WINTERLUDE 2015

I finally got down to the boatyard yesterday to check on the boat. I had been in the Caribbean most of January. Most of it cruising on a 43 foot Catamaran in the U.S. and Spanish Virgin Islands. The idea was to miss most of the harshest part of winter. Then come back at the end of January. February would be a short month and then spring begins in March. The plan did not quite work out. I got back the day before a blizzard dumped two feet of snow here on the Isle of Long.  Much of that snow is still on the ground along with snow from smaller storms and frigid temperatures. Yesterday looked like it would be the last day where the temperature would be over 30 degrees Fahrenheit for over a week. So I bundled up and headed to the boatyard. It was a slippery walk on icy drifts to get to the boat  but, I luckily I did not slip and fall.

So far so good.

There was a little less snow under and around the boat.

But, the cockpit still had the remains of the Blizzard from two weeks ago. The deck was very icy and I had to be very careful I did not slip on the frozen surface as I stepped into the cockpit. Entering the cabin things looked as I left it over a month ago. But when I checked the bilge:

I found it half way filled and frozen solid into one big block of ice. Probably as a result of blowing snow during the blizzard finding it's way under the cockpit lockers and melting into the bilge. Where recent Arctic temperature blasts refroze it:

I also found the bilge pump fuse had blown. Replacing it would not help at this point since the bilge pump is also frozen into the ice. Not much to do except pour a half gallon of antifreeze on top of the ice:

When the temperature moderates the ice will melt and hopefully the antifreeze will prevent it from refreezing. More Arctic blasts are expected in the next week though. So it will be awhile before it melts. I just hope I don't have to wait until Spring for it to melt.