28 JANUARY, 2019 - MV So...fea DECK LOG - DOCK LINES BROKEN-ADRIFT
55 degree blue sky days, unbelievable late-January weather, cold and clear at night, with stars . . . in Florence ? wow, what a winter (so far), lots of river action though-and a rough ride every night.
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So...Fea broke a dockline in last nights bob and dive activity, and then I read about the "Polar Vortex" moving into the Great Lakes area, which made me recall Duluth/Superior Harbor, the Minneapolis Mississippi, Cleveland (Lake Erie) and the riverine "fresh water" boat situations.
It is generally known here in the Americas that you can survive living aboard on the "saltwater"as far North as the Bays of Fundy and/or Vancouver, and all the way South to Usuaia Harbor.
But, on "fresh water", the Great Lakes and North-Eastern rivers it is quite a different story . . .
the Mohawk (Erie Canal), Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna, Ohio, Allegheny, Monongahela, St. Lawrence and Mississippi rivers, and many others that empty into the Inland waterway (the Great Loop), all are full of tie-ups where the water freezes them in, making leaving a boat in the water, and living-aboard it, quite different than in saltwater.
Being frozen in at the dock in 10-24 inches of ice crushes steel hulls, cracks sea cock valves, and cold soaks hull innards to freeze even heated compartments, on deck snow-load weight, and gale-iced rain coats everything in (sometimes) 2 inches of clear solid (heavy) ice. The freeze-thaw cycle is aggressive to all water tight integrity, dock water and sanitary become compromised, and mooring issues are a constant threat from the rising falling water levels, ice dams and melt cycles.
One of last summer's So...fea dock visitors from New York sent us this video this AM... it is a slow mover, be patient ! watch the flag on the on stern of the second boat, as it wedges itself under the bridge, as the tide goes lower, it moves forward to the deck-cabin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oTor3mL1lU
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So...Fea broke a dockline in last nights bob and dive activity, and then I read about the "Polar Vortex" moving into the Great Lakes area, which made me recall Duluth/Superior Harbor, the Minneapolis Mississippi, Cleveland (Lake Erie) and the riverine "fresh water" boat situations.
But, on "fresh water", the Great Lakes and North-Eastern rivers it is quite a different story . . .
the Mohawk (Erie Canal), Connecticut, Hudson, Delaware, Susquehanna, Ohio, Allegheny, Monongahela, St. Lawrence and Mississippi rivers, and many others that empty into the Inland waterway (the Great Loop), all are full of tie-ups where the water freezes them in, making leaving a boat in the water, and living-aboard it, quite different than in saltwater.
Being frozen in at the dock in 10-24 inches of ice crushes steel hulls, cracks sea cock valves, and cold soaks hull innards to freeze even heated compartments, on deck snow-load weight, and gale-iced rain coats everything in (sometimes) 2 inches of clear solid (heavy) ice. The freeze-thaw cycle is aggressive to all water tight integrity, dock water and sanitary become compromised, and mooring issues are a constant threat from the rising falling water levels, ice dams and melt cycles.
One of last summer's So...fea dock visitors from New York sent us this video this AM... it is a slow mover, be patient ! watch the flag on the on stern of the second boat, as it wedges itself under the bridge, as the tide goes lower, it moves forward to the deck-cabin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oTor3mL1lU