WINTERLUDE 2016 PART TWO

Having spent most of January cruising in the Caribbean I was lucky enough to miss JONAS the named blizzard that hit the area. Luckily there was no Arctic freeze following the storm and temperatures rose melting much of the snow before I returned.   So unlike last winter I was easily able to get down to the boatyard and check on BIANKA and see how she fared while I was away.
The deck cockpit and the deck on the south facing side had very little snow on them. The Solar Bimini where I had not yet reinforced the Lexan center piece had collapsed on one edge dumping some snow into the corner of the cockpit.

Something I will take care of once things warm up. For now I re positioned it back and slide a temporary brace underneath it. The deck area on the northern side of the boat still had about two inches of slushy snow and ice. I thought there would be more snow and bought a plastic folding shovel along to help remove it:

 I got this folding plastic shovel many years ago as a Christmas present. It's made for carrying in the car. But, I found a better use for it on board to help remove any snow and ice on the deck that might linger over the winter. It's small enough for the deck area and it being plastic does not mar the deck.

The cover over the mast partners was still secure so it was time to see how things were in the cabin. I looked in the bilge and there was a little bit of water in the bilge. Not surprising since the boat had been through a major Blizzard two weeks before.

I used my two gallon wet/dry vacuum to suck the water out and splashed some more antifreeze into the bilge:

 This should help keep things unfrozen until I can once again check on things in another week or so. I did find one item that gave up the ghost from the last time I used it last winter. That was the small ceramic cube electric heater:

It was still putting out heat but, the fan was not working. It was on BIANKA when I bought her in 1995 and was working last winter helping to keep me warm while working on board. Though I guess twenty plus years is a pretty good run. I'll probably buy a replacement for the next visit.

FROM THE USE WHAT YOU GOT FILE: MELTING THE ICE

Last season I bought an Angle Clamp that I planned to use to repair some joinery on board. The winter did not allow for any work on board. Though a blizzard blew enough snow through the cockpit hatches to fill the bilge with ice:

When the temperature finally reached the mid 50 degree range I was hoping that some of this ice would have melted a bit so I could start to remove it. Unfortunately, it was still a pretty solid block of ice, I took out the heat gun and tried to start melting  some of it. It did start to melt but, holding the heat gun for any length of time was tiring. So I looked around to see if I could use something that would hold the heat gun while I used a wet dry vac to start removing the melted water. The Angle Clamp looked promising:


I clamped the handle of the Heat Gun in the clamp and laid the clamp across the bilge opening. It worked somewhat but the heat gun drooped and was not directed onto the top of the ice. Since the heat gun can cause damage to wood and fiberglass if the heat is directly applied to them I needed to make sure  I could direct the heat to the areas where the ice was prevalent.  Looking around I saw one of the fiberglass fishing wire poles I use to occasionally fish electrical wires on board. I placed it across the bilge opening and under the handle of the heat gun. It allowed me to perfectly direct the heat onto the top of the ice while removed the melting water:

It worked great. I managed to remove about twelve gallons of the melted ice water over the course of a few hours. ONE NOTE OF CAUTION: I would not leave the heat gun on while unattended and also make sure keep it away from any combustible parts of the boats structure. 

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

Another day with temperatures in the upper fifty degree Fahrenheit range. So I again went down to the boatyard to work on the boat. But, what a difference in the harbor from my Monday visit. Below a photo comparison of the view from the cockpit from Monday on the left to Wednesday on the right:

Things are definitely moving in the right direction.

SPRINGING AHEAD

With a temperature finally reaching the the mid 50 degree Fahrenheit range yesterday it was time again to get down to the boatyard. Unlike the last visit Long Island Sound was pretty clear except for a few patches of ice:

But, the harbor is still frozen over:

The good news I was able to pretty much get the last bits of the ice still remaining on the deck off of the boat:

Spring finally seems to be on the way and that means more time on the boat. Which is always a good thing.

