Cold snap

[gsholz]

It looks like an unusual cold snap is forecast for lower Vancouver Island early next week. One model predicts two nights at 13 deg F (-10 deg C). Will be interesting to see how cold it gets on the water. The boat should be OK....Fortunately, I can turn off the dehumidifier remotely. They don't like very cold temperatures. Last year we got a foot of snow (unusual for Victoria) and a boat burned down close to us. Never a dull moment.

 

[Russell Clifton]

Yes, we are watching the weather forecasts closely. The weather maps showed some snow in the area this morning. Expecting the water to be turned off at any time so keeping the tank full as that will probably last 10 days or more. Bought a styrofoam cover for the faucet on the forward deck. The engine room stays nice and warm with the diesel heater running so no worries there. But slippery docks are no fun!!

 

[MurrayM]

Supposed to drop to -23C (-9F) here next week, with 50 knot northerly outflow winds. That’s c-c-cold for Kitimat!

As a letter carrier I monitor temperature this way...

moustache freezes, it’s getting cold,

eyelashes freeze, it’s pretty cold,

but when hairs inside nose freeze when inhaling through nose, it’s dang cold!!!!

 

[Ken E.]

The 10 day forecast is also calling for some snow, around 6" during mid week. The worst variable for us in Bellingham is the NE arctic wind that comes down from BC. With temps maybe in the teens and lots of wind, the chill factor is very low and it's hard to stay warm.

 

[Moonfish]

Supposed to drop to -23C (-9F) here next week, with 50 knot northerly outflow winds. That’s c-c-cold for Kitimat!

As a letter carrier I monitor temperature this way...

moustache freezes, it’s getting cold,

eyelashes freeze, it’s pretty cold,

but when hairs inside nose freeze when inhaling through nose, it’s dang cold!!!!

 

[rsn48]

Okay, I public acknowledge I am lazy and for some reason this seemed to have bothered a person or two here, I'm kind of like Rick Gervais - I don't care.... lol! My hats off to all the lazy people who have made my life easier, the guy who invented the electric fridge because he got tired of hauling ice, the guy who invented 4 wheel drive, and the list could go on endlessly. Lazy people rule.

So I have owned other home machines like lawn mowers, weed whackers, etc. and gas problems have always been an issue. Yes I used fuel stabilizers. I also owned a couple of old technology cordless lawn mowers and weed wackers that were garbage, the lawn mower worked great as long as the grass was short, but any lapse of diligence on my part (did I say I was lazy?) resulted in longer grass, and an unpleasant lawn mowing experience.

So there I am sitting in my house coat drinking my favourite Creekmore coffee watching my wife shovel one of the many dumps of snow we had in 2019, and even though lazy I thought, this isn't right. I said I was lazy but I can still experience guilt. So I googled cordless snowblowers and came up with the Ego line (lithium batteries for you battery freaks).

I will confess I was nervous after experiencing crap technology in earlier lawn mowers and realizing snow would be harder on the machine than long grass. Also our snow can be wet and miserable. But being a proper sexist, I didn't want my wife shovelling and making me look .... (wait for it).... lazy! [Jack Knox is my hero]

So I went and purchased an Ego snowblower with some trepidation and a willingness to find out how good the return policy was at Home Depot (Nanaimo). And, it was love at first bite. For the amount of snow we get, its just about the perfect machine.

I have provided two links below, in the first link the guy ends up owning an extensive line of Ego products, same thing happened to me. Now I own the lawnmower (works well even in longer grass), the leaf blower - I love this unit, no friggin cords and no bad gas issues, and weed wacker, same gas comment.

So the gist of this is that once I bought my snowblower I joked to my friends and neighbours that I pretty much guaranteed there were would be no snow for the next five years. But you know what, I secretly yearn for a major dump or two in this upcoming cold snap, bring it on. I even do the driveway of my next door neighbour, a mother in her 90's and a daughter in her late 70's. But wait a minute, you are thinking this is a noble act, not worthy of a slothful laggart and I agree completely. A confession, I do it because I love running the snowblower - who would have thought?

