Staying in the water during winter

Update:
So I didn't get the job in MD so winter live aboard is still on my bucket list. Thanks everyone for all the good advice. I also found a setup where I can drop a temperature probe into the wall cavity between hull and cabin wall where the water lines would be. This would then transmit to my cell phone app and give me all kinds of good data. Uses the wireless in the marina for connection.
 
Can you share a link to the probe?
 
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I know this is an old thread but I’m planning on live aboard a Sea Ray 450 Sundancer assuming everything goes as planned. I’ve already heard...wrong boat, get a trawler or house boat, or at least an aft cabin. I don’t hear very well and the hearing doc says I’m perfect for selective hearing..LOL

It will be tight this year as the boat season ends Oct 15. The boat is about 70 miles by water down stream so it will be a weekend cruise to get it to the new marina.

Getting prepped for winter will probably not happen this year so I’ll just have it hauled.

But I’d like more info. I’ve already read this whole thread and gathered a lot.

Here some of my thoughts.
At least one 9 gallon dehumidifier. Mold is a problem I don’t want.
Bilge heater. Not sure how big. Fuel, white water and black water tanks are visible in the engine room so a nice electric heater there will keep everything warm enough.
The marina provides 50 amp service for the big boats.
There is a year around water hose available so water is available
Monthly pump outs or more.
I’ll use a cabin heater as well.
Diesel boats people have an optional propane hose with dry break connection for propane heat. I’m really not to keen on this as I lost a good friend and his wife years ago in a RV full time issue.
Propane catalytic heaters are very clean but produce a prodigious amount of moisture too. So some venting is needed but another dehumidifier is probably needed too....I don’t know,
It get really cold about two weeks of the year late Dec and early Jan plus a real cold snap a few days at a time. These are -20 f and colder.

A question here. The current live aboards say they use clear shrink wrap a foot or so below the deck line. They say they seal very well. The marina builds a 2x 4 frame on the front then either uses the canvas frame or you can take it down. Remove the canvas however. That leaves a nice sunny living room on the cockpit. They say sweatshirts down to 0 deg f.

Everyone uses a bubbler so ice isn’t a real,problem. Marine groth stops about 50 deg and the bubblers stir up enough silt to lightly clean the bottoms. I’ll have to see this however..
I am concerned about the exhaust. I like the beach ball idea. The exhausts are under water and would be pretty hard to reach without getting wet. I did it years ago as a water safety instructor swimming test and don’t want to do it again. I’ll devise some kind of insertion tool.

Another question....how does the Vacuflush work in the cold?
Its not going to be fun walking 2-300 yards in afoot of snow up to the community center when the urge comes.

I guess that’s enough for now.

Byron
 
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Xtreme makes a 600w bilge heater. You will probably want to install two given the size of your boat and the low temps you will be experiencing.
I would go with electric ceramic heaters instead of diesel/gas. May be more expensive to run but burning gas in a enclosed space is potentially deadly.
Vacuflush should work like normal if the ER and cabin are heated.
Good luck!
 
West coast Canada. The marina I was at had some live aboards . Most had diesel heat one had electric it was two 30 AMPS he was fine. No engine room heat but ran his engines once a week. Stove was propane. Temperature went to minus 10c for a couple of weeks but days were just freezing. Problem was no water as marina shut off water for 3 months. On our boat we need pump out every 5 days.
Main problem I see with live aboards is space to do things. If you read and watch TV when you are awake you will be fine. There is no dock socials when they are covered in ice.
 
We can get tp -30C. (-22 F) for several weeks then a few days at a time in a real cold winter. I’d like to be able to start and run up the diesels as well as the diesel gen. They have heat exchangers and have proper anti freeze already. The trick with diesels in this weather is to run them every 4-6 hours. Diesels don’t get very warm idling. My dually will go from 180 to 120 in about ten minutes idling. The heater becomes a “warmer”.

Having the gen operational if needed would be comforting. The problem is keeping the intercooler from freezing as it does take in raw water. The river water can be 32-33 deg F so it doesn't take much to freeze or warm a little. Possibly with say a 600w heater in the engine room would keep the place warm enough for easy starting. But if the power fails for any length of time things could get dicey. I have a 3000 watt gas gen that will start at about 20 deg F but I’d rather not store gas on the boat. I could keep gas in the truck or car. The truck has a block heater that I use the gas gen on in the winter. It works well but it’s tough to go out at midnight when it’s -20 F and drag the gen out to the truck. I’ve done it for years but it gets harder every year.

I store the gen in my apt on a tray of baking soda to control the gas smell with its cardboard box over it. Works great.

The diesel heater sounds like the best deal.

Byron
 
Bentwings said:
We can get tp -30C. (-22 F) for several weeks then a few days at a time in a real cold winter.
Click to expand...

maybe ask the russians in murmansk how they do it , but i guess at - 30 deg ( - 22f ) for several weeks no bubbler will prevent the harbour from freezing hard and the marina will have to provide you with antifreeze and not clear water at the dock since water will freeze and burst the pipes for sure if they do not drain and turn off the dock water system at such temperatures.

showering with antifreeze might be a special booster in the morning for you , but you will have to learn enjoying the special taste of coffee when you brew it with the pink fluid ;-)
 
There has been a few fires caused by portable heaters in boats in the winter. If you read your insurance policy you will most likely see that any heater that is not permanently installed in the boat will void your insurance if it causes the fire.
 
Jus the two of us said:
There has been a few fires caused by portable heaters in boats in the winter. If you read your insurance policy you will most likely see that any heater that is not permanently installed in the boat will void your insurance if it causes the fire.
Click to expand...

There is no such language in my insurance policy.

A few years ago the manager at my marina sent out a winterization memo that said only approved heaters could be used. When I asked for clarification he said, "marine approved or thermostat controlled with a low setting."
 
A word about Wolverine or other stick-on engine heaters: a friend with 3208 Cat's like mine had his oil pans rot out because of the Wolverines and cost him almost $10k to replace. It may be a Cat only problem as they use stamped steel in the pans. Mine are coming off this winter and a bilge heater used instead.
 
I don’t like oil pan heaters. I’ve used one a couple times on my diesel truck and true it heated the oil in the pan but not on the cyl walls. In the cold the motor still turned over pretty slow. They are really hard to attach In the snow.

I’ve asked about bilge heaters on other forums and more or less get shot down.

I think it’s a good idea. The issue is not being able to monitor them. Falling over or over heating. Most have protection against this so installing a temp monitor visible in the salon I think would be a good idea. In a diesel boat there isn’t the fume danger that a gas boat has.

I just got a gas boat and I simply don’t have a good answer.
Locally the live aboards use propane and electric as a standard even in gas boats. It scares me. Especially if you have to leave it unattended.

I have a milk house heater I’ve used in the shop when working on the floor and it’s run all day by itself on high with no problem. They do take power so the electrical system has to be able to handle it.

I just purchased 6 CO detectors and three smoke alarms. Also 4 new fire extinguishers. The boat has a haylon engine room extinguisher. I’m looking at getting a race car haylon system. They are 10 or 20 pound ones and could take care of the whole boat themselves. I’ve had three experiences with them in race cars. Not fun but I lived to tell about it. They are expensive however.

Byron
 
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