Coldest night -10 and boat in water

[Paulfireblade]

I read a thread recently where someone was asking about toilet pump freezing, I couldn’t find the thread again but for anyone concerned about their boat who leave it in coastal water I thought I would provide my findings.

Having planned a pre Christmas sail I arrived at the boat Thursday morning after the coldest night for a very long time. The temperature at our marina was -6 overnight and when I arrived at 9.30 am the temperature in the cabin was minus 0.3 degrees so several degrees above ambient. When I checked the frost heater in the engine compartment I was surprised to find it wasn’t on but when I checked the temperature in the bilge I was pleasantly surprised to find it wad 4,3 degrees so that explains why the frost heater was not on. And a 2.5 litre bottle of drinking water sat on the galley work top was not frozen either.

Sea temp in my area is showing as 9.4 degrees and this is helping my boat to survive the freezing conditions so just confirms the view that leaving a boat in the water protects it from fluctuating temperatures and we were able to go for a lovely sail in the Winter sunshine.

 

[Plum]

I read a thread recently where someone was asking about toilet pump freezing, I couldn’t find the thread again but for anyone concerned about their boat who leave it in coastal water I thought I would provide my findings.

Having planned a pre Christmas sail I arrived at the boat Thursday morning after the coldest night for a very long time. The temperature at our marina was -6 overnight and when I arrived at 9.30 am the temperature in the cabin was minus 0.3 degrees so several degrees above ambient. When I checked the frost heater in the engine compartment I was surprised to find it wasn’t on but when I checked the temperature in the bilge I was pleasantly surprised to find it wad 4,3 degrees so that explains why the frost heater was not on. And a 2.5 litre bottle of drinking water sat on the galley work top was not frozen either.

Sea temp in my area is showing as 9.4 degrees and this is helping my boat to survive the freezing conditions so just confirms the view that leaving a boat in the water protects it from fluctuating temperatures and we were able to go for a lovely sail in the Winter sunshine.

Thanks, very useful. Where is your marina?

 

[dunedin]

Yes, it is generally much better afloat than ashore, particularly if in deepish sea water (shallow fresh water canals, like the one beside me currently, freeze very quickly). Is one reason I prefer to winter afloat in Scotland.

 

[Daydream believer]

Yes, it is generally much better afloat than ashore, particularly if in deepish sea water (shallow fresh water canals, like the one beside me currently, freeze very quickly). Is one reason I prefer to winter afloat in Scotland.

So just out of interest. What is the state of the Cally canal at the moment? Is it open, or has it frozen shut?

 

[Tranona]

I have been monitoring the temperature in the cabin over the last 2 weeks and the lowest (daytime) was 35F. In Wednesday it was 37F when I installed a 135kw tube heater and today at 3pm it had risen to 39F even though there was still frost on the decks on the north side. Here in Poole the temperature is above freezing now and expected to rise and stay well above for the next week.

 

[Paulfireblade]

Thanks, very useful. Where is your marina?

Shotley Marina, just off the North Sea near Harwich but in a lock basin so the Marina is not tidal

 

[Paulfireblade]

The only PITA is when it gets close to zero degrees the Maeco dehumidifier shuts down

 

[dunedin]

So just out of interest. What is the state of the Cally canal at the moment? Is it open, or has it frozen shut?

Don’t know about the Caledonian Canal - but they drained the Crinan Canal to avoid freezing in this cold spell Tour the hidden depths of the Crinan Canal - Scottish Canals

Union Canal is frozen solid

 

[johnalison]

The only PITA is when it gets close to zero degrees the Maeco dehumidifier shuts down

I’ve not been around to check but I believe that my desiccant Maeco keeps going. Even if the sea freezes, the water under the ice is likely to be several degrees warmer, so you’d be very unlucky if your cabin froze.

 

[diverd]

It was minus 4 overnight in Peterhead Marina, but i was nice and warm all night in the boat, it did not get above minus 2 all day i believe. The pontoons have an inch or two of snow on them, and its now frozen and is super slippery. Looks like i will get a winters sail tomorrow, its flat calm and the forecast is for kindly winds. And early next week it will jump to plus 8, so prepare for the floods! There is a lot of snow inland already and with such a massive jump in temp it could bet very wet very fast, in strathdon its gone from minus 18 at night last week to plus 2-3 next week, so a huge span over so few days.

 

[FWB]

Download Davis weather link to your iPhone/ipad other tablet I guess and you will see weather stations around you.
Not only that but you can search. So put in Caledonian Canal and the various stations are there for you to click on.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/weatherlink/id1304504954

 

[TSB240]

I read a thread recently where someone was asking about toilet pump freezing, I couldn’t find the thread again but for anyone concerned about their boat who leave it in coastal water I thought I would provide my findings.

Having planned a pre Christmas sail I arrived at the boat Thursday morning after the coldest night for a very long time. The temperature at our marina was -6 overnight and when I arrived at 9.30 am the temperature in the cabin was minus 0.3 degrees so several degrees above ambient. When I checked the frost heater in the engine compartment I was surprised to find it wasn’t on but when I checked the temperature in the bilge I was pleasantly surprised to find it wad 4,3 degrees so that explains why the frost heater was not on. And a 2.5 litre bottle of drinking water sat on the galley work top was not frozen either.

Sea temp in my area is showing as 9.4 degrees and this is helping my boat to survive the freezing conditions so just confirms the view that leaving a boat in the water protects it from fluctuating temperatures and we were able to go for a lovely sail in the Winter sunshine.