Ego video one propaganda: [click on "watch on Youtube" I downloaded the Youtube link but it doesn't work for some reason]

Ego video two propaganda:

 

[localboy]

This is why people move to Arizona...

 

[MurrayM]

This is why people move to Arizona...

Wuss

 

[slowgoesit]

Key West is low of 73 and high of 80 degrees for the next 10 days! Just in case you wanted to know . . .

 

[Northern Spy]

I've found it takes a few days of really cold weather to make a difference in the boat in the water. Powell River has some of the street drain culverts empty into our harbour which creates a layer of fresh water on top of the sea water. It takes quite a few days of subzero (C) temperatures to freeze over.

I have a Caframo Pali heater in the engine room, so I sleep soundly away from my boat. I doubt it comes on often. It is CSA and UL approved.

https://www.stevestonmarine.com/caframo-heaterpali-safebilge-300t-9510ca

I am headed back to work now. Supposed to have a high of -24 this week. Lows in the -30s.

It will be much colder with wind-chill.

 

[Moonfish]

Although we're all the way down here in the Banana Belt of Port Townsend, we are prepping for the coming weather (which will not be as bad as you guys will get up north). We are 3-4 days out from a full holding tank, so we went and pumped out this afternoon while there wasn't even a wisp of wind. Topped off the fresh water tank, too. I'll top off every few days in the event our dock pipes freeze.

I'm also in the process of writing the script for a video installing our new Wallas Spartan diesel heater. Hope to get the heater installed and working by the weekend. Nonetheless we've got extra heaters on board.

Stay warm up there, eh?

 

[localboy]

Wuss

You say wuss...I say smart. Life's too short to be miserable.


May thru August in the PNW...then we are O.U.T. That's the plan, anyway.

 

[Ventana]

Our Webasto crapped out last Friday, so we have been without our main heat source up until today. Last few days have been snow, snow and more snow, cancelled some flights including the one with my heater parts on it. It stopped snowing this afternoon about the time the wind started picking up, it’s blowing about 25 right now, forecast to increase to about 40, and the temp is dropping. Teens and single digit temps for the next week, so we should be thoroughly frozen in in the next day or so. Mexico is sounding pretty good right now.

 

[O C Diver]

Forecast in Tarpon Springs, FL for the next 3 days has highs in the upper 70s and lows in the 60s, and no rain.

Ted

 

[gsholz]

"I've found it takes a few days of really cold weather to make a difference in the boat in the water."

I'm hoping that is the case too but when I look up the air temperature online it is precisely the same temperature my camera measures on the back deck. Current weather forecast is for 5 days of snow next week. That should provide some insulation, right?

 

[Capitaine R]

P

Forecast in Tarpon Springs, FL for the next 3 days has highs in the upper 70s and lows in the 60s, and no rain.

Ted

St James city, highs in the low 80s for the next 5 days. But windy for the next 2 days.

 

[Nomad Willy]

Our Webasto crapped out last Friday, so we have been without our main heat source up until today. Last few days have been snow, snow and more snow, cancelled some flights including the one with my heater parts on it. It stopped snowing this afternoon about the time the wind started picking up, it’s blowing about 25 right now, forecast to increase to about 40, and the temp is dropping. Teens and single digit temps for the next week, so we should be thoroughly frozen in in the next day or so. Mexico is sounding pretty good right now.

Stripper,
That’s very unusual for Sitka.
What’s wrong w the Basto?

 

[MurrayM]

This little guy stays up here (and into Alaska and the Yukon) all year long, surviving -40F nights. Gnarly tough!

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-crowned_Kinglet/overview

 

[Ventana]

Stripper,
That’s very unusual for Sitka.
What’s wrong w the Basto?

It has been an odd winter so far. Harbor has been frozen pretty regularly, and this much snow in a short period of time means our schools have been closed the past few days because they can’t remove snow fast enough to make it safe at the bus stops. First snow days in about 15 years I guess.
Our Webasto always seems to have something wrong, this time the drive motor went out. It does a good job of keeping the boat livable so I keep throwing parts at it.

