The Blue View - All Iced In

Now that our big blizzard has passed, there is a prediction of sub-freezing temperatures for the next several days here in Chesapeake, VA, and we were starting to worry about the river freezing. There is no current, it's not very brackish, and we've already seen some skim ice. Will it freeze solid? If so, will the ice damage Nine of Cups? What happens when a barge goes by – will it push the ice into Cups? I remember well, the story of Shackleton's expedition, and how his ship was crushed after becoming trapped in the ice.

We have always managed to sail the high latitudes only during the warmer months and to find more temperate climates during the winter months. Thus, we are truly neophytes when it comes to living aboard in prolonged freezing temperatures. We thought we would be far enough south to avoid a hard freeze, but I'd say we were wrong. Time to do some research.

After searching through a dozen or so forums and checking the recommendations of Boat U.S., the general consensus is that boats usually come to no harm from being frozen in. Several yachties recommend using bubblers or water agitators to keep ice from forming against the hull. On the other hand, several seemingly sane, knowledgeable captains claim they have wintered over in northern Europe and Scandinavia frozen hard in the ice, and their boats did just fine.

There were a few caveats and exceptions, however. Although there was some disagreement, most yachties didn't think motoring through the ice was a good idea, especially with a fiberglass boat. One skipper, who seemed to have a lot of experience, said that he's motored through 2-3 inches (50-75mm) of ice on more than one occasion with no damage other than rubbing off most of the anti-fouling paint along the waterline. Not to worry... unless the wharf is on fire or there is some other major emergency, I can't see us going anywhere until well after the ice is all gone.

Another seemingly knowledgeable captain brought up the possibility of water freezing inside an underwater thru-hull fitting. As the water freezes and expands, it could crack or break the thru-hull, causing a significant leak. On Cups, most of thru-hulls are well below the waterline. Unless the water freezes to a depth of 1 foot (30cm) or more, there is no chance of any of them freezing. We do have three thru-hulls located right at or slightly above the waterline, however. While I think it unlikely that these will become a problem, I will be checking them.

A third potential problem is ice being blown or pushed into us. Although the barge traffic has stopped since the blizzard began, I wonder whether it might be problem when they start running again. I can't imagine there will be enough ice pushed into us to be a threat to Cups, but it may be enough to scratch or gouge our new paint job.

I've read that, in some parts of the world, floats made of hardy reeds are placed around the boat to protect them from floating ice. Another solution I came across is to nail a band of copper sheathing around the boat's waterline. Neither seems very practical for us – guess we'll just take our chances.

P.S. It's now a couple of days since I wrote this blog, and sure enough, we have 1-2 inches of ice surrounding Cups. I've been using a length of 2x4 to break through the ice along the hull (see the video below). I don't know whether it helps or not, but I can't imagine it hurts... plus I didn't have to do my Tabata exercises today.

Fortunately, the weather is warming up tomorrow. Just in time too ... it was almost time to start checking the price of ice skates and snowshoes on Amazon.

Weekend in the Freezer

Oh, my, it's been cold in Virginia! Even with the heaters going, it's mighty chilly aboard Nine of Cups. Climbing out of our bunk in the morning has been painful. Worse is the early morning, bone-chilling trip up the wharf. Ice crystals glisten on the wooden planks and provide an unduly amount of slip and slide as we tenuously walk the 800 steps to the toilet block and back. I'm always afraid I'll slip right off the wharf and into the river. I've located the ladders for climbing back onto the wharf, just in case. The Elizabeth River, the part of the ICW on which we're located, has a layer of skim ice on it. No skating yet, but if the cold persists, it might be an option. Actually, we're told there's rarely a solid freeze on the river. The water is slightly brackish and the constant traffic of barges, tugs and boats keeps the water churning a bit.

Because it's colder outside than inside, there is condensation on the hull which I refer to as “drool”. If we push our bunk pillows too close to the hull, they get wet and subsequently freeze to the hull. The portlights drip and dribble. The socks in which we keep our wine bottles are a bit soggy. The wine is safe and definitely cool, however.

Winter Storm Helena (they name them now!) blew in with a vengeance over this past weekend. Blizzard warnings were in effect and Virginia's Governor declared a State of Emergency in anticipation of heavy snowfall, gusty winds and white-out conditions. The “chilly” moments I described previously and the “skim ice” on the river has now intensified.

Cups has had some morning frost on her hatches and ports lately, however on Saturday, we woke to the much-anticipated snowstorm. We've stuck an outside thermometer on one of the portlights and though it's warmed a bit by the interior heat, it showed temps in the 20s and later in the low teens. Brrr and more brrr! There was so much snow, we could no longer see out the ports!

The usually temperate mid-Atlantic Virginia climate has become an ice box with the raging blizzard depositing nearly a foot of snow on Cups' deck. Throughout the night, we could hear the ice groan and Cups respond in protest with creaks and groans of her own. And here we are ... without a shovel!!! David has worked with a broom to clear off the bimini and solar panels.

After a gray, snowy day on Saturday, Sunday morning dawned brightly with a temp of 17F outside and 50F in the cabin. Are we complaining? Not really.

In truth, it's just one more adventure. No worries. Temps are supposed to climb in the next day or two.

By the way, if you've never watched the BBC series “Life in the Freezer” narrated by David Attenborough, it's a fascinating, highly entertaining documentary on life in Antarctica … somewhat akin to life aboard Nine of Cups at the moment ... less the penguins.

The Blue View- Carpe Compedem (Seize the Shackle)

The topic of this week’s Blue View is how to seize a shackle. (Okay – maybe I took a few liberties with my very bad, very rusty Latin). Seizing a shackle prevents the shackle pin from working loose, and on Nine of Cups, we seize most of our shackles. Any shackle that will be in place any length of time, any that are hard to get to or inspect, and any that would result in injury or catastrophic damage if they came loose, are routinely seized.

Depending on the shackle size, I use 8-12 inches (20-30 cm) of .032” (.9mm) monel seizing wire. Monel is a lot more expensive than stainless safety wire, but I prefer it, and a 33’ (10m) roll lasts me a year or two. There are special tools available for twisting the wire, but I find pliers and heavy wire cutters work fine.

The technique I use is shown in the illustrations below.

There are a couple of caveats.

• If the wire is twisted too tightly, it will break (duh). If and when it does, the only recourse is to remove the broken wire and start again.
• Make sure the ends are clipped close to the twists and tucked tightly against the shackle body to prevent it from snagging on a line - or a body part.

When the seizing is to be removed, I grasp the twists with pliers and work the wire back and forth a half dozen times or so until the monel fatigues and breaks. The remaining wire wraps are then quite easy to remove.