The unofficial end of summer is nearly here, and that means many outdoor enthusiasts will need to start thinking about getting their boats, boating gear, personal watercraft and trailers put away securely for winter.

“Usually after Labor Day, that’s the last big weekend” for boating and water sports,” said Keith Morgison, general manager of Arnie’s Boat Sales and Service, 2036 E. 1400 Road. “There’s a lot of people still fishing after that. But with school starting and football starting, Labor Day to a lot of people is the end of summer.”

That means Morgison will start to see customers requesting help to winterize and store their boats.

The annual exercise is an essential part of owning a boat or personal watercraft in a state like Kansas, where winters can be frigid.

“Winterizing is part of a general maintenance program (boat owners) should be on. It’s an annual thing, unless you live in Hawaii. We don’t have that luxury here,” Morgison said.

When it comes to long-term storage, of critical importance is remembering that boats are not intended to have water inside them for any stretch of time  especially when the temperature drops below freezing.

Moisture is the enemy, both in the cabin and the engine.

“The main thing is to make sure that stuff is just dry. If you don’t, you get mildew problems, and it gets to be a mess in the spring. Life jackets, inner tubes, ski ropes, upholstery in the boat  it’s got to be dry,” Morgison said.

That advice is critical for all inboard and outboard motors.

“Water freezes and expands and breaks stuff. Get the water out of them, out of the motor and the lower gear drives,” Morgison said. “They’re not designed to have water inside them.”

Ready for deep freeze

Winterizing and storing boats for winter months is big business at Clinton Marina in Clinton State Park.

The marina has slips for about 300 boats, and each of their owners is offered free winter storage space. The facility has room, on 40 acres up the hill from the marina, for around 700 boats.

The storage area is outdoors. Most of the storage is behind fences and has 24-hour-a-day security.

Boat owners who don’t have slips at the marina are offered winter storage space for $35 per month, for a minimum of three months.

Roughly 100 boats in the marina slips are left in the water during winter, with aerator pumps working underneath them to prevent ice from forming around them.

The boats are covered and maintained by marina staff. Outboard motors are put in the vertical position, so that any moisture that might form will drain out.

Inboard and outboard engines need to be put through several steps before they’re ready for winter storage, according to Lee Kennedy, manager of Clinton Marina.

“We need to drain the water out of the engine, change or check the lower-unit fluid  sometimes it gets a little water in it  and run all of the gas out of the carburetor,” he said.

“In the fall, we spray oil in the cylinders, and we put an additive called STA-BIL in the gasoline to keep it good all winter. We change spark plugs if they need it. And in some of the inboards, we change the oil and filters.”

There should only be gasoline left in the gas tank, Kennedy said, none in the carburetor or the engine itself. The engine’s battery should be removed and the cables taken off, too.

It’s also a good idea to fill your boat trailer’s tires with air, because tires tend to deflate over several months.

The cost to winterize an inboard or outboard motor at the marina varies according to the amount of work that needs to be done. It usually ranges from $99 to $250, Kennedy said.

Prevent condensation, rust

Morgison described similar steps to prepare motors for winter storage at Arnie’s.

“You have to drain the water, change the oil, fog it (spray a fogging oil) to put an extra layer of lubricant on internal engine parts for storage purposes. It also keeps condensation from forming and causing a rust problem,” he said.

Arnie’s offers inside and outside storage for 50 to 70 boats. Winter is easier on boats that are kept inside, but there’s already a waiting list for those spaces.

Arnie’s charges $20 per month to store any size boat. The business also stores about 20 personal watercraft each winter.

The average cost to winterize an outboard motor at Arnie’s usually ranges from $30 to $70, while inboard engines can run from $110 to $350.

Morgison is planning on fall full of winterizing.

“Usually, my busiest time is October and November; it depends on the weather. But if it gets cold right after Labor Day, we’ll get busy,” Morgison said.