winter sailing

[tom h]

Last year, due to economic reason's, I thought I would keep my boat in the water all year. Turns out, the Lake never froze, at least around here. Yesterday I wondered, how do you sail a boat all winter? Assuming you take it out for a sail every so often, would have problems winterizing the motor? (iti s not a closed system). And what happens to all the through hulls? If you close them, and it freezes, assuming you have cabin heat, what happens? Probably nothing, but the boat did come with electric wires to wrap around the through hulss.I assume, if you keep the interior heated all winter and that should eliminate all the problems. Anyone ever keep a boat with a inboard motor in the water thrugh freezing times?

 

[tom]

Don't Know About Freezing

I've never had significant ice form around my boat. Had some ice and snow in the cockpit that had to be removed to go sailing. At that time I had an outboard and it took some effort to get it started. Winter sailing is probably the best sailing. E=MV squared and cold air weighs more so for a given airspeed you can get more boatspeed. You can really notice the effect of colder air in a small airplane. My main caution about winter sailing is hypothermia. Falling overboard wearing a PFD is usually not a life threatening event in a lake. But during the winter you could die. Winter in Alabama means a lot more birds. It is common to see eagles and sandhill cranes around Wheeler Lake during the winter. But what I like best is the relative solitude of winter sailing. We have been out all day many times without seeing another boat.

 

[Phil]

Burr

You would winterize the boat as normal and close all thru hulls. When you want to sail you would open the motor intake and when you return you rewinterize the fresh water side of the motor coolong system. The rest of the thur hulls stay closed. Drink bottled water and pee in a bucket. Thats it.