New Live Aboard- Staying Warm & Dry on the Chesapeake?

[proudsailor]

We've moved aboard our DeFever 44 and living in Baltimore this winter (retirement and points south are next year!). Three old cruisair units, a dehumidifier, radiator type heater- what else? We plan to:

• Weather strip our leaky doors/hatches
• Indoor window clear insulation kit
• Heated mattress pads
• Cover engine room vents (when not underway)
• Considering a portable engine room heater- any recs?

Not sure how cold bay temps get to make cruisair units ineffective. Should we also consider engine room heater? Recommendations? Although would love diesel heat, no plans as we think our winter stays in colder climes are soon over and not worth the expense. Appreciate the collective wisdom of this group and anything else we should/could do. We do not plan to winterize engines as we're hoping that some warmer days would allow for cruising.

Thanks!
Mark

 

[psneeld]

Be careful with mattress heating pads as they can void warranty and damage foam mattresses popular nowadays for boats/RVs as they can be compressed to fit through narrow boat doorways.

I had a fairly nice one fail in about 3 years that I can only attribute to the pad, the next one I got rid of the pad and it was fine the day I sold the boat 5 or so years later.

As far as diesel heaters, remember even snow birding (did it for 8 years) that it can be below freezing all the way to mid Florida. If planning to anchor out a lot, unless you love running your genset all night, diesel heaters are really nice....at least the Wallas I had was GREAT! (just expensive that was worth every penny).

 

[johnrupp]

Welcome to year round Baltimore boat living. In answering the question on your reverse cycle HAVC units it depends on the winter. Baltimore Harbor is right on the line. Some winters the water temps don’t fall below the high 30’s, other years it will settle in the high 20’s/low 30’s for weeks at a time. Most have some form of electric resistance heaters for the cold snaps.

As far as winterizing the engines it really depends on your usage. Those who never leave the dock in the winter generally always winterize their engines. Those of us who boat year round often use a heater as needed and winterize if/when it gets below freezing for more than a few days. Just remember, you can buy a lot of pink antifreeze for the cost of replacing a cracked block.

John

 

[psneeld]

Agree with the above having wintered aboard in Annapolis and South Jersey areas all or part of the winter. from the late 90's to 2018.

Was also the USCG Ice Patrol liaison from USCG AirSta Cape May for years for the Chesapeake during the 90's and kept tabs on the ice line in the Northern Chesapeake. So know it does come in cycles.

 

[O C Diver]

We've moved aboard our DeFever 44 and living in Baltimore this winter (retirement and points south are next year!). Three old cruisair units, a dehumidifier, radiator type heater- what else? We plan to:

• Weather strip our leaky doors/hatches
• Indoor window clear insulation kit
• Heated mattress pads
• Cover engine room vents (when not underway)
• Considering a portable engine room heater- any recs?

Not sure how cold bay temps get to make cruisair units ineffective. Should we also consider engine room heater? Recommendations? Although would love diesel heat, no plans as we think our winter stays in colder climes are soon over and not worth the expense. Appreciate the collective wisdom of this group and anything else we should/could do. We do not plan to winterize engines as we're hoping that some warmer days would allow for cruising.

Thanks!
Mark

If you have 50 amp 220 volt and a block heater on one engine, it's pretty simple to turn on and off one block heater on the coldest periods. Doesn't take much to keep the engine room above freezing. With twin 30 amp shorepower, it's a much greater percentage of available power.

With water cooled reverse cycle air conditioners, water flow is king. In late January of 2016 I took my boat South. The boat basin in Crisfield MD went below 32 degrees the night before I left. Slush was forming in the brackish water. While the AC units never froze up, heat had diminished to the point where electric heaters produced more heat per amp. At 35 degrees the heat was probably less than half of what it was normally. My units had 7 gallons per minute of raw water flow for a 12,000 BTU units. I would plan on periods where your reverse cycle AC units aren't going to work.

Ted

 

[johnrupp]

I have a couple of questions for you Mark,

Do you have 30, dual 30 or 220/50 amp power on your boat?

Does your marina leave any domestic water on over the winter? In other words how are you going to get water to your boat?

Does your marina keep docks snow/ice free in winter?

Weather permitting does your marina offer in slip pump outs over winter?

John

 

[johnrupp]

Agree with the above having wintered in Annapolis and South Jersey areas all or part of the winter.

