Baby, It’s Cold Outside

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Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
But the fire is so delightful.

I returned to the boat yesterday after a wonderful week in DC. Quite an experience to get off the Metro and meet my son who I last saw as a gawky adolescent in Maine just four months ago and to be greeted by a Congressional Staffer (well, Intern, but he looks and sounds ready for greater things). It made me feel like I had been away for five years.

I got back to the boat after a nightmare seven and a half hour drive that was only supposed to take three hours according to Google Maps. That part of DC - not so wonderful. I was just in time to bring the un-winterized systems back to life.

The thermometer I set out in the cockpit read 20 F. degrees when I looked out this morning and another on the cabin table read 64. That was encouraging for a boat that had been sitting stone cold all that time. The cockpit thermometer now reads 31 in the sun and it’s 73 on the cabin table so I feel like the Dickenson heater is standing by me well.

I walked down the dock this morning to a sight new to my cruising experience, an icicle hanging from the bilge pump discharge.



Buck420 put my tooth back together this morning and I’m ready to get underway except for the weather that looks like it will pin me down here until early next week. It will be interesting to see how winds predicted to be gale force will affect the heat situation. I may also get to experience another cruising first, snow on the deck. I’ve thought since I was young and foolish and dreaming about cruising someday that it would be cool to wake up to snowy decks. We’ll see how the dreams of youth match up to the reality of maturity.
 
Dec 1, 1999
2,391
Hunter 28.5 Chesapeake Bay
The Yanmar pic on the left was actually thawed out, pumped out, oiled up, and it started and ran!
 
Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
0630

26 F. outside this morning and 72 F. on the cabin table. As the stuff inside the boat has warmed up over the last day, the temperature differential has improved.

I turned the radiator part of the system off yesterday but also rigged up a computer fan promote a bit more air circulation to even out the ceiling to floor stratification.

The wind hasn't started to blow yet.
 
Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
1229:

I was just sent this photo, taken this morning, of the friend's dock I plan to stop at on my way up the river. It came with the suggestion to not hurry.



It's 28 outside and 75 in the cabin now so I have no complaints other than the rising marina bill. I think the IMAX 3D Hobbit is in my future this afternoon.
 

elle

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Sep 13, 1996
112
Rhodes 22 Northern Neck of Virginia
Roger, You have 4-5 " of snow heading your way tonight.

Take photos!

elle
 

elle

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Sep 13, 1996
112
Rhodes 22 Northern Neck of Virginia
A recommendation

I think the IMAX 3D Hobbit is in my future this afternoon.[/QUOTE]

If the "Rocky Mountain Express" is playing at the IMAX, see it! It is stupendous!
 
Oct 17, 2011
2,808
Ericson 29 Southport..
I think the IMAX 3D Hobbit is in my future this afternoon.
If the "Rocky Mountain Express" is playing at the IMAX, see it! It is stupendous![/QUOTE]

That's not anything like "Broken Back Mountain" is it? ...
 
Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Roger, You have 4-5 " of snow heading your way tonight.
Nothing last night but there is an inch forecast for here for tonight. I do hope to see a little as I've dreamed of winter cruising since I was a child. Now that I'm old enough to know better (and then some) it will be nice to have just a little taste.

I forgot to turn the radiator back on last night so it was only 55 in the cabin when I woke up to 20 degree outside temperature this morning. Half an hour later, the cabin table is up to 72 with the circulation fan on and the radiator starting to warm up. My feet are a bit chilly but I haven't put any socks on yet so I can't complain.....

(Just put on the socks)

BTW if anyone wants to see what is keeping the boat so warm, the whole system is described here:

http://www.cruisingonstrider.us/10Winter.htm



Oh yes, I saw the IMAX 3D Hobbit sitting exactly in the center at the precise middle screen row in solitary splendor as the only person in the theater. Too bad it wasn't a better movie but I enjoyed the novelty of the experience as well as feeling like a monster dog had its jaws on each side of my head in some scenes. It was also nice not listening to other people talk and having them kicking my seat back.

