I'm asked often - do you heat that much in your barge. There is no ice around it.

The first two weeks I used twice a day a sledgehammer to open up the ice around AvantiB. 2, 3, 4 inches of solid ice. Now my back can rest again.

Here the secret: Mr Karcher of the boat yard Karcher on the Rhein told me to use submersible water pumps. Use two ropes and move the pump directly under the center of the ship. The water movement of water from 5 feet below the surface is enough to stop the freezing on the surface.