Need to Haul Out or get dock where it's cold. Ideas?

[Chotu]

I'm having too many issues battling the heat in South Florida. I'm off grid. Generator is flaking out on me. Temporary construction Air conditioning isn't keeping up with heat load even when generator is working.

I need to wear a TON of PPE stuff to avoid all my allergy issues (severely allergic to epoxy). I'm using polyester now for interior stuff so air conditioning is hardly a point anyway since I need to open up and force outdoor air through the boat.

Between fighting the epoxy/chemical allergies, fighting the heat and fighting to complete the boat, I'm at another breaking point. Not seeing any progress.

Does anyone know of a spot I could bring this cat up North? 50' x 25' with 3' draft rudders down.


I'm trying to put it anywhere from NJ to Canada. Close to NYC is ideal due to work issues. Also need to locate small jobsite camper next to the boat because it's not liveable during project.

Wearing a space suit, gloves, breathing apparatus, etc... In 90 degrees with 100% humidity is not working. HELP

[LittleWing77]

Chotu,

You are truly a warrior, you know that?

What about somewhere in the Chesapeake? It's sort of a sailing Mecca so all sorts of repair + build resources would be at your disposal.... (Chesapeake members, please weigh in here.)

Best of luck finishing up your cat re-fit/build!

Warmly,
LittleWing

[hpeer]

Hopefully there will be some better recommendations than this but ....

Shelbourne, NS might work. Although you may face some tax issues if you need to be done within a year. It’s a largely ice free harbor and there are some ship repair facilities in the harbor. You do NOT have the big tides of the Bat of Fundy. Low likelihood of hurricane. But it’s a small town.

You might also find some places further East in Mahone Bay.

The other option, which might sound counter intuitive, would be to go somewhere in the Bahamas or Caribbean, like St Martin. It’s cooler and drier than in Florida. And you would have all the facilities you need. I see a number of folks there working on boats while on the hook, inside the lagoon.

Depends upon how much cooler and drier you need. If you are in Indian Town or similar the difference might be sufficient.

[Chotu]

Thanks for the input and thoughts on location. Unfortunately, I still have to remain inside the USA to work and ideally need to be sort of near Florida, or even better... NYC to make it to various meetings I need to do in those areas. Either works. Or at least within 2 hours of major cities like NYC, Orlando, Miami.

There are larger expenses involved in moving, lots of time lost. I came to this conclusion the other day.

I also looked more carefully at the cost of my current off grid slip and it's more than expected due to needing power. $600/month. Due to generator gasoline required on top of the small slip fee.

My girlfriend had some ideas. Good ones. Maybe we can seal off half the boat to lower the heat load on the construction air conditioning unit. Just cooling one hull and part of the bridedeck at a time. I thought this was a great idea. Then use a ventilation fan to pull out the fumes. We're going to give this a shot first, while ideas for where to move up north are developing in this thread.

[a64pilot]

It’s February, that is the coldest month, you can’t imagine August.
I would say find a place to put it on the hard and go with some large window type of AC’s or maybe a split unit or two, the splits would be better.
The generator thing unless you go with a large one meant to run continuously will become a pain I believe and may cost more than being on the hard buying power from the grid.

[Boatguy30]

Is this that orange cat?

[hpeer]

A friend had this idea about finishing a hard hull. He hauled it to a farm where he rented lay down area.

Then there was that guy who was building a giant steel schooner. He bought a house next to a metal scrap yard. That this was about 80’ long. He was gonna truck it to the river eventually. Ive lost track of his progress.

Your big problem is your beam precludes road travel. And limits your lifting spots.

What a mess. I feel for you.

I suppose you could build a shed (20’ container?) next to the boat. Fill it with AC equipment, And create any internal environment you want. It’s only money.

[s/v Jedi]

We’re in Port Canaveral just north of you and have to run the heating now and then. I’m sure there’s room for you here and it’s very close to the Orlando airports which are great

Originally Posted by Chotu

Thanks for the input and thoughts on location. Unfortunately, I still have to remain inside the USA to work and ideally need to be sort of near Florida, or even better... NYC to make it to various meetings I need to do in those areas. Either works. Or at least within 2 hours of major cities like NYC, Orlando, Miami.

There are larger expenses involved in moving, lots of time lost. I came to this conclusion the other day.

I also looked more carefully at the cost of my current off grid slip and it's more than expected due to needing power. $600/month. Due to generator gasoline required on top of the small slip fee.

My girlfriend had some ideas. Good ones. Maybe we can seal off half the boat to lower the heat load on the construction air conditioning unit. Just cooling one hull and part of the bridedeck at a time. I thought this was a great idea. Then use a ventilation fan to pull out the fumes. We're going to give this a shot first, while ideas for where to move up north are developing in this thread.

[Bill O]

Gonna go w/your girl friends idea to close off half the boat as being one of the most feasible if you want to live on the boat and do construction at the same time. Always find it very difficult to work and try to live in the typically dusty area. Add on top of that your allergies, even more very difficult.

Agree w/you don't see the time/expense to move the boat N as a worthwhile venture. With the warmer weather coming in the mid-Atlantic (hopefully soon), you'll find it similar to Florida weather unless you are N of NYC. Summers in the Chesapeake and S are going to be just as hot/humid as you are getting now.

If you do section off one of the hulls look up "clean rooms" and how they section those off. May not be as elaborate as some of them, but some of them use sticky floor pads to trap the floor/shoe dust before you track it in.

[thinwater]

You are not going to find a place where it isn't either too cold or too hot. The Chesapeake is now to cold, with nighttime lows well below freezing. In the summer it gets darn hot.


Search cooling vests on Amazon and the like (you want the ice pack type, not the evaporative type). They really do work, particularly under Tyvek, cooling your core. Get extra ice packs and bring them to the job site in a cooler. I have used these many times in refinery settings. You still get wet, but at least your brain continues to work! Adjust the number of tee shirts under them for comfort.


If the AC is working, have you considered more PPE? Full face respirator? Coated Tyveks?

[bensolomon]

Chotu,

The mystic, CT area might fit your needs. Excellent access to trains to NYC, tons of boat yards, supplies, and very cool during summer.

Ben

[ebs001]

If you want to leave the boat in the water, Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick GA can accommodate you. You don’t indicate how long you expect the project to take but you’d be good for a few months. Summers are brutal so if you need more time you will need to move further north before then.

BLM is about an hour from JAX to get to your meetings. Hopefully you have a car. You definitely need one at BLM.

Lots of social activities at BLM if that matters to you.

[jmastal70]

If they have room, Safe Harbor Marine in Barrington, R.I. has a travel lift to haul you out. Most marinas fill up quickly for winter storage, so you may have a problem this late in the season, especially for your size, Safe Harbor has acquired many marinas lately and could be a source for other locations. You can ship your boat to Newport, RI and tow it up Narragansett Bay in about 3 hrs. I wish you good luck.

[Chotu]

Some good suggestions. Thank you!

First step, we'll try blocking off half the boat to get A/Cs working better. I think I need a new generator for the boat anyway, so we'll get that.

If that isn't workable, we'll look into moving the boat. The boat is ok to travel and has about 1200 nautical miles under the dagger boards already. So no towing. However, we may consider hiring a delivery skipper and spending that time working instead of delivering the boat.

[rslifkin]

Would it make sense to move the boat somewhere with shore power available to make keeping the A/C on easier? And depending on how big your generator is, it might allow you to run more A/C as well. I'd expect that cooling the boat is probably easier than moving it a long distance mid-project.