The strangest part was having the hokey opening IMAX splash run and then black screen. After about five minutes, I went out in the lobby and told someone that the movie wasn't running. It took a while to find the projectionist who was evidently out for a break. He ran the splash clip again and the system crashed, twice. They asked if I minded waiting half an hour while they called IMAX because the system was displaying a message that security had been compromised.

I never did find out what the security warning meant but I did learn that the whole movie comes on a thumb drive no bigger than the ones you normally see but with a huge memory chip. Amazing. I then got to sit through the intelligence insulting opening sequence for a fourth time.
 

elle

.
Sep 13, 1996
112
Rhodes 22 Northern Neck of Virginia
If the "Rocky Mountain Express" is playing at the IMAX, see it! It is stupendous!
That's not anything like "Broken Back Mountain" is it? ...[/QUOTE]


No, Chris. You can go to this one w/out a worry...;^)

It is the story of building the TransCanada Railway. The helicopter shots are thrilling; this is by far the best IMAX I have ever seen.

(Do sit up near the top if you're prone to motion disturbance...;^)
 
Oct 25, 2011
576
Island Packet IP31 Lake St. Louis, Montreal
I may also get to experience another cruising first, snow on the deck. I’ve thought since I was young and foolish and dreaming about cruising someday that it would be cool to wake up to snowy decks. We’ll see how the dreams of youth match up to the reality of maturity.

That reminds me of a weekend quite a few years ago. My daughter and I were anchored, in mid October, in the usual anchorage on our lake, here in Montreal. it was pretty cold outside, just a few degrees above freezing. We had the Froce 10 solid fuel stove going nicely keeping the cabin comfy and warm when we were hit by a snow squall. By the time it was done the deck was white but we were warm and snug in the boat.

That night is still a highlight for me.

Matt
 
Dec 8, 2006
1,085
Oday 26 Starr, SC
Travel time by car

It was said, "I got back to the boat after
a nightmare seven and a half hour drive
that was only supposed to take three
hours according to Google Maps."

So you used I-95? Did you see snails
pass you?

Ed K
 

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elle

.
Sep 13, 1996
112
Rhodes 22 Northern Neck of Virginia
It was said, "I got back to the boat after
a nightmare seven and a half hour drive
that was only supposed to take three
hours according to Google Maps."

So you used I-95? Did you see snails
pass you?

Ed K
Roger, I meant to ask you about that....Google doesn't take into account trafffic....seven and a half sounds is a bit long but in the ballpark depending on traffic both in Wash area & Hampton Roads.
 
Jan 10, 2009
590
PDQ 32 Deale, MD
The cold never really bothers me, though I begin to long for spring. What gets me is the frost on deck in the morning. There's just no good solution, other than taking the time to cook breakfast and hope the sun is bright.

And then if there is a breeze the ice on deck can be a nightmare. You can ice a roller furler drum, which can be a cute pickle. I try to stick to light winds in the winter for these reasons.
 
Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Did you see snails pass you?
No, but I kept an eye on the GPS and I literally could have walked alongside the car from where it began to Tysons Corner. After that, a bike would have easily passed everyone until Manassas.
 

elle

.
Sep 13, 1996
112
Rhodes 22 Northern Neck of Virginia
No, but I kept an eye on the GPS and I literally could have walked alongside the car from where it began to Tysons Corner. After that, a bike would have easily passed everyone until Manassas.
Sounds as if you were on I-66. It is a parking lot between Vienna & Gainesville.

elle
 
Nov 22, 2008
3,562
Endeavour 32 Portland, Maine
Sounds as if you were on I-66. It is a parking lot between Vienna & Gainesville.
No, I-95. Someone decided that the day everyone was going home from the inauguration would be a good day to close two lanes. Maybe they figured that no one from the red state direction would be attending or maybe it was payback. Most likely it was the utter cluelessness that infects all levels of government.
 
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