Winter Live-Aboard Tips

[GordMay]

A guideline for winter liveaboards ~ by Ken Goodings
Toronto Harbour, Canada October 2007

”We've had four successful years spent wintering aboard Silverheels III in Toronto ...
... Here's a (very) concise guideline for prospective winter liveaboards in eastern Canada and northeastern United States ...”

Goto: A guideline for living aboard in winter

[dcstrng]

Wow – I thought in the water wintering in DC was rugged… good read… I second your enthusiasm for the electric/oil radiator style of heater… once the reverse/cycle dies in the cold water; they seem to work fairly well… although I’d not say it is perfect…

An acquaintance had rigged up a toasty recirculating heated water system off of diesel fired heater unit… worked flawlessly the years we lived next to them, but I neither the skills nor the space in our sailboat to do the same so we made due with the electric/oil radiators…

[Weyalan]

At midday, look at the sun: If it is south of you, you are in the northern hemisphere and should set a generally southern course, whereas if it is north of you, you are in the southern hemisphere and should set a generally northern course. Repeat each 24 hours until the butter melts.

[brian and clare]

Hi Folks,

I loved aboard for three winters on the Jersey side of NY Harbour. Not as cold as where those guys were so I did not need the ice eaters, but when it got really cold you could hear the ice scraping the hull. I agree that the oil filled heaters are the best if you have the room, but on the triton I barely had room for the fan heaters. Note the fan type must be ceramic, as these do not give off carbon monoxide like the exposed metal elements. The cheaper types are more dangerous apparently.

Another note about the oil filled heaters. These are not necessarily made for continuous use, and I found one day that the insulation inside the heater had cracked and fallen off leaving exposed wires inside. My only clue was a dimmed light on the lighted power switch. A real fire hazard, so keep a good eye on em. Still the best heat going, but watch out for the wiring by pulling the switching panel off occasionally.

I had no shore power on the boat so I ran two shore cables to fused power strips through a hole cut in the hatch boards, and plugged into those. Ghetto and probably pretty dangerous too, but it got me by. I also used an electric blanket that the previous liveaboard gave me out of pity, since she had done two winters aboard before selling me the boat.

On a positive note, the liveaboards in the winter fromed a little community, much more so than in the summer, which was nice, and the docks were less noisy.

[brian and clare]

Oh, I fogot to mention, the shrink wrapping thing. I tried to get away with building a pvc frame and using tarps and such, but I really think that in the long run the shrink wrapping would have been best. But it cost a grand or so, which I did not have. I would not bother with the tarps, and either shrink wrap or leave it exposed. Looking back on it, I must have looked like the beverly hillbillies with that blue tarp. How embarassing.

[Swaimah44]

I've posted and "how to" about shrink wrapping my boat on the Maine live aboards forum... please follow the link and have a look, thanks
Shrinkwraping | MaineLiveaboards

[CaptForce]

I've never been north of Florida in the winter. This is also a viable strategy!

[webejammin]

My tip is to always check the main ground wire on the bus strip behind the braker pannel when using elect heaters some are too lightly wired and tend to melt the covering and burn out even what looks like heavy wire before the breaker kicks off, as they say it's always the weakest link and it was only 3 inches long. It didn't take long to fix but I will keep an eye on it.

[idpnd]

Spent a winter aboard in northern France - 40°40' - snow on deck and ice on the pontoons. Not really compatible with the camping elements of boat living IMO (getting to shower and so on)..

[boatman61]

So how are you enjoying the excitments of Almerimar Phil....

[idpnd]

Hey Phil, I'm at Aguadulce, closer to Almería nightlife. the sound of Almerimar scared me! Certainly no snow on deck issues this winter - wearing shorts at this end..

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by idpnd

Hey Phil, I'm at Aguadulce, closer to Almería nightlife. the sound of Almerimar scared me! Certainly no snow on deck issues this winter - wearing shorts at this end..

Hey.... nice one... really liked AguaDulce... spent a coupla winters there in the 90's... loved the free tapa's in the small bars up the hill...
7 beers and I was full...
Say Hi to Jessica from me if she's still there in the Tower...
Boat back then Agua Profunda... a Carter 30... Liz was my partner... she may remember us for the barbies we used to throw on the uoter wall....

[idpnd]

Hehe! Yes Jessica is still around and friendly as ever. I throw barbies next to the control tower now.. And I've conquered those tapas bars already Best wishes

[MacG]

I remember a small Marina, just under development, called "Puenta de Mona del Este",
a lovely little port with surprising friendly people. I had just had a starting fire on board and they did not want any payment for the night I stayed there and cleaned up the boat.
One of the very few nice memories of Spain.

[feelsgood]

Hi All we spent a lovely week in Aguadulce when we bought our COlvic Watson 32 in 2005. The thing that impressed us was I was rolling a fag watching the sea wall one evening when in 5 mins the wind went from a F2 to a F8 tipical med weather. we went out for a meal at a resturant o the quay and thought we would order what looked nice cost us 20€ and we had enough food for everybody in the resturant but hey we all have to learn. We meet an old guy and his wife on a steel 50footer that had been sailing for 70 years. they were on their way back to the uk to bury the anchor. We asked them why and were told that after 9 circum nav's they felt they had seen the best. He was 85 and his wife was 87 and trust me they had "ENERGY"