Winterizing scuppers

[Skipper]

Howdy,
Have a Bristol 29.9. This is my first winter with this boat.

The 2 cockpit drains are at the front of the cockpit, and drain though separate hoses to thru-hulls in the engine bay.

The thru-hulls are a few inches below the waterline, which means they likely have water in them. If i close them and add antifreeze at the drain top, then rainwater will fill the cockpit and eventually enter the cabin. If I leave them open, they might freeze, bust the hose(s), and sink the boat.

I can of course see the lesser of 2 evils. However, anyone with this type of setup, please advise.

Thanks

 

[Ed Schenck]

Your dilemma is one reason that I cover the boat. I too worry about water sitting in the scupper hoses.

 

[Ross]

Are you leaving the boat in the water? It is rare for the water in the harbor to freeze in Annapolis. How far below the water line are the thru hulls? The harbor water will have to freeze solid that deep to freeze in the thru hulls.

 

[Bill Roosa]

totally agree with Ross. Even if the harbor does freeze the bubblers will hold back the frozen water. and even if you don't have bubblers the wave action of the boat in an ice cacoon pumps the warmer water farther down up around the hull. I've seen it freeze once in 7 years now hard enough to walk on and the bubblers held the ice at bay nicely.
so what seems to be needed is a bubbler (prop on a submersable electric motor)(don't ask why they are called bubblers cause I don't know)

 

[Bill Roosa]

Or fill the scuppers with anti and plug them at the top. Put a bilge pump in the cockpit with output overboard.

 

[arf145]

We're in your general area and the couple of years I've left the boat in the water I haven't done a thing to the cockpit scuppers but make sure they aren't clogged. Haven't seen any damage, and the marina water did freeze up for a week or two.

 

[Ross]

But how deeply did it freeze?. A problem of more concern should be snow and ice blocking the inlets like a stopper in the kitchen sink .

 

[JohnS]

But how deeply did it freeze?. A problem of more concern should be snow and ice blocking the inlets like a stopper in the kitchen sink .

Many years ago I had this happen to me. I had an International Tempest 25 tied up to a friend's dock. One midwinter day I got a phone call informing me I was now the proud owner of a submarine. When I arrived the following weekend, I found my mast sticking out through 3 inches of solid ice. A heavy storm of freezing rain clogged the scuppers and filled the large cockpit. It was cold unpleasant work refloating her. We used an axe to bust up the ice and a high volume Briggs & Stratton powered water pump to empty her while we pulled on the dock lines.

 

[Skipper]

Thanks

Thank you,

I guess I'll just keep an eye on the weather.

 

[Warren Milberg]

I've kept a boat in Deale, about 20 miles south of Annapolis, for many years. I haul every year (which I did yesterday). The harbor there does freeze pretty solid now and then. I have no idea, and don't want to find out, just how deep the harbor ice can get. While the idea of putting a bilge pump in the cockpit, or depending on a bubbler to keep ice at bay (no pun there), seems like a workable solution, I have seen the electric power get knocked off, or be turned off by the marina, when you may need it most: during a severe ice or snow storm. While many people keep their boats in the water here over the winter, and most report no damage, to me it's a false economy to do so as you are really playing Russian Roulette with what is probably an expensive boat.

 

[Dan Johnson]

Another thought...

Assuming that, being in the water, you have access to electricity from the dock: go to a home center and purchase one or more of the pipe-wrap heater lines that many mobile home and shore houses use to keep their pipes from freezing and use them to wrap the thru-hulls you're concerned about.

Warren is correct about power loss at the worst time, however. Where I am at the top of the Bay, a storm can knock out power where my marina is located for a day or so, sometimes longer. It's a risk you need to evaluate. Check with your insurance company to see if you're covered.

 

[Ross]

Re: Another thought...

I bet you will sleep better on very cold stormy nights if the boat is docked on the hard.

 

[Gunni]

Every year we lose a bay sailor from an ice/snow covered dock or deck as they check on their boats, and slip into the water. I'm not convinced it is just cold water that took the old hand in our marina. I suspect there is enough stray current in there to tazer a bull. If you leave her in, take a buddy when you go down, and have a plan. I wouldn't leave a self-bailing boat in the water on the Bay.

 

[Bill Roosa]

This should be in everybodies list of things I don't want on my next boat.
Ross has it right, the thickness of the ice and the depth of the thru-hull are important things to understand. If the ice is only an inch thick then your 1 foot down thru-hull is going to be ok. The water in the hose on the boat side might burst the hose on the inside of the boat but the thru-hull is closed so this is not much of a problem till you want to use the boat.
If you connect the bilge pump in the cockpit to the boat batts and keep the battery charger on you get a solution for the power going out at the marina during a storm. Once the power comes back on the bats will charge right back up and in the mean time the bilge pump keeps working.

 

[Ross]

Not likely to split a healthy rubber hose with ice. Too much stretch.

 

[Gunni]

Don't assume that the danger is the through-hull. A guy sunk his boat at HHN last winter when his scupper hose spllit inside the boat and his cockpit/deck funneled several thousand gallons into the bilge.

 

[arf145]

Regarding depth of ice...I've seen it be maybe 1 inch thick at most on Rockhold Creek in Deale, and that only for two or three weeks. I should say that my scuppers drain above the water line, and my main concern was making sure they were clear and would drain the cockpit. So, yes, watch the weather. Yes, check on your boat as frequently as you can, make sure your cockpit is clear, and assure her that spring is on the way.

 

[Maine Sail]

Our boat came out late this year and is still not yet covered, but will be by tomorrow night. While in the yard next to the house we had 4" of wet heavy snow and the scuppers plugged and froze during the melting process. Luckily I was able to pour some AF in there and free it up. The cocpit had about 2" of water in it and no draining and these are large diameter scupper drains & hoses....

Cover your cockpit at the least, if you don't want frozen scuppers... They often freeze well above the waterline. Just because the water may not freeze does not mean the hoses won't..

 

[shemandr]

Every year we lose a bay sailor from an ice/snow covered dock or deck as they check on their boats, and slip into the water.

A buddy of mine took a cold water dip from slipping off his dock while checking on his boat last winter. It wasn't very deep but getting out of the water over the snow/ice bound shore was really hard. It could easily have been ball-game-ous.
The boat was fine.

 

[higgs]

There is something to be said for those of us who HAVE to pull our boats out over the winter. It is shrink wrapped and there isn't much to worry about until spring.