Frozen water in bilge..

Hey Guys,

Great forum! This is my first post.. I'm interested in an Ocean Super Sport which has around 6-10" of frozen water in the bilge. Apparently the broker stored it on dry land without power so rain water made its wait down into the bilge and froze up this winter.

I'm wondering if this is going to cause any major problems. Here are some pictures of the engine room with the frozen water. Let me know what you think the damage will be (if any):









Thanks!

-Adrian

 

Welcome Adrian
Looks like a timber boat, don't know for sure but this is just a guess.
Ice expands 10% when it freezes but I don't know if that is after it turns to ice or whether the water expands as it freezes.

I am wondering if the freezing water could force the joints apart. Of course you are not supposed to leave water in the bilge especially fresh as it rots the wood. I would say you would have to wait until it melts for an inspection.

The obvious long term solution would be to move to Western Australia where we don't have that problem and you can go boating all year round except this weekend when the wind has been howling due to a cyclone in our north.

Looking forward to having a beer with you when you arrive.

Regards
Poida

 

She's a Fiberglass 1986 44' Ocean Super Sport. I'm just wondering if this is common with the larger vessels. I don't believe the boat has drain plugs like smaller boats do. I think the batteries were removed so the bilge was not running during the winter.

-Adrian

 

All the through hull fitings need to be changed, if not for apparent damage just to be sure as they will sink the boat in the future if cracked

The shaft box could be damaged.

How cold has it been in say Celsius below freezing, the ice doesn’t look like its been at -20 or so, slush isn’t usually that bad.

Expect electrical problems and delaminating of glasfiber where the water has goten into the beams and frozen, what the hell any dealer selling a boat after a mistake like that deserves to be punished try at half price.

 

Interesting science, here. Poida is right, water is at its greatest density at 4 deg C, and then begins to expand as it gets colder. I have seen a few hulls left in freshwater ponds get crushed as the temps really plummet.

So there is a lot of potential damage, possibly, that could occur, as stated above.

In reality, this problem happens every year to plenty of boats in my neck of the woods, and removing the water is part of the spring commissioning. Well made hulls don’t seem to be bothered at all. You should milk it for what its worth, but I don’t really see any major problems. If you are very worried, wait until the end of this week, the ice will be melted, pump it out, and inspect thoroughly.

My uncle’s 36 ft Cal…oh never mind…we’ll just say that he never sweats this type of thing. That hull is a rock. On my boat, I try to throw some antifreeze down there in the autumn for the incidental accumulation, some years are better than others. What can you do?

Mike