Air Dryer or Heater?

[mogade]

I moor my Catalina 36 in Tacoma Wa. this is such a damp winter climate I want to protect the inside from mold and mildew. Looking for what works best for others a heater or air dryer?

Thanks,

Mike Gade
Mistral

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

A Heater ...............................

....................... will actually increase your problems because warm air is capable of holding more water vapour than cold air. Once that warm air comes into contact with with cold boat surfaces (hull, cabin roof) you run the risk of getting liquid condensation.

Your best defense is to heat the air only a couple of degrees and have lots and lots and lots and ................. (well you get the idea) of air exchange in the cabin. The typical so called 80 watt "air dryer" will raise the temp. a degree or two but really doesn't dry the air. It's your best bet defence against condensation.

IMHO the biggest source of water vapour in a boat is water in the bilge. Keep it dry if you can.

Just saw weather forecast (bottom of page) for Vancouver ................. I believe it .

 

[Stu Jackson]

Mike, there are a lot of skippers with your boat up your way. While asking here always gets great replies, don't know if you know about this: http://www.c36ia.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1

Many of us use both boards.

 

[cat38skip]

It IS that time of the year for all of us...
We just had this same discussion on the Catalina 38 forum with a Cat 38 owner in Your neighborhood. Many of us use dehumidifiers. We tried every manner of dryer/heater/fan combination on board Pretty Lady and finally settled on a 35-40 pint dehumidifier. Since using the dehumidifier we have had NO mold or mildew, even in the dark places. We keep ours set at 45%.
Soleus makes one of the smallest and quietest units. Sears has a model that is inexpensive and reliable but the compressor is noisy.
Soleus has a newer model that will restart at the previous settings if there is a power interruption. All other units that I have experience with will NOT restart. It is on my list to replace the Sears unit if it ever fails.
Stay Dry ~!~

 

[jrowan]

Just curious, where do you drain you dehumidifier to in the winter, if like most sailors we close all of our sillcock drains, so the boat doesn't sink if you have a hose leak? It's not really removing any moisture if it drains to the bilge. I think the answer to a dry cabin is to chase down & seal all leak sources, and install a dripless shaft seal to create a dry bilge.

 

[tahomathundr]

Mike, I moor in Seattle on Elliott Bay and I use a heater from West Marine that has a anti freeze setting that comes on at 38 degrees and I open the aft cabin and head doors to get circulation in there. I have the heater set up in the main cabin and I have used this setup for the last 6 years with no problems. I do not get mold as long as the bilge is dry. If there is water in the bilge it might get a little mold in the bilge. I had a slow leak in a water line that took some time to find one year that left 3/4" of water in the bilge and I did get some minor bilge mold but that was it. Bob