Kuan heres a cut and paste

My boat is kept under an overhang next to my garage (previously in the
garage until my wife decided she had to get this house on a hill with a
view but unfortunately just didn't have a 3 car garage--too bad for
me!). Since it is 'outside', I was very concerned about freezing so I
drained everything as best I could (we normally don't need to do it).
I was still worried about any residual water so when it really got
cold, I put a 100 watt shop light under the engine. With the engine
cover closed and the boat cover on, it didn't let any residual water
freeze anywhere in the engine compartment.

HOWEVER, I have a heater in the boat, and although I thought I had done
a pretty good job of draining out all of the water, the heater hoses
were such that not all of the water could drain (I didn't realize this
until later). When I went out to check it as soon as the temperature
finally stayed above freezing, the engine compartment and all hoses
with residual water were fine (the light bulb was still on). But when
I checked under the bow, the hoses to the heater were stiff with ice.
I finally took a blow dryer on low power to the heater and as soon as
it started to warm a little, the heater started leaking all over the
place.

The copper core had split in two places and started leaking when it
thawed. Luckily, I was able to re-solder and repair (4 seasons now and
no problems).

Since then, we haven't had any cold weather like that (occasionally
down to just below freezing). But from December to March, I now drain
it after every use.

The big problem however is still the heater (and shower lines). But I
came up with a great way to get all of the water out:

USE A WET-DRY VACUUM TO SUCK OUT THE WATER!!! Even when it has gotten
cold enough for standing water to freeze a little, I have not had any
more problems:

Drain the engine, etc. normally. Then connect the vacuum to your drain
port and run it for a few minutes (you can usually tell when most of
the water is out as the sucking sound changes when only air is being
sucked vs. air and some water). The heater and shower use some of the
same plumbing so it's easy to pull one hose and then use the various
valves to make sure everything is sucked dry. This also sucks the
engine as well. And you can even use it to suck the raw water hose at
the raw water pump to drain the hose that runs through the trans
cooler.

Many people had ruined blocks after that bad freeze. I did what I was
'supposed' to do, and although my engine was ok (thank goodness), I
still had the heater problem (albeit an easy and inexpensive fix
compared to a new block). Since more and more of you have heaters /
showers, etc., be very careful since those lines don't drain very well.
The last thing you want in early spring when the bug really bites you
is to have hot water dripping out of your heater all over your feet!

Happy Skiing! And here's hoping it doesn't get cold enough that you
need this information!

Gordon