Whaleback Proa
Happy newyear! Your boat looks great. What’s the song at the end of the video?
-Thomas
Now that’s a proa a long way from Micronesia. Makes me cold just looking!
One thing that would worry me is that, from your last video, EVERYBODY pulled their boat out of the water in the marina, except you…
Do they know something you don’t?
Since ice takes more volume than liquid water, and knowing that a slim multihull has rather vertical hull sides at the waterline, are you not afraid that ice crunched the boat?
Jean-Louis Etienne, a French Antarctica explorer had a huge aluminum schooner built in the late ‘80’s or early ‘90’s to spend winter on the ice, the boat was designed with a lot of flare in the shape for that very purpose, It would be “pushed up the ice” as the ice was forming around it.
http://www.greenetvert.fr/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/tara_bresil.jpg
Hope everything will be OK though…
When the ice retreats a bit I will try to bail the boat. My current theory is that water came in through one of the vents, but who knows.
It is usual to pull boats out of the water in this area. I knew it was a gamble. We have not had extremely cold winters for about 5 years.
I had planned to use the boat to spot check on a dredging job I was overseeing (I am the harbormaster). Even the dredgers got caught and could not finish the job in November, as planned.
heart breaking.
hang in there man….
Encased in Ice
I just don’t know what to say. You put a lot of work and money into your project, but at this point there is just not that much left to salvage. If there are any people ice fishing around you, they’ll have augers for drilling 1’ holes - I’d certainly try to get that motor off the hull - it is worth too much to let it go without a fight. Don’t know the local ice thickness, but a gas chain saw (and a couple buckets of hot water) will get the job done. Be prepared to get sprayed - wear your foul weather gear! I’d also consider a safety rope on whoever is on the ice, especially if there is any current flow under the ice.
My parents live across the lake from you - about 90 miles as the crow flies. No one on my side of Lake Huron would ever contemplate leaving a boat in the water without multiple bubblers, daily checks and bilge monitors - but we consistently get shore ice that extends out a few hundred yards even in “warm” winters. I was just over there ( a 650 kilometer trip) and the lake has more ice that we’ve ever seen - there were moose crossing from Manitoulin Island to the Bruce Peninsula this year on the ice - about 20k of walking. Last weekend there were wolves hiding in the ice mounds off the shore waiting patiently for deer dumb enough to get caught cutting across on the ice. Heard a pack that must have got one early Saturday morning.
Your hulls are probably done. Ice expansion blows out seams, delaminates ply, glass and joints - and the moisture that gets in will start rotting the ply in a couple heart beats. The work it takes to dry out and repair a hull is much higher than just starting over. Even if the hull looks good once it’s dry you can’t trust structural integrity once it has been frozen and sustained bad ice damage. Standing fresh (& frozen) water inside a hull is like Kryptonite to Superman.
I really feel for you Paul. Save that motor and move fast - two or three days of melting and it’ll be immersed and the ice unsafe to cut. You want to do this before the ice is less than about 10” thick. The ice where my parents live is over a meter and a half thick (@ 5’) right now.
—
Bill in Ottawa
Survived the ice breakout and recovered the motor, so things are looking up.
Recovery has started, the hull appears to be intact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG6EVELCz7A&feature=youtu.be
Hey Paul that’s good news.
what do you say about popping on that outboard and going for a spin before hauling it out?????
I would…... good luck man.
I need to figure out how to mount the outboard, the old bracket got ripped off the boat. I have a few options, sled or open up the platform and mount it to the footwell braces.
I don’t plan on hauling the boat soon, unless I find some problems with it.
The boat is still usable, a little wear and tear but so far it seems like it survived the ice.