Bloody condensation.!!

If it's an older boat lining the sleeping cabin(s) with carpet insulates as well as not being amenable to condensation building up and dripping on you. I have sleeping cabins with carpet lining, eberspacher, electric blanket, no extra ventilation and suffer little from condensation in UK, apart from in the forepeak where there can be quite a lot of condensation build up on the hatch and its aluminium frame...
 
Ventilation

I keep the hatches on vent at all times and this helps prevent build up of condensation.

Luckily I have a port light in the galley area that opens into the cockpit area which reduces the amount of moisture produced when cooking, boiling a kettle etc but, I do wipe down any surfaces that are accumulating moisture as I am cooking (eg the aluminium surrounds to the windows).

I also keep the boat warm but not hot so there isn't such a variance in temperatures.

Finally whenever possible I open all the hatches and port lights to let the air flow through and air the bedding (especially the pillows).
 
We have lived aboard for the last 2 winters in USA in temperatures of -8c. This winter we are in UK not so cold but much damper. We have finally cracked the problem of condensation on our boat. We replace the mosquito netting on the hatches with a film, you can buy it to stick on hatches and windows for heat insulation but it was given to us by a friend. This effectively gives us double glazing and we never get any drips on our heads. If drips form in the gap we mop them up using "Shamwow", it is amazing stuff. We use a dehumidifer in the forepeak during the day and then in the saloon at night. Humidity levels are in the 50% range. We also use our Eberspacher for heating but we think the most important bit is the "double glazing". Before we were given the film we used stretch and seal. It wasn't as good and did cut out more light but it was certainly better than nothing.
 
TNT said:
I like the idea of the solar extractors but heard so many bad stories about them leaking in the heavy stuff when fitted in V berth coachroof or hatch. Have you had any problems with water getting in when its rough?
Click to expand...

We never had any problems.... If you install them properly they will keep water out even in heavy rain. I would imagine that if you got green water over the bow there could be some leakage... but the way they are designed prevents most leakage except in very extreme cases. They are (the Nicro's) designed to be removed easily and each one comes with a "plug" for the opening that is watertight. Our sailboat went through Hurricane Charley... We were hit dead on and we had pulled the Nicro's and put in the plugs....did not have any leakage into the boat...and the max sustained winds in that hurricane were 148 miles per hour with gusts to 178.
 
I second the view of no solar vents in the front hatches. We sailed from New Zealand to Tonga in 2007 and there was a 60 foot Dashew design on the same route. We got caught in a 3 day 50 knot storm and the 60 footer nearly sank after the solar vents leaked in the forepeak letting in enough water that it filled the compartment (it had water tight bulkheads) and eventually the air filled fenders stored there floated and popped the hatch open and water came over the top of the bulkhead into the saloon. It was only with the saloon filling that the crew of two realised why the boat was sluggish with 2 tonnes of water in the bow. They sent a mayday but managed to sort things themselves a few hours later when they could get a pump into the forward compartment.

Cheers, Peter
 
We found that having a cockpit enclosure was key. We used it each winter, including in Cagliari to good effect. Firstly it enables you to never take wet outdoor gear or towels down below. Secondly we left the main hatch open at night but with the enclosure zipped up. The condensation seems to form in the enclosure rather than in the boat but it clears very quickly when sun hits canvas.
 
Condensation

We had Webasto heating on our last boat and it was wonderful but the main problem is that it's too hot to use when down in the Med and Turkey. We have a small fan heater in the saloon, leave all the doors open and we now have a good nights sleep with no drips. Works very well. We also have the Ikea slats under our bed to lift the cushions. This keeps us dry from below.
 
I was convinced the answer was the Eberspacher - but then when I realised that regularly running the Eber on anything other than full-power meant it started to coke up - and that that was using 0.5 litres of diesel an hour - I had to find another way!

We're now condensation free and mainly use a fan heater for heat by:

a) Making sure that whatever space we're in has an open hatch at each end of it, not in the middle. So if we're in the v-berth with the door to the saloon open, we have the v-berth hatch open and the saloon main hatch open - with all others closed. This creates a flow of air, in one end and out the other.

b) I've put spacers around our bed cushions so they're not touching the walls.

Since putting this into practice we've been condensation free for a few weeks. We're out of the water too (but right next to it) which makes it even harder I think as the hull is colder where the waterline would have been, and below it.

By using our tender upturned over the forward hatch we can leave that open in any weather. Cockpit canopy covers the other end.
 
Condensation on hatches and windows can be improved with covers lined with a closed cell foam.
The stuff that goes under laminate floors, or ask your sailmaker for the luff foam that is used in sail luff flatteners.4mm thick is a good start.
We have found that hatch dripping is almost eliminated,and although its a bit darker inside, it also makes a significant difference on windows too.
We heat the boat and leave the hatches open a bit , and this does reduce the heat loss hopefully keeping some of the heat rising and losing it all to the outside world.

Cindy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top