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The manual for my Bukh didn't mention antifreeze either (nor did the Volvo), both instructed simply draining the system, but I figure a 3 dollar jug of antifreeze is cheaper than re-plumbing the engine, so I do both.  Do try to find out if there is a drain plug besides draining the impeller case.  When I take the plug out water comes out, and that's after I've drained the impeller housing, so draining the impeller case isn't getting it all.  But our engines are different.  Seems to me my Bukh manual didn't mention the drain plug, it was the Bukh guru at Krinmar in Kingston that told me about it.  You may want to ask a mechanic about that.  Something in my dusky memory tells me Faryman became Bukh, so I'll tell you were it is on my engine and you can see if yours is the same.  Here goes:  Looking down on the engine from above you'll see a shape on the top of the engine that is a triangle with rounded corners.  The apex of the triangle points to the stern of the boat.  Find that shape, then look down the back of the engine below the apex of the triangle.  If our engines are similar, there should be a drain plug about 2/3 the way down.  It has a regular nut-type head on it about 12mm in size (it think).  Back that out and water should follow.  As the manual didn't mention it, it's probably not crucial - maybe the voids it drains aren't full so no threat of cracking etc.  I feel better having it drained though!  On the Volvo the frost plug was a petcock drain fitting in a piece of cooling tubing below the level of the bottom of the engine - one simply opened it and all drained out.

My water tank doesn't have a drain plug either, I just stuck the sucking end of the siphon in via the inspection hatch and let 'er rip.  The drain hole at the bottom of the storage space under the vee berth is just low enough to let the siphon empty the tank.

As for a drain in the keel, I don't know if every model of Contessa has them.  On mine, an '85 JJT, it's on the outside at the bottom of the keel (read ground level), way down low on the port side, aft end.  It's a threaded fitting that you need a big flat screwdriver to remove.  If it's there, take it out and leave it out for the winter to avoid ice build up in the bilge if you have any leaks.

I'm off line once I shut the computer down tonight, so good luck and I hope all is still working in the spring!

Hi Jordan and Feng,

Yep, it's me.  I can fully appreciate your Lake Erie experience.  I've been out on it in truely cruddy conditions and it is amazing just how truely cruddy that can be!  Steep, high waves packed close together and the area is a magnet for spectacular thunderstorms.  Too bad about the boat damage though, but at least it's replacable/fixable stuff.  No shame in being towed in by Coasties by the way, think of it more as being one of a select few.  I think you'll find a thread on here somewhere that addresses how to drain and clean a fuel tank - try the search function to find it.  If your boat doesn't have a Racor type filter in the fuel line between the tank and engine, I strongly recommend it, especially as you have gunk problems.   Anyhoo, I'm about to sign off for the winter as the navigation season on the Seaway is coming to a close.  Enjoy happy dreams of sailing and tinkering on winter boat projects.  And Feng gets full credit for fortitude!

Hi Paul,

Yesterday I posted an ad for a 100% genoa for sale that certainly has a few years left in it, especially if you intend to use it as a back-up for your furled sail.  I also still have my origial main that was converted to full battened.  I've replace the main already so I'm willing to let the old one go if you want to try it to see if you like a full battened sail.  The only thing missing from the main is the actual battens as I have cut them up to use for other things!  The main is a bit blown but still sets ok, but that's why the previous owners put the full battens in - to re-shape the sail.  My experience with it was that it set well with one reef in it to flatten it out a bit.  It would benefit greatly from a moveable outhaul (which my boat did not originally have), and a cunningham to flatten it at full hoist.  When I got my new main I went back to short battens - one full batten at the top then the rest partials - I didn't like the full battens.  These sails would go pretty cheaply especially as you'd have to ship them out of province.

In Virago (1985) there is shallow space below the cabin floor and the top of the sewage holding tank.  There is an access hatch for the tank directly below one of the floor boards.  I don't use my toilet (see posts elsewhere about that), but I want to keep the plumbing in place to keep the boat legal on the Great Lakes.  This means that I have been leaving unused a large space low in the boat that would make great storage for heavy things.  This year I cleaned out and sterilized the tank via the inspection hatch and am now planning to use it as chain storage or a place to stuff recycling until I get to shore, or a beer cooler/wine cellar.  In fact the floor of the tank is sloped so with each beer removed, the others would just back down to fill it's place - gravity loaded!  I just need to figure out how to keep the load from shifting too much when the supplies get low...

Hi didi,

In the process of messing around with the interior of my boat I found some useful space I didn't know was there.  My boat is a 1985 JJT model so I don't know if it applies to your boat, but here goes...There is a little shelf that runs along the side of each of my quarter berths.  I ran some trim along the edge of this to make the shelf into a little channel to store small stuff like gloves, nav. instruments etc.  In doing this project I slithered head first to the end of the quarter berth to attach the new trim and found that there is a rather large cavity back there underneath where the winches are mounted.  Cool!  It's a great place to store books - always an awkaward thing.