I've Just Winterised the Boat

[ditchcrawler]

42 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

For twenty years I was clearly too cavalier about winterization. All I did was leave the Porta Potti empty, ensure the water tank was not too full, drain the calorifier and domestic water pipes, and disconnect the water pump. That was it, and the boat survived quite happily with no condensation .

That is what I do, it takes about 15 minutes and when I want to use the boat again the system fills while I am doing something else.

[Dr Bob]

7 hours ago, cuthound said:

Given the forecast for at or below freezing temperatures this coming week I decided to winterise my boat. 

Took me all of 10 minutes.

1. Put the dehumidifier and 2 x oil filled electric radiators on board.

2. Plugged the dehumidifier into a galley socket and switched it on. Put drain into sink.

3. Plugged a thermostatically controlled plug set to operate at 5°C into a bedroom socket.

3, Plugged the oil filled radiators into an extension lead and then plugged extension lead into thermostatically controlled plug.

4. Plugged mushroom vents with old bath sponges and covered louvre vents with cardboard.

5. Isolated water tank and opened all taps.

6. Locked boat and poured myself a pint.

 

All set for what ever winter can throw at me now, plus I can go cruising whenever I like by simply by unplugging the orange mooring lead, unblocking the vents, turning the water back on and undoing the mooring lines. 

Any recommendation for a good thermostatically controlled plug?

[cuthound]

9 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Any recommendation for a good thermostatically controlled plug?

I bought one like this from Amazon 3 years ago.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermoGuard-Thermostat-Electric-Greenhouse-Conservatory/dp/B00CBUGPS8

[Momac]

10 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Any recommendation for a good thermostatically controlled plug?

I bought mine from B&Q. Although they get poor reviews mine seemed to work as intended over last winter.  I had it set to cut in at 5 degrees .

http://www.diy.com/departments/bq-white-1-gang-240v-13a-temperature-controlled-adaptor/178195_BQ.prd

 

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, cuthound said:

I bought one like this from Amazon 3 years ago.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermoGuard-Thermostat-Electric-Greenhouse-Conservatory/dp/B00CBUGPS8

I've got one similar to this by the same company I think. It pays to have a bit of experimentation with these units before trusting your boat to them - Chinese degrees C seem to be slightly different to the degrees C we experience here in the UK. 

[cuthound]

27 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I've got one similar to this by the same company I think. It pays to have a bit of experimentation with these units before trusting your boat to them - Chinese degrees C seem to be slightly different to the degrees C we experience here in the UK. 

I have two min/max thermometers in the boat (probably also Chinese) and it seems to tally with these.

Anyway set to 5°C it keeps the boat above 3°C minimum and thus prevents freezing even when the cut has been frozen over for several days.

[Dr Bob]

6 hours ago, cuthound said:

I bought one like this from Amazon 3 years ago.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermoGuard-Thermostat-Electric-Greenhouse-Conservatory/dp/B00CBUGPS8

Thanks for that link. Looks good. i will order a couple. Ta

5 hours ago, MartynG said:

I bought mine from B&Q. Although they get poor reviews mine seemed to work as intended over last winter.  I had it set to cut in at 5 degrees .

http://www.diy.com/departments/bq-white-1-gang-240v-13a-temperature-controlled-adaptor/178195_BQ.prd

 

Thanks Martyn. I had read the bad reviews on the B&Q one which is why I asked for recommendations. Good to hear you are having no problems with it.

[Athy]

20 hours ago, MartynG said:

We have already started some winter preparation today by taking spare clothes off the boat . Surprising how many pairs of socks were on the boat.

 

That's exactly what we've done today!

I always like to keep "a" spare set of clothes on the boat; the trouble is, over the course of several months one forgets to keep a score of how many items one has brought to the boat and, more importantly, taken home again. Thus it came to pass that today I've brought home 2 T-shirts, 1 normal shirt, five pairs of Y-fronts, 3 pairs of socks and 3 hankies - and I STILL have a spare set of clothes remaining on the boat.

[mrsmelly]

Fantastic weather today and only 3 boats passed me coming the other way twixt Hopwas and Fradley!! why oh why don't people use their boats at the best time of the year from now for about 5 months? Why use it in august when it is invariably raining, every boat is out and queueing at locks, millions of squaking kids about, no moorings available near pubs etc etc.............weird innitt.

[matty40s]

I met the same 3 boats , one at each of the Whittington bridges

I do agree with the excellence of this time of year though.

Top one is now,  bottom one was Friday evening. 

 

Edited October 29, 2017 by matty40s

[Richard T]

It was nice boating weather this weekend. We only did our usual Sileby Thurmaston Sileby run with me cycling to do some dinghy sailing at Syston. The  wind was nice for sailing and afterwards we went for a pint in the Gate Hangs Well. We ended up mooring at Thurmaston just as it was getting dark. The run back to Sileby this morning was good with very few boats on the move.

