Slow Spring

I just noticed that the annual thaw has started. I think it was when I forgot to install the redneck insulation back in the door of the wheel house, without feeling it immediately when I woke up the next morning. Or maybe it was when I realized that the break along land has opened up for real, without freezing back up. At any rate, I suddenly sat up yesterday and saw that spring is coming. In a spontaneous fit of premature celebration, I stripped out the rest of the temporary insulation (which was easy) and went on to fire up the main in an attempt to create a break to open water (which was impossible).

I succeded in getting unstuck this morning, after running astern for half an hour in order to loosen up the ice ahead. However, the ice is still thick enough that moving forward required running the engine at its maximum intermittent rating. While that is not an insurmountable problem on its own, doing so requires burning quite a lot of DFO. With the two forward tanks empty, I only have the twenty litres in the day tank, plus whatever I can extract from Nemi. In other words, freedom will continue to elude me until I have some warmer weather to soften things up a bit more. The over all ice thickness is still around half a foot, so there's plenty of room for improvement.

I spent last night with Lisette, as physical isolation poses some challenges which cannot be solved over the phone. On my way there, I stopped by the canal to have a look at Jonas. He has been stranded there since the ice came while Lisette and I were enjoying our cruise, and all the while he has been gnawing at the back of my mind. He's a brave little boat, and it'll take a bit more than ice in the bilges to threaten his well-being, but this time I did find a serious problem. Someone has stolen the swim ladder I had lashed to the docks so that he wouldn't get trapped underneath on a low tide. With the tidal variations being especially great these days, I decided to move him immediately.

Having kept Jonas on the public pontoon overnight, I took him home this morning. It wasn't until I was cutting through the day-old ice sheet, accompanied by the thud of the Sabb and the tinkle of bits of ice skipping across the surface, that I realized how much I've missed boating. Of course ther was no question of taking Jonas all the way to the other boats, as ice too thick to break economically with Nemi is solid enough to support the full weight (2.5t) of Jonas. In the end, I mashed enough of a notch in the ice to get his bow into, and fastened him with an anchor in the floe at the end of 50m 14mm PP. Øystein dropped by with a few books for me (Thanks, pal!), and he laughed his ass off when he saw the rig. I must admit that poor Jonas does look abandoned this way, but I truly felt like I was abandoning him in the canal. This way, at least he is getting used every day.