sympathy for the snowbound

[kickingbug1]

   what a winter. im from southern illinois and we have been lucky to have very little snow this year, although it has been colder than a witch's thorax. my heart goes out to those of you in the east who have had FEET not inches of snow. talk about cabin fever. i have seen the footage of people basically digging tunnels just to get out of the house. yesterday a friend told me that sunday was the first day of spring----maybe in the bahamas. let me take this opportunity to again thank salty 19 for the clr video. its like a comforting old movies where you know all the the characters and have memorized all of the lines but you still feel good everytime you watch it. between that and sailing videos on line, i might just get through this. hey everyone stay safe on the roads and hope for fairwinds and calm seas in the near future

[brackish]

Coming down hard as I type.  In the South no less, Mississippi, this is not supposed to happen.  Prediction is 6-8" with hard freeze overnight.  Has been the coldest winter I can remember here.

[rogerschwake]

  I'm tired of winter too, but all that snow will soon turn to water for us to sail on if it ever gets arm. All the memories of past sailing trips are getting old, don't really like reruns, time to make some new memories. Hope to see a lot of you at the next CLR.

ROGER

[GrFa]

I'm one of those unlucky ones up in Rhode Island.  My wife and I bought our house and moved here in the fall.  This is officially the snowiest February ever and second coldest on record.  My front yard by the street where it gets plowed has about 4 feet of snow, the rest of the yard about 2 feet.  I can't imagine how long its going to take for all of this to melt.

One positive I can think of is now that we have gotten acclimated to such terrible weather temperatures above freezing feel fantastic.  Last Sunday was the first time it got above Freezing since December.  Hopefully that will mean enjoyable sailing in cooler temperatures than usual.  Now we just need to wait for the water to unfreeze.  I can see the Sakonnet River (river up the bay from Newport) from my house and its completely frozen over right now.  That's going to be some chilly water this year.

[kickingbug1]

   your boat looks kind of like my catalina-----snug under a layer of (stuff)

[AislinGirlII]

Down here in the SW corner of MS we are having a bit of freezy drizzles.
My daughter/granddaughter and son/daughter in law/newborn grandson are  up in CT all at UConn and its been quite the winter for them so far !

[crazycarl]

as i type, an inch of snow lay on the street and drive, while more descends upon us in northern illinois.

however, yesterday it was a balmy 27* when i arrived home from work, so without hesitation i removed
my bicycle from it's overhead storage and went for a short 3 mile ride.

the beauty of such long hard winters is that those who endure them, waste not a single day when warmer temperatures finally do arrive.


CC 

[kickingbug1]

   amen buddy, i told sarah when it hits 50 i might just go sailing (alone of course). now i really wish we would have gone when you came down ---again sorry for that----and thanks again

[MacGyver]

For me it is just another winter. As the wind comes across the lake super cooling and then slapping me in the face (Or exposed facial features due to not being able to cover my entire face up) like a boss, it actually pained me walking the docks. Everyday we walk the docks. It is crazy how the weather is so different out there than up the road at my home.

I need the cold to hang in a little longer......... I cant say why just yet, but I need it to hang in there just a little bit longer, then let the spring time and business set in for the marina.

Mac (sitting at home in the warm house, with a sick wife )

[rbh1515]

Me too...just another winter.  It has been cold up in Wisconsin, but not so much snow.  The Great Lakes are near record frozen, and that is a good thing.  Last year was also a near record breaking year as far as cold temps and ice cover on the Great Lakes.  This turned out to be great, because the Great Lakes water levels had been low for a while, and with the cold temps and ice cover there was very little evaporation, and the lake levels have zoomed up.  Some so-called experts had said the Great Lake levels would never come back, and that they would continue to fall...wrong!!  Global warming...wrong!  What do experts know.  They need to look at history.  Lake Michigan will probably zoom up once again...I am betting over 12 inches.   This is going to be great.  About 3 years ago I had to switch slips at our marina because I was running out of water under the keel of my Catalina 28.  That wouldn't be a problem with my new Horizon Day Cat, but no worries now!!  The Great Lakes are coming back!!  The water in front of our cottage up in Door County, WI was about 150' from our property.  This year it will be right up to the property line.  Hopefully it doesn't come up to our house.
I love winter.  Snow shoeing etc.  Good time to do something other than sailing all the time.
Rob

[Bob23]

Of course, us snowbounds get to cross country ski! Ha! Try that, you snow birds!
Bob23

[fried fish]

Attaboy Bob!
I would join you but my foot is in a cast.
Oh I forgot, we don't have any snow on coastal NC...just cold rain.
60's next week. Yay!
Fred

[HeaveToo]

At the beginning of this winter I thought that we were going to get out of it without too much snow.  I was WRONG!  We just got another 5 inches or so of snow. 

I want to see green grass!  I have spring work to do on the boat to get her ready for the season.  This has been a bad February here in VA.  I haven't seen the ground in a few weeks.  Blah!

[Salty19]

Kick,  great minds think alike.  I also watched the DVD last week when it was -18.  Lots of snow here, but no where near the NE.
Melting is not a word in the Ohio vocabulary this year (and last year).  We hit a 108 year (if I recall) record for cold temps.  Brrrr....

Like Heave, I have a ton of spring work to do on the boat and some warm weather is needed to paint a few goodies I've been making over the winter.
As usual, it will probably be a mad rush in April to splash in early May. 

Glad the DVD brought some relief!

[HeaveToo]

As soon as this cold crud gets out of here I am going to buy and install my 2 6V batteries.  The battery boxes are in. 

With the batteries installed it will allow me to finish the wiring project....for now.  Eventually I intend to replace the few remaining pieces of old wiring (Nav Lights).  In another season or two I will rewire the mast and add a VHF cable.  I want to do that all at one time so I can run the 2 duplex wires (anchor light and Steaming light) and the VHF cable up the mast with long wire ties to keep them from clanking inside of the mast.  I will add a new deck fitting for the wire and a deck fitting for the VHF.

The main goal for this season was the rewire.  I will have 215 amp hours from 2 6V batteries in a series.  They will get charged off of a on board electric charger, the 6amp alternator, and a 100 watt solar panel (going into a charge controller).  All of my power woes should be fixed for longer cruises.

Also, during this time, I have added a new water tank in the V berth.  It is a flexible water tank.  I am going to run the new water hose.

Sometime later on I plan to add pressurized water into the system.  I will have a shower in the cockpit and a faucet in the galley.

Now if I can have warm weather.