AND IT SURE BEEN A COLD COLD WINTER

And it sure been a cold, cold winter

And the wind ain't been blowin' from the south

It's sure been a cold, cold winter

And a lotta love is all burned out

It sure been a hard, hard winter

My feet been draggin' 'cross the ground

And I hope it's gonna be a long hot summer

And a lotta love will be burnin' bright

Winter - Rolling Stones

Yep, that Rolling Stone song has captured this winter feeling for me. The bright spot of hope came in the mail when my mooring permit application came in for the upcoming season. Unfortunately, this required another trip to the boatyard to get some information off of the boat. I picked the warmest day when the high temperature was to be only 29 degrees F to slip slide my way to the boat. There was no wind this time which made it feel better than the visit last week. But, unlike last week I found the harbor had completely frozen over which does not happen too often:

Even the floating docks are frozen in place

The Harbor Master is not going anywhere these days:

The same for the Commercial Fishermen as the fleet is also frozen in place:

Hard to believe that spring is only a month away when I look out from the snow filled cockpit of the boat at the ice covered habor. But, I got the info I needed and put the mooring permit in the mail because the sailing season will arrive at some point. At least I hope so.

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.

DRINKS, DRUGS, DOCKS AND DEATH

I am occasionally reminded that boat owners do not have to be in the middle of a stormy ocean to die. Back in the mid nineties I was living aboard BIANKA at the Chelsea Piers docks on the west side of Manhattan. I worked in midtown and it allowed for an easy commute to work but, allowed me a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the city. Back then they closed down the marina in the winter. So I was only able to stay there from April to the beginning of December. I had a great time there living on board and a ten minute commute was an added perk since I was working long hours and had little time for enjoying the boat. But, at least I was on it everyday. Then today came this sobering story:

"Body discovered near Chelsea Piers that of missing fashion designer Michele Savoia
The body of Michele Savoia, 55, was fished from the water by NYPD divers near his yacht at Pier 59. The designer — whose client list included Robert DeNiro, Mickey Rourke and Chris Noth — likely slipped off a gangplank leading to the yacht after a night of partying, sources said."-DAILY NEWS

Just a little reminder that one should never let ones guard down just because your boat is tied to a dock. One wrong turn or slip could be your last. Add some type of altered state of mind due to booze or drugs and your chances of a tragic accident increase quite a bit.

One wrong turn is all it takes
and there ain't many signs -
you only get a few breaks.
Some get more. Some get less.
One wrong turn leads to the next.

Greg Brown

WINTERLUDE 2014

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The mooring permit arrived in the mail the other day. Despite the snow still on the ground I really had to get down to the boatyard to pick up some documentation for the application. Also because I had not been on the boat since late December I really wanted to make sure things were ok on board. We have had several winter storms during January and I had visions of an ice filled bilge or worse. In addition a Nor' Easter was expected the next day which would make getting to the boat even harder if not impossible. So for all of these reasons I put on some boots and headed to the boatyard.

Like Robbie the boatyard manager told me a few days before there was still some frozen snow drifts making for a difficult walk to the boat but, not too bad. I used the folding ladder like a crutch or walking stick to help break through the frozen drifts. Soon I was in sight of BIANKA:

There was no snow underneath the boats but, icy  foot and half drifts along the sides. My boats southern location help keep the snow to a minimum around the boat so I could unfold the ladder. But, before I did I noticed the three foot icicles hanging down from some of the cockpit and deck drains:

Yeah, it's been a cold winter with very little thawing in between storms.  I'm going to be doing a close inspection of the cockpit drain hoses when things warm up for sure.  Just to make sure the ice build up has not damaged them. Climbing up the ladder I saw first hand how much snow we have had compared to previous winters:

Somewhere under all that snow is the cabin top and deck. Looks like it was a tactical error not to cover the boat this year. Previous winters for the past ten years had been rather mild and any snow did not stick around for long. Especially with the harbor waters helping to moderate the winter temperatures.

The cockpit was partially filled with snow. The solar panels on one side of the solar bimini were covered as well from the snow of last week:

So I was expecting the worse as I went into the cabin I had not seen since late December. But, to my surprise I found only about an inch of water in the bilge despite all the snow that hit the area:

The water was still way below the bilge switch but, unfortunately because of the recent below normal single digit temperatures the water was frozen.

