Boats On Ice!

[Delancey]

The wind shifted a short while ago. I knew because the boat started coming up hard against something that wouldn't budge. Not a very nice feeling BTW.

I took that as a hint and went outside with a chunk of old boom I had kept lying around for some reason and walked around the boat on the lee side busting up the ice to give the boat some room.

I had thought the real reason I made my winter cover to allow me to do this was to tend to dock lines, turns out it's to free the boat from ice. This episode gave me pause to walk the dock. Photos attached tell the story.

What I couldn't capture with my cell phone flash was what the rudders looked like. I think that you can guess from the six inches of open water at the bow the the rudder of these boats is now imbedded six inches in the ice. I will mention the neighbors of the guy with a bubbler seem to be making out just fine.

I am sure you can imagine all kinds of rudder issues with this kind of situation. Last year we didn't have very thick ice and it never lasted more than a day or two at best. This year is a little different.

I see a lot of boats in the marina that haven't been visited since last fall and won't see anyone before the spring. I wonder how many of these boats are Hunters? Just kidding. But really, can you blame a builder for a boat being left icebound?

Meanwhile at The Battery a half mile away the surface seawater temperature is 35 degrees. Of course all of this is nothing compared to the experiences of our high latitude friends. I would be very interested to hear about some of their practical experiences dealing with ice.

As far as the snatch loads on the frozen shore power lines goes, well it's probably fine.....

[Kenomac]

When we are absent for any length of time from our boat, it comes out of the water. When our boat visits New England, it will be out of the water for winter just like all the other boats around here... for obvious reasons.

[Tar34]

Eastern Shore Maryland
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5cvcr56kxut9j3z/ICE.mp4

[Delancey]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

When we are absent for any length of time from our boat, it comes out of the water. When our boat visits New England, it will be out of the water for winter just like all the other boats around here... for obvious reasons.

There are three hundred boats frozen in the marina across the way that obviously aren't as smart as you. Technically, New York and New Jersey aren't New England so I guess that explains it.

[Tim R.]

We accumulate some ice on the WL and the bottoms of the fenders when it gets really cold. Last week was actually colder than anything we saw this week from the polar vortex. My finger is along a fairway with plenty of lobster and other fishing boats that operate year round. They run up and down the fairway daily which acts as a bubbler. We also get plenty of tankers and tugs in the main channel. Sometimes we get little ice floats that have been broken up that drift into our slip but never cause a problem.

Location is everything if you want to stay in the water in NE.

[tamicatana]

**** I think my water system froze and I'm on the Gulf. I'll find out today how bad the damage is. I didn't worry because the water the boat's sitting in measured 55 degrees F.

oops…. hope y'all were smart enough to put the pink stuff in...

[motion30]

I am so happy to be in s. Florida

[Tim R.]

No need for the pink stuff when the boat is at 65° and the beer is 35°!

[glenn.225]

How about boats covered in ice. Took this the other morning down at the club. there's a couple feet of ice in the bay and I wouldn't want my boat in right now.

[Weatherhelm]

Here is a boat on ice



check out this video they are FAST Lake Minnetonka Iceboating - Sailing on ice - 2012 - YouTube

2013/2014 conditions in minnesota are bad snow right away covering the good ice

[Delancey]

Of course the ice is close to the lower bearing and the winds today are light and it's getting warmer, so prolly not a big deal. Not like a bad grounding would be.

That said, it can't be good. When the wind shifted last night, I felt the boat coming up hard against the ice, which would jerk it to a stop. Really an unpleasant feeling.

[River Cruiser]

We get ice every year, sometimes just skim that doesn't last long, then years like this when it starts to freeze a month earlier than normal. I have a Kosco de-icer & a temperature controlled timer, when the temp gets down to 30f the timer runs it 2 hours & off for 2 hours. I got a call from a friend a couple days ago & he had went to the marina to check his boat, he said mine was clear as was my neighbor. There were others iced in, one the de-icer had stopped working.

[SimonV]

My heart goes out to all you cold climate sailor's. Here in the tropical south cruisers will do anything for a bit of ice.

[bobconnie]

A few days ago we had to hook up to shore water! so we could let it drip over night !! 24 degs down the bayou!! The water inside the boat was ok because we have good heat ! sorta liked useing the heat aboard ! at least we now know that we CAN heat the boat if needed ! We already knew we could cool her LOL now we know we can be comfortable when shes cold outside !!

[gtpinhei]

Good to know it is possible to survive winter aboard.

My wife is planning to do a masters degree in Boston next year and I am starting to plan for living in winter as we will get stucked there for an entire year.

Don't know if it will be as hard winter as this year but seems acquiring a de-icer won't hurt...

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