Repair & maintenance guides

How to Fog an Engine for Storage

Coat the inside of your engine's cylinders with fogging oil before a long layup so rust does not form over the winter. Learn when fogging applies, how it differs for carbureted, fuel-injected and direct-injection engines, and why your maker's instructions come first.

How to Keep Mice and Rodents Off Your Stored Boat

Mice love a stored boat: dry, quiet and full of soft nesting material and tasty wire insulation. Learn how to remove what attracts them, close their way in, choose deterrents and traps that actually work, avoid the risks of poison, and check the wiring safely in spring.

How to Keep Your Boat in the Water Over Winter (De-Icers, Covers and Checks)

Wintering afloat can be safe if you still winterize every water system, keep the bilge pump and batteries working, use a de-icer correctly on a GFCI-protected circuit, respect the shock and thin-ice risks, and visit the boat regularly.

How to Winterize a Jet Ski or PWC (Sea-Doo, Yamaha WaveRunner, Kawasaki)

Get your personal watercraft ready for the off-season by flushing and draining the cooling and exhaust system, stabilizing fuel, changing oil, fogging, and storing the battery. Doing it yourself takes an afternoon and helps avoid freeze damage, corrosion and spring no-starts.

Storing a Boat on Stands and Blocks: Keel Blocking, Stand Placement and Safety Chains

Learn how a boat should sit on keel blocks and boat stands for winter or a haul-out, so you can check the yard's work, spot dangerous setups, and keep your boat from settling, distorting or falling over in wind, rain or a storm.

Winter Boat Cover vs Shrink Wrap: Support, Ventilation, Safety and Spring Removal

Choose between a reusable winter cover and shrink wrap, build a support frame that sheds snow, vent it so the boat doesn't mildew, and know the fire risks before you try DIY shrink wrap. Includes spring removal and recycling.

Winter Layup Master Checklist (Step-by-Step, With Links to Each Job)

One ordered checklist for putting any boat away for winter, from booking storage and treating the fuel to winterizing the engine, water systems, head and batteries, then blocking, covering and securing the boat. Each step links to the detailed BoatMend guide for that job.