I think we all know there are different ways to do things to get to the same end result and then there are ways we do different things and get to a different result. I found through my own mistakes on this site that there are others with much more knowledge than me on a particular subject and called on the carpet by others here on it. I learn more from that than if I didn't say anything at all.

I never followed this thread much as I don't use antifreeze and until maybe 15 years ago very few people used it. The use of antifreeze was started by shops as people got their boats winterized by a shop and then take the boat out and never rewinterize and then go back to the shop with a cracked block and blame it on the shop. One method they used was to keep the hoses off and then have the owner bring it in the spring. When the shops went to antifreeze then they knew when someone ran their boat. The cost of the antifreeze was on the owner whereas the cost of a cracked block was on the shop so owners sort of bought the insurance policy.

It doesn't make sense to completely drain the cooling water and replace with antifreeze except to minimize corrosion. All a person has to do is to have at least a 10% void throughout the system so it isn't rocket science. The engine block and exhaust manifold drains real well which is the major repair expense. The hoses take the most time and compressed air will blow those out except the J hose. If you don't have issues in the spring you either did it right or you were lucky. Sometime down the road after some winters, if your process wasn't done correctly your luck will have expired. I've done this for 25 winters now and no problems and the boats have always been parked outside.