Was also the USCG Ice Patrol liaison from USCG AirSta Cape May for years for the Chesapeake during the 90's and kept tabs on the ice line in the Northern Chesapeake. So know it does come in cycles.

Then you got smart and went south in winter. Lol

John

 

[DavidM]

I lived in Annapolis (just south of Baltimore) for a few years. The creeks would freeze over for about a month each year. A seawater cooled/heated heat pump will also freeze up in those condition, so you need to plan for another heat source.

I assume your “radiator” is a bus heater type and heated with engine coolant. That won’t do you any good.

The only real solution during that freeze up period is to use 2-3 electric space heaters, but as noted above your AC system may be limiting.

And if the living area is reasonably warm, the plumbing in the bilge and the engine room will be ok.

David

 

[proudsailor]

I have a couple of questions for you Mark,

Do you have 30, dual 30 or 220/50 amp power on your boat?

Does your marina leave any domestic water on over the winter? In other words how are you going to get water to your boat?

Does your marina keep docks snow/ice free in winter?

Weather permitting does your marina offer in slip pump outs over winter?

John

Thanks all- single 50a. We do get "winter water" where they'll turn a line on weekly to fill up. We've got lots of water capacity so filled tanks last several weeks if we're conservative. We also can get in slip pump outs and they do clear ice/snow. So certainly doable from a utilities stand point.

And thanks on the advice of the pink stuff. I always winterized my sailboat engine, but didn't live aboard in the winter. You're right- way cheaper than a new engine block (or two in my case!).

 

[proudsailor]

I lived in Annapolis (just south of Baltimore) for a few years. The creeks would freeze over for about a month each year. A seawater cooled/heated heat pump will also freeze up in those condition, so you need to plan for another heat source.

I assume your “radiator” is a bus heater type and heated with engine coolant. That won’t do you any good.

The only real solution during that freeze up period is to use 2-3 electric space heaters, but as noted above your AC system may be limiting.

And if the living area is reasonably warm, the plumbing in the bilge and the engine room will be ok.

David

David- thanks for replying. Heater is the oil filled portable that looks like a radiator on wheels. May get more than one now....

 

[Larry M]

Reach out to Scott, SeaLife, a forum member. He and his wife have lived in your area for several winters.

 

[Comodave]

You might want to put some spacers under the mattresses so condensation can get out and not cause mold. There is a product called something like Hypervent, not sure of the name. It has lots of plastic fingers that hold the mattress up about an inch to let air circulate. Maybe someone knows the proper name.

 

[psneeld]

How many years do you plan to winter up north?

Me...I camped out on a couple liveaboards for many years.... in the South without air and Annapolis with barely enough electric space heaters.

Now....with a bigger better liveaboard.... I would look long and hard at something like a wood stove/pellet stove. Something about a Holiday season with a light snowfall and the warmth, smell and sound of a crackling fire.

Actually had a tiny wood burning heater on a 30 foot Cape Dory Ketch I was living aboard in Ft Lauderdale, FL. It was. for those "cool" winter nights and installed by the previous owner. Believe me.... at 25 years old and a helo pilot living on a sailboat in Ft Lauderdale...that fireplace was a "big hit" with those that shared an evening with me aboard. Wasn't much use for the other 11 months, probably would have preferred AC electric aboard and maybe something other than an icebox... but at that point in life I was living large.

Yep, now it would be still a hit with old bones and cold outside.

 

[gonesailing13]

Lived on our sailboat in NJ for three years. Marina would freeze up for a month or so. They did have a bubbler system that would turn on periodically. Used two oil heaters but the best thing we did was have the boat shrink wrapped with semi clear wrap . It would get so warm during the day I would come home from work to find my wife sitting in the cockpit in shorts and a t-shirt. Best money spent.

 

[psneeld]

Lived on our sailboat in NJ for three years. Marina would freeze up for a month or so. They did have a bubbler system that would turn on periodically. Used two oil heaters but the best thing we did was have the boat shrink wrapped with semi clear wrap . It would get so warm during the day I would come home from work to find my wife sitting in the cockpit in shorts and a t-shirt. Best money spent.

Can relate to that!

First winter I had my trawler on the hard in NJ, did the flybridge in clear shrink wrap so I could pull the dead teak deck off and glass the deck. Many a February day in the 20's where I was working up there and when most people weren't around, I was stripped down to minimal and still sweating.