 So I added a little more spare Antifreeze to the bilge and hope to come back again soon to remove the water when things warm up a bit. I still was relieved to see how little water had actually ended up in the bilge in the month and a half since I was last on board. I also checked the cover over the mast partner area of the boat and it was secure and things were completely dry by the mast step:

Despite the solar panels having been partly covered by snow I was glad to see the batteries were still fully charged. Though I turned on both battery charges to make sure they would get a little top up too while I was on board. I also took out the small ceramic heater and fired it up:

Soon things were nice and toasty. I took off my boots and warmed the insides as well as my toes after trudging around in the 20 degree temperatures and snow drifts  to get to the boat. This little heater works very well to warm up the cabin on a cold winters day. I stayed on board about an hour. Picked up the paper work I needed. I took one last look at the winter view of the docks:

The  undisturbed snow on the dock makes it seem like spring is so far away.  But, after the snow storm last night temperatures reached up to 40 degrees fahrenheit this morning and started to melt much more of the snow. This gives me hope that my next trip to the boat will be a lot easier and warmer.  

LESSON LEARNED: WHAT DOES NOT WORK: ICE MAKER

As the sailing season ends here on the Isle of Long. It's time to look back at what worked and what did not. First up in the thumbs down column is this SPT ice maker:

:

These counter top sized units are available under several brand names. I bought this last year thinking this would be good for a cruising sailboat like BIANKA that had a Honda 2000i generator that could provide the 120 volts to run it. Here is what originally sold me on the idea from the product info:

1) It could make up to 25 lbs of ice per day

2) It makes it's first ice in about 12 minutes after turning it on.

Sounds good but, the reality is much different. First of all I try to minimize use of the Honda generator as much as possible. It is mostly used for charging the 48 and 12 volt battery banks. Even though I can run this ice maker at the same time usually the amount of ice produced is not that great with my usual generator run times. On the second point yes it does produce it's first ice cubes in about ten minutes or less. They are not that thick at first and melt quite rapidly. It takes a number of cycles before the ice cubes are really "boat drink" useful. I don't like to run the generator that long if I don't need too. But, if you are usually tied to a dock with grid power it might be practical but, for a cruising sailboat like mine that spends most of it's time at anchor or a mooring it is not that useful. That's why it no longer is on board BIANKA. A much more practical and efficient way to make ice on board is using my ENGEL refrigerator/freezer which I describe here.  I'll be using the ENGEL from now on for ice making on board because it works for my cruising needs while the counter top ice maker does not. 

IS THIS A COOL WORLD OR WHAT!

I keep my options open

My possibilites pure

Is this a cool world or what!

Karla Devito

 As I continue on the Birthday/Best summer of my life cruise. I thought I'd share the ongoing experiment I've been conducting on board. I've already posted about the Captain Mike "What works" award given to to the Engel refrigerator /freezer thats aboard. For this cruise I decided to change it's operation from just using it as a refrigerator to converting it to freezer operation. I am using a Coleman 48 quart cooler as the refrigerator for the perishables. Below is a photo of them in the cabin:

So far it seems to be working rather well. Though the Engel does draw down the battery bank overnight a half hour run of the Honda in the morning and evening brings things back up quickly. My two solar 75 watt solar panels also keeps things topped up all day. Each morning and evening I take two of the one one liter water bottles from the freezer and put them into the cooler swapping them with the bottles already there. So far this seems to be working well in keeping things cool. When I started the cruise I also had frozen several quarts of milk at home and put them in the freezer as well and moved them one at a time into the cooler to defrost. This helps keep the cooler cool and allows for and extend supply of milk on board.

As you can see above there is still room for more storage in the freezer. You will also see several portions of my homemade Pasta Bolognese in the freezer ready to be defrost in the same way. Mmmmmm, I'm getting hungry. Cool world indeed!

Why I don't sail here in winter

First saw this a few days ago on Craft a Craft. It's a video on Kontain.com. It's a time lapse of the recovery of U.S. Air Flight 1549 which crash landed in the Hudson River in New York City a little over a year ago. What I found interesting is that because of the ice you can really see the current and tidal change of the Hudson River which is a force the prudent sailor uses to his advantage. It also shows the power of ice and currents as it jostles and moves the airliner as it hits the tail. It also dramatically shows why I don't have a desire to sail these waters in winter.

Posted on Kontain.com - [Flight 1549] from David Martin on Vimeo.