New liveaboard

Bill Roosa · Jul 16, 2010

going to need some more info

What size of electrical shore power service do you have to the boat and on the boat?
Does it freeze (do they turn the water off in winter)

zeehag · Jul 16, 2010

congratulations on your purchase and decisions.. isnt as difficult as it seems yet is more so--lol--depending on the point of view--- make sure all your access areas are kept clear so you can readily check and maintain the boat. then make sure you keep everything in its place. small spaces grow smaller very very fast...keep tools easily accessible.
whatever is most comfortable for you is what you need to do. if your cushions ar decent, add memory foam to the berth you will be using. i use regular household sheets and tuck a lot in--fitted and flat...others use more expensive and custom options. is your decision based on your income and wiillingness to overspend on your adjustment. remember--LESS IS MORE.... keep it simple sweetie/stupid......(point of view, again)....12 volt bible --is a good book for you r electrical needs.there WILL be electrical needs....first lesson is--what kind of electrical service does my marina offer----is usually 15, 20, 30 or 50 amp. for smaller boats--up to 45 ft, usually 20 or 30. there are places in lost angeles offering 15 A but they are very very old and probably already phased out...you need the appropriate cord plug for the service. they are specific. once you plug in, there are new rules..first is --donot burn down your boat.
when you leave, turn off electricity. turn off pressure water. turn off propane solenoid every time you use it. it will get hot and fail.
until you know for sure that you havent any overhead leaks into bilges from rain, keep yur bin storage items in plastic--so they dont get wet. just figure that everything leaks. find out when the last time the ports and fittings were rebedded. lol could mean a dry pillow.....
really isnt any such thing as a stupid question.....LOL....

donot worry about a heater yet--isnt even summer there yet.....more important thing to do ,as your rainy season is longer than ours is....

Bill Roosa · Jul 16, 2010

There is your resource

make friends with the other live-aboards and pick their heads
I found that the hardest part about living aboard was how to handle winter logistics, how do you get water, dump your holding tank, heat, refuel etc.
Some things I found:
heating with diesel is not practical at the dock. Lugging fuel to the boat would be a pain and it is EXPENSIVE. Electric heat is much cheaper and less inconvenient. It is also much easier to install. Watch your wattage and don't overload your shore power line. My guess is you will need an additional (or higher amp service) line to run a heater and the rest of your stuff. A 1200 watt heater draws (1200 watts / 120 volts = 10 amps) or half your 20 amp service.
Having a fully enclosed cockpit is really nice. Lots of light and protection from the wind. Can get pretty warm even on cold days if the sun is shining.
Keeping things in order is important. The mess that naturally occurs can really get out of hand in short order.
using the head is a luxury in the winter. I had to go ashore and use the marina head. Course they had lots of hot water for their showers too!

Bill Roosa · Jul 16, 2010

On condensation

Once you get the boat to stop leaking and the bilge stays dry you will not have much of a condensation problem. Just keep the boat temp up and figure out a way to ventilate. My enclosed cockpit has three vents which could open and allow warmer air to circulate during the day.
Talcum powder is a great resource to find leaks BTW. Spread it around where the water pools and it will tell you where it is coming from.

Ross · Jul 16, 2010

People contribute several pounds of water vapor per day. We live on hydrocarbons but we call them carbohydrates. When we metabolize them the result is energy, carbon dioxide and water. You will need to be obsessive about ventilation. If you