Winter Sailing II

Jan 5, 2017
2,263
Beneteau First 38 Lyall Harbour Saturna Island
Not Fair! Ah well, in a couple of weeks Sun Gypsy will be back together and we can go sailing too.
 
Jan 8, 2015
360
MacGregor 26S, Goman Express 30 Kerr Reservoir
Do you need to get an ice report for that sail? Here is what a day sail on the Chesapeake looks like right now.
Do you use bubblers to keep the hull from freezing over there?
I sail year round here in Oklahoma and this is the first time in the three years that I've been here where the marina froze over.
 
Jan 11, 2017
68
Hunter 37c Kingston
There is a bubbler behind me but it is ineffectual. It is a large commercial unit but can't keep up. There is now a full 2 inches of ice around the boat, maybe more this morning, but with the tide rising and falling the ice doesn't really apply any pressure against the hull. There are a couple of us around Norfolk in different spots who are all being interrupted in our journeys by the ICW being frozen over. Fortunately for us we are at a marina so we have facilities and power. A couple of guys are frozen in out at anchorages and some tied up to bulkheads on seawalls.
Supposed to thaw for a week and then freeze again but nobody has any memories of these conditions so no-one will predict when the waterway will be passable. If a bubbler was on each side of our boat it might keep us clear but we don't have them. I know that up around Toronto, on Lake Ontario, people live aboard year round with them in place.
 
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Jan 11, 2017
68
Hunter 37c Kingston
I must say that little dragonfly is a beautiful thing. I don't think it would be good for Mexico without a few minor modifications. Great photo thank you.
 
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Jan 11, 2017
68
Hunter 37c Kingston
Jackdaw
Its not a pretty sight to see the wind blowing those shards up against that boat, but it looks like a great day for a cold sail. When I was younger maybe....
Thanks for the photo, there is nothing misery loves more than someone else's.
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
I must say that little dragonfly is a beautiful thing. I don't think it would be good for Mexico without a few minor modifications. Great photo thank you.
Sorry, didn't mean to mislead. That is a picture from the Maine Ice Boat organization. Dragonfly is an O'day mariner 19 that hasn't been fixed up to launch yet.

- Will (Dragonfly)
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Jackdaw
Its not a pretty sight to see the wind blowing those shards up against that boat, but it looks like a great day for a cold sail. When I was younger maybe....
Thanks for the photo, there is nothing misery loves more than someone else's.
Indeed. It was a day too far into the extending the season. The day before (Nov 23 a few years back) everything looked great for a final sail to the bar on the other side of Lake Minnetonka, a beer, followed by a pull-out. But when we got to the boat at 10AM, she was surrounded by 2.5 inches of ice. Suddenly the plan changed to simply being able to get her out of the water. You could stand on the ice while breaking it with an ice pick. After about an hour, a shift in the wind helped break it up even more, but is still did a nasty number on the bottom paint.
 
Jan 11, 2017
68
Hunter 37c Kingston
The latest storm blew all of the water out of the Chesapeake for a while. Every boat in the marina was hard aground. Not like it mattered.
I heard it was worse up at the top of the Bay. we have been sitting on our keel twice a day down here at the bottom as well but not so much as you. This huge wind driven variation is quite new to me so I didn't figure it out the first tide and was checking and rechecking tables. It is a lesson well learned though as I am told it is even more prevalent in the sounds south of me and desperately important when choosing an anchorage not just for protection from windage but also deep enough to account for the loss of as much as five feet of water.

 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
The latest storm blew all of the water out of the Chesapeake for a while. Every boat in the marina was hard aground. Not like it mattered.

I'm not familiar with that phenomenon. How interesting. Is that a localized air pressure thing or is wind really fully accountable for that? I suppose that makes it an air pressure thing.o_O
I mean, however, does the wind physically push the water out of the bay or is the bay in a local high pressure that "squeezes" the water out? Does this happen in the Summer too or only when Ice is present?
Also, is that your boat? Are you and that cabin cruiser owner the only ones who didn't dry store for the winter?

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
May 1, 2011
4,186
Pearson 37 Lusby MD
Will, we've had coastal flooding in the bay when hurricanes run up the East coast. Likewise, when we get a good nor'easter, we get very low tides. It's the action of the wind on the water.