Winter in Swiss midlands / River moring

[Gumbalaya]

Hi guys,

lying in a fairly calm river in the Swiss midlands, 1-2 weeks/a of sub-10°C tops, water might go down to 5-6°C. 3-4 weeks of mild snow, hardly accumulating to more than 5-10cm (normal winters).

Now, since I plan to spend almost every weekend on board, many weekday evenings too I am wondering whether I should just not cover at all.

Any experience? How will the deck feel about it?
Sprayed Boracol 10% last week to keep the fungus and mold away.

If I can manage to get a cable to the ship I might set up a radiator in the hull to kick in above 4°C.

Thoughts?

Thanks bunches.

[FF]

The question is weather the temperature gets low enough to freeze the water pipes on board , and the cooling water intake and system.

- 10c for a week or two will make even sea water hard, and fresh will pop piping.

[Donsan]

Your boat looks very similar to our old 38' Fu Hwa which we kept in heated winter storage in the winter in Michigan. The sliding doors do not seal out the weather very well. If you are expecting reverse cycle AC/heating to keep you warm, you most likely will be disappointed. Sounds like you don't have shore power to the boat. You might want to consider a diesel heater. Do you have teak decks? Wouldn't want to have any snow accumulation on screwed in teak decks. Water under the ice will find its way into the core and you may end up with soft decks. Be sure it is well sealed around the fuel and water fillers and also around the waster pump out port. Also be sure you have good gaskets on your filler caps.

[Gumbalaya]

Many thanks for the advice. I will further consult with the ship yard and the former owner (he kept her at a lake though, which froze regularly in winter). Snow accumulation in combination with frozen pockets concerns me however (screwed-on teak) so I might just cover her up anyway. The ship yard is 200y away, I might just lay a power line if permitted and fix a radiator to a temperature sensor to kick in below 4°C.

[Donsan]

Sorry, I should have said have good O rings on your fillers and not gaskets on you filler caps. The O rings are inexpensive and should be changed every few years mainly to keep water out of your fuel.

[Gumbalaya]

Thanks much