Winter Blues

[sailingsenior]

As i enter this post I am looking out at my sailboat and longing for warm weather. It is 15 deg F. this morning . I expect to launch early spring and spend summer in the NE. This past fall I spent a month on the water and loved every minute of it. I am retired now and have the time to cruise full time. Although I have owned sailboats for 25 years I was a part time sailor due to employment, now I have the time to go. I am looking into different types of heating systems and want to install a perment system before launching

[JeanneP]

Boy, can I sympathize with winter blues. Right now we're in our "summer house" (holiday mode) just a few miles south of you in NJ, and the temp. this am was 14*F. Peter is ready to bolt, our boat is in Florida and so should we. Difficult year for us, but the new year looks to be very, very promising.

Welcome to the cruising family. We love to tell our stories and so feel free to ask away.

What make of sailboat do you have? I gather that heating systems are fairly dependent upon size of boat and ease of ducting and venting. (no, I haven't a clue what works, but others on this board do).

Jeanne

[Lighthouse]

Welcome aboard. Make yourself at home here among friends.

[sailingsenior]

I have a Columbia 30, that I have spent the last 3 years restoring. Last fall I used a electric space heater that worked well, however at anchor the 2000 Honda Generator, although quiet, was too much noise for me. I was thinking of a Wallas stove/heater combo, however the only dealer in US is on the west coast. The Wallas I understand is a good unit,but if you do have problems they must be returned for service as very little can be repaired by a "handy man". I have sufficient solar to cook and bake with under most conditions.and the Honda for backup. The Wallas is a diesel stove and has a lid with a fan that supplies hot air heat for heating. I do not have a lot of money invested in cooking with electric--a combo microwave/convection that I can use at home and a hot plate. Baking bread would pull 90 amps from batteries, but only for 30 minutes. I can run the convection oven off the generator if necessary. I have 400 amps at 12v storage, 260 watts solar and will be adding more.