[Naughty Cal]

8 hours ago, MartynG said:

I bought mine from B&Q. Although they get poor reviews mine seemed to work as intended over last winter.  I had it set to cut in at 5 degrees .

http://www.diy.com/departments/bq-white-1-gang-240v-13a-temperature-controlled-adaptor/178195_BQ.prd

 

We had one of these fail to operate in 2010. Since then we just leave the heaters on 24/7. For what little they cost to run we would rather over heat the boat and not run the risk of frost damage.

We don't drain anything down on Naughty-Cal and have yet to have any issues.

[Dr Bob]

6 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Fantastic weather today and only 3 boats passed me coming the other way twixt Hopwas and Fradley!! why oh why don't people use their boats at the best time of the year from now for about 5 months? Why use it in august when it is invariably raining, every boat is out and queueing at locks, millions of squaking kids about, no moorings available near pubs etc etc.............weird innitt.

....that's cause they were all between Napton and Braunston. Probably went past 20 -30 today.

[Momac]

16 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

 why oh why don't people use their boats at the best time of the year from now for about 5 months? 

Mostly people stop boating due to chief officer complaining its too cold.

A beautiful calm and sunny morning this morning. I dare say my chief officer would be persuaded to take a boat trip today. Unfortunately I have to go to work!

[mrsmelly]

18 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Mostly people stop boating due to chief officer complaining its too cold.

A beautiful calm and sunny morning this morning. I dare say my chief officer would be persuaded to take a boat trip today. Unfortunately I have to go to work!

Absolutely fabulous isn't it this morning. Just taken the dog for its duties. Sun hitting the side of the cabin and my pooter screen, no wind so a full English breakfast will ensue then off we pootle  My first chief officer was one of those models that wouldn't boat in anything but the height of summer so I swopped her in for the current model who absolutely loves the life.

[Boat&Bikes]

16 hours ago, matty40s said:

I met the same 3 boats , one at each of the Whittington bridges

I do agree with the excellence of this time of year though.

Top one is now,  bottom one was Friday evening. 

 

I'm glad that you post lovely pictures like this as I tend to still be in bed at dawn. We were moored Thursday and Friday night at Wittington. You must have passed us. Weather is fab ah the moment huh!  Ian.

[matty40s]

11 minutes ago, ianali said:

I'm glad that you post lovely pictures like this as I tend to still be in bed at dawn. We were moored Thursday and Friday night at Wittington. You must have passed us. Weather is fab ah the moment huh!  Ian.

I was still st Stowe Hill Friday lunchtime, didn't get to Whittington until Sunday morning.

 

This is what this morning  looked like. 

[cuthound]

On 28/10/2017 at 17:54, Sea Dog said:

What?! Who told you that? Where? I'm not about to start my Autumn cruise for another fortnight and already someone's telling me it's winter! I'm sorry, I can't be having that - what am I gonna call the one after Christmas? You're worse than the bloomin' shops, you are - you'll be telling us you've bought your easter eggs next!

 

On 28/10/2017 at 18:00, cuthound said:

BBC West Midlands local news last night and confirmed by the "Accuweather" App on my phone.

Well I woke up to a frost this morning so the weather forecasts were right. 

It's lovely now with the sun shining.

[Sea Dog]

21 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Well I woke up to a frost this morning so the weather forecasts were right. 

It's lovely now with the sun shining.

Yeah, it's lovely that, isn't it.  I'd prefer it to happen when I'm there though or, if not, at least when my boat's properly winterised! The taps are open and the lines drained though, so we're ok unless we get a proper freeze. I'm counting the days now til we slip for the autumn cruise... and she'll be properly winterised when she's back over Christmas. 

[matty40s]

That's better, water.

[Momac]

5 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Absolutely fabulous isn't it this morning. Just taken the dog for its duties. Sun hitting the side of the cabin and my pooter screen, no wind so a full English breakfast will ensue then off we pootle  My first chief officer was one of those models that wouldn't boat in anything but the height of summer so I swopped her in for the current model who absolutely loves the life.

I have no plans to change the chief officer. She can be persuaded to deal with  with colder temperatures  if its sunny.

But I would like to find a way to pack in working so we can both take advantage of sunny weather when it arrives – at any time of year.

[Dave Payne]

The Ashby is cracking this time of year, i am spending all winter on it this time...

Saturday night will be spent in the rising sun.

[matty40s]

So is the Soar...

[Naughty Cal]

On 10/30/2017 at 14:02, MartynG said:

I have no plans to change the chief officer. She can be persuaded to deal with  with colder temperatures  if its sunny.

But I would like to find a way to pack in working so we can both take advantage of sunny weather when it arrives – at any time of year.

Doesn't matter if it is sunny or not. Its warm on the boat with the heating on and its warm in the pub.

[Dr Bob]

25 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Doesn't matter if it is sunny or not. Its warm on the boat with the heating on and its warm in the pub.

Absolutely. Lovely time to be out and about.