On board this morning - raining and blowing a six to seven. It is always a gamble coming up here with a less than perfect weather forecast but in my experience the wind is sometimes lighter than forecast. Not today though it seems.
As well as mostly eating potatoes I shall also mostly be reading books.
I thought that, as the boat had been left for almost two weeks, I needed to come up and check her over. She had not taken on much water at all and I think she could be left alone for three weeks without sinking. I have now installed an auto bilge pump so that makes me feel more secure about leaving her unnatended.
The boat is moving around on the mooring and the wind is howling in the rigging, the rain bashing on the windows. Every now and again the sun peaks out from behind the clouds and bathes everything in glorious sunshine.... but only for a minute or two before normal service is resumed.
I am planning to stay here until Sunday - Monday has a force 10 in the forecast. But if this keeps up it will be a short stay
D
On the weather… I refer to my comment on the previous post!
I have been reading your blog for a while and have formed the impression that you are a pretty hardy guy. But with the weather you have been having, isn’t it time to install a diesel cabin heater?
Dylan, i fitted a refurbished Webasto myself (no particular skills) and it was all done and dusted for 800 quid along with a refurbished warranty.
The electrics install is only one wire and a thermostat, a feed from the fuel tank and some big holes for the venting.
You need to cultivate a new “Super Dave” on you relocate to your Winter harbor. [pun?]
When I was young, my mother had a VW Westfalia camper with an independent gas-fired forced-air heater, it was wonderful for driving-off the damp and the chill.
Have you considered using a tilley lamp as a heater? Should be drier heat than an origo and doubles as an emergency anchor light. Also perhaps time to consider installing a CO alarm?
As far as I recall, one of the reaction products of burning meths is water vapour. You could be aggravating the dampness problem.
You can often get an eberspacher D2 second hand off ebay for about £300 with almost everything you’ll need. I fitted one to the VW and was so impressed with the transformation of our winter camping that I bought a second one for the Centaur. It’s in the loft, as yet unfitted.
There will be a couple of extras you’ll need, most likely an exhaust through-hull.
The biggest problem I can foresee is Battery. They sip diesel, but guzzle battery and need a good voltage to start. Unless you’ve got ample solar charging or are running the engine a fair bit you’ll find that they can run a couple of 100Ahr batteries flat in a couple of nights/days.
Also that depends on who you’re trying to keep warm. If its a normal man, maybe you can extend that to 4 days, a part-Celt, perhaps 6 days. Throw a woman into the equation and 2 days max is my experience.
When I get my head round where to site the eberspacher in the Centaur, I’ll write it up and send you a link!
Jon
http://www.sailing-free.co.uk
I think you’re right, Mark. Don’t know if a tilley would be any drier, maybe you’d get more heat for less fuel?
Dylan, forgive me for re-visiting a concern about Westerly Centaurs taking on water but it seems to me that if water is entering the boat where the keel is bolted to the hull then that is something that ought to be attended to. I would have thought that there must be some movement, albeit very tiny, between the keel and the hull for this to happen. If so, it can only get worse and how do you make the judgement as to when something should be done?
The problem is that the keel is hanging on to a fibreglass structure with little or no floors to spread the load across the hull so the fibreglass is constantly subjected to wringing strains and eventually starts to weaken and break . Given the known history of keels falling off Centaurs, the potential strains of sailing in rough seas around the East coast of Scotland plus the odd drying-out at anchor or on a mooring, this does worry me. Of course, if it’s just rainwater then please disregard this comment!
A quick look on wikipedia says that methanol combustion creates twice as much water as CO2 but kerosene(paraffin) produces them in roughly equal amounts. Charcoal would be best fuel from this point of view but then the risks of incomplete combustion (leading to CO) are higher hence the need for caution.
and you get twice the heat per Kg of fuel with paraffin
True but it stinks the place up. I used a Tilley lamp when I lived onboard, it gave a lot of light and a great deal of heat and worked well once you got used to its idiosyncrasies, but I was always stank of paraffin. I had to put the fresh laundry in sealed polythene bags to stop all my clean clothes from smelling of the stuff.
