BLUEMOMENT

Took a run up to Ardlui this afternoon to check the boat.

The sheltered area of the marina has a thick layer of ice. Not sure how thick it is but it resisted a halfhearted attack by the crew using a boathook and the boat doesn't move at all when she's boarded. The pontoons, with square floats, move slightly with 2 people standing together.

The areas which look to be water are only a thin layer of water over the ice.

Swept about 40mm of snow off the deck - not sure if that was the correct thing to do but it was very wet and dense and probably didn't provide any insulation.

The air temperature on the road up the side of the loch was +1.0 C as compared to -3.5 C at home which is at 150M.

................ ........

The still water about to be disturbed by a brave soul



Ash

So you didn't go for a sail then?

Silkie wrote:So you didn't go for a sail then?

Might have been tempted if the boom and running rigging hadn't been removed and the engine winterised! Aye right. I don't know how much it would need to break out. I hope that the ice softens before any wind gets up.

The boat in the last photo was returning to her swinging mooring after having been anchored in Ardvorlich Bay - pike fishing, I assume.

Ash

ash wrote:The boat in the last photo was returning to her swinging mooring after having been anchored in Ardvorlich Bay - pike fishing, I assume.

Am I going crazy? I can't see it. Cool pics, thanks for posting.

Chichester marina's frozen too.

http://fattie.freehostia.com/FrozenChi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bitterly cold. The whistling wind gave the whole place a south pole feel. Quite good.

Had a look at the lock and spoke to one of the staff working on it. He reckoned although the cold spell hasn’t helped they’re reasonably confident they’ll get it done on time-ish and they had built in a bit of leeway to the time scales. He said they’re replacing the seals and doing a bit of painting.

There’s a few pumps pumping water out of the marina - I guess equivalent to the fresh water flowing in.

Quiz: I was lined up for a photograph of a bit of scaffolding, finger on the button ready to go. A King Fisher landed on it. Did I a) Hit the button and get the shot of a lifetime or b) Move the camera away from my eye in amazement giving the bird time to fly off? (I reckon he might have been hungry - not much unfrozen water about - or can they fish in salt water?)

Markie wrote: Am I going crazy? I can't see it.

Sorry, I was only using my phone for the photos and then allowing PB to screw them down to 800 pix wide. The disturbance is more obvious than the boat.



Ash

Markie wrote: Chichester marina's frozen too.

http://fattie.freehostia.com/FrozenChi/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for your great pics - you weren't using your phone!!

How long has the lock been out of use? How fresh is the water likely to be?

What determines whether a body of water is going to freeze or not?

The photo shows a small loch/dam above Neilston. The crew tells me that the larger water resevoirs between Barrhead and Newton Mearns are equally iced over with fishermen sitting on stools out on the ice fishing through a hole in the ice Eskimo style. From the news reports, Lake of Monteith has a thick layer of ice, yet Loch Lomond is open. What makes the difference? Is it purely the vast volume of water providing a heat source? Does the depth of up to 200 metres allow a thermal circulation to be set up? Is it purely surface movement?



Ash

It's a bit nippy at Kip as well:



And these two show each side of the marina entrance:

ash wrote:How long has the lock been out of use? How fresh is the water likely to be?

The water in Chi marina isn't very salty at the best of times. The lock's been closed for a week now with fresh water flowing in (and being pumped out) so I expect it's very fresh at the moment.

The marina does get some ice even when it's in it's normal brackish state. This was 2006 when the lock was working as normal and the water must have been fairly salty:

Well, looking at Pete's photos, it would appear that it is the shelter which allows the ice to form. There must be a very fresh corner where the burn flows in - can't see if it's frozen or if the movement kept it clear.

Maybe there is something in the Auld Wife's tale that a running tap never freezes.

Ash

BTW, someone will be along in a minute to point out that Pete's photos are too wide.

PS - This is my second attempt at this post - my screen went to a plain pale blue screen ( of death? ) but seems to have restarted OK - maybe all the cold pics caused a sneeze.

PPS - The first edit was to tidy up the grammer and the second edit was to add this PPS - honest - I haven't changed the context after it has been answered - not that I read other fora of course!!

ash wrote:Sorry, I was only using my phone for the photos and then allowing PB to screw them down to 800 pix wide. The disturbance is more obvious than the boat.

Ahhh, got it! For a second I worried that my mum was right that it damages your eyesight!