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Snow forecast, any tips or not worry?

TaffyRon

By TaffyRon
in General Boating

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Mrs Trackman Proficient

Mrs Trackman

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We were frozen in for 10 weeks starting towards the end of November. It was a surprise to be frozen in for so long from so early but we did have plenty of warning. Temperatures were low for a good while and we moved to just outside Market Harborough. The morning the canal actually froze we broke ice to move to one of several water points outside the basin and were pleased to be there, though the water point froze, everytime the temperature rose to near zero, (rather than the minus 10 and 11 we had for quite a few days), we thawed the tap out with boiling water and filled our tank. It did help that the coal boat, Hadar was frozen in behind us. I don't remember there being huge amounts of snow though there was a fair amount. I do remember it being very pretty.


We were frozen in for 10 weeks starting towards the end of November. It was a surprise to be frozen in for so long from so early but we did have plenty of warning. Temperatures were low for a good while and we moved to just outside Market Harborough. The morning the canal actually froze we broke ice to move to one of several water points outside the basin and were pleased to be there, though the water point froze, everytime the temperature rose to near zero, (rather than the minus 10 and 11 we had for quite a few days), we thawed the tap out with boiling water and filled our tank. It did help that the coal boat, Hadar was frozen in behind us. I don't remember there being huge amounts of snow though there was a fair amount. I do remember it being very pretty.

Forgot to say that was in 2010-11

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Psycloud Rising Star

Psycloud

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Any reports of terrible winters will be accompanied by adverts from large retailers offering winter clothing etc. We had exactly the same reports this time last year and ended up having the mildest winter for donkeys years.

 

 

The only thing a tabloid can reliably forecast is the gullibility of the readership.

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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Posted (edited)

It can be difficult to compare one's insulation with another occupied boat by seeing how long the snow stays on the roof, unless you know how warm it is in the other boat.

 

I've never had a problem with snow but only ever had a few inches on the roof. I think the main problem is the slip hazard if you're lugging bags of coal or gas bottles around.

 

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Edited by blackrose
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TaffyRon Collaborator

TaffyRon

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Very interesting, I had never thought about the weight of the snow.

A bit of Googling suggests snow can weight between 50 and 300kg per cubic metre.

 

http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Icy-Ecosystems/Looking-closer/Snow-and-ice-density

 

Water is 1000kg/m3 so using Archimedes and the denser snow (300kg) then very roughly the boat will sink by a third of the snow depth!!!!....

6 inches of snow will sink the boat by 2 inches!!!!!

I suspect that most snow is probably more 50 than 300 though.

 

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

haha, great maths, saying that if my boat does have a mountain of snow it wont make a difference as we scrape the bottom all the way up the llangollen anyway

Think on the melt time as well gives you an indication of how good your roof insulation is

thats were theres a problem, I heard of someone partially sinking as the snow melted into their back door

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saltysplash Experienced

saltysplash

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I tend to clear snow off due to the trapped moisture playing havoc with the paintwork! There is no point asking for micro blisters to form.

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

I also seem to remember a thread a couple of years back about snow on the roof being bad for your Paintwork

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matty40s Veteran II

matty40s

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If snow on your roof was a genuine issue, why isn't the canal littered with sunken boats after heavy snow fall?

 

 

........... because it's not an issue

I believe there were a few boats lost in 2010/11 or 2011/12 due to the weight /depth of snow and covers collapsing giving undrained access to water into bilges. It was mentioned here at the time.

 

 

Northamptonshire 2008/9- iced in for 6 weeks

 

3269734934_b1db291645.jpg

 

 

Berkhamstead 2009/10 iced in for 11 weeks

 

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Paddington basin 2010/11 - iced in for 5 weeks - BW put a don't move if you don't have to memo out (didn't apply to PearlyGeoff though)

5271446986_9f559879bf.jpg

 

On the way to Gnossal 2013 - Tixall Lock = No ice , just sub zero temperatures and very heavy snow in Midlands/wales.

IMAG0603_zps9377f313.jpg

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Sabcat Rising Star

Sabcat

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Thickest I've ever seen the ice is about 8 inches. I do enjoy a stroll down the canal.

 

I don't enjoy being woken up on a Sunday morning by an angler breaking the ice so they can fish. It sounds like someone's trying to break into the boat with a sledge hammer.

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Emerald Fox Rising Star

Emerald Fox

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8 people could stand on the roof of our 40-footer I reckon so that's 80kg x 8 = 640kg. Perhaps double that...

 

Clearing snow is easy - you just go full speed thru' bridge 'oles!

Duck below the sliding hatch at the last moment so it don't go down yer collar ;)

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Gordias Community Regular

Gordias

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Thickest I've ever seen the ice is about 8 inches. I do enjoy a stroll down the canal.

 

I don't enjoy being woken up on a Sunday morning by an angler breaking the ice so they can fish. It sounds like someone's trying to break into the boat with a sledge hammer.

 

How are they getting through the ice? I've only ever seen augers (approx 6" wide) used.

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colmac Proficient

colmac

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We were iced in at Fradley Jct a few years back. We tried leaving the tap on the water point slightly open which kept it running but the bloke a few boats up kept shutting it so it froze up again. He was eventually persuaded to leave it alone. Mind you, if you are going to get frozen in, there are worse places than Fradley and the landlord of the Swan was very accommodating.

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Pluto Veteran

PlutoDonate to Canal World

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Does anyone know what happens to boats that are left in a canal that completely freezes?

 

It may never have happened in the UK, but there are places further north that can get ice over a meter thick.

On most navigable European rivers there are winter harbours where boats can be moored in relative safety whilst the river is frozen. With the number of boats in such a harbour, the side pressure from expanding ice is not necessarily a major problem, but it was usual for the ice to be cut and broken around boats, as seen below on the Oder. Ice was a big problem when it started thawing, and ice breakers were used to keep if flowing downstream. If it got caught above a bridge and created a dam, there could be large-scale flooding. There is an excellent German book on icebreaking, published at the end of the nineteenth century, which describes how to blow up such a dam.

gallery_6938_2_16526.jpg

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Proper Job Veteran

Proper Job

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We were iced in at Fradley Jct a few years back. We tried leaving the tap on the water point slightly open which kept it running but the bloke a few boats up kept shutting it so it froze up again. He was eventually persuaded to leave it alone. Mind you, if you are going to get frozen in, there are worse places than Fradley and the landlord of the Swan was very accommodating.

 

And don't forget to keep your hose somewhere warm before you need to use it.

 

It's a bit embarrassing when you battle to get to the water point and then can't get the water from the tap to the tank - frozen hose!

 

blush.png

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Ronniesonic Collaborator

Ronniesonic

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Need to keep dogs on a lead

Dog on the ice is scary

 

Ron- Dogs are becoming very clever on slippery surfaces. Bloody poncey posh flooring in homes etc.

I hate laminate flooring but do enjoy throwing a tennis ball & watching Ripley try & gain traction to start the chase & making an almighty noise at the outlaws LOL. Very cartoon like.

 

We have cushion floor on the boat with a couple of rugs. Ripley gets a quick wallop with the newspaper if she forgets that a continuous 'tipper tapper tipper tapper tipper tapper' really annoys the arse off both of us.

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