Just a thought and please discount it if you think its rubbish. How a bout a small suitcase generator to run your fan heater say around 1kw also recharge battery.
Not exactly peace and quiet and the great out doors, but
No condensation.
You probably have a spare can of petrol onboard.
Recharge battery.
Usfull in other activities or at home when the lights go out.
Just for example clarke-1kw-inverter-generator from machine mart £240.
Thanks for KTL you are so inspiring.
You can be sure of one thing the weather will change.
Can’t vouch for the suitability (or cost) of this stuff i.e.
odour less paraffin
Our Meaco Dehumidifier consume’s 650w on its maximum setting and gives out some heat too. Running one when you can get on shore power to get everything bone dry might help. You might be able to borrow one to try.
Hi Dylan,
I have seen small charcoal burning devises like a mini wood burner, all in shiny SS, with small diameter chimney fitted to two different sailing boats – a Comfort 30 and a Baycruiser 26 at a boat show. No idea of the cost, but they would produce dry heat and consume zero leccy.
Also, I’ve often wondered whether it would be possible to hook up a matrix heater from a scrapped car, to the closed freshwater cooling circuit on a diesel inboard so that when the inboard is running it blows out loads of hot air and leccy to drive the fan. It could potentially cost very little to do. I think you said new engine in the boat when you bought it so I am assuming it has freshwater cooling.
I remember a very cold trip to the Channel Islands in Feb once, and as soon as we moored in the marina it was on full blast with the fan heater hooked up to the 240 volts mains – couldn’t have survived the nights withou it.
Hope it stops raining on you.
JJ
Try a Reflex stove like Madz uses on Obelix.
Simple installation, no electrics and sips the same fuel your iron sail uses.
Hmm. None of those other things will sink you though…….
Tell you what, I’ll sit here in the sunshine in Portugal and do the worrying while you do the sailing in the rain in picturesque Scotland. Deal?
Another option.
15 years ago I put an Eberspacher Hydronic diesel heater in my boat and connected it up to domestic radiators in the main saloon and each cabin. It also heats the calorifier. Absolutely brilliant system. No fans so quiet in the cabin and uses small amount of electricity. Very reliable. Dry heat. Dries towels. Provides hot water etc.Uses diesel from the engine tank. 15 minutes from switch on and the radiators are up to full heat. No idea what it would cost to profesionally install now but I did the plumbing and rads myself.
That’s a pity as it would transform your level of comfort It did mine and made the missus feel more agreeable to the odd sailing trip. The heater takes up a space 18 inches high by 10 inches wide in my cockpit locker. With all the money from the severance from KTL Industries I feel sure you could find the dosh. It would make life so much more pleasant …………before the HR 37 arrives of course.
Since you’re not living on the boat full time, you might consider a Dickinson solid fuel stove (or something similar). They’re about half the price of a diesel/kero stove, and put out plenty of heat for a small boat.You can even burn a small oil lamp inside of them when you want just a bit of warmth, but don’t need the heat of a full-blown fire (there’s an MOB with a Nor’Sea 27 who has a YouTube video demonstrating this).
I have a very comfortable office chair and a good supply of Laphroaig, Jamesons, gin, (we pick our own lemons), brandy, Bacardi, Tia Maria, sundry beers and mixers etc. Enough for loads of worrying, don’t worry!
Btw, 35deg.C and climbing here, we could do with some of your rain………….
Hi,I sail in alberta,even when it snows.
The boat came with a Cole solid fuel heater.
It will take the boat (san juan 26) from -5 to 25°C in 15 minutes.
The fact it’s vented makes all the difference.
Came with the boat though….
$400 dollars and another $150 for dampers etc.
I swear by mine,and never at it.
Just put it as low as possible .