How do you provide/create a heated space to work on your boat during the snow season?

[Mich222]

What route have you chosen to provide a heated space to work on your boat during the snow season?

I live in the Snow Belt (Minnesota) and store my boat on a trailer (mast down) during the snow season. I want to do routine maintenance and upgrades (e.g. change out cockpit drain hose, re - bed deck hardware, beef up chain- plates / bulkhead, bottom paint removal, cut transom access hole to lazarette) during the snow season.

For those of us, who want to work on our boats during the winter snow season, what have you done to create a warm space? It seems like the choices range from an expensive- yet-cozy and convenient heated indoor workshop space to outside storage/ covering a boat with a tarp and bringing in a space heater.

How do you create a heated space to work on your boat during the snow season?

Do I have to shell out $500/month for rent of a 300 square foot heated indoor space or is there a more economical route?? Is it safe to bring a portable electric heater under the tarp of a boat stored outdoors?

 

[Tim R.]

Fairclough cover and a space heater. The sun on the cover keeps the deck area warm. The propane space heater works in the cabin.

 

[Roger Long]

Ten days work. About $700 in materials.

With clear plastic, it will be almost too warm on sunny winter days.

 

[Raftco]

I built a shell out of strapping, tied lines from the center strapping to the stanchions and draped the tarp over it and tied it off. I used a dark green tarp that absorbs the sunlight and keeps me dry. In the winter I use a space heater and it's safe as long as you remember to turn it off when you leave.

This setup works pretty well for me, I'm in the Northeast which I'm sure is a bit more mild than Minnesota, but we do get some nasty weather. I have enough room to stand up in the cockpit and can crawl to the bow (about 4ft of room). I've had the boat tarped like this for 1 1/2 yrs and it's holding up great.

 

[MoonSailer]

Maybe find a garage or barn. My brother in law let me use a building on the farm for a couple of weeks. Maybe a storage building. We are renting a 10X20' building right now for storage and they have larger ones available. A 22' boat should not be that hard.

http://www.ustoreit.com/alabama-self-storage/mobile-self-storage/375.html

 

[RichBone]

You could go this route-
http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=113002

Less than $75 for the pvc and $230 with two doors (for ventilation and inside temp control) to have it shrink wrapped.

This is my second year having my boat shrink wrapped. I bought my boat last fall and did a quick cover job with blue shrink wrap. It worked well enough for me to do some basic repairs to seal the deck. The blue light wasn't too bad to work in but I'll appreciate the white and the headroom this winter. On sunny days in the 40s temps inside were in the 70s.

Rich

 

[Timo42]

Snow? What's that?


Timo heading for the exit at high speed.

 

[RAD]

Nice job Rich, a couple of years back in order to re bed all the stanchions I built a metal frame out of electrical conduit and covered my boat with standard tarps but I spent a lot of time keeping the cover tight & secure after windy days, there's a lot to be said about the dynamics of shrink wrap