Southerner looking at a cold front?

I wanted to give one (perhaps) final report...on the edge of Armageddon here in metro Atlanta. As we speak, frigid...do I dare say life threatening...temperatures are bearing down upon us and there is no hope in sight. Temperatures are headed in to the...teens. Snows tonight between one quarter of an inch and TWO INCHES in mountainous areas are anticipated. (Pleas to representatives for Mr. Gore to reinstate an apparently over corrected global warming problem have not been returned.)

Originally, I did not take this as seriously as the rest of my tribesmen (and women...who by the way are largely northern transplants and presumably should know better). Stores are completely out of stock of milk and bread. Firewood is unavailable...schools and businesses are closing...Delta just canceled 128 flights because of the 'threat' (not the existence...the possibility) of snow, and my wife's salon canceled hair appointments for the day...and the final sign of the apocalypse...the CVS drug store in Townelake (an 18,000 home or so bedroom community of Atlanta...is prominently selling snow shovels.

I love the South.
 
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From the western front.......temps will be dropping below freezing here in Jackson, MS today (Thurs.) and will not get above freezing till Sunday. Rain now (37*) turning to freezing rain and sleet....lows in the teens for the next 3 nights.
 
JediJD - don't forget the "approved" Southern Driving Technique for Snow - step on the gas harder when the wheels start spinning!

windjammer said you were at the dock yesterday - sorry we missed you. We're going up today around noon.
 
JediJD said:
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The '05 and '06 Bordeaux's are a little young (according to my snotty wine friends) but they were pretty cheap when ordered by the case from Sherry Lehman's in NY and very hearty.
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Are they snotty or snooty? Or both? Nutin' too young about a 4 or 5 year old bottle of red.

But if it is less than 2 years old, that's statutory grape!






























Okay, that's horrible. But I couldn't help myself. It's 12f here with 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground.
 
That was awesome! :smt043:smt043
 
Regarding bilge heaters, I have a Boatsafe in my 1994 370 EC. Seems to be working. I keep a remote thermometer in there and it has not gone below 40 degrees in there despite dropping to 19-20 degrees every night this week. I tested it with a freeze spray can back in the fall. It is hard wired to the AC panel in the salon, no connections in the engine room.
 
highslice said:
Are they snotty or snooty? Or both? Nutin' too young about a 4 or 5 year old bottle of red.

But if it is less than 2 years old, that's statutory grape!






























Okay, that's horrible. But I couldn't help myself. It's 12f here with 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground.
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Tim...where do you get your material? Oh...supposed to be about -4 here tonight....
 
carterchapman said:
JediJD - I just got in to Anchorage and it's 5 degrees warmer here than Atlanta!!
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When Becky and I were talking last night about getting away from the cold for a few days...Anchorage didn't make the short list. We will revisit the options. Thanks!
 
Went to check on the Southpaw today in 22* weather. The boat stays in the water year-round, and the A/C - Heat runs most of the time.

There was frozen water around the edges of the marina about 10' from the bank, and growing. The A/C was not running and the outlet of the A/C was frozen solid. The bilge was a toasty 47* and the Boatsafe heater was doing its job.

I turned off the Crusair heat and plugged in 2 portable heaters in the cabin....the temp in the cabin had dropped to about 40*. After about 4 hours the cabin temp was back up to 60* and all is well. Temps are supposed to be in the teens tonight, but hopefully tomorrow it will rise above freezing.

By late next week we should be seeing highs in the 50s again....winters in the South are brutal.
 
Southpaw II said:
Went to check on the Southpaw today in 22* weather. The boat stays in the water year-round, and the A/C - Heat runs most of the time.

There was frozen water around the edges of the marina about 10' from the bank, and growing. The A/C was not running and the outlet of the A/C was frozen solid. The bilge was a toasty 47* and the Boatsafe heater was doing its job.

I turned off the Crusair heat and plugged in 2 portable heaters in the cabin....the temp in the cabin had dropped to about 40*. After about 4 hours the cabin temp was back up to 60* and all is well. Temps are supposed to be in the teens tonight, but hopefully tomorrow it will rise above freezing.

By late next week we should be seeing highs in the 50s again....winters in the South are brutal.
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I went to check on my boat a few days ago. the boatsafe was also doing its job and the bilge temp when I was there was 51 and had recorded a low of 39.

fired up both engines and genny just fine and let run for about 30 minutes.

Unlike yourself, I had about 1/4 of ice around my boat. I proceeded to break up the ice around the boat so any breeze could keep if moving around and hopefully keep it from locking solid. When I stepped on the swim platform I heard ice cracking..ick.

I do not use a heater in the cabin when I am away, but do have one of the WM type I use when I am onboard in the winter.

I have all FW and AC systems winterized. I am curious as to why you keep the cabin warm? What can go wrong from extreme cold in the cabin? I remove all water bottles etc that could be prone to freezing. Just curious If I am overlooking something by not running cabin heat as you do.
 
No, I don't think you are overlooking a thing. We just live in different climates. While it does get cold here, it seldom lasts for more than a few days. When I got to the boat today, the marina was completely iced in. Cabin temp was 62* and all was OK. Tonight we will see 19*, but tomorrow it should get to 40*, and later in the week it will get back to the 50-60* range in the days.

We use out boat year-round and even during the winter we stay 6-8 nights a month on the boat. We have a small building at our dock where we gather on the weekends to cook out with our dockmates and have a good time.

When we had our 290DA in North MS on Bay Springs Lake, the winters were more severe, and I lived about 45 minutes from the boat. Then, I did drain the water system and installed the pink stuff. On weekends we would bring drinking water and turn the heat on as needed. Now I am 4 miles away in the South and check on the boat several times a week. Just a warmer, closer, winter with the boat.

If I still lived in Nashville (grew up there), I would do it just like you.

Don
 
Thanks Don-

Certainly an unusually cold winter. I had contemplated not winterizing the FW and AC system this year as it is a pain to go out and not have these systems operational. guest need to Pee. Several of my dockmates have never winterized, and after this arctic blast I will be interested to see if they suffered any damage.

Having the lake ice up around the marina is something quite rare from what I hear. It only cost me $150 to winterize so I can sleep well until late Feb/Early March.
 
Mike,

I think you did the right thing....last year we had no ice, and historically, we will get ice on the water once every 5-6 years. Last year was my first winter with this boat, and the heat on the boat ran all winter set at 55* when we were not there.

Last freeze here is usually late February. I just wish I were even further South.....
 
A question was asked by Uplate.

"Why keep the cabin climate controlled?"

It's true you don't need to and there is no specifications that say you should. I do however because sudden extreme changes like we are having in the south right now can have a cumulative and detrimental effect on things in the cabin. Wood can crack, Pipes and plastics can become brittle. this is an immediate concern. but over time changes in temperature prematurely destroy, un-bond, shrink and expand things. Much like keeping a car in the heated/ac garage and one out side. After 10 years the one in the heated/ac garage will more than not look and truly be in better shape. True much of the damage is UV related but temperature changes can be just as devastating. For this reason I cool in the summer and heat in the winter. All this aside from the fact I like to walk down into my warm boat.:thumbsup:
 
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