You’d be surprised at the number of people, when we tell them we live aboard, who ask that question. Typically that follows with additional questions like “Well, doesn’t it get cold?” and “What do you do about heat or when it snows?” Our responses are along the lines of “We do the same as you do living on land.” We have heaters, three of them to be exact, which are used instead of our reverse cycle A/C (which stops working when the H2O temps get below 50 degrees). I will note that all said heaters are on full blast right now since it was so cold today (10 degrees this AM with the wind chill) and I came home to icicles on the transom!! In addition to the heaters, we wear sweatshirts , warm cozy pants, and always have on thick socks and slippers. When it snows, we shovel the dock and the deck of the boat (who knew a dust pan would make such a great shovel for a boat!). So really, it isn’t much different from land life. There are a few things, though, that we’ve learned after already spending our first winter aboard.
First, no matter how hard we try, the bottom 2ft of our boat above the floor will ALWAYS be cold; after all, our house is constantly submerged in about 2ft of H2O (which this AM was about 37 degrees!). Kind of funny when you think of it, we are always standing in water up to our knees : )
Second, boats sweat... Last year, we were quite alarmed when we looked in the bilge to find a lot of H2O, which shouldn’t have been there! We have a dripless shaft, which equates to a dry bilge. We knew that during times of heavy rain, sometimes some water would get in through the cockpit shower locker and through a small leak we had on the headstay stem fitting. However, neither of these should have produced as much water as we had. To make matters worse, we removed the water and about an hour later, there was more! Where could it have been coming from!? We thought the boat had a leak and when you live in something that is supposed to remain afloat, taking on water from unknown places is not fun! Needless to say, we finally determined what it was – condensation… The boat is significantly warmer than the water it sits in, so naturally condensation formed. This year we know to expect some water and we are very conscious when it comes to humidity, e.g., we do more cooking in the oven, than on the stove top to avoid the additional humidity from the steam and we keep the dehumidifier running. We also learned last year just how much heat the human body puts off as we found a significant amount of condensation under our mattress. This is a place you do not want moisture as it can lead to mold and ruin mattresses (they are not cheap!). Last winter we pulled the mattress away from the bulkheads every AM and then on the weekends propped up the mattress to completely dry it out. This was not ideal… So, for this winter, we were determined to figure out a better solution. Allow me to introduce Hypervent Condensation Prevention Matting – another great product! It’s a Spun Polymer which is bonded to a breathable fabric layer, and does not compress allowing an open layer of air to form. We put some under our mattress and, so far, have had no condensation – yay!
Lastly, bake often! Not only does it help with the condensation prevention but it helps heat the boat. We have our favorites –Greek Shrimp (thanks Nan), or Artichoke Chicken (thanks LT). We also do breakfast breads like pumpkin apple bread (thanks C) and hopefully this weekend, I’ll attempt some homemade rustic bread, yum! Although, the only downside to the delicious and comforting baked goods is the resultant increase in our waistlines… I guess if we were in the northern latitudes, that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, so maybe we are just practicing for the future… or at least that is what I’m telling myself… :)
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