Frost damage???

[Nickytynick]

I have just returned from the boat yard having handed over a deposit cheque for next season. (Gone up another 10%! )

While there I had a quick check of the boat to make sure all was OK and to my dismay found that the back wash well had about 4" of frozen water in it.

I couldn't tell if it was solid ice but it was too thick to break by hand.

What is the likleyhood of damage occurring as a result of the ice expanding? Has anyone had experience of this?

I intend to go down tomorrow armed with some antifreeze and some salt, melt the ice with hot salty water and pour in some antifreeze solution.
Only problem being that it will almost certainly drain out of the trunk which is down leaving very little solution in the well. I have an overall cover over the boat but it leaks around the A-frame holes so is bound to fill up again when we have rain.

Does anyone have any ideas on the best method of avoiding this potential disaster?

Please help, I'm worried now!

Thanks

Nick

[ADS]

Leave the bilge pump on auto, so it pumps out, or angle the boat up with the jockey wheel so the water drains out.
You in a Christchurch or a Bournemouth boat yard?

Alex

[Downhilldai]

Can't you raise the bow and leave out the drain plug for the well so everything drains away?
This has to be so obvious a solution, it's not feasible!!

[Downhilldai]

OOps - ADS beat me to it!

[CJL]

Sorry to be the ever present Eco Warrior but antifreeze probably isn't the best idea!! (Unless you want a pod of dolphins confused about their sexuality !)

I doubt it will be any damage to the boat at all in any case.

Think about canals etc..... when they freeze over they do not rupture the banks as the ice expands upwards along the line of least resistance.

A good and very cheap alternative is some good old sea water which wont freeze unless it get very very cold! Failing that a cover is a good option

Chris

[gavin]

Blow a balloon up in the well

[Ezgoing]

Balloon might burst over time. try a soft plastic inflated ball. If the ice expands the ball will be cmpressed before any hull damage wil occour.

Rgds

[Richard B]

Nick, it sounds like you're treating the symptom, not the cause! you ought to be able to leave the boat in a situation where 4" of water can't accumultae to freeze. I achieve this by poking a piece of hose through the elephant trunk so that the well drains natrually, avoiding the need for the electric bilge pump. Don't rely on the electrics, that's a recipe for disaster!

[Hightower]

I wouldn't worry about the water freezing unless it's completely captivated on all sides. Ice does expand but providing there is and escape route for it to expand into I would worry. Used to have a part raised Koi pond that froze in the winter, I had a 9 degree incline on the walls just for this purpose, as the ice formed it pushed upwards.

However it is a bad practice to have standing water in your boat as it might find its way into the fibreglass and then you'll realy be f***ed

[Nick Thompson]

Originally Posted by Ezgoing

try a soft plastic inflated ball. If the ice expands the ball will be cmpressed before any hull damage wil occour.

I understood that the ball will be forced up over the ice layer as it freezes, or that's the way it happened with the telephone poles in my brothers (slightly) above ground swimminhg pool.

[andrew.adamson]

What we use in the swimming pool is a slightly wieghted down plastic carton that floats, but the bottom is below the surface so the plastic can give and take the expansion. Will have to be a small bottle to fit in the splash well and plastic not to brittle that it will crack. Plastic milk cartoon seems suitable. But if you can keep the well dry that would be better.

[DGR]

If the ice isn't enclosed - is occasional water freezing really a problem anyway?

I don't seem to have to replace the ice trays in the freezer each time I make a load of ice cubes... ...

But I agree that water sitting in the boat is a bad idea - as is leaving your pumps on. Unless you have a completely level storage area (I've never found one yet), just leave it pointing uphill, or crank the jockey wheel up as far as you can to get the bow as high as possible.

D...

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by DGR

I don't seem to have to replace the ice trays in the freezer each time I make a load of ice cubes... ...


D...

That's because ice cube holders are either very flexible "rubber" ones or there is an incline on the sides forcing the freezing water up.

In an open swimming pool if the sides are vertical the ice will push out the walls and destroy the structure, that's why bottles and the like are used.

No water......No freezing..... That's the philosophy!

[DGR]

Originally Posted by Hightower

That's because ice cube holders are either very flexible "rubber" ones or there is an incline on the sides forcing the freezing water up.

In an open swimming pool if the sides are vertical the ice will push out the walls and destroy the structure, that's why bottles and the like are used.

No water......No freezing..... That's the philosophy!

I realise that - but I don't think that you can guarantee that there is no water in the boat.

On mine, the areas that water would/could collect doesn't have vertical sides, so I don't worry about it too much. I'd be a little surprised if the well on a RIB would be designed with vertical sides - especially as they are used in places where it can get a bit chilly in the darker months......

D...