Engine Compartment Heaters - Xtreme Heaters

Engine compartment heaters, bilge heaters; call them what you will, these heaters are designed to do one thing - keep your engine compartment above freezing and protect your engine from freeze damage. For as long as we've had engines and circulation systems on boats, people have been trying to figure out how to protect them over the winter. If you live where winters are pretty extreme, then winterization is a given - draining fluids, replacing antifreeze, fogging moving parts, you know the drill. If you live in more forgiving climates, the urge to keep the boat up and running all winter may out weight the prudence of winterizing it. Hard freezes may be few and far between, and the promise of a Steelhead run in January alluring.

Enterprising boaters have been jury rigging winter protection in the form of space heaters, heat lamps and the like. That's why in our area anyway, there is at least one major marina fire every winter.

In the past few years, high quality engine compartment heaters have come on the scene. They are designed specifically to operate safely in an unattended vessel over the winter. Meeting Coast Guard safety standards, they are approved for mounting in your engine compartment.
they are compact, energy efficient and easy to mount, either permanently, or temporarily.

For more information and a great sale price - visit our Engine Compartment Heaters section, see the article "Marine Engine Compartment Heaters Can Extend Your Boating Season While Protecting Your Boat's Engine"

Big Savings on Dock De-icers, Engine Compartment Heaters and More

We've kicked off our Fall Boat Winterization Sale.

Highlights include:

• Save 40% on PowerHouse Ice Eater Dock De-icers.


• Lowest Prices of the season and free shipping on Xtreme Heaters Engine Compartment Heaters.


• Save 25% on Ironwood Pacific Drywave Boat and RV Air Dryers.


• Free shipping on custom and semi-custom Taylor Boat Covers - Use our Boat Cover Finder to find the cover that is right for your boat.
  

Visit our Current Specials page for the full run down on our boat winterization specials.

2008 Duracats Championships Coming Up

The Duracats 2008 Catfish Angling Championships are scheduled for October 25th and 26th in Mount Vernon, Indiana. This 2 day event runs from 7:00 am to 4:00 PM both days. For full details be sure to visit the Duracats Catfish Angling Tournament site.

If you have the chance to stop by and visit, you're assured of seeing some unbelievable catfish brought in by the expert anglers that participate in this circuit. If you think you've got what it takes to compete, talk with the friendly folks there and get involved in next year's Duracats Catfish Angling Tournament.

SavvyBoater.com is a proud sponsor of the Duracats Catfish Tournament and the Championships this weekend. While I haven't had a chance to come back to any of the tournaments, it has been a lot of fun talking with the folks who are so passionate about chasing really big fish. It is also important to us that in doing so, they play a leading role in protecting the catfish fishery and the lakes and rivers of the area.

Good Fishing this weekend, we look forward to seeing the results.

What do you do with a 1/2 ton Pumpkin?

What do you do with a 1/2 ton pumpkin? Apparently, take it to sea...

I was mentioning that it was feeling like Fall around here, and if not from the weather, then from the giant pumpkins being queued up for the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta planned for next Saturday. I've been aware of this the past few years, but have always had a scheduling conflict, but this year it is looking like I may get lucky.

If you're not familiar with the regatta, a dozen or so giant pumpkins, most in the range of 600-800 lbs are carted in, hollowed out into makeshift kayaks and raced around the Tualatin Lake.

I plan to take the camera, so stay tuned for some action photos of the competition. If you can't picture what hitting the water in a giant pumpkin might be like - Here a File Photo from the City of Tualatin.

Important safety tip - be sure to wear a life jacket whenever you're out on the water in a giant vegetable.

EzineArticles.com has recently published two of our articles.

• Marine Coolers - Making Your High Performance Marine Cooler Really Perform covers tips for getting the best performance from your Marine Cooler.
• Dock De-Icers 101 - The Basics of Choosing a Dock De-Icer to Protect Your Dock From Ice Damage touches on the basics of selecting a Dock De-icer.

Check them out and let me know what you think.

Loren

Season's Turning

I took the Kayak out fishing on the Tualatin River a couple days ago. Nothing new about that, but it made me realize that whether I like it or not, Summer is over in our region. Recent rains have created a small but noticeable current in the normally lake-like stretch I frequent. I slowly swirled down the river like the handful of golden leaves that dotted the surface. As I cast a woolly bugger or panfish popper back under the willows and around the sunken snags, I noticed that the whole tree line had taken on an autumn glow in the long evening light. Instead of feeling comforting, my damp pant cuffs were a little chilly... Summer is over.

There are a lot of things I love about Fall, but it is always a little wistful when it comes time to put away the boat for another season. While I'm not totally ready to wrap it up yet, it is time to start getting ready.

How about you?

• Is the boat cover in shape for winter?


• If you're in a temperate area like Oregon's Willamette Valley or the coastal regions of the Northwest an air dryer like the DryWave can help keep your boat mold free until next Spring.


• If you plan to keep the boat running past the first frost, you might want to consider an engine compartment heater.


• Friends in colder climes may also want to make sure that their Ice Eater is in good working order so they can be certain the dock will still be there next Spring.

I figure I'll still be able to pick up a few nice days in the coming weeks, but winter is in the back of my mind.

Loren