Water Ballast, southern sailors

[Jim Covey]

Here in Tulsa it doesn't usually get too cold in the winter but we've had a couple of weeks of below freezing weather. I just thought I'd pass on what I've learned now regarding the water ballast in my H26. This is the 1st year we've left the boat in the water past December so I was worried about the ballast tank when we had lows in teens and highs in the low 20's for about 2 weeks straight, went to the boat yesterday and found there wasn't even any skim ice in the ballast tank, the lake only has a little ice in the shallows near the shore. So, it seems that as long as the lake doesn't freeze the ballast should be OK. The worst part was walking the frozen dock to the boat without falling in. I also tried for the first time blowing some of the ballast out with a 1/2 HP shop vac. This seemed to work fine, I checked with a wooden dowel afterwards and found the tank is about 18" deep at the vent hole and I lowered the water level to about 9". If the seal is good on the tank valve it should stay that way and provide expansion room if things do get colder.Sorry for the long post, just thought maybe this might help some folks.Happy holidays,Jim s/v Wampeter

 

[Gus Elia]

Interesting Test

You started an interesting test. How about monitoring the leakage (if any in the valve) for the rest of us? Let us know how long it takes for the level to come back up inside the ballast tank. There probably is some leakage there, but how much would be interesting to know.

 

[Mark Cooper]

Making me feel better

My 240 is sitting in the water on Lake Texoma and I haven't had a chance to visit her since all the ice and stuff. The good thing is, it doesn't stay below freezing very long. Sometimes just at night.Thanks for making me feel better.

 

[Mary Connaughton]

Tulsa Sailor, too

What lake are you at? My 26' is at Ft. Gibson. I checked on it last weekend, also braving the icy docks. Nothing on the boat was frozen, even the pop and water in the galley was OK. Have you had your boat very long? This is my first winter with the boat and I admit I do worry about it covered with ice from this storm.

 

[Jim Covey]

Mary...

Mary,I'm on Ft. Gibson also at the Tsa La Gi yacht club. E-mail me and we can chat about the boats.Jim Coveyjcovey@geotec.nets/v Wampeter

 

[Ken Shubert]

DAMAGE?

All these many posts about WB freezing and I've not seen a single horror story about freeze damage. My decks were ice covered when I retrieved the boat this fall but there was no problem with the ballast. It's hell trying to step the mast on an icy deck. The temperature had dipped into the teens a few times but the lake temperature is the key. Why do I procrastinate so long?KenS/V Wouff Hong