Over the Xmas and New Year period, when it has been so cold, my boat has been frozen into the canal. The ice built up to about an inch thick. This is only a problem if it goes on for a considerable time. If it is frozen up for a long while, then getting water and diesel. and getting rid of sewage becomes an issue. People often ask me if I can break the ice with the boat. This can be done, up to a point, but there are a number of downsides. Firstly breaking ice only works up to about 3/4", and breaking ice creates a lot of noise - think fingernails down a blackboard at 100 times the volume - that transmits through the ice and water and can be heard from about a mile away. Breaking ice also wears the bitumen paint on the underside of the boat, which is a protective layer. Finally, and most importantly, breaking ice puts a lot of pressure on the hull doing the breaking; and as the boat doing the breaking goes along it puts a huge amount of sideways pressure on other boats as fractures in the ice transmit along the ice. This pressure can be so extreme that it can sink a wooden boat. Owners of wooden boats often find that putting straw bales in the water around the boat provides protection against the pressure of ice.
Being ice bound also tends to make me house bound, but this time the weather, apart from the temperature, has been classic winter weather - glorious and clear and icy. This has been particularly the case when I have been coming back to the boat late at night. Some of these nights have been marvellous, with a large moon.