Unwinterized yacht in arctic Texas-Questions for my Yankee Hatteras friends & experts

[Freeebird]

Sounds like the TX folks on inland lakes are really having issues as they’re freezing over.

[Finalee]

Hope you survive without lots of freeze damage. Every time we get a couple days below 25 here in Tidewater there are several calls regarding water loss due to frozen pipes. Wind exacerbate the issue. Surprisingly most thaw ok. My theory is the copper can handle a freeze cycle once. Plastic pipe seems to do fine. More stretch

[52CMY]

There are (only) 7 through hulls on my 53 and it takes less than 2 minutes to close all of them, and really no time at all when I do them as I work my way through the boat for the "Leaving Ship" routine. Food for thought.

Agree with you in general if you plan to leave boat unattended for a long period. My decision tree was clearly not perfect. In hindsight, I should have closed the thru hulls and armed my electric space heater set to ~50degs.
I planned to cut my trip away from the boat short and return before the WX came, but got trapped Saturday by unforecast freezing rain/mist/fog in the TX hill country and am actually still stuck there now!. But I have attentive, experienced boat neighbors aboard in the next slip, as well as Harbormaster and Mechanic, all armed with general knowledge of my boat, HVAC, and GenSet. We failed to consider that the forecast ice storm would make the untreated docks impassable when the shore power failed--so boarding boats, pier, & ramps was impossible (without the rock salt and shovels that we don't know to have because we're from south TX). I also failed to consider that the whole texas power grid would fail so dramatically for so long. Power has been out since sunday. Utilities have advised that power may not be restored for another few days....

I know all you northern boaters are laughing at us in texas right now...who doesn't have bags of salt at their marinas, right?!?!

[jim rosenthal]

We're not laughing, for what that's worth. Anyone can get caught holding the bag by bad weather. We've all been there in one way or another.

[Retired1]

I remember one of my boats caught unprepared in a freeze (December 1989). Snow-mostly ice covered the engine deck hatch in inches.
The surrounding river water that the boat was above (boat in lift), did not freeze.

Found no issues days later when I was able to access the boat.

If your boat is in the water, IMO; you should have no issues.

December 1989, I 95 was closed in Jacksonville FL. All bridges and over passes closed because of ICE from way up north to Daytona. Only time in history the area shopping malls were closed in Jax, cheapest Christmas in my life...

I remember that. We had brownouts in Miami. It was freezing at the house, so we went to my houseboat at Maule Lake Marina to be warmer. Now, our (top floor) condo in Ft. Pierce has no heat at all (new central ac, but apparently ordered without a heat strip) but it’s never yet been cold enough to need it. Our house here had a real fireplace, but it had never been used. And as we all know coastal cold feels way colder than inland cold. Do not want a replay of 1989!

[JoshuaHall]

Mine is in Texas City. I've been out to it each of the last 4 days. Engine room has not been below 50 degrees, even with the wind blowing up her skirt.There was a thin layer of ice across the slip, but nothing to worry about.

[52CMY]

We're not laughing, for what that's worth. Anyone can get caught holding the bag by bad weather. We've all been there in one way or another.

Thanks Jim, I'm laughing at myself--my last boat was a 44AC hunter sailboat in Inner Harbor Baltimore...always had bags of salt on the piers, bubblers in the ice water., and had whistles on lanyards around our necks in case someone slipped into the water..spend 2 years in Houston and that winter boating knowledge goes right out the window...

Thanks everyone for the inputs...I thought adding this thread would generate good info sharing and it worked.

[oscarvan]

Agree with you in general if you plan to leave boat unattended for a long period.

Every time I leave the boat and shut down HVAC etc..... 2 days or 14 days doesn't matter. Through hulls are only open when we are living on board, and then only the ones we are using.

[Photolomy]

Every time I leave the boat and shut down HVAC etc..... 2 days or 14 days doesn't matter. Through hulls are only open when we are living on board, and then only the ones we are using.

All of them? There are like 7 or 8 of them. Engines, Generator, HVAC, Toilets, maybe a wash down pump.

[jim rosenthal]

One of the advantages of walk-in engine rooms.