Worth adding AC to good old boats?
- Thread starter njlarry
- Start date
For +30 years we got by fine with lots of 12v fans, sailing half naked and sweating proudly. Builds character and tough little savages 
. The old man was cheap, and we dealt with it.
. The old man was cheap, and we dealt with it.we sail the great lakes and have had AC on all of our boats. we would not be without it as those 94 degree days can get really oppressive. tuning on the AC when we arrive each week end keeps the boat from getting that musty boat smell . we also have a removable 12v caframo fan mounted onto the cockpit bimini support which is good for cooling the cockpit and blowing the mosquitos away. if you are handy, the marine air or cruise air are a self install.
I suffer from hot weather and wouldn't hesitate to install AC on an old boat. I had it on my 356 and it was a delight to have at the dock on a hot day. I probably would balk at the gen set for AC while at anchor -but I wouldn't rule it out. I found anchored boats ventilate pretty well and at least locally there is generally some breeze away from the dock. There were days I wouldn't go out because it was too hot.
I have an older Cruiseair Carryon that I bartered from a farmer who sold his boat and forgot it was in the barn.
On my 31' boat in the center hatch over the salon, it cools the boat pretty well. The issue is you have to be closed up tight. As soon as I open the hatch boards the boat equalizes to the outside temperature pretty quickly, and takes forever to cool back down. More BTUs would help a bunch.
In MD, A/C probably is a luxury and maybe even excessive on an older boat. As mentioned previously, down south it's highly desirable and will make the sale when choosing one boat over another. Many 'older' boats around here have A/C.
Dude, it was 95 in Maryland yesterday, 88 today...100% humidity which means it feels like the blast furnace at Sparrows Point. Larry is feeling it.
As someone who has the genset to power A/C on the hook we rarely do so because we are surrounded by cooling water and a zephyr of a breeze. When we are sailing you are expected to be climatized to whatever the day or night brings. I may click on the A/C if I am running the battery charger on anchor to restore amps from a day of sailing. So I wouldn't hesitate to have A/C with no genset. A/C in a slip is a great reward for the crew at the end of a long day or night boating.
As someone who has the genset to power A/C on the hook we rarely do so because we are surrounded by cooling water and a zephyr of a breeze. When we are sailing you are expected to be climatized to whatever the day or night brings. I may click on the A/C if I am running the battery charger on anchor to restore amps from a day of sailing. So I wouldn't hesitate to have A/C with no genset. A/C in a slip is a great reward for the crew at the end of a long day or night boating.
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95 would be a cool spell here in July and August. It was 104 Saturday! Showers only made it worse. I stayed home and worked on the house. At least we have shade.
Gunni is right, Larry IS feeling it. Old age has made me less heat tolerate. Use to be a dock attendant, all day in the sun and never noticed it, now I don't know how those kids can stand it for an hour.
If I knew that I would keep the boat for years it would not be a question. On the other hand, it makes little sense to spend 3k to sell in a year or two with no return at all.
If I knew that I would keep the boat for years it would not be a question. On the other hand, it makes little sense to spend 3k to sell in a year or two with no return at all.
Really? Two more enjoyable seasons of sailing, or more, for an extra $3K? Some folks who own boats spend that on a one-week charter some place new, not counting airfare to departure destination. Priorities.
It makes perfect sense.
Understand that ac is not needed for most of the season in MD. Furthermore there are many 3k projects that could easily exceed the value of the boat, not very sound use of finite funds vs just trade up. Let's see, new ac, Windless, all electronics, new main, new geeny, new cockpit enclosures, new winches, the list goes on and on till one has exceeded replacement cost. Yes there are priorities for sure but there are limits also I think.
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My question/priority is: what's keeping me in when I want to be out? Work on that first. Here in CA, we lose days to cold weather; never hot. However, I recognize it's different there in the Chesapeake.
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AC here in south Louisiana is a necessity if ya want to use the boat in the summer when we are "In the 90's" that is 90 days of 90+ degrees and 90% humidity. Anchored out there is usually a breeze and a Windscoop and fans will allow sleep.. but in a marina it is usually stifling ..