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Very thin ice


Dunworkin

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28 minutes ago, Dunworkin said:

Hi, can someone offer some advice on cruising through very thin ice.....will this really damage the blacking, when the ice is really only very thin, and patchy along the canal? Cheers

It will depend on your type of blacking and how precious you are about such matters. It may knock some blacking off but thats why we put it on, to be knocked off over a short period of time and replaced approximately two yearly. It will do no damage to you hull whatsoever. We havnt had any serious ice anywhere in the last seven winters but you will know when it is becoming a problem.

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3 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

It will depend on your type of blacking and how precious you are about such matters. It may knock some blacking off but thats why we put it on, to be knocked off over a short period of time and replaced approximately two yearly. It will do no damage to you hull whatsoever. We havnt had any serious ice anywhere in the last seven winters but you will know when it is becoming a problem.

We were stuck for a couple of days at Wheatcroft Flash on the T&M Feb last year but only a couple of days

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9 minutes ago, Dunworkin said:

Crikey...

Its nowt. I bought a boat from a bloke a few years back built with 6 mil sides and bottom. I got it VERY cheap as in his eighteen years of ownership he stated he had never had it out of the water or blacked. I had it out and docked and checked and the worst bit was around 5.7 mil. A bit of paint missing on the waterline is nowt to worry about anyway, just be sensible and whack some back on in the summer or next year. Its all part of the cheap liveaboard lifestyle or hobby lol.

Edited by mrsmelly
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3 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

I always find it funny how precious narrowboatists are about their blacking.

So am I. It realy doesnt matter and in fairness if done every two years its going to cost a bloody fortune in several years of ownership. I still do mine though religously about eighteen months two yearly :banghead:

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It might depend on the type of blacking and the preparation done before.

Cruised through thin ice last March on the Peak Forest without any noticeable damage to the blacking.

It was blacked with Rylard Premium. 

 

It was done at Furnessvale Marina,who steam clean the hull before blacking,as opposed to pressure washing.

Edited by Mad Harold
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Thin the first coat, it'll stick better. When blacking scrapes off easily its a sure sign that either prep was not good, hull still damp when applied but mainly and more usually long drying times have not been adhered to, consequently a build up of soft coatings that never really dry out and is easily scraped or knocked off.

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In the late 90s I took my 5mm sided narrow boat from Lapworth down to the Cape of Good Hope, while there was about 2” of ice in the cut. It was so cold that for the first and only time, as I threw a wet mooring line ashore it froze solid. Anyway, I boated through the ice, bouncing along till it got just too unpleasant, moored overnight, then down to the Cape next morning. Every bit of blacking came off, but the hull sides were still 5mm about ten years later when I sold the boat.

Relax, and enjoy some winter boating, there is pleasure in hearing that fine tinkling sound as thin ice breaks up as you push through it, and in seeing slightly thicker stuff moving around in great big sheets as you open up a trail for others.

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The first time we cruised through ice was an experience. We were on the Coventry and had moored at Hopwas, en route to Fradley. We had an appointment with a contractor in a marina, so we were on a 'mission'.

 

The noise of the boat breaking through the ice was horrendous. Imagine the noise of a farmer cutting a hedge with his tractor, then multiply that noise about 50 times. People were running to the canal to see what the noise was. We were hardly moving, so the noise wasn't down to 'speed', but possibly because we were passing through an 'avenue' of trees.

 

Cruising through the ice was 'interesting' as the boat wanted to go straight at bends, at each bend the boat had to be reversed a couple of times.

 

We'd cruised all the way to Streethay before we met another boat coming towards us, which was brilliant, as they'd obviously broken up the ice for us. The ducks loved us as they'd been standing on the ice, looking forlorn.

 

Word of warning though, when passing other moored boats, pass them very very slowly and as far away from them as possible. The noise inside the boats is deafening - it'll save you getting sworn at. :giggles:

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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

 

 

I wonder if the previous owners of our boat "Sickle" shown here would have been quite as keen to do that if they had known how thin some of the steel on the bows was!

Obviously it was only doing what it was designed for, but it turned out that decades of neglect had actually made it a bit less suitable!

 

Having now spent a small fortune on it, I'm pleased to report it would now be well up to the task again.

Whatever anybody claims to the contrary though, it does remove blacking!

Edited by alan_fincher
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We set off cheerfully in ice about a quarter of an inch thick last year.  Halfway down the locks it was more like an inch and a half, but we were kind of committed by then!

 

You can sort of wiggle the boat in a slight zig zag to make progress, but it strips the two-pack off along both sides if you do that!

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On 19/01/2019 at 11:36, Dunworkin said:

Hi, can someone offer some advice on cruising through very thin ice.....will this really damage the blacking, when the ice is really only very thin, and patchy along the canal? Cheers

Don’t skate on it. 

 

Winding the boat in ice is fun. 

And moored boaters tend to get upset. 

 

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