Winter doldrums

[pomkitanner]

As an occasional hirer from another planet ,i often wonder how those of you who live aboard, cope through the winter months . Not so much how to keep warm , but how many are ice bound, unable to move and for how long . Is it a time of year that other problems arise, and is it a case of grin and bear it ? perhaps some actually relish it . Love to know more . Derek

[luctor et emergo]

I love it. Peace and quiet. A break from floating stag/hen parties. Roaring fire.

[dmr]

Its really not that bad, and probably better than this summer!

I know this sounds a bit rude, but without loads of hirers, and especially without some of the "high speed hobby boaters", the canals do take on a very peaceful quality where a significant proportion of boaters know each other.

It can be very beautiful, especially the misty mornings, and even better if it snows.

Keep an eye on the weather forecast to get frozen in at a pleasant spot, neither too far from, or too close to, a water tap, and with a full water tank and an empty poo tank it all works fine (though 7 and a half weeks the year before last was a bugger).

The only real downsides are the mud, especially with the dog, and struggling to keep the batteries charged.

The very short days are not too good, but then that applies if you live in a house too.

We prefer to keep moving, though much much less than in the summer, I think a winter mooring could be a bit tedious, too much like living in a house!

 

A few companies will hire boats in the winter...give it a try!

 

............Dave

[mrsmelly]

As an occasional hirer from another planet ,i often wonder how those of you who live aboard, cope through the winter months . Not so much how to keep warm , but how many are ice bound, unable to move and for how long . Is it a time of year that other problems arise, and is it a case of grin and bear it ? perhaps some actually relish it . Love to know more . Derek

 

I Luv these sort of posts. well the answer is we all survive !! As for being iced in and unable to move !! That puts boats on a parr with houses, they seldom move either. A properly fitted and thought out boat is superbly warm and water tight. I have two forms of heating whereas most houses rely on one and are in the poo if it packs in, I also have 4 ways of obtaining hot water so that is never an issue. We always ensure we are near facilities when cruising, it is simply part of the process. So Yes Derek we relish it, and we can go cruising without hassle as all the fair weather boaters have " winterised " their boats.

 

Tim

[Ange]

What Luctor, Dave & Tim said sums it up for us as well. Love the late autumn / winter / early spring when there's just a few of us all year rounders about to appreciate it. The water's a lot clearer, wrap up warm on the back and it's great cruising when it's really cold. It just needs a bit of planning to be in the right place near a few facilities when it freezes.

 

[JerryP]

I suppose i'll end up in the "devils lair" aka the marina

[Wanted]

I Luv these sort of posts. well the answer is we all survive !! As for being iced in and unable to move !! That puts boats on a parr with houses, they seldom move either. A properly fitted and thought out boat is superbly warm and water tight. I have two forms of heating whereas most houses rely on one and are in the poo if it packs in, I also have 4 ways of obtaining hot water so that is never an issue. We always ensure we are near facilities when cruising, it is simply part of the process. So Yes Derek we relish it, and we can go cruising without hassle as all the fair weather boaters have " winterised " their boats.

 

Tim

 

Thermals, flask, sausage and mash, sloe Gin, burner on. I love it.

[mrsmelly]

sausage and mash, I love it.

 

Wiv loadsa gravy and onions.yum yum

 

Tim

[carlt]

Canal curling with mudweights.

[Wanted]

Wiv loadsa gravy and onions.yum yum

 

Tim

Mash made with real butter!

[Duchess Omnium]

I love it too -- even year before last when we were iced in for six weeks (because I've got a big water tank and a cassette toilet ;-) ). The two things I find hard: remembering to heave a fresh back of coal from the roof before I have polished off the wine and getting up in the morning when it is really, really cold. It's peaceful, beautiful and wonderfully warm (once I've riddled the fire and brewed the tea)

[Ange]

I love it too -- even year before last when we were iced in for six weeks (because I've got a big water tank and a cassette toilet ;-) ). The two things I find hard: remembering to heave a fresh back of coal from the roof before I have polished off the wine and getting up in the morning when it is really, really cold. It's peaceful, beautiful and wonderfully warm (once I've riddled the fire and brewed the tea)

Ah yes! The closest I've come to falling in so far was getting a bag of wood off the roof when the gunnels were icy and I'd had a few glasses of vino! I escaped with a wet foot luckily!

[blackrose]

...and we can go cruising without hassle as all the fair weather boaters have " winterised " their boats.

 

Not all of them. Some of us fair weather boaters are quite happy living aboard moored up all winter and haven't winterised our boats.

 

Personally I don't think of summer cruising as "hassle" - I really enjoy it, but each to their own.

Edited September 21, 2012 by blackrose

[Dovetail]

As with the others it can be a wonderful time especially with the snow and ice. You step of the slush and dirt of the pavement onto fresh crunchy earth and if lucky swans happily sleeping next to your boat in the dim light. Best of all if you are moored close to other boats with the welcoming beautiful smell of smoke from the chimneys and warm glows from windows.

 

As for coping a bit of forward thinking is all it takes otherwise it’s the same as any other time.

[Ally]

Yup..me too, I quite like it...cozy up in a toasty boat, stew on the stove gently blubbing, ducks skating around outside....which is just funny when feeding them and they slither all over, crisp doggy walks.........

........then of course.........

Lugging the coal to the boat over slippy muddy paths, the dog pulls you over on the ice, the water tap freezes up just when you need to fill up, and you get cold and drenched walking to the elsan, only to slip on a sheet of frozen 'spillage' and find out your own cassette leaks as it lands ontop of you....

 

.......but I wouldn't have it any different!

