Improved Winter Tarp- 2015, Wisconsin

I added the gallon jugs 3/4 full of water- now their rock hard ice.
I keep the boat at an incline so that any moisture in it is back by the drain plug. I also have a small amount or road salt back in there too.
I didn't want any water freezing near/around the centereboard trunk inside- I theorize could easily lend to small cracks/seperations.

We've already had about 6" snow, but it has all but evaporated/melted.

Awaiting the winter snow falls

Maybe I'm stupid, or maybe it has already been said in a former thread.

But why don't you turn the cat 180 degrees over, bottom up.

Bind and tie the rest of the tarp underneath and set the whole thing under inclination for getting rid of the water and snow.
The advantage is less windsensitive and you have to store the mast somewhere inside; which is anyway much better.

The whole installation is a bit flatter and more down to earth, so seems less vulnerable.

Put it inside.

I love these threads every year. Time to go sailing here in California.

http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2014/12/13/pineapple-express-storm-system-pounds-california/

is that the same California hit by storms and mud slides?

Summer here in Oz, not a lot better!

Another good option.
Ever heard the expression: There's a dozen ways to skin a cat?

I'd rather have my 2001 truck in the garage, than my 2007 boat.
The house/basement is not a doable option any time in the near future either.

No, that's new to me. In Dutch we only know the more profane expression: There are dozen ways to go to Rome.
But that's ofcourse way off catamarans.

You (US),however also know: talk twenty to the dozen.

Which has ofcourse more to do with this forum.

What is this frozen water jug trick you speak of? How does it work? Do you wrap the jugs in multiple layers of bikinis to insulate them? Is some sort of refrigeration device installed inside of the jug?

I look forward to your answer as I'm getting tired of having to pound down frozen Margaritas because they become unfrozen within five minutes when sitting on the beach. Hopefully the refrigeration device can be transported on my scooter as parking a car is problematic with all the tourists flocking to the islands from frozen wastelands like Wisconsin.

Normally I'd say I hope you choke on your straw, but this winter has been pretty dang tame.

Cheer up, Karl, its only december.

But you know: it's the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

Oh I'm cheerier than normal. It's 8am and 47ºF on December 15th, it could easily be 50º cooler and I could be up to my butt in snow. But yes, there's still three months of winter left, and January and February can still be brutal pricks.

winter has not started yet ... December 21

Karl is happy, he just heard that Summer is going to be on a weekend this year in Minnesota.

Ha! That's funny.

Ugh. Sad but true.

when the wind picks up, do those frozen jugs of water become flying instruments of death? Or bludgeon the hulls?

Winter the weather can start here in the beginning of October, but it usually doesn't get real crappy until mid-November. Usually the end of March things start getting decent, but we've gotten pounded with snow the beginning of May. Winter the season is December 21st.
Nice sailing season is mid-June to the end of August. So yeah, 2½ months...

Karl, we live on about the same latitude. I think me even a little bit more north.

So we share the same daylight rhythm. This week we are in the socalled dark-days before Christmas.
Something where these Southern boys can only dream off!

Wintertime will also in Holland start around end November and will finish around end March. But fortunately, we have the Northsea close by (for me, 500m.).
This sea will slow down its temperature at least till December and will never go down 40 degree Fahrenheit.
So you can warm your hands when sailing below that in air temperature.

This sea-phenomenon will moderate our climate compared with your climate. You have what we call a (severe) landclimate and we have a (mild)seaclimate.

I can sail 12 month a year as long as airtemp is above 32 F and chilltemp is not to far down 30 F.

i lived in scotland for 2 years.
so far north that the sunset was around 1130 PM and sunrise around 2am in the summer.... conversely,,, was very dark this time of year

It was one of the most beautiful places on earth, all 2 weeks of summer were warm and sunny, rest of the year it pissed rain and wind all day every day. Our Navy Seals had a foul weather training camp there.

Winter in South Carolina = lows in the 20'sF and highs in the 50's F from Late November to late March. Mix in some 70 degree days here and there, Sunday we saw a high of 74F.
Its possible to sail all year and swim in the lakes from May to October with no wetsuit. The kids are in the lake in April, but not me, too much shrinkage.
Still not Florida!

water is around 60 currently here in the tampa/gulf area.
not bad but I purchased dry bibs a few years ago. makes sailing much more enjoyable for me in the winter


http://kokatat.com/products/bibs-and-pants/hydrus-3l-whirlpool-bib-men.html

I understand that you want to protect your suit underneath with a separate exterior layer. But if you are wearing a modern frontzip wetsuit, you stay abolutely dry inside your wetsuit with catsailing. So, normal sailing trousers above that, would also do the trick i.m.h.o.

But what suit are you wearing exactly underneath?

You are on the wrong coast. Water temp is 76 here. About the same temp as the air temp:
http://www.pbcgov.com/parks/beach_conditions/#.VJCPrntDFc8

I walked south until someone asked what (the snow-shovel) was on my shoulder. Only then did I know I found a good home.

The shallow water here loses and gains temp faster.......and you have Sea Lice. Never heard of that pest before. I read that they bite where the sun don't shine.

Sea lice is not that common here unless you go digging in seaweed. The 16 degree difference in water temp is a combination between gulf stream and latitude. The gulf stream is only about 5 miles offshore and you are central Florida, not South Florida.

Of course you would.

I HATE wetsuits. I feel like 200 pounds of fat stuffed into a 60 pound bag....

My dry bib has socks and keeps me 100% dry. This makes launching off the beach and anchoring (and sitting on a wet boat) totally dry and comfratable. It's more about the dryness than the warmth.

On a real cold day (by my standards - 55%) i will wear fleece pants underneath (think thermal underwear) but normally I just wear a regular bathing suit

My family has had a place in boynton for over 30 years. My sis lives in Miami. I have been down there many, many times. I know there is mast up storage in Delray (looks more like a place to leave and forget your hobie)

I strongly prefer to sail in the gulf enjoy all islands and protected bays we have here ... but to each their own.

btw the water temp is up to 64 and should keep going up while we have some have warmer days... .

O.K. thanks for the answer. As I expected, we seem to live in a different world with regard to weather and temperatures. I have 6 different wetsuits and 2 different dry-suits, all used and needed for the different circumstances.

I envie you.

The screen of my Davis windmeter on the top of my roof told me this morning: Happy Solstice today.

So, I like to bring this happy message to this forum.

The longest summerdaylight for the lucky guys in the Southern hemisphere and the shortest winterdaylight for the guys north of the equator.

(And the greater distance to the equator, the greater the impact.)


For me, as a northsea sailor, this gives me a very small time window. And because this week the tidalstreams in daylight are just wrong for the winddirection, it sucks. And it sucks even more because the wind really blows this week, in fact for weeks already. I can't remember a period with so much on-going wind.

Those there were some really funny replies to my OP.

Had me laughing allright.

Here's one;
If you use gallon jugs filled with water to weigh down your tarp in the winter......you might be a RedNeck!

What happens to that bib ikf you capsize, are you socks still dry when you're emersed in deep water? Does that waistband keep the water out of the pants?
I just read the product info at the website.
Bur what happens if you go swimming? Do the legs stay dry?