Minus temps to continue

[bag of hammers]

Pup on the trail I cut to get to the lake on Sunday. I cut the same path down the middle of the driveway about a week ago, then it completely disappeared again this past week. I had to take a bit of a detour into the edge of the treeline to the left as the drifts are 6 feet or higher in the driveway. She's standing on about a foot of snow pack. I need snowshoes to go anywhere now. 2nd pic is a plastic garbage can I use to hold small lumber scraps for kindling with a plywood scrap covering it - took a couple minutes to find the can, under a ton of snow. There's a small pallet of maple rounds behind it somewhere too. I gave up at that point. 3rd pic is where I cut another path into skid I can get to that's ready to burn now. I have cleaned these off twice already this year. The sleds are having a field day this year. Me, I gotta get a tractor....

 

[bag of hammers]

-20 to -23C every night this week. I think this has been the coldest winter overall in the past decade. I am some glad I bought 15 bozes of eco logs. Mixing 1-2 per fire is making quite the difference in how much wood I burn.

Andrew

For sure. I think we went to -29 really early in December - what a shock that was. Never really climbed out of it yet.

Good idea with the eco logs. I'm doing the same sort of thing with a load of 3" hardwood milled ends I picked up last year. I toss a couple of these in with each fire for a full load and they really burn well. Just weekend burning and I'm putting a good dent in the stacks this year.

 

[Swedishchef]

For sure. I think we went to -29 really early in December - what a shock that was. Never really climbed out of it yet.

Good idea with the eco logs. I'm doing the same sort of thing with a load of 3" hardwood milled ends I picked up last year. I toss a couple of these in with each fire for a full load and they really burn well. Just weekend burning and I'm putting a good dent in the stacks this year.

We hit -34 temps in December. The ice formation in the Gulf of St Lawrence is unlike anything we have seen in the past decade. The ice breaker Louis St Laurent was in town last week. It's the largest ice breaker in Canada. It made it to the North Pole a few years back (along with a US ice breaker). It hasn't been our way in years.....

 

[Shari]

We hit -34 temps in December. The ice formation in the Gulf of St Lawrence is unlike anything we have seen in the past decade. The ice breaker Louis St Laurent was in town last week. It's the largest ice breaker in Canada. It made it to the North Pole a few years back (along with a US ice breaker). It hasn't been our way in years.....

Just out of curiosity, do you have any idea the thickness of the ice?

 

[Swedishchef]

Shari: it depends where/when. Here is a chart for reference: (broken link removed to http://iceweb1.cis.ec.gc.ca/Prod20/page3.xhtml) The chart gives the color codes on a link at the bottom. Some parts are 15-30cm thick. South of PEI there is ice up to 120cm thick. But that is in the Northumberland straight and no freight goes there.

With the cold weather forecast it will only get worse. The days are not long enough yet to offset the cold from the night. That normally starts in March.

I hope this helps

Andrew

 

[bag of hammers]

Andrew that's a cool site. According to one of the charts for the Great Lakes, I see where I am it's what they call "fast ice". I took this pic from up on my roof last weekend - facing southwest towards Whitefish Point (on the Michigan side) the lake looks like the surface of the moon, if you can see beyond the treeline (sorry my crappy cell camera doesn't do it justice). The ice moved in early Dec, broke up once in a big wind, then pushed in and froze over again into a huge dog's breakfast as far as the eye can see. That's now covered with tons of snow. In the spring we get huge sheets pushed up along the shore that are easily a couple feet thick, I think this year it will be quite the show. That icebreaker would be cool to see in operation.

.

 

[Swedishchef]

Andrew that's a cool site. According to one of the charts for the Great Lakes, I see where I am it's what they call "fast ice". I took this pic from up on my roof last weekend - facing southwest towards Whitefish Point (on the Michigan side) the lake looks like the surface of the moon, if you can see beyond the treeline (sorry my crappy cell camera doesn't do it justice). The ice moved in early Dec, broke up once in a big wind, then pushed in and froze over again into a huge dog's breakfast as far as the eye can see. That's now covered with tons of snow. In the spring we get huge sheets pushed up along the shore that are easily a couple feet thick, I think this year it will be quite the show. That icebreaker would be cool to see in operation.

.

That is one nice picture! You're that close to the shore of the lake?! WOW!
Yes it is a cool site. I use it for work this time of the year (long story...).

The Chief first officer of the Louis St Laurent called me upon arrival in the local bay and invited me for a tour. I brought along a co-worker of mine. Very impressive vessel (considering it was built in 1969). 27 000 horsepower. It will be replaced in 10 years.

 

[bag of hammers]

That is one nice picture! You're that close to the shore of the lake?! WOW!
Yes it is a cool site. I use it for work this time of the year (long story...).
The Chief first officer of the Louis St Laurent called me upon arrival in the local bay and invited me for a tour. I brought along a co-worker of mine. Very impressive vessel (considering it was built in 1969). 27 000 horsepower. It will be replaced in 10 years.

I had the chance to build much closer to the shoreline but I deliberately stayed back @ 75 feet from the legal limit - after many years of the winter winds I'm glad I did - there are days when it's calm as can be, and other days (like the November storms) when just stepping out beyond the treeline is a gamble. But it is a beautifully rugged area.

27,000 hp - holy crap - I can't imagine what it must be like being on that icebreaker ship out in the middle of nowhere busting through the heavy ice. That would be an experience. Wouldn't want that captain making a wrong move coming into port though....