Owning a boat during the warmer months of the year can be great fun for you, your family and your friends. But when the weather begins to cool, it's time to put fun aside and make sure your boat is prepared for the cold months ahead. Winterizing a boat means more than just putting a cover on it and locking it up in at a boat storage facility. Here are four things every boat owner should do before putting their boat into long-term storage.

Oil and Coolant

The liquids that keep your boat running should be either changed or drained. Change your engine oil and filter so that your engine doesn't have dirty oil inside of it all winter long. Drain any coolant inside the system and replace with antifreeze. Your boat's manufacturer will likely recommend a specific brand. Speaking of liquids, don't forget to properly drain your boat's bathroom facilities if it has one.

Stay Charged

The battery should be completely disconnected while in storage. To prevent corrosion, you can use anti-corrosion spray on the terminals. If possible, you may want to go to the storage facility once a month and let the battery charge for a day so that it doesn't weaken from non-use over the winter.

Remove Everything

The boat itself is not the place to store things like life jackets or boat sails. You don't want anything collecting moisture while on the boat over the winter. Store these items at home if you can, or see if there is another area at the boat storage facility where these items can be properly protected.

Open It Up

Before you put the cover on the boat, make sure that all lockers and storage containers are left open, not closed. You should have already removed everything from these containers so that shouldn't be an issue. The reason you leave everything opened up inside the boat is so that you don't have to deal with a stale smell when you arrive next spring to get the boat water-ready again.

Shutting a boat down for the winter entails much more than just throwing a tarp over it. You need to make sure your boat's internals are protected as well. Use anti-freeze in the coolant system and unplug the battery. Also don't use the inside of the boat to store other items as you don't want mold or mildew developing. Contact a local boat storage facility, such as Rock Solid Storage LLC, today for more information.