Icy thoughts

[dab62]

Hello all, and Happy New Year!
Well, apparently the Chesapeake is now located in The Midwest! I keep my boat on Kent Island, and despite the ice eater that the marina has installed, the front half of the boat has some ice forming around it. We are also due for 3 nights in the single digits. I know that these are sturdy vessels, but I’m a little worried. Would it make any sense to take the cushions, and covers off of the v berth , and have a heater in the front cabin(F32) to warm the hull a little it. I know it’s a little nuts, but anything I can do, I’m in for. Thanks in advance for any thoughts, or alternatives.

[WayWeGo]

Where is the ice eater in relationship to your boat? Can you add one at the bow, or even come up with something to blow air down a hose that is tied to a weight hanging off the bow?

Bubbles coming from near the bottom carry warmer water up just like an ice eater. An internet search will come up with a bunch of DIY setups that might allow you to get through this short period of intense cold.

http://www.thepondreport.com/questions/ ... or-my-dock

Here is one based on aquarium stuff that you can get at a pet store: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NBToNmcASI

[prowlersfish]

Sure glad I am on the lower Chesapeake Bay where its warm . Here is a photo of our inlet to warm you up

[mikeandanne]

Sure glad I am on the lower Chesapeake Bay where its warm . Here is a photo of our inlet to warm you up

Karma.??

[WayWeGo]

prowlersfish, I think you got more snow than we did on this storm!

[prowlersfish]

Sure glad I am on the lower Chesapeake Bay where its warm . Here is a photo of our inlet to warm you up

Karma.??

What are you trying to say

[dab62]

Thanks Waywego. I doubt I’ll have time to pull this off. This darn work thing really interferes with the day important stuff. I just purchased the boat in November( this is my first boat). I still need to acquire a great many tools, toys. This will be something I will need to a acquire, and keep for back up in n the future.

[WayWeGo]

dab62, if your marina does not provide adequate deicing, you might want to consider buying your own. We are at the end of the dock at our marina, so the marina's deicers did not really cover our boat well. I bought my own Kasco deicer and hung it off the bow of our boat to cover the whole boat. The marina owner was worried about electric usage (he does not charge us for keeping the boat in the water over the winter), so I put in a thermostat to make sure the deicer only ran when the temperatures were well below freezing. We have a very reasonable slip rate and it was worth it to me to keep him happy.

[gitchisum]

Meanwhile there are 8 ships waiting to load in Duluth MN to make it out through the Soo locks before they close on Jan 15. Imagine working on a laker when it's 35 below zero and 40 knot winds.

Thank god for these guys keeping our economy running!

[MTurvey]

These boats are built like tanks - they don't even blink at ice. We were iced in a bay like Shackleton for a few days - small swell so it sounded like we were being sawed in half! Not a single scratch after 3 days of ice chafing!

[GrumpyDuck]

The Snowpocalypse made it all the way to NC this year too - causing us to pine for our covered slip at home. Tanks indeed, she handled the ice pretty well. Good thing since our winter port is somewhat lacking amenities like ice-eaters.





https://youtu.be/Oen931zW14k

[prowlersfish]

The Snowpocalypse made it all the way to NC this year too - causing us to pine for our covered slip at home. Tanks indeed, she handled the ice pretty well. Good thing since our winter port is somewhat lacking amenities like ice-eaters.

You must pass by me on your way south and north . My boat is in Hampton Va

[GrumpyDuck]

The Snowpocalypse made it all the way to NC this year too - causing us to pine for our covered slip at home. Tanks indeed, she handled the ice pretty well. Good thing since our winter port is somewhat lacking amenities like ice-eaters.

You must pass by me on your way south and north . My boat is in Hampton Va

Yes indeed, we should be scooting by some time this week. That is if I can get the manifolds on the port motor installed with no (further) problems. The gaskets decided last week was a GREAT time to finally fail, dumping a fair bit of coolant into the oil. Good thing I was changing that anyway. One problem begets another!

[DAVIDLOFLAND]

Some thoughts on icing...

Ice forming on the surface of the water around the boat is really no big deal, even several inches thick, unless of course you wanna go somewhere, then you might cause some damage. The worry is through-hull fittings that are just above the waterline, and which can be pushed below the waterline with excessive snow load or uneven loading of any kind. Water in said fittings when frozen will of course expand and burst the fitting, thus flooding the boat. Some folks don't understand the danger of snow loads or uneven loading in icing conditions. They think the snow has to push the whole boat underwater, but that's not the case. With through-hulls just above the waterline, the snow only has to settle the boat that couple of inches to become dangerous. Google how much snow weighs per square foot per depth in inches or feet.
When it gets really, really cold, through-hulls well below the water line can freeze inside the boat do the same thing.

I'm trying to get back in the water next week to go catch some King crab. Season closes March 31. If we get some crab I'll post some cold weather F32ing images.

[DAVIDLOFLAND]

No Kings, but we did OK on Snow (Tanner) Crabs