Capt. Rob wrote:
Powerboat thinking is putting in an aft cabin with poor ventilation
and then claiming its a feature because it requires you to add a
genset to run the A/C at night on a mooring.


Well, then every sailboat I've ever been on needs air conditioning.
I've never gone into a sailboat cabin on a 90+ degree day and found it
"cool." Sorry, you either like the heat or are full of crap.

Then you haven't been on many sailboats. And we know that you've only
spent a few nights on the hook on a few boats. We are talking about
night temps on a mooring, not daytime. After all, the point of going
out on a boat is to be outdoors, not huddled down below with the
genset and A/C running! I anchor in places where we can go for a
swim, or kayak if it gets too hot in the cockpit. Why would you go
somewhere where you have to stay down below?

And really, even in the midday heat, my forward cabins are cooler than
the cockpit.

And before you bring up your kid as an excuse, remember that we
cruised with our daughter from the time she was 10 months old. For
dockside relief we moved to a marina with a small swimming pool, but
we never had an overheating issue underway or on a mooring. Which
brings up a question, why don't you have a dodger to protect your kid
from the Sun? Is it because the cockpit is too small?



At my marina most of the powerboats over 25 feet have A/C, but I
don't
think any of the sailboats do (certainly none run on daily basis).


Maybe people your way have no money! About half the sailboats here have
A/C and everyone who doesn't have it wishes they did. I guess you never
do anything below on really hot days!

That may be because you have a lot of marina queens. The question is,
how many of them run the genset all night when they anchor?

Or maybe you're suggesting your cabin is a healthy 75 degrees on a 95
degree day???

As I've said, in the midday sun the cabin and cockpit can heat up. My
boat, however, has six large, forward facing hatches, plus four large
side hatches (too big to be called "portholes") plus two more large
aft facing hatches, and four small portholes. Plus the bows tend to
funnel up the surface air over the deck. The result is, if the wind
is 5 knots or more, the cabin temp is pretty close to surface water
temp. The bunks are definitely chilled down, but the main cabin stays
a few degrees warmer.

To help this, we've added tight mesh (Phifertex) over the large plexi
windows, and "surface skyscreens" on the hatches. This makes a huge
difference in how much the cabin heats up.
http://uk.oceanair.co.uk/da/10495


Jeff, you not only sound like an idiot...you are one.

No Bob, you're the idiot claiming that it would be horrific to anchor
out without A/C. Only a powerboater with no ventilation would make
that claim.

Can you explain
the advantage of not having AC on board??? Is it too heavy???

A bit, but I don't worry too much about that. However, A/C plus a
genset does start to add up on a catamaran.

Too complicated for you?

I'm a licensed A/C technician. Gauge set, tanks of refrigerant,
tools, etc. Its the family business.

Too expensive???

Actually, yes. As a retiree on a fixed income I've started looking at
money differently. The cost, perhaps $5K or more to do my boat
properly, means $300 a year, for the rest of my life! Add the $420 my
marina charges for the electricity, and this becomes a substantial hit
given that we spend very limited time at the dock. If we lived on the
boat I might look at this differently!

But we're really talking about running it at a mooring so we have to
add maybe $5K to $10K for a genset plus some annual expense. This is
way too much money and hassle for something that isn't needed, and
isn't desirable.

To nice to be comfortable on
really hot days when fixing that head of yours? You're courting a heat
stroke, dude.

To be honest, on days like that (perhaps 1 or 2 a year) I only do
about an hour's work before taking a long break. Would I pay several
hundred dollars so I could work longer? Very doubtful indeed!

The discussion is not about A/C at the dock for marina queens, its
about on a mooring, where cruisers like me spend most of our time.
When there's boat work to be done during vacation, I'm the one who
stays cool on the boat, while women-folk are sweltering ashore.
(Actually hopping from one air conditioned shop to another!)

You're claiming you need to add a genset to be comfortable on your
boat. Obviously, your boat has terrible ventilation because almost
every boat I've cruised on is quite comfortable if the water is 75
degrees.

And, you might check out the water temps in other places. It pretty
warm now down in FL, but in Winter in the Keys its around 68 degrees.
Why don't you ask Neal if he needs A/C on his boat?