Saddest Day of the Year

[Denis]

Yesterday was the saddest day of the year for me.
The boat was pulled out for the winter. This weekend I'll winterize the water system and engine and then shrink wrap it and call it a year.
Even after sixteen years of boating I never seem to get over the sad feeling that I experience seeing the boat on land. Guess it just points out how much I truely enjoy my time on the boat.

[Veebyes2]

We all feel your pain. We are lucky to have a very long boating season here, April to Jan, if we want. By this time of year the water is getting a little too cool for swiming, the days are short & the weather is getting unreliable.

Still, the boat stays in to do the Christmas Boat Parade & New Years Eve overnight. After that it is haulout time. It is also nice to have the boat near the house dry stored & easy to get to for the winter repairs, mods & routine maintenance for a few months.

[chiefrcd]

Tis a sad site isn't it. I usually striper fish until December 31st. Then sometime in January do my annual haul for maintenance and bottom work. I'm back in the water by late March so I'm high and dry for about two and a half months. I use that time to dream about next season.....and as I get older and older they seem to come quicker and quicker......

[tomcat rio]

...its time to wax the snowboard
...

[Mariner]

I'm just getting ready for winter crabbing. The whole point of a boat like the Albin for us is that it's an all-year boat.

[Denis]

Our marina is pretty good about things and you can stay in until the end of December if you want, but they shut off the water at the end of October and the parking lot is full of boats. Plus it's not much fun with ice on the swim platform. It's too cold for anything I would want to do on my boat. Some of you warm weather folks are lucky to get a longer season than we get up here.

[Capt Paul]

Mariner,

I haven't tried winter crabbing yet, but the nice part about winter here is SF is that the winds die down ( accept when the rain storms come in..). SF bay is almost like a pond at times. After it starts raining Sturgeon season goes into full swing. A fun fish to catch!

Paul

[jleonard]

I do a lot of crabbing in the winter...
"My boat is out of the water"
"It's too cold"
"Not another snowstorm!"
"Will spring ever get here?"

[DougSea]

I do a lot of crabbing in the winter...
"My boat is out of the water"
"It's too cold"
"Not another snowstorm!"
"Will spring ever get here?"

But it makes us appreciate our boating time even more!

(At least that's what I keep telling myself!)

[Mariner]

Winter conditions here are three things:

Windy
Cold
Rainy


But the truth is that except for rare exceptions, none of the above are really all that extreme, and only the wind really affects you.

Wind storms sometimes blow through, but there's plenty of warning. You just don't head out those days unless you have to, and sometimes that can be fun anyway. Even if you do get caught by surprise, the point of having a boat like the Albin is that you can still get home safely.

The temperature rarely drops below freezing and even when it does, the water temp is still in the mid 40's so there's no ice to contend with. I've never seen ice form on the boat, but it's obviously possible. Winter temps here are usually in the 40's and 50's. Snow is extremely rare.

Rain is pretty much a way of life here, but the reason we have a boat with an enclosed helm is so that the rain won't stop us. We also have the covered cockpit, so even if we want to go crabbing or fishing, we're still protected.


I'd hardly call this a "warm" climate, but rather "moderate". Generaly speaking our weather stays between 35 and 90 degrees all year. Not more than two or three days each year will go beyond those in either direction.

[gerygarcia]

I try to keep her in as long as possible. You never know when a good day might come about. My brother in law keeps his 32 Acadia in throughout the winter (his boat also has a pilothouse). We've taken rides out in Jan and Feb when it tops 40º on lucky days

The Saturday after Thanksgiving will be "the" sad day for me. The boat has to go out before Dec 1 (due to insurance obligations)
Last year I had to break ice to get out of my canal. It was quiet interesting backing into a slip clogged with sheets of broken ice!

Every year, on the Great South Bay, alot of boaters go to Atlantique Beach marina on Fire Island the day after Thanksgiving (instead of doing that mad shopping thing that alot of people do on that Friday). Die hards to say the least! Some years it's great, some years it's soooo cold.
Nothing that a little hot chili and spirits can't handle! Last year there were icicles forming on the dock. (I was one of the colder ones I've been to)

Looking forward to at least a few more times out on the water!

Gery Garcia
Resolution

[jcollins]

The winds have already picked up around here. Blows the water out of the creek. I couldn't go out if I wanted to. I'll pull in the next few weeks. I have to get it out before we freeze. Never real thick. Just enough to make it sound like it's tearing the hull apart. I too have to pull for the break in insurance rates. Mid-November is my target but the wife keeps telling me to wait until after Thanksgiving.