What could possibly go wrong with my boat when the temperature drops well below freezing? If your boat is an in-board powered boat.....lots of things. Yes, lots of things, even if it is stored inside a storage unit or your garage at your house! There are right and wrong ways to keep your in-board boat engine from freezing. The two most common WRONG ways are: LIGHT BULBS AND/OR NON-UL LISTED EXPLOSION PROOF SPACE HEATERS. Most inboard powered boats in North Texas are gasoline powered. A boat up on a lift or stored in a storage unit/garage will typically have the motor cover down...thus creating an area where little or no ventilation is occurring in the engine compartment. Is your fuel filter loose? Do you have a gas hose with a clamp slightly loose? Fluctuations in temperature can greatly affect the volume of gasoline and if either of these two issues exist in your engine compartment and you introduce an ignition source.... bad things can happen. That light bulb, for example, could be loose in its socket....if the power flashes momentarily and causes a spark....and you have a fuel leak....you have no more boat. What's worse is if it is at your house, a storage facility, or at a marina much more destruction is likely. {BTW how much insurance do you have? If you have $300K or $500K of liability coverage and your boat burns down an entire marina I hope you don't have any other assets the marina's insurance carrier can attach}. The same goes for space heaters that were not designed for marine use. They too can spark creating an explosion. 

The two most common RIGHT ways to winterize your inboard boat. (1) RV & Marine (non-toxic & nonflammable) antifreeze. However, the job has to be properly done! One has to drain the lake water out of the manifolds, engine (on open cooled engines), gas coolers, transmission coolers, and raw water pumps (if installed in the engine compartment) and then fill the engine, hoses, etc. with antifreeze. Put all the hoses back on and you're ready to go this Spring. No heaters needed!  And NEVER use regular vehicle type antifreeze (it's toxic). (2) UL Listed explosion proof Marine Bilge Heaters. If you're confident you won't lose electric power for long periods then these type of units, most of the time they are permanently mounted in the boat's engine compartment and automatically come on at around 35 degrees (if you plug them in), work great. Also, if your inboard boat is in a wet slip and happens to have an A/C unit and/or generator...then you will want to seriously look in to a marine space heater even though you might shut off the petcocks to the strainers and you might even drain the strainers on top of properly winterizing the engine(s)....it is still best to have a secondary system to keep things from freezing.

Lastly...if your boat is a wakeboard boat....don't forget to drain the water out of the transmission cooler and empty your ballast bags!!!!!