 

[firehoser75]

Forecast in Tarpon Springs, FL for the next 3 days has highs in the upper 70s and lows in the 60s, and no rain.

Ted

Sure, sure.....Rub it in Ted
Normally we don't get much if any snow here on BC's southern coastal area, and our normal temperature range for the winter is night time low of 34-35 degrees F and daytime highs around 42-46 F. We do get a lot of rain in the winter with usually a bit less in the spring and fall :lol:
We very rarely get overnight lows as low as upper teens or low twenties, so this forecast is bad news for us
I know, all of you in areas like Florida are really worried about us

 

[otnot]

I thought you guys needed to see what cold snap really looks like. It’s been-15 to -20 for the past couple of weeks.

 

[MurrayM]

Things are looking up. Forecasted low for next week now up to -22C with less wind at 45 knots.

 

[MurrayM]

I thought you guys needed to see what cold snap really looks like. It’s been-15 to -20 for the past couple of weeks.

You win.

First one out in the morning should get a hero badge. Do you have protection from ice on your hulls up there?

Our boat is in the outer slips and doesn't get frozen in. Sea water never freezes here, but ice forms for quite a ways out near creeks.

 

[rgano]

What's a snow blower? Temps next week here in the mid 70s. We're going boating!

 

[O C Diver]

Sure, sure.....Rub it in Ted
Normally we don't get much if any snow here on BC's southern coastal area, and our normal temperature range for the winter is night time low of 34-35 degrees F and daytime highs around 42-46 F. We do get a lot of rain in the winter with usually a bit less in the spring and fall :lol:
We very rarely get overnight lows as low as upper teens or low twenties, so this forecast is bad news for us
I know, all of you in areas like Florida are really worried about us

I'm always concerned for my Northern friends and wish them a happy safe winter. I think most of the Northern USA and Canada have the best cruising areas, that's why I go there when I can in the summer. Unfortunately, to have the best, you have to have some of the worst (in my perspective) winter conditions. So, my tradeoff is to commute to the summer cruising grounds.

Ted

 

[Moonfish]

Current weather forecast is for 5 days of snow next week. That should provide some insulation, right?

LOL! That's looking on the bright side!

 

[rsn48]

I don't live in Washington but if I did it would be on Whidby Island, not only a great land based retreat but excellent boating in the area and North. And the winters are pretty benign, kind of like Vancouver Island. A week of snow happens about once every three or four years. Where I am living now, we just had snow, snow quite heavily, but zero stuck, melted as soon as it hit the ground.

And for those of you that brag about your warm conditions right now, I don't do humidity so I don't envy you of your cruising grounds in the summer with sweat inducing high humidity.

To me it's all about who has the most usable weather. Granted you might have to wear a sweater more, but can you be comfortable and get out in the great outdoors. I was in Old San Juan a few years ago on a cruise in January and I was surprised how humid it was for "winter."

 

[rgano]

To me it's all about who has the most usable weather. Granted you might have to wear a sweater more, but can you be comfortable and get out in the great outdoors. I was in Old San Juan a few years ago on a cruise in January and I was surprised how humid it was for "winter."

See the big rooftop AC unit on my avatar.

 

[rsn48]

See the big rooftop AC unit on my avatar.

Dated a gal from New Albany Indiana, really Louisville Kentucky. When I visited in the summer, we'd move from the house air conditioner, to the car air conditioner to her father's boat air conditioner. This is what I consider, not usable weather.

 

[rgano]

See the big rooftop AC unit on my avatar.

Dated a gal from New Albany Indiana, really Louisville Kentucky. When I visited in the summer, we'd move from the house air conditioner, to the car air conditioner to her father's boat air conditioner. This is what I consider, not usable weather.

Air conditioning was invented for the specific purpose of preserving intelligent life forms in the South. Like marina hopping, I have no problem ac-hopping for a few months as long as I never have to see or walk on frozen, sharp, crusted slug along a road or in a parking lot in Rhode Island ever again!