MacGregorSailors.com

Hi Guys

we are having a spell of cold wether here,i know that its nothing in comparrison to what some of you guys experience but,will the snow and ice do any damage to the boat?

The prob is that the snow melts during the day and then freezes during the night.

The boat, it won't hurt anything. When it warms up, you might check the cockpit drain hose to make sure it's not damaged.

The motor? Is it winterized?
Fresh water pump? Is it drained and winterized?


--Russ

I have drained all of the water out of the motor after running it in fresh water,ditto for the pump.

I will check the drain from the sink to the outside.The river has not frozen so i assume that any ballast left in will still be liquid.

Matt,

Is Glissando still in the water at Peterborough? Don't want to rub it in but it was about 60 today off the gulf coast of Mississippi. I motored an hour out the Biloxi Back Bay out into the sound and sailed for about 4 hours with the dolphins all around me.

http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q17/ ... NY1834.flv

Did some good wing-on-wing coming back in.

http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q17/ ... NY1844.flv

Stay warm.

Cheers,
Jim

P.S. Happy Christmas and best wishes for a prosperous, healthy and happy New Year!

Freeze Thaw cycles can be a problem.. I recall a post here a few years ago. A Mac deck had a few small leaks. Over the winter the snow would build, thaw and penetrate the leak. As it would again freeze it would crack the fiberglass.

c130king wrote:Matt,

Is Glissando still in the water at Peterborough? Don't want to rub it in but it was about 60 today off the gulf coast of Mississippi. I motored an hour out the Biloxi Back Bay out into the sound and sailed for about 4 hours with the dolphins all around me.

http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q17/ ... NY1834.flv

Did some good wing-on-wing coming back in.

http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q17/ ... NY1844.flv

Stay warm.

Cheers,
Jim

P.S. Happy Christmas and best wishes for a prosperous, healthy and happy New Year!

merry xmas and a prosperpous healthy New Year to you too

Glissando is still in the water at Peterborough,ive brushed the snow off and there has been no new snowfall of any depth and the forecast is for a thaw over the next week.

nice video of the dolphins

John McDonough wrote:Freeze Thaw cycles can be a problem.. I recall a post here a few years ago. A Mac deck had a few small leaks. Over the winter the snow would build, thaw and penetrate the leak. As it would again freeze it would crack the fiberglass.

i had thought of that but looking inside there is no water in the bilge, also we dont get the seveer winters that you have over on your side of the pond

We are having a Cold Winter Spell here in Key West, and I need to know how to
protect my 26X "Waterbear" and its motor from low 70 degree temps.

One trip when we were in Florida at Disney World - we arrived at night and it was 70 and then when we got up in the morning we noticed that the fountain had steam coming off it. Overnight the Canadian deep freeze had arrived. We came prepared for nice weather. They sold out of sweat shirts and toques at disney world. We finally drove to Key West to get some warm weather for a couple of days. That was in about 1998 and was an interesting trip. We have been back a couple of times since and always picked a better time of year to get at least a comfortable 65+. We would only look at points further south at this time of year if we are looking for warm weather. Hope you enjoy, we are currently at -3 c which is still great for us at this time of year. Not great for sailing with an open cockpit and a little wind chill.

we have seen the thermometer drop to -9 celcius,most recent winters we have been unlucky to see -1 deg.The problem over here is that we are just not geared up for snow.

Hi There...

some one once told me to put a little antifreeze in the ballast tank to stop it freezing..however this isnt just a bad idea for the water when it gets into the river etc but also not needed. as long as the ballast tank isnt full and there is a gap to breath the water cant freeze enough to expand to anything where it could cause damage.

and if it is still in the water it wont freeze as its under the surface depth..

just make sure all pipes are empty and you angle the boat back a little (if on trailer) so that thawed water and rain will run through the drain hole..a little tip. roll a peice of chicken wire or similar into a tube shape and push into the drain hole leaving appox 6" proud, this will keep dead leaves etc from clogging the drain hole.

Apart from that there should be no probs.

Hope this is usefull..

Madguy

If you use antifreeze please use the kind based on propylene glycol, not ethylene glycol.

The latter kind tastes sweet to pets and they will drink it up, but it is quite toxic to them and will kill them.


Look on the label for pet-safe or verbiage like that.

I would think you could drop some rock salt into the ballast tank if freezing is a concern. As long as temps don't get too cold it would keep it from freezing solid.

--Russ

madguy wrote:...and if it is still in the water it wont freeze as its under the surface depth..

I wouldn't bank on this idea exclusively. While the bottom of the ballast chamber may be the ambient temp. of the (unfrozen) water beneath the surface, the top of the ballast chamber is the ambient temp. of the (unheated) airspace in the boat.

K9Kampers wrote:

madguy wrote:...and if it is still in the water it wont freeze as its under the surface depth..

I wouldn't bank on this idea exclusively. While the bottom of the ballast chamber may be the ambient temp. of the (unfrozen) water beneath the surface, the top of the ballast chamber is the ambient temp. of the (unheated) airspace in the boat.

Which is why i said "as long as the ballast tank isnt full and there is a gap to breath the water cant freeze enough to expand to anything where it could cause damage"

(If the tank was sealed and expelled air couldnt escape it would look for a path of least ressistance, ie: a weakness in the fibreglass or blowing the hull seals or air vent seals.)

if the top of the water in the ballast tank freezes as long as the ballast water isnt at the top of the tank it can expand upwards without obstruction leaving the sides intack. and with a gap to expand no damage will be done to the fibreglass.

Hope this makes sense..

Madguy