine room well above 32° by using a small space heater in the cabin as I will be plugged into 30amp through the winter months. If the power goes out for whatever reason I have the propane space heater that functions well that came with the boat as a backup. What are your thoughts on this?

Good I read your reccomendation again, I had purchased the fresh water antifreeze meant for the potable water system like a shower and sink use. Where to get the appropriate pink stuff that is for use with my Nanni n4.38 raw water system? How to tell it is the correct type?

Thanks!

19

Brian,

I have the cap per your reccomendation, am heading back to my boat tomorrow (Sunday) to winterize the engine. What do I screw the cap into? I have a Nanni n4.38 engine, I assumed there was a raw water strainer cap? Please go over the procedure again including the cap I should be looking for. I looked at the Nanni owners manual but don’t see where a cap may be to connect the cap and inturn the pink antifreeze hose. Nanni n4.38 illustration is attached.

Also, one of our fellow Nonsuch owners said I needed to use some special pink stuff that is compatible with use in engines while you recommended the potable water system antifreeze. I purchased the regular RV fresh water antifreeze, is that what is OK to use? Also, he does the intake hose removal method, sounds very problematic.

The other Nonsuch owner’s reccomendation is below;

“Make sure when purchasing ‘the pink stuff’ if you are winterizing the raw water side of your engine that you use the one labeled “For water systems and engines”!

Good I read your reccomendation again, I had purchased the fresh water antifreeze meant for the potable water system like a shower and sink use. Where to get the appropriate pink stuff that is for use with my Nanni n4.38 raw water system? How to tell it is the correct type?

Thanks!

Nanni N4_38 Engine-2
Nanni N4_38 Engine-21680×2448 627 KB

Nanni N4_38 Engine-1
Nanni N4_38 Engine-11920×1385 294 KB

20

Hi Dan,

Happy to be of assistance.

Not once in all of CAKE WALK’s 38 years has the raw water side of the engine NOT been treated with the ‘pink stuff’ for the winter. And there has never been a “build up problem” of any kind from the engine just sitting for more than 10 days (not even 4 or 5 months), other than the usual growth on the hull which i usually not very heavy because… it’s winter.
If you are concerned about the intake being blocked (I am assuming that this is to which “buildup of material” is referring) in the spring prior to starting the engine you can remove the raw water intake hose and open the seacock slowly to check for water flow. If you have strong flow, no blockage! If flow if light or not at all, take a wooden dowel that fits thru the seacock and insert into the seacock and gently push whatever may be blocking the intake out if the way. Once you have a strong flow of water into the boat, close the seacock, reattach the hose (two clamps in opposite directions from each other as all below the waterline connections should have) and the reopen the seacock.

If you bought the pink stuff from a marine or rv supply shop they should have the ‘water system and engine’ type as well. If not West Marine, Defender, Great Lakes, Hodges, will all carry it. It should clearly state on the face of the label which version it is.

I’m not sure of your location (ie how cold your winter gets) but leaving a heater running when you are not on the boat is very strongly advised NOT to be done! Most marinas state that this is not permissible. Most boat fires are caused by heaters or faulty wiring (sometimes both). I had a friends with a beautiful (it had been in high-end magazines) 65’ Trumpy motoryacht, the boat next his caught fire due to a faulty heater, the flames jumped to their boat and she burned to the waterline… luckily they, and their young children were not home (they lived on the boat) when it happened…

My advice - winterize the engine! Removes the stress of worrying about the boat every day when you are not there.

Peter Grabow