Challenge: Cruising in the Cold, Staying Alive

[DeepFrz]

That Heater Craft heat exchanger would be easier to install than my idea, that's for sure. Maybe more expensive than a heater core and fan from the wreckers.

Well, I could tell you all a thing or two about cold. Like -55 F without the windchill just 150 miles north of where I live now. -49 F two nights in a row in Edmonton. But it doesn't get cold like that anymore around here, thank the gods.

Thank goodness I wasn't living on a boat...

[sailor03801]

Get yourself polyprop long johns the heavy kind, fleece hat or better still a fleece balaclava, fleece gloves, big sea boots with felt liners, ski gogles you'll have the sun in your eyes most of the time. Get Hollow FILL sleeping bangs NOT DOWN. when down gets wet is it useless. Thank a cheap fleece blanket cut a head hole in the middle and wear it like a cape. Get the fishermans orange foul weather suit and wear fleece sweat paints and long johns under them. DO NOT go to bed/sleeping bag with your clothes on it is to hot no matter what. Do NOT get salt water inside the boat if you can help it. Wait out the weather on the ICW. Keep you hand held VHF inside your clothes to keep the batteries worm... if it is just the two of you two hours on two off... Good luck

[nautical62]

Cruising down part of the ICW last winter in below freezing temps. Things that helped:

Non cotton insulation layers and a good coated nylon outer layer.
A small propane heater to use inside - so very glad I brought that.
polyester fiber sleeping bag. - not down or cotton. Go for loft more than rating.
Don't go in.

[jrd22]

Red Dot or HeaterCraft type heater like several have suggested already. Fairly cheap and they put out a lot of dry heat. Easy installation too, especially if it's going to be temporary. Don't underestimate how miserable being cold 24/7 can be. A month is pretty short if you say it fast, pretty long if you're cold.

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

That Heater Craft heat exchanger would be easier to install than my idea, that's for sure. Maybe more expensive than a heater core and fan from the wreckers.

Well, I could tell you all a thing or two about cold. Like -55 F without the windchill just 150 miles north of where I live now. -49 F two nights in a row in Edmonton. But it doesn't get cold like that anymore around here, thank the gods.

Thank goodness I wasn't living on a boat...

When I lived in Edmonton I always used to say, "Well at least it's not Winnepeg where the weather is really bad". I left Edmonton on a day it was -45C/-49F (yeah, before wind chill), snowing and blowing. That's not right; there oughta be a law!

[zeehag]

someone forgot to pay the damheating bill again for that--bbrrrrrr....at least i am not there--i planned this fairly well...went into warmer and warmer places as i got older so i could tolerate the temps...now for the final jump...kinda like off the face of this earth, but only if it is flat..LOL...wanna get out of these damnable freeking storms. west coast storms are not good things. they are angry windy wet and wild.; they tear up boats and need to have names, but there are too many every year to name. 90+mph winds are hard on equipment.

in canaada,weather is just toooo cold to speak of--montana also.....and wyoming,,,,minn, mich....lol --sd and nd.... usa..lol

[boatman61]

Not familiar with your boat but when I've had bathing platforms/scoops I'd stand the dinghy upside down and lash it to make a wind break... very important when you roll your own... damn baccy goes everywhere....

[Thames]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Its just a shame no ones come up with a way of circulating the raw cooling water from the exhaust round some radiators yet...

Isn't that like a calorifier? Quite popular on canal boats these days, can be more simple but anyway here's an example with bells and whistles: Calorifier installation

[boatman61]

I just never thought that the engine would produce enough power to push the hot water through the small extra slim Servowarm radiators that could be fitted in a sailboat... the clunkier ones would be a real P>I>T>A.... the other option is fitting a 12v inline pump along the circuit but those lttle things burn out with heavy use and having to change one every so often is a chore... refilling the system and bleeding...

[Thames]

Sorry boatman as you know I don't know much about boats I reckon it'll be plenty of insulation and a little wood stove in my boat, not least because I have to endure the first winter or two in bonnie England

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by zeehag

the clay pot on a stove worked great in sd in a cold winter -- warmed the entire cabin. might nneed more than that for colder weather unless boat is small---i love my trawler lamp--warms entire living space of my formosa except the head ..hence the crack about the weems and plath lamp in bano..LOL

Amen... We used an up-turned clay-pot on the stove of our 1976 Cal 2-29 for 20+ years and it worked quite nicely for us. A little 12v fan to circulate the air also helped.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

You will be motoring a lot so if you have the time try to find an auto heater core and switch at an auto wrecker and plumb it in to your hot water tank circuit. Your boat will be nice and warm all day anyway.

We have one of these: Heater Craft Auxiliary Cabin Heater tied into our engine cooling system and it works great. When motoring it keeps the whole boat as warm as toast (it's mounted right below our Nav Table).

FWIW...

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by zeehag

the clay pot on a stove worked great in sd in a cold winter -- warmed the entire cabin. might nneed more than that for colder weather unless boat is small---i love my trawler lamp--warms entire living space of my formosa except the head ..hence the crack about the weems and plath lamp in bano..LOL

SD and Portugal in cold weather? Pretty funny stuff!

A trawler lamp keeps the cabin warm? In Tampa, perhaps, which only gets as cold as some keep there houses all winter here. On the Chesapeake now, that would'nt even keep their hands warm.

We are talking about very different amounts of cold. I have a trawler lamp, but it does'nt contribute anything useful in December here. It is all about BTUs, draft reduction and insulation, and there are no tricks.

[johnmcntsh]

Dennisjay,
If you stop in Carolina Beach or Wrightsville Beach and want to to get off and do some shopping or whatever let me know and I will PM you my cell.
Wife and I live in CB.

[Bright Eyes]

Thank you all for the great advice. I like the ideas about keeping the wind off of us by using the clear sheeting and/or staying in the companion way while on watch to use the dodger most effectively.

Our inverter wasnt cheap and can power everything on our boat including the microwave when the batteries are full. So hopefully it can handle a 1 amp blanket. We will keep an eye on it though.

We might try out the propane heater option as well. We do have a CO detector that works. We know cuz it went off before when cooking on the alcohol stove with no ventilation.

The engine heater install are over my head at this point but sound good if we ever were to do it again.

Soups sound like a life saver! mmmmmmmm