You know the season's over when . . .

[kellyima]

You know the boating season's over when

you have to wear gloves to go sailing,
need to bring something hot to drink with you,
put on every layer you've got
see the autumn foliage as you go sailing by
when daylight savings time ends.
when more and more boats are on the hard.

Great Indian summer in New York Hudson River, but it's time to call it a season, until next April!

[algonquin]

Its not over yet ! The ice still hasn't come in.

[Sean McGuire]

I agree that the season isn't over yet. Last winter was much warmer than usual. I went sailing in December and January. Just have to be extra careful since the water is still hypothermia cold even if the air is at sixty plus. But it is really nice to have the lake pretty much all to yourself. No other boat or jerk-ski wake to deal with, take all the time you want at the ramps, etc. Plus no launching fees!

Sean McGuire
1984 DSII "Iona"

[bkafer]

you know the seasons over when....
you have to walk across the ice to get to the open water.

[Roger]

You know the season is over when, ... there is no open water.

[bkafer]

you know the season is over when, you come down to the boat and the only thing you see is the top of the mast sticking out of the ice!

[calden]

You mean like this?



It's what's happening at one of our local clubs. Record-breaking snowfall this year. They had a non-working number for the boat owner. Oh well!

Carlos

[Sean McGuire]

Wow! Yet another reason to have boats that are small enough to trailer. Did the snow just drift up more on one side until a gunnel went under or did the weight just sink it? I have seen boats sunk from heavy downpours if they weren't self-bailing or didn't have automatic bilge pumps, but never from snow. Maybe the marina might think of adding a snow brushing service to their slip fees!

Sean McGuire
1984 DSII "Iona"

[calden]

Sean:

I'm not sure what happened. Although I've got several friends who slip there, and I've borrowed a friend's slip for a few months, I don't know about this incident. However, seeing that a number of other boats were fine, it's my guess that a through-hull fitting leaked, and the added weight of the snow pushed the boat down into the danger zone, where water started coming over the coamings. Perhaps it had a low transom motor mount. Only the divers will know for sure!

We usually don't get this much snow. A group of volunteers went out to get snow off of as many boats as possible. Come late March I'll try and get information on the condition of the boat. Aside from the junk on the boat, the hull is plastic, and the rigging and fittings are mostly stainless, so it ought to be okay.

Carlos

[Adrift]

Ouch.

It wasn't snow load. Would take several feet of ice (not snow) to push boats of that kind to where they take water over the coaming. Boats of that size can take a big wave over the stern / outboard well, or drop the rail into the water and not even feel it. Assuming it had an outboard (& well), not an inboard, and the well overflowed into the cockpit (not likely), then the cockpit water typically has to be 6-9-12 inches deep or more to reach the top of the bridge deck. But ... cockpit drains could have frozen then split and let rain/snowmelt into the bilge.

Most likely causes...and probably 2 or 3 had to combine to make it happen...

* thru hull fitting (head or sink drain or engine cooling water drain, or cockpit drain) or its hose came loose, or froze and split letting in seawater or
* engine heat exchanger frozen/cracked letting in seawater

and/or

* bilge pump not automatic, or
* bilge pump ran until it exhausted the battery or
* bilge pump failed, burned up, frozen (or its plumbing frozen)

AND

no harbormaster keeping an eye on things. This boat had to be taking on water for days before she went down. Someone should have seen her sitting low, and/or seen the bilge pump running continuously.