Ice Bound - what if?

[Capt. Joe]

What if you left your trawler #IceBound instead of hauling out for the off-season, with a couple of live webcams running 24/7.
This past winter, a friend of ours offered the use of his dock on the river downstream of Lock 32 of the Trent Severn Waterway, in Bobcaygeon Ontario CA.
We live on the river just upstream (but in the shallow area where the rapids are), so we could always get to the boat fast if we had to.
We also had cameras in bilges, high water alarms and other sensors communicating wirelessly with us over the Internet, and AIS reporting the position as "wintering ice-bound"..... love toys.......
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We compiled a 10 minute time-laps video of what the foredeck cam "saw" as winter came and went, November 2017 through March 2018:
https://youtu.be/bLoZsGDocfA
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[FF]

The only hassle with being ice bound is the location.

In a large area the ice may move and your boat will be carried out along with the ice.

Usually in a river the ice breaks up as it melts ,so there is no problem.

If there are lots of unprotected piles that haven't been swept away over the years , you should be good to go.

[Capt. Joe]

Well, I posted this to see if anyone can appreciate the video - Not looking for advise.
In the last 30 years we have had that boat frozen in several times when we were on the Great Lakes and yes, there can be a good discussion on the logistics of #IceBound, location and even more importantly prepping the sea-connections, etc...., but that was not my intention here.....

[JLD]

Watched the video and was surprised on the lack on ice on the river. Being so far north I would have expected more ice, especially this winter. I'm about 350 miles south of you and we had a couple of weeks of temperature this winter that never got above freezing. Live here for 24 years and I never recall such a long cold spell.

Thanks for posting the video.

Totally unrelated question. What do they do about the locks in the winter?


Jim

[Capt. Joe]

The reason for the apparently little ice is because the river has a current that runs at a good clip unless they are turning the dams to draw down for the spring thaw.
We also had a bad and unusual cold spell this year, where the river froze almost solid upstream as far as our boat is. In very cold years, 2 or 3 times in the last 3 decades the river froze solid right up to the dam against the current; just an inch or two on top, but frozen nevertheless.
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The locks do not operate in winter, all froze in.
Water management goes on year round however. Switches are turned in the head office of the Trent Waterway in Peterborough. They can control / regulate the levels of the entire system between Lake Huron and Lake Ontario, usually successfully and sometimes not so much, in which case we get floods or no water....

[ksandin]

That's a cool video, thank's for sharing.

We have different visions of Margaritaville and it makes me appreciate the fact the only ice I'm concerned with is the amount in my soda cup.

Fins Up!

[Capt. Joe]

Thank you! Nice to see someone else subscribing to Jimmy's idea of "Paradise is where you make it".
We spent 20 years in the south, and in the last decade we have found beauty in winter and the change of seasons on the Great Lakes.... (and as we get older, we handle the cold better than the heat).

Here is a similar video but from old cruising stills and even some Bubba tunes, if you have nothing better to do:
https://youtu.be/AuUoX_xI-Dc

Lots of videos on our blog @ www.cruisingdog.com

Phins up!

[ksandin]

Strong work, great pictures, and awesome tunes!

FYI Jimmy broadcasts all his concerts over on margaritaville.tv There's one on tonight at 7:45 eastern and another I believe tomorrow....just a little recharge of that Caribbean Soul when we are landlocked.

Keith