Les and John’s 2019 EXTREME Winter Cruise

Now that's what I call Frost Biting! Haven't had to shovel snow out of a boat since I was a kid.

 

Les, what do you have for a furnace and how is it doing in the conditions. I am also wondering how your batteries are holding up. I am looking forward to seeing how my new hydronic system will do in cold weather. I should have plenty of capacity with 17000 BTU but will need to see have to see how I do on 12v. Do you have a generator for charging or do you depend on the engine/alternator?

 

Sending Ward out with the PNW blower after he finishes his hot choc.

 

We will give the crew some vittles and send him out to clear the deck. So says the Captain. Ward having the experience and likely the bearer of this unusual snow from NJ. Promptly volunteered. Could he be angling for an extra portion. “Please sir may I have some more”.

So the boat churns onward through the slush.

 

@Hayden Watson the furnace is a Planar. Batteries less than a yr old 470AH, on a medium setting it looked like 0.5A for the furnace, frig is 6A but still woke up at 68% this AM. It also likes fuel. Hard to say but somewhere between 2.5 and 4 gal/day. Teens and low 20’s. Sucks a lot of heat out of an uninsulated boat.

I have a Honda 2000 but haven’t broken it out yet.

 

Are y’all NUTS?

 

Thanks. Battery capacity is my biggest problem because the C30 only has room for 2 group 27 or one 4D which gives me a total capacity of only 200 amps (140-amp useable @ 30% SOC on my lifelines)

 

Any self respecting frog would be hibernating in this weather.

 

If the water under the hull is not hard, the sailing is fine! When I first moved to Oak Harbor I made a comment about the great sailing weather for the first race of the Frostbite Series continuing for the full series. Another skipper gave me a quote that I have lived by ever since. "There is no such thing as bad sailing weather, just inappropriate sailing clothing."
I took that to heart and got a very good set of foulies and greatly enjoy winter sailing.

 

I like cold-weather sailing, too. But dang.

 

Good clothing and a furnace and hot food and beverages down below. What more can you ask for. Of course I was forgetting that frogs are cold-blooded!

 

That anchor was there last year. What are the chances that it was left there from last year. ha ha

 

Kermie it’s sll about extending the season. And a bit of crazy. Perhaps a bit too much beer - “We could sail up to Vancouver for the boat show. It will be 3 boat shows in one season. “ “ yeah but that will be February?” “ we’re not wimps. Besides will give us a chance to really test the dry suits. “ “Lets do it. “
Not sure if it was Les or me that started the idea. But we’re having a kick.

 

And good friends to make good future stories to tell. "I remember back in the winter of 2019 . . . "

 

No school again. Sheesh, summer gone before it gets here. Now just waiting for the next batch of snow due this afternoon. Temp currently 30.

 

And we will all watch the snow totals grow. Today it is six inches and 20 knots of wind. In a couple of years it will six feet of snow and gale force winds. And that anchor will be 150 KG.

 

Very pleased with the Wallas 40D performance. Fuel consumption 6.8-13.6 oz/h. Electricity consumption: 1.0-3.9 A. Usually a mid setting of 3 during the day keeps the boat comfortable even in these winter conditions. Will turn it down to 1 when turning in just to keep the chill at bay.

 

They're on the move again! Just entered Navy Channel. Missed the ferries yet again.

 

The benefit of having an AIS.

 

They don't have Stus MAGNETIC personality