21st December 2010 - Cold Snap!

Jeff's blog of his life living aboard a yacht, at anchor, in the UK, with his wife, a dog and a baby.

Moderator: Jeff

Post Reply
Jeff
Site Admin
Posts: 751
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:54 pm
Location: North Yorkshire
Contact:

21st December 2010 - Cold Snap!

Post by Jeff »

The return of the arctic air has brought with it a new level of cold! It's absolutely amazing! My on deck thermometer was showing -11C this AM and we'd had the fan heater on all night (we've not really ever even considered overnight heating before) which I guess lifts the temperature above the boat a touch, so it must have been even colder than that!

I think at night all the surrounding hills spill cold air down the Esk valley and we're slap bang in the middle of it. Having the boat out of the water is making a massive difference to how hard it is to keep us warm and condensation free. If we were in the water supposedly we'd see not much less than 10C on the hull below the surface, rather than -11C. But then, here's the tidal river Esk at the moment, at high water so full of seawater as well as pack ice:

The river Esk, Whitby, North Yorkshire an hour ago - taken from about 30 feet above the water
Image

As a result of all this we've actually got loads of exciting things going on:

Ice forming on the walls alongside our bunks - despite it being t-shirt weather now inside with the Eberspacher on.

The toilet wouldn't pump out as the outlet pipe had frozen solid. I'd rigged it up with a pipe from the normal hull exit point, into a bucket on the ground. This has the advantage of not revealing to all in the vicinity that you've just 'been' - an excellent idea from our friend and fellow liveaboard Terry, in Plymouth - but I don't think he expected us to be using it in weather like this! Despite attempts with hot water, at both ends, I've had to give up and we now have the bucket strategically placed beneath the hull, about 1m below the hole. I'm looking forward to the yellow icicle :)

We couldn't make hot water since yesterday though because it was so cold the gas supply to the cooker stopped - had to buy an electric kettle in an emergency 10pm polar expedition to the Co-Op Pole.

This morning the Eberspacher refused to fire up. I had to unplug and re-plug all connections - including the ones at the unit itself which involved a 6am, -11C, numb fingered spelunking expedition into the depths of the cockpit locker before I could get us cosy again.

We've run out of water in the onboard tanks now also, and the yard tap is frozen solid, so all water has now to be gathered from the yard loo sink, one cup at a time, into a 5 litre carrier. This is for tea/coffee, teeth and washing, cleaning, dog and washing up. The sink is tiny and the tap low, so a cup is the only thing that will fit underneath.

Found a solution to the stove problem - fan heater in the gas locker. Safe? More safe than not giving Rose her cup of tea in the morning ;)

These things are all rather fun and memorable, but unfortunately Rose has got some kind of flu and I've put my back out :roll:

Cruising in the Med sounds like a nice idea 8)
To join our mailing list and receive notification of blog updates, please send an email to watchblog@yacht-forum.co.uk and we'll keep you posted. You do not need to sign up to the forum to do this, and we absolutely WILL NOT share your contact details, or send you anything but notifications of new blog entries.
Terry T
YF Newbie
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:11 am

Post by Terry T »

hi Jeff its your your old pal from PYH Sounds as if you have it pretty bad up there . Throw the Butane gas away and use propane its doesnt freeze . most places will exchange the "blue" calor bottles for "red" bottles . Thats what we did and have had no problems since .Someone recommended to you on the PBO site that Hawkhouse sell an anti condensation matting for under bunks . On the strength of that I bought some and its brill . Bone dry ever since.
Hows your quest for a larger boat going ?? Anything serious in mind ?

Best wishes to you and Rose

keep warm

regards

Terry
Jeff
Site Admin
Posts: 751
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:54 pm
Location: North Yorkshire
Contact:

Post by Jeff »

Hi Terry! :D

We've stuck a load of random objects down the side of the bed cushions (a couple of books, an anode and a few wooden bungs) and it seems to be doing the trick for us, but it could definitely be better. What's the Hawkhouse stuff you've got exactly? Did you have to cut it to shape? Do you have it going all the way up the side of your cushions? Do you use a sheet on the cushions and if so, do you tuck it in? Inside the Hawkhouse stuff?

