E26-2 winter storage on hard Vs. in the water on a mooring - part 2: what size poppets ?

[acubria]

Winter is upon us and once again it is time to prepare the boats for the cold season. I am in New York City and most boats are unused for about 6 months. In my club there are always about 25% of boats that spend the wintering the water on mornings or slips while most people haul out. This year I have no need for hull painting or mayor maintenance while at the same time money is rather scarce. Winter storage around here will cost me about $1400.
My question is : Under similar circumstances (weather, no plastic wrap, all canvas down, unstepped) Do boats in the water "suffer" a lot more than on the hardwiring winter ? My initial answer is YES, but I wonder if people with more experience than me have any thoughts. Mooring Vs slip ? The location is Sheepshead's Bay in Brooklyn , which is very well sheltered from waves. We have a small dingy that would give me a rather scary option to access the boat during the winter.

For E26-2 owners out there: Would you know what size poppets I would have to use? Is the size o the poppets = draft of the boat, roughly ?
thank you in advance and happy winter.
Arturo

 

[KS Dave]

Do boats in the water "suffer" a lot more than on the hardwiring winter ?

What things do you mean by "suffer"?

Mooring Vs slip ? The location is Sheepshead's Bay in Brooklyn , which is very well sheltered from waves.

Does the water in the bay or the docks freeze up hard? If so, an aerator is a consideration (and what we use here).
If you're in a slip, do you have power where you could leave a small cabin heater in place to keep the interior just above freezing? You can also crank it up when you want to visit for some work - gets quite toasty with it on.
Do you ever have nice days in the winter where you might want to go for a sail? Yes, you'd have to re-winterize the engine after, but small price for January sailing.

For E26-2 owners out there: Would you know what size poppets I would have to use? Is the size o the poppets = draft of the boat, roughly ?
thank you in advance and happy winter.

Do you have the full keel or shoal keel? I have measurements from when I was on a trailer last summer I could share (full keel, here).

 

[acubria]

hi Dave, by suffer I mean : do things break, materials deteriorate, etc. Basically, is floating in salt water through winter, that much worse than freezing up on poppets in a parking lot?
Salt water will not freeze solid around here and the reality is that my only option is a mooring, and not a slip.
We do get a few super nice sunny days every winter, but for that I can always use one of the club's ready-boats.
My boat has a full keel. If you could share measurements, that would be great.
thanks

 

[KS Dave]

I'm not much help for salt water. I feel like the water acts like somewhat of an insulator for the water freezing in the bilge. It eventually does here, but not until it gets really cold. I'm cheap, and I don't own a trailer, so I'm more about paying less and staying in the water. Of course, I have a slip with power and an aerator. Things are different on freshwater lakes.

Here are the measurements as I took them while I was out last summer. These are approximate as I mainly took them to document the settings on the club trailer. If I ever bought a trailer, I'd set the club trailer up and take more precise measures to set mine up (plus some trial/error). Hope this helps!

 

[bsangs]

I'm a little north of you in Jersey City, and after many discussions with my marina neighbors about the pros and cons, have decided to keep her in the water for winter. Still plan to winterize the systems and get her covered though, as I'm not a liveaboard like some of them. They tell me the huge heat sink that is the Hudson River/Morris Canal Basin actually helps prevent a lot of "suffering" that on-the-hard boats experience from freezing, thawing, expansion, refreezing, etc. Also, no threats of critters making my boat home for the winter. At least the land-based ones anyway. So we'll see. I'd think if you're not covering her you'd need to promptly remove any snowfall, but that'd be the same on the hard as well.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

. . . I'd think if you're not covering her you'd need to promptly remove any snowfall, but that'd be the same on the hard as well.

Brian makes a good point. It seems one danger of not covering the boat is water freezing and expanding, perhaps tearing apart joints.

 

[Kenneth K]

Seems like these boats will tolerate a lot. Apparently, here's what they do up in Ketchikan (taken from Craigslist):

 

[acubria]

Those could be attached to the hull permanently with bolts and 5200 for additional flotation during the sailing season : )

 

[acubria]

I have decided to keep the boat in the water this winter. It will be on a mooring , right in front of the club which is 15 minutes from my house. I’ll be able to check on it weekly and row to it on a dingy as needed. Talking to many members of my club, no one thought it was a crazy idea to do so and many people do the same. Everyone watched each others boats, which is really important . And this weekend i went sailing twice with great weather and wind. Hopefully I will get some more outings later this fall and early spring .

 

[KS Dave]

I have decided to keep the boat in the water this winter. It will be on a mooring , right in front of the club which is 15 minutes from my house. I’ll be able to check on it weekly and row to it on a dingy as needed.

I keep an eye on my boat (1h20mins away) by utilizing a WiFi hotspot and a few Blink cameras. More easily accomplished with shore power, but if you had a solar panel, it should be enough to keep the the hotspot and camera controller running (the cameras use lithium A-cells).