 

Oh....and grumpy old men get stir crazy and grumpier and argue pointlessly on forums, just to keep themselves amused....it's good for their ageing fingers though, keeps them flexible!

Edited September 21, 2012 by Ally

[David Mack]

As an occasional hirer from another planet ,i often wonder how those of you who live aboard, cope through the winter months . Not so much how to keep warm , but how many are ice bound, unable to move and for how long .

 

So what's the problem on a boat? In the winter before last our house was ice(snow)bound for quite a while. And it was unable to move too. Couldn't get the car closer than half a mile away, so it was a case of dressing up warm and walking. Not really a big problem.

 

David

[mrsmelly]

Not all of them. Some of us fair weather boaters are quite happy living aboard moored up all winter and haven't winterised our boats.

 

Personally I don't think of summer cruising as "hassle" - I really enjoy it, but each to their own.

 

Your not a fairweather boater old bean !! Your a full time boater, its a totaly different category

 

Tim

[matty40s]

 

Oh....and grumpy old men get stir crazy and grumpier and argue pointlessly on forums, just to keep themselves amused....it's good for their ageing fingers though, keeps them flexible!

whereas grumpy old women do it all year round.....

[Grace and Favour]

Derek,

 

As all others have said above - - winter is a beautiful time on a boat

 

Cool crisp days, dark, closed-in evenings, frost glistening on grass, with the wonderful smell of cold air

 

Snug and cosy int' boat- - warm and glowing stove, home-made soups and bread rolls, cat curled up (and almost affectionate), maybe even a glass of red wine

 

Wonderful stuff

[DeanS]

do you think it's going to be a long cold one this year?

I do:)

cant wait.

Christmas is coming:))))))))))) and I've been a very good boy....

[pomkitanner]

Its really not that bad, and probably better than this summer!

I know this sounds a bit rude, but without loads of hirers, and especially without some of the "high speed hobby boaters", the canals do take on a very peaceful quality where a significant proportion of boaters know each other.

It can be very beautiful, especially the misty mornings, and even better if it snows.

Keep an eye on the weather forecast to get frozen in at a pleasant spot, neither too far from, or too close to, a water tap, and with a full water tank and an empty poo tank it all works fine (though 7 and a half weeks the year before last was a bugger).

The only real downsides are the mud, especially with the dog, and struggling to keep the batteries charged.

The very short days are not too good, but then that applies if you live in a house too.

We prefer to keep moving, though much much less than in the summer, I think a winter mooring could be a bit tedious, too much like living in a house!

 

A few companies will hire boats in the winter...give it a try!

 

............Dave

 

Not out of the question, but in all honesty the thought of escaping my own winter is even more appealing ( not so much cold but wet where i live ) i do enjoy a crisp dry winter. Thanks for your insight into what is essentially an unknown way of life that i find both intriguing and perhaps a little puzzling. I doubt i shall ever be in a position to do so, but i harbour a strong desire to one day experience living permanently on the cut . And you have thrown up some relevant issues that had never crossed my mind .Happy boating everyone , you enjoy a wonderful lifestyle.

 

 

 

Derek

[luctor et emergo]

Well, the afformentioned notwithstanding, let's add some balance to this love-in of epic proportions

 

Coming home to a cold boat, and trying to get a fire going. There WILL be an occassion where you are out of kindling, the kindling is wet, etc

 

Trudging back to the boat, through a towpath that has more in common with the Somme than a canal. Boots covered, feet freezing.

 

Never mind the idilyc scene of gently falling snow. This is England, and it is usually rain, hail, sleet, or a combination of the above. Then, once you're soaked, the gale picks up.

 

Next door don't like dust, so they don't use a fire. They have an Ëberspacher......

 

Next door's solar panels are useless, but the usual arrae of goodies is still used. They have a generator....

 

Gongoozlers asking if it's cold in my boat...

 

Waking up under a nice warm duvet, all snug and cosy, then looking over at the fire , to see that it didn't stay in....

[system 4-50]

Wot they've all said.

But Winter is a pain if you need to leave the boat for few days occasionally as you have the full winterise-ing challenge each time. If you liveaboard full time you're ok and if you leave it all winter you're ok as you only do it once. I tend to operate the worst combination. I'm now wondering when I need to take all my tins of paint off the boat.

[Smelly]

Its really not that bad, and probably better than this summer!

I know this sounds a bit rude, but without loads of hirers, and especially without some of the "high speed hobby boaters", the canals do take on a very peaceful quality where a significant proportion of boaters know each other.

It can be very beautiful, especially the misty mornings, and even better if it snows.

Keep an eye on the weather forecast to get frozen in at a pleasant spot, neither too far from, or too close to, a water tap, and with a full water tank and an empty poo tank it all works fine (though 7 and a half weeks the year before last was a bugger).

The only real downsides are the mud, especially with the dog, and struggling to keep the batteries charged.

The very short days are not too good, but then that applies if you live in a house too.

We prefer to keep moving, though much much less than in the summer, I think a winter mooring could be a bit tedious, too much like living in a house!

 

A few companies will hire boats in the winter...give it a try!

 

............Dave

 

Says it all... I quite enjoyed the winter before last; there was a camaraderie between the gang scraping up and down the towpath with sledges loaded with various cargoes...

 

Wot they've all said.

But Winter is a pain if you need to leave the boat for few days occasionally as you have the full winterise-ing challenge each time. If you liveaboard full time you're ok and if you leave it all winter you're ok as you only do it once. I tend to operate the worst combination. I'm now wondering when I need to take all my tins of paint off the boat.

Is all my paint knackered then?

[onionbargee]

knowing you have a HUGE log pile you spent all summer building up, a big roast dinner cooking the range, and a goose down duvet.