Frozen water in sharpie

Hello everyone- We just got a spry 3" of snow here on Long Island. I didn't immediately shovel it out of my homemade, traditionally build plank-on frame wood sharpie, and now there is an inch of solid brackish ice at the bottom of the boat. Does anybody have expericence keeping a sharpie in the water over the winter? could use a small bit of advice. Thanks

 

The ice won't be good for it, but the water, not so bad.

When wooden boats, especially traditionally planks wooden boats are allowed to dry out after a season in the water, the seams of your planking will want to widen.


These traditionally built wooden fishing boats in Northern Italy are pulled out of the water and stowed on shore after the season, but water is kept in their bilges. If the ice, on the other hand, freezes between the planks, the expansion can cause leaks and you would need to re-caulk.

-Will

 

I haven't seen any significant problem in wooden boats when it freezes if there is a bit of water in the bilge. You need to make sure the engine and all other plumbing is winterized though. If you are referring to the smallish boat you built, simply flip it over.

 

This wasn't the double plank sharpie I had asked about, this boat was built in years previous.

Thanks

 

getting ice in between the layers of my double plank sharpie would be a much bigger problem this one was just single plank, and because its literally in its slip right now, its all tight seams and no ice will get in there. I'm just worried about the expansion of the ice pushing at the hard chine will make the screw holes bigger, affecting future integrity of the boat.

 

I would consider buying a bag of rock salt and a tarp. Partially frozen brackish water is fresh water ice mixed with concentrated brine. The freezing point is a direct function of the salt concentration, so on a cold day as the water freezes out of solution, it forms a concentrated brine. In other words, if you are worried about the concentration of salt in freezing brackish water, it is hard to make it any worse. When the salt melts the ice, it can be bailed out. Some RV antifreeze or one of the pet friendly antifreezes cost more, but works the same while being less corrosive.

 

Thanks guys!