The boat hunt continues. Keep finding what look like excellent boats only to dig a little further to find some major issue. A recent one, the broker said "VAT is paid it's all fine" and when I pushed it turned out the boat has at some point been imported from S.A. and there is no documentation relating to VAT included with the boat. A lot of brokers seem less than honest. I recall one in Plymouth who said the reason the GPS on a boat we looked at wasn't working was because the signal was poor in the marina we were in and that everyone had that problem there! :o

Didn't know that about the gas bottles! Will try a red one next time! Thank you!
To join our mailing list and receive notification of blog updates, please send an email to watchblog@yacht-forum.co.uk and we'll keep you posted. You do not need to sign up to the forum to do this, and we absolutely WILL NOT share your contact details, or send you anything but notifications of new blog entries.
Terry T
YF Newbie
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:11 am

Post by Terry T »

Hi jeff the stuff is called VENT AIR-MAT Its £25.45p per mtr but its 2mtrs wide !! Cost us about £70 inc postage . Very helpful people to deal with . Its a machinewashable, anti - fungal flexible matting . Easy cut to shape with sissors . I must admit I was a be sceptable about its abiliy to solve the condensation problems we had under the matress(even with dehumidifyergoing 24/7) but it really works perfectly . We use sheets and duvet the sheet is "fitted" the best it can (the bunk is tapered). the matting is taken up the sides of matress as there was plenty spare .

My advice for what its worth regarding "large" boats is dont buy bigger than you need . They are difficult to heat as a live aboard unless you have a hot water central heating system . It costs us £80pw more to use a marina with finlandia than telos and costs of running are far greater ie heavier fuel consumption,insurance etc .

regards

Terry
Jeff
Site Admin
Posts: 751
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:54 pm
Location: North Yorkshire
Contact:

Post by Jeff »

Cheers Terry. £80 per week more! How big is Finlandia?
To join our mailing list and receive notification of blog updates, please send an email to watchblog@yacht-forum.co.uk and we'll keep you posted. You do not need to sign up to the forum to do this, and we absolutely WILL NOT share your contact details, or send you anything but notifications of new blog entries.
Terry T
YF Newbie
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:11 am

Post by Terry T »

35ft but 42ft loa (inc davits and bow sprit). only claim for what I can get away with though.
Check out the Moody 346 on your quest.
regards

Terry
Jeff
Site Admin
Posts: 751
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:54 pm
Location: North Yorkshire
Contact:

Post by Jeff »

Hi Terry, we've now installed Vent Air Mat under the v-berth cushions. Seems like good stuff. Ours came as a single piece 2m x 2m. I've folded down the surplus and put it back under the cushions so it looks neat, gives us even more air space and we will be able to take it with us to our next boat. Cheers for the suggestion!
To join our mailing list and receive notification of blog updates, please send an email to watchblog@yacht-forum.co.uk and we'll keep you posted. You do not need to sign up to the forum to do this, and we absolutely WILL NOT share your contact details, or send you anything but notifications of new blog entries.
Terry T
YF Newbie
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:11 am

Post by Terry T »

Off topic but any news on the boat buying front Jeff ??
Jeff
Site Admin
Posts: 751
Joined: Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:54 pm
Location: North Yorkshire
Contact:

Post by Jeff »

I'm still keeping an eye out, but it's looking more and more like we're going to continue our travels in Isabella - which probably means the next purchase/sale will be when we're back in the SW. All the boats we found had something or other against them so it was hard to find the motivation to do a 10+ hour round trip to see them really. There's a promising looking Colvic Victor in Amble we'll try to view on the way past though.
To join our mailing list and receive notification of blog updates, please send an email to watchblog@yacht-forum.co.uk and we'll keep you posted. You do not need to sign up to the forum to do this, and we absolutely WILL NOT share your contact details, or send you anything but notifications of new blog entries.
Post Reply