Your Battery Needs Love Too

Boat winterization is a popular topic around the water now a day. Everything from where people are getting theirs done, to how they can DIY their winterization and store their boats at home. One important piece of winterization that is sometimes forgotten is your boats battery. Batteries too need care and maintenance to provide long term service.

 

During the boating season, your battery care includes things like checking to make sure that all the connections are tight, clean and greased. It is also ensuring that the acid isn't boiling away. Now that the end of the boating season is in sight, what should you do with your battery for winter storage?

 

Hauling Your Boat

 

If you are hauling your boat out for the winter, which most of us are, there are a few tips to help preserve its life. The first being charge it up. Once you have the battery charged, remove the negative cable and let it sit for a few hours before checking its status. When you do check on it using a hydrometer, verify that each cell has a specific gravity of between 1.21 and 1.28. If you do not have a hydrometer, you can use a voltmeter. A fully charged battery will read 12.5 volts. Throughout the winter, make sure to check the battery power once a month to ensure that it is keeping its charge.

 

Storing Your Boat

 

If you are storing your boat in the water for the winter months, you will have a whole different list of tips. Keeping the battery and area dry is the first one. You will need to switch off all breakers except the one for the bilge pump. A lot can happen to a boat that is stored in the water when not in use. Because of that you will need to regularly check on your boat at least once a week, and even more in bad weather. Keeping your battery charged is an important priority. You can do so by plugging into shore power and using an installed charger or a regulated battery maintainer. Preforming an acid test should also be done. Do this by checking the electrolyte level of flooded batteries and top off with distilled water just enough to cover the plates.



Using these helpful tips will ensure that your batter will last through the off season making it easier for you to hit the water in the spring. For further information on battery storage, click here. 

What Will This Winter Hold?

The seasons are changing which is not a happy time for most boaters. We are winterizing and storing our boats for the winter months. You might be wondering about the lake, what is happening to the lake this winter and when will lake drawdown be happening this year. We will answer those questions for you.


This winter will be a very busy time in the area. There is an estimated $1.25 million worth of shoreline stabilization projects happening throughout the area this winter. That is the total for 13 projects that will be completed over the off season. On our very own Atwood Lake, there are two projects that will be completed over the winter.


Every year there are sites that are chosen to receive the shoreline rejuvenation and at the end of this winters projects, there will have been a total of more than 80 individual shoreline projects in four years that have been completed.


These off season projects happen once lake drawdown is completed. As part of the flood-risk management operation of the reservoirs and dams, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conduct annually a temporary reduction in the lake water levels. Doing this allows the lakes to have the storage capacity of floodwaters from rain and melting snow.


This year's drawdown on Atwood Lake will begin on November 1 and the waters will drawdown to an 8 foot depth. Not to worry, starting in February 2014 they will start to pump up the lake to its summer level for all of us to enjoy. Do you want to learn more about the shoreline rejuvenation projects? Click here.