GFCI

When I went over to the boat on Sunday to check on things, I found
that the de-icer was not running, and there was some ice around the
boat. I checked the electrical panel, the breaker was still on, then
checked the outlet where it is plugged in and found that the the GFCI
mechanism had popped. I reset it and plugged it in again, and it
popped immediately. Out on deck, I pulled the de-icer out of the water
and found the problem: the cord had gotten into the fan blades and
been cut. Drat!

Luckily, there is a guy local to Annapolis that services Kasco
de-icers, so I called, and he was actually working in his shop on a
Sunday. I took the rig over to him to drop off, expecting that it
would be a week or so before I could get it back. When I arrived he
checked it out, and determined that everything was OK (sometimes after
cutting a cord, water can wick down into the de-icer housing, ruining
the unit), and he replaced the cord on the spot. I made a quick trip
back to the boat and re-installed the de-icer, turned it on, and all
is well again.

Checking...

I went over to the marina to check on the boat tonight. The de-icer has done it's job, and all is clear. It was warm today, but we return to cold weather tomorrow, according to the weather man. The slip next to me was empty for the last couple of months, but they have put a Bay workboat in there now. He's a little bit big for that slip, and sitting close to us. I adjusted our fenders to help keep us apart if it gets windy.

Ice

We had some very cold weather over the weekend, so I went over to the
boat on Monday to put the de-icer in the water. There was skim ice on
the creek as I flipped the switch to keep the water moving around the
boat.