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We have frozen bits on the edge of the bay with the boat sitting on her mooring. Temps have been below freezing for a fortnight with lows of -7 at night.
Is the seawater in the raw water intake, impellor and heat exchanger likely to have frozen and if so should I worry about it?
It should be a bit warmer in the boat as the keel and most of the hull is sitting in relatively warmer water. It is possible for sea water to freeze at around -2c. Could you close off the inlet sea cock and get some anti freeze into the system? If not take off the feed hose and put it into a bucket with some anti freeze in it then run the engine for a bit to suck up the antifreeze. put the hose back on and leave it until warmer.
-8c here last night and still -3 right now.
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Haven't been out to the boat since the big freeze began. If it has happened it has already happened . . . I guess it is all a question of whether there is enough expansion room to not split anything. Fingers crossed.
Freshwater side is alright, as it has a 40% antifreeze mix in it.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news - but the weather for Oban for the next few days could get as low as -11degC (Metcheck). It's not going to get any better for the next two weeks either. A sustained period of near-freezing daytime temperatures and more snow.
I don't regard that forecast as bad news . . . this weather has been an absolute joy compared to the normal horizontal rain and gales, and the longer it continues the better really . . . if the heat exchanger is frozen it is frozen and it will have to be dealt with in the Spring, but on the other hand the skies are blue, the scenery is beautiful, the ground is frozen hard and we can walk everywhere in sensible shoes instead of boots/waders etc.
As for snow, bring it on - we are a little short here, with just a whitening - but my sister in law in Aberdeenshire has 14 inches.
Skipper was threatening to take me up to our local lake and launch 'Ruddy' my Mirror Dingy. I would need ice skates fitting as the lake is fresh water and is frozen. .
What fell before Christmas all melted - but it was lovely & frosty this morning. I'm glad in a way that I don't live on one of the canal boats - such as on the Huddersfield Narrow near us - they are frozen in & the cold air must collect in the cuttings and basins.
Nick wrote:.Is the seawater in the raw water intake, impellor and heat exchanger likely to have frozen and if so should I worry about it?
Yes. You do need to worry about it quite a lot. I once had to replace the intake hose between the seacock and the engine pump after the sea water froze.
When the thaw came, the expansion of the ice was too great for the hose which split. Fortunately the seacock was closed at the time, otherwise the boat would have gone down. Seriously.
Probably best to go down now and thoroughly check everything over before the Great Thaw comes.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news - but the weather for Oban for the next few days could get as low as -11degC (Metcheck). It's not going to get any better for the next two weeks either. A sustained period of near-freezing daytime temperatures and more snow.
Great, I'm away to sleep on the boat for a few days...... better bring my hot water bottle.
Nick wrote:.Is the seawater in the raw water intake, impellor and heat exchanger likely to have frozen and if so should I worry about it?
Yes. You do need to worry about it quite a lot. I once had to replace the intake hose between the seacock and the engine pump after the sea water froze.
When the thaw came, the expansion of the ice was too great for the hose which split. Fortunately the seacock was closed at the time, otherwise the boat would have gone down. Seriously.
Probably best to go down now and thoroughly check everything over before the Great Thaw comes.
Seacock is closed so not worried about that, more worried about possible damage to the heat exchanger as that is an expensive bit - we can just about afford a bit of rubber hose.
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We have now had temperatures below freezing pretty much continuously for 23 days here - there have been a couple of periods of an hour or so when it has briefly risen enough to thaw and refreeze to create huge sheets of ice. Upper Loch Feochan is frozen over in a line roughly from the Knipoch to its head, and all the brackish water lying in the tidemarsh here and in the pond behind it is frozen. It's very pretty and infinitely preferable to the usual weather at this time of year.
If the seawater in the cooling system is frozen it happened many days ago . . . still curious as to what potential for damage to the heat exchanger there is, as that could be expensive.
Looking across Balvicar Bay to Fairwinds on her mooring
Hi to shard. Just a little note that the splitting of pipes happens *just* as the water freezes. Not when it thaws. This is because unlike almost every other liquid, frozen water actually occupies a teensy bit *more* volume than in liquid form. So ice cubes and icebergs float, cos they're the a bit less dense. And pipes etc split because the pipe that was ful of water is now full of ice - but it occupies a bit more volume, dammit. Of course, when frozen all fine and it's only when things thaw that we notice the split pipe etc hence mistaken belief that the thaw caused it. Plastic piping is the way to go, but unfortunately plastic engines not easy to make. So anyway the point is, if it's gona be damaged, it's already happened. No danger of freezing here I'm afraid, cos I'm in Mustique.
Hi,
Don't post much - but given that I've just winterised my 1GM10 with the boat on the hardstanding on the Clyde (got caught out - didn't expect a big freeze so early in the winter) so I have some recent experience.
I'd say that it's less likely to be frozen while the boat is in the water, because of the relatively warmer water, but in my case the seawater inlet pipe (plastic) was frozen solid and I had to remove it and beat the crap out of it to clear it.
Having said that, I expect the Clyde at Clydebank is more brackish and may have a higher freezing point - it was certainly frozen over where I was.
Thankfully in my case the core plugs (if the 1GM10 has such) seem to have stayed intact - I ran it with a strong antifreeze mix for about 30 mins with no steam or water where it shouldn't be.
claymore wrote:Well
I guess if she sinks then you will know there is a problem.....
Yes. The problem will be that she has sunk. As all the seacocks are shut this seems unlikely, but thank you for your comforting words - my mind is now at rest.
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