I am glad you had sail. No chance for us. The ice was 30mm thick in our marina and the boat was locked solid to the dock wall. Ice now covers half the mainly freshwater fed dock. It was topped up with a rain shower this afternoon. This has now frozen solid!

I am finding similar temperatures in our bilges, in our engine room,in our galley and in our heads. No sign of anything freezing.

My in exhaust temperature sensor has never shown less than 2 degrees.

The ice is most likely because we actually have a distinct surface layer of freshwater on the dock surface. In the summer you can see how the salty tidal water flows in under the freshwater layer which flows in the opposite direction. In winter there is even less turbulence caused by boat movements to cause the two to mix.

We wont be worrying about ice by Monday!

 

[QBhoy]

I read a thread recently where someone was asking about toilet pump freezing, I couldn’t find the thread again but for anyone concerned about their boat who leave it in coastal water I thought I would provide my findings.

Having planned a pre Christmas sail I arrived at the boat Thursday morning after the coldest night for a very long time. The temperature at our marina was -6 overnight and when I arrived at 9.30 am the temperature in the cabin was minus 0.3 degrees so several degrees above ambient. When I checked the frost heater in the engine compartment I was surprised to find it wasn’t on but when I checked the temperature in the bilge I was pleasantly surprised to find it wad 4,3 degrees so that explains why the frost heater was not on. And a 2.5 litre bottle of drinking water sat on the galley work top was not frozen either.

Sea temp in my area is showing as 9.4 degrees and this is helping my boat to survive the freezing conditions so just confirms the view that leaving a boat in the water protects it from fluctuating temperatures and we were able to go for a lovely sail in the Winter sunshine.

To be fair…being familiar with what it usually takes to frost damage such things, I’d say that damage is done as a result of a sustained freezing period. It needs consecutive days of freezing temps with no significant thaw during the daytime. That’s when the damage is done. Usually 3 days of it and you’re in the danger zone. There has been some horrible damage done up here over the last week or so. Shame.

 

[Bilgediver]

In the water there is usually no problem in the UK as you are sitting on a warm cushion. (comparatively) The big problem is with the boat ashore where no warm cushion.

 

[mrming]

Haven’t been able to get over to our boat until today for non boaty reasons which I won’t go into here. I had been unable to put the electric heaters on their low setting which is what I would usually do if a cold snap is forecast.

She’s in a mud berth and the coldest forecast was last night at -9C.

Huge lumps of ice on top of the mud where the water had frozen after the tide went out.

Solid 1” lump of ice in the channel at the back of the cockpit that leads to the cockpit drain. A small bucket in the cockpit locker which I position to catch any drips was half full of solid ice which I assume was snow melting and dripping in. Also large patches of ice on deck.

Inside the boat the water in the dehumidifier (shut off from being full) was liquid, but the water in the head trap was solid ice.

I popped the heat on and thawed the head out, but did not dare think about the water tank which I wasn’t able to drain previously for the non boaty reasons above. It’s right at the back of the boat by the transom and I would not be surprised if the water in there is very frozen indeed.

Tonight should be the last sub zero night of this spell, so I’ll go back when it has thawed and cross my fingers that nothing has burst.

 

[dunedin]

To be fair…being familiar with what it usually takes to frost damage such things, I’d say that damage is done as a result of a sustained freezing period. It needs consecutive days of freezing temps with no significant thaw during the daytime. That’s when the damage is done. Usually 3 days of it and you’re in the danger zone. There has been some horrible damage done up here over the last week or so. Shame.

Isn’t that precisely what we have had in many areas of the UK - a solid week we’ll below zero. Certainly glad the boat wasn’t up on the hard.
Just been back at the boat and in spite of some very cold Scottish nights, afloat with tube heaters on a thermostat the minimum temperature recorded in the cabin was +1.2C
Hope everybody else’s boats are OK and no frost damage (eg to the domestic water system) - the cockpit shower head, if you have one, is the favourite to split in a cold frost, particularly if fail to depressurise the water before leaving the boat,

 

[Dellquay13]

I felt like Shackleton as I heard the ice forming round the boat on Thursday night, and felt all motion stop as the ice finally gripped the hull, in Milford Haven marina.
I had gone down to the boat hoping for a gentle winter sail on Friday, but there was no way I was going to make it out of the berth. 560 mile round trip for nothing.

 

[Momac]

In the water there is usually no problem in the UK as you are sitting on a warm cushion. (comparatively) The big problem is with the boat ashore where no warm cushion.

The recent cold snap may well prove to be the exception to that rule. The sustained sub zero temperatures with hardly a thaw has compounded the potential ice related issues.
I found ice, and some water in the dehumidifier yesterday . This despite the boat not being locked in ice
Going back today to give the boat an hour of warmth from the Eberspacher

 

[Bilgediver]

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If it is as cold as that I hope you have antifreez in the engine and exhaust water trap and an empty water tank. I have yet to freeze the water in a coke bottle left in the sink when afloat over winter.

 

[Habebty]

I’ve not been around to check but I believe that my desiccant Maeco keeps going. Even if the sea freezes, the water under the ice is likely to be several degrees warmer, so you’d be very unlucky if your cabin froze.

I have a max/min thermometer in the cabin which recorded a low of -3 so had to put the heater on before my Meaco would work. Boat in water at Foxes. The cockpit shower which I hadn’t drained down was frozen solid but looks like i haven’t burst the head or mixer tap cartridge this time!