Starting outboard in extreme cold

I would add a water seperater and I also use ethenol free fuel for winter hunting. I keep a sterno can and a lighter in my tool box. When it gets really could it takes off the edge. Great in the goose pit too.
 
One additional point: Plastics made prior about 2005 often can absorb water from ethanol containing fuel and swell. Consequently, bad things generally result. Might be a good time to replace old fuel supply lines, also why old motors do better on non-ethanol content fuel. I bought a 2007 Boston Whaler Conquest 235 with a Verado 250 hanging off the transom. The motor had an outstanding recall on the float pump, which I immediately acted to take care of post-purchase. The Mercury certified mechanic drover over to Marquette to service three Verados, all of which he botched-up for various reasons that day. He never replaced the float pump switch per the recall just tinkered with it and charged Mercury for replacement. The three of us filed a lawsuit, eventually winning a significant settlement from the dealer. The float pump switch on my Verado had a plastic bulb that would absorb water from the fuel it was certified to run on, jamming it and shutting fuel flow to the engine down. When my boat went dead in the water, I was running in a channel that was lined on both sides by some huge chunks of limestone. Luckily, I was able to drop the anchor and call Peterson's commercial fish dock on the radio for a tow in. As I sat there bobbing on "the hook" I could readily see the limestone cobble on the channel's edge a few yards behind the boat in the crystal-clear water.
 
Good to know. Fuel lines are new last year. We played games with the fishing boat for a while and I took some extra new line and made new ones for this. Today it was 22F and it started right up. I parked it in the lawn (not wife approved) instead of the usual spot which is surrounded by trees. Thinking maybe the extra sun helped, and the sea foam in the tank, and the additional 15F from yesterday
 
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