Floating ice

[paulga]

After two continuous freezing days, ice plates have formed near the shore in the marina. Water keeps moving with the tides, but the ice becomes an issue in an 40 mph wind overnight. Wind keeps rolling the boat, bumping the hull against those floating plates of ice, making sometimes a bang, usually continuous crunching noise, like rubbing against cement teeth. Have you experienced similar? What damage does it commit to the hull?

 

[psneeld]

It scratches off paint in some situations or may scratch up gel coat if a large sheet moving against it... but usually no real issue if just the local ice that has formed in a few days. Big chunks coming down a river that are weeks/months old that are slammed into the boat in large waves could be an issue.... never really encountered that with small boats.

A couple winters I did break up ice in a marina with a smallish bowrider to keep it flowing out and preventing large, thick sheets from forming.... no real damage to the bowrider except tiny scratches from ramming the ice pretty hard.

 

[paulga]

It scratches off paint in some situations or may scratch up gel coat if a large sheet moving against it... but usually no real issue if just the local ice that has formed in a few days. Big chunks coming down a river that are weeks/months old that are slammed into the boat in large waves could be an issue.... never really encountered that with small boats.

A couple withers I did break up ice in a marina with a smallish bowrider to keep it flowing out and preventing large, thick sheets from forming.... no real damage to the bowrider except tiny scratches from ramming the ice pretty hard.

This is the next slip. A sloshing ice soup. Too bad I didn't get to mount the de icer last weekend. The wind is boosting into the night.

 

[psneeld]

I think as long as it stays broken up and generally less than several inches thick, it may at worst scuff up a bit of gel. That can be buffed out easily, but I really doubt scuffing will occur as long as water is splashing/moving with the ice.

 

[TJM]

I think his issue might be the noise. Yes, It can get noisy and scare the $h___ out of you at 3:00 am. We have added more lines in the last week to reduce horizontal movement of the boat. We also have fenders hanging in the water on the side where the ice is. Redirecting the "bubblers" helps. Marinas frequently point the de icing system propellers towards the boat. I move them and point them away from the boat. This prevents chunks from being propelled into the hull.

 

[paulga]

I think his issue might be the noise. Yes, It can get noisy and scare the $h___ out of you at 3:00 am. We have added more lines in the last week to reduce horizontal movement of the boat. We also have fenders hanging in the water on the side where the ice is. Redirecting the "bubblers" helps. Marinas frequently point the de icing system propellers towards the boat. I move them and point them away from the boat. This prevents chunks from being propelled into the hull.

yes, the rubbing sound ground me crazy
so i worked late into the night yesterday, crimped the electrical box and mounted the kasco de icer near the bow to direct flow toward the stern direction. I tested it was running when I switched the timer to ON. Then I programmed the on time and flipped it to the "Timer" side. I frequently monitor it through an outdoor camera. but whenever I watch it, I cannot tell if it's running.
I'll replace the timer with an outdoor smart plug with energy monitoring function.

 

[paulga]

I think his issue might be the noise. Yes, It can get noisy and scare the $h___ out of you at 3:00 am. We have added more lines in the last week to reduce horizontal movement of the boat. We also have fenders hanging in the water on the side where the ice is. Redirecting the "bubblers" helps. Marinas frequently point the de icing system propellers towards the boat. I move them and point them away from the boat. This prevents chunks from being propelled into the hull.

the ice was formed near the shore, not coming from the open water into the marina, or blown by a de icer

fenders can only protect limited areas. i think this type of floating line, plus a de icer could be used to block the ice. 4x10' can cover the waterline of the hull.

 

[cosinalaska]

The big ones don’t bother me. It’s the little ones.

 

[rgano]

paulga, I would try to clear out some of that ice by running your engines ahead slowly to push water astern hitting the shoreline at which point it would send flow to port and stbd kicking that ice outa there.

 

[Jeff F]

Agree that you should be able to use prop wash or a deicer to keep the area around the boat clear.

WRT damage, I was on the Illinois River last week and got caught in some serious ice in a FG sailboat. We spent a couple of days bashing through ice up to about 4" thick and using prop wash to open holes. See pics and videos on my blog Success

As far as we can tell the boat wasn't damaged apart from rubbing the bottom paint off around the bow.

 

[slowgoesit]

Where are you located?

 

[paulga]

The big ones don’t bother me. It’s the little ones.

It's a dangerous piece of art.

 

[paulga]

Where are you located?

My slip is in the great New York City area

 

[paulga]

Agree that you should be able to use prop wash or a deicer to keep the area around the boat clear.

WRT damage, I was on the Illinois River last week and got caught in some serious ice in a FG sailboat. We spent a couple of days bashing through ice up to about 4" thick and using prop wash to open holes. See pics and videos on my blog Success

As far as we can tell the boat wasn't damaged apart from rubbing the bottom paint off around the bow.

Thanks for the photos.
This sailing style is very pro. Though I don't think the pleasure boats are equipped to break the ice.

I have a de icer that keeps the boat clear from the ice. In the coldest days, I had to break up a crust of ice near the stern twice a day. Two de icers would be good.

 

[Waters7]

Yeah, I’ve dealt with this in a couple of marinas during cold snaps. That ice grinding against the hull can cause scuffing or wear on the gelcoat.

 

[TJM]

That is another reason that I do NOT winterize my engines. When the ice gets thicker and more consolidated I start up my twins and put them in gear to push the icebergs FAR away.