Preparing for Chicago Winter

[TFTI]

While in the midst of an ugly, knock down two year divorce I have found great pleasure getting away from the marital house and spending as much time on the boats as possible. I currently have a carver 4207, fountain 38 and 24 whaler. Unfortunately for me winter is coming and they will all be away soon. Last week I decided that this winter would be the perfect time for me keep the carver in the water all year round. I was fortunate enough to find a slip on the river that will accomodate the carver and I signed the lease.

I have been researching This topic for a long time and am pretty well versed and prepared for everything.

I do however have one small issue....I will not be on board 100 percent of the time. I share custody of my kids and the marital home so the boat will be unoccupied for 3-4 days in a row. How would you handle this?

I plan on getting a temperature alarm that will text me if it gets too cold. Would you run heaters while not on board?

Can any oc you seasoned veterans give me some recommendations as to what I should do to prepare for those days while not on board.

[River Cruiser]

If diesel powered I would get a diesel furnace. Are you going to have dock water & have to pump out your holding tank during the winter? If yes you will need heat onboard to keep these systems from freezing, also a aerator to keep the ice away from the hull.

[TFTI]

I have looked into the spar, webasto and hurricane. Unfortunately I can't really run those for days when not on board, or can I? The pump out is close and I will have water. The river doesn't really freeze where I am and the harbor has a bubbler

I need to commit to this soon since I will need to remove my swim platform to fit into the slip. I am just worried about the five days in a row where the boat is unattended

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, TFTI.

[kthoennes]

I'll be very interested to watch this discussion. We have a 3207 and I have a hard time just keeping it warm enough in the middle of the winter to work on little interior things like lights and trim. When we were shopping for ours we looked at a couple big boats at a marina in Chicago in the dead of winter (Riverdale). Yikes that was cold. They had a few boats still in the water with bubblers but it only cleared a few feet around the hulls.

The previous owners on ours installed 110v ceramic light bulb sockets all over the place - at the base of each head, four in the engine bay - to help prevent freezing. Kind of silly though to have a 110v light bulb at the toilet base.

[River Cruiser]

Originally Posted by TFTI

I have looked into the spar, webasto and hurricane. Unfortunately I can't really run those for days when not on board, or can I? The pump out is close and I will have water. The river doesn't really freeze where I am and the harbor has a bubbler

I need to commit to this soon since I will need to remove my swim platform to fit into the slip. I am just worried about the five days in a row where the boat is unattended

If the river doesn't freeze it must have enough current moving to keep that from happening. I'ld be concerned about debris or ice damaging the hull or dangly parts. I'am about 300 miles from Chicago just south of Quincy in a marina and we put aerators in to protect the hull. I have 3 1000 watt built-in electric heaters they keep the boat comfortable during overnight temps in the 20s & daytime temps in the mid 30s. The diesel heaters will keep a boat livable during chicago's winter & you should be able to run it while your gone just turn the thermostat down. I go home in December & come back in March, once the water temp falls to the mid 30s the reverse cycle units won't put out much heat & on real cold mornings I'll use them to take the chill off then the electrics can handle it. If I was you I would talk to others on the dock about ice & any damage from the current. Good luck

[OTIMO]

Move to Texas or Florida.....problem soloved! :}

[S/V Illusion]

what's "texas"?