MacGregorSailors.com

Just got out Mac this Sept, went to get her out of her mooring last weekend but the river marina basin she is in was frozen with a layer of ice, this week the temp got even lower (19f) and the basin is still frozen, my rather worried question is realted to the water ballest, is there a risk it will freeze, expand and crack the ballest compartment ?

Seems to me the water in the tank will maintain the temp of the water flowing underneath. Wind chill is freezing the surface. If you are worried then force some water out using low air pressure or pump some out via the vent hole to provide expansion room. OR......... Put a heater inside the cabin.

Yes, I would put a heater in the cabin and open the compartments to allow warmth in there.
You could also put some rock salt into the ballast tank via the vent hole to melt the ballast water.


--Russ

I would move to a warmer climate

Rick

pokerrick1 wrote:I would move to a warmer climate

Rick

That would solve one problem. But often it is so crowded in those places it creates another problem.

RussMT wrote:You could also put some rock salt into the ballast tank via the vent hole to melt the ballast water.

I was going to suggest a little anti-freeze, but then remembered..."boat"...can't dump that in the water afterwards...so don't use anti-freeze...

Dido,
Further to all the above, my suggestion would be for you to leave open the tail gate and the bleeding valve. If water freezes then this will be the escape route for the greater ice volume.
Just a thought, as I have no experience with ice conditions on boats.
Good luck,
Octaman

I like Russ's Idea Salt Slurry poured down the vent hole... Pretty Eco Friendly too...

Cheers guy's warming up here so hope to get her out of the water, like the little bit of salt idea, will take some with me when we go sailing on a lake after christmas !

On the salt problem...I did the SWAG on the 'molal freezing point depression constant' a couple years back and is was a lot of salt needed...like 50 kg or something like that....ill try to search and repost..

AInt the search function great??

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... depression
Executive summary

16 kgsalt for a scant 4 degree C freezing point depression....lotsa salt...

BY the way, if you suffer from molal depression, see you psycho-dentist..

We here in Western Australia do not have these sorts of problems, but one cure to stop water freezing and expanding is an old trick I learned from when I had an old fashioned shop fridge used to store icecream...in a beach kiosk...
Add methylated spirits to the water...the water gets very cold but will not go solid. And it does not form any sort of explosive mix...
The fridge compressor gas ran in pipes through the water jacket, removing heat...and the water stayed liquid.
i'll welcome any suggestions if I'm at all wrong. cheers...and still hanging out for another ...Puggsy

How about something along the lines of:

outdoor pool / pond heater

bird bath / livestock heater

RV tank heater

pond bubbler / aerator

dock bubler / de-icer

Of course the trick is to find / make something that can easily be installed thru the original or modified vent hole, or transom valve.

RV Bio-degradable non- toxic anti-freeze

J

Big Arc Wielder .....