Ice!

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watson1959

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Blimey! Just popped down to check on the boat as I've been away..... T&k is lightly frozen already and the real cold hasn't hit yet!!

Guess it could be a long winter...
 
Coming soon to a marina near you!

ice_skating.jpg
 
Yep.......if we cant move the boats we may as well make use of the river like this :D

I recall being in Quebec City the winter of 80-81 when the St Lawrence Seaway was frozen solid......2m thick...with icebreakers keeping a shipping lane open.

The tributaries were frozen solid and apart from the obvious skating there was skidoo and 4x4 racing on the ice.

Never the wrong weather......just the wrong attitude :D
 
watson1959 said:
Yep.......if we cant move the boats we may as well make use of the river like this :D

I recall being in Quebec City the winter of 80-81 when the St Lawrence Seaway was frozen solid......2m thick...with icebreakers keeping a shipping lane open.

The tributaries were frozen solid and apart from the obvious skating there was skidoo and 4x4 racing on the ice.

Never the wrong weather......just the wrong attitude :D
Click to expand...

Oi! Stop being cheerful; it's winter and our right to be miserable:(
 
I had a very close call today and nearly landed in the river after slipping on the icy surface!

If people must buy boats in winter :D

That picture reminds me of Sweden......
 
boatone said:
Sadly, a boater drowned at Chertsey a couple of weeks ago.
PLEASE PLEASE guys and gals do take care and don't take risks.
I am not going down to the boat now unless someone else is with me.
Click to expand...

Heard about that from a good friend of the guy who lost his life. Very sad.

Have to say the guys at Penton have been outstanding. Not only salted the pontoons and ramps but gritted them too - and the pathways. Top marks.
 
boatone said:
Sadly, a boater drowned at Chertsey a couple of weeks ago.
PLEASE PLEASE guys and gals do take care and don't take risks.
I am not going down to the boat now unless someone else is with me.
Click to expand...

I sliped of the swim platform down at T&K 6 years ago this time of year due to ice ,Smashed me Knee on the outdrive on the way in and managed to catch myself on swim platform so only lower [below belly buttonish] of me was in the water....just gone 4 getting dark fast no one around lights in the office off s$%t that was scarry .
Takes all your strength straight away and had me thinking of swimming for one of the pontoon ladders even though i couldnt remember exactly where they were as i couldnt pull myself up [it really does make you weak as a kitten ...the cold ] anyways only then did i realise the bumpy thing under my arm was the telescopic swim platform ladder....cold again making me forget and nearly make a very bad choice .....anyways i dropped ladder and got out big gash in my Knee and cold to the core ...got driven home by swimbo starkers down below with a coat covering my modesty.....explain that if we got stopped by the old bill!!! .
I cannot overstate the feeling of shock/cold/dissorientation when you go in .
That was a very lonely place for a couple of minutes i can tell you ,i treat wet/icy pontoons/decks/swim platforms with far more respect now....best adviice given by above poster is dont go down on your own if poss and if you dont need to dont go at all in icy weather Steve
 
I agree it's best not to be there, I need to be out for work. I have taken to wearing my lifejacket when I am walking around for safety. Often I am by myself and marinas this time of year are empty especially during the week.

It's so easy to slip and make a dangerous mistake, sad to hear yet another boater drowned at Chertsey.

sturmvogel190a thanks for your story and lovely pictures!
 
Guys

Thanks for this thread. I don't own a life jacket. I know, I know. My boat is at the end of a field and often I am the only person for miles and it's dark. My boat is tiny and the only way, (for the first person), aboard is to balance near the transom and open the canopy poppers. In the slippery dark.

I'm going to order a life jacket today.

Thanks.


P.S. great dog pics!
 
Last edited:
Moxon said:
Guys

Thanks for this thread. I don't own a life jacket. I know, I know. My boat is at the end of a field and often I am the only person for miles and it's dark. My boat is tiny and the only way, (for the first person), aboard is to balance near the transom and open the canopy poppers. In the slippery dark.

I'm going to order a life jacket today.

Thanks.


P.S. great dog pics!
Click to expand...

Moxon that is exactly how i went in but it was actually in the act of doing up the poppers of the canopy to leave the boat turned round on the swim platform and next thing i knew i was all wet .
As an asside i keep a spare fleece tracksuit bottom and top in my motor at all times as my other passion is fishing and have got wet there to and having dry clothes to put on is a godsend .....get the auto inflate life jacket......Steve
 
Whilst the lifejacket will help you stay afloat it won't help you actually get out of the water. Following taking an unscheduled dip earlier this year I realised just how difficult that can be, even with people around to help.
Boat topsides are well above water level and even a bathing platform is of little help unless a ladder extends below the surface. I have a Plastimo stainless telescopic ladder waiting to be fitted when I next lift out.
Many of us guys are well overweight and swmbo's usually haven't got the strength to help us out.
 
boatone said:
Whilst the lifejacket will help you stay afloat it won't help you actually get out of the water. Following taking an unscheduled dip earlier this year I realised just how difficult that can be, even with people around to help.
Boat topsides are well above water level and even a bathing platform is of little help unless a ladder extends below the surface. I have a Plastimo stainless telescopic ladder waiting to be fitted when I next lift out.
Many of us guys are well overweight and swmbo's usually haven't got the strength to help us out.
Click to expand...

Without exagerating if it hadnt been for the telescopic ladder dont think i would have got out ,We have a rope emergency one for the NB but its next to useless as if deployed at the stern end it dissapears under the swim of the boat as soon as you put your foot into the bottom rung...... trie it in the summer...going to have to rig up a rigid one methinks .
Boatone that ladder may well be the best boaty thing you have ever bought .
Moxon that looks fine to me ,there is a guy moored on our island who is an instructor on the Fire safety boat and he says that with a lifejacket on even in winter with the body shutting itself down if the get you out ie you had a LF on then you can be brought back even after a while in the cold without one its minutes before your muscles just wont work anymore ,She is a killer esp in the winter
 
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