On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 07:46:01 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
The more I get into designing the new interior of this '68 Chris Craft
Corsair I want to turn into a winter boat, the more I get to wondering
about different things. One of which was brought home this morning as
I took the dogs out for exercise.

Having arthritis, cold isn't my friend. Adding to that, I don't enjoy
the cold all that much - never have. I tolerate it, but I don't like
it. Therefore, it is paramount in a winter boat to have....

HEAT.

My thought was to pull heat off the engine much like the radiator
system in a car. The way the design is developing, there will be an
interior cabin of a sort or at least a place where one could get out
of the wind, rain, etc. Think of a Parker/Steiger type pilot house
without the adjoining cuddy space. This is where I would put the
heating unit.

I'm just not sure this is a valid way of heating this small space.

Any thoughts?

Later,

Tom


How much heat do you need? Under what weather conditions will you be
using the boat?

I need enough heat that I don't get cold - say like a town car sized
space for instance - it's about the same total amount of space that
will be enclosed. As to weather, it's only a 20' boat, so sea
conditions light certainly, but it could be cold, snow, rain, etc.

As you know, above the waterline boats really are not insulated, and
they typically have single-pane glass, and they have a lot of cabintop
area, compared to cabinside area, so you will have a tremendous amount
of heat loss. If you are planning to head out on the Connecticut
waterways from late November through March, you are going to have one
hell of a time keeping a boat cabin warm. Especially the cabin on a
gasoline powered boat. There are some heaters/stoves around that burn
diesel fuel, and you might be able to engineer one of these so that you
have heat even when the engine is not running. Remember the first word
in boat heating...the word is ventilation.

You make some good points, but I plan on using some flotation foam as
insulating material in the cabin space. I understand about the
ventilation choices - that's why I wanted to pull heat off the engine
instead of using a separate heating source requiring ventilation.

Check with Chuck...he's a NW boater and even in August, he has the boat
furnace going...since the water temp at that point is only about 32.5F !

I was hoping he might chime in on this one.

Later,

Tom

"Beware the one legged man in a butt
kicking contest - he is there for a
reason."

Wun Hung Lo - date unknown