Icing (nautical)

Okay little one, let's imagine you're playing with a toy boat in a big bowl of water. When the water is really cold, little pieces of ice called "icebergs" might start floating around in the water.

Well, when real boats are sailing in the big, wide ocean, they might also run into these icebergs. That's not good because if the boat crashes into the iceberg, it could get hurt really badly, like a scraped knee but much, much worse.

So, if the sailors on the boat see icebergs in the water, they might decide to slow down and be extra careful so they don't run into them. That's called "ice avoidance."

But sometimes, even if there aren't any icebergs around, the ocean can still be really cold. When the water is below freezing, it can make a kind of slushy ice called "frazil ice." This ice is too small to see individually, but it can float around in the water like lots of tiny icebergs.

When the frazil ice starts sticking to the boat, that's called "icing." It's kind of like when snow starts sticking to your mittens, but with the boat instead. This can be dangerous too, because if too much ice builds up on the boat, it can become too heavy and tip over.

So, when a boat is experiencing icing, the sailors might take some extra precautions, like using special tools to chip away the ice or changing course to avoid the really cold parts of the ocean. That way, they can keep their boat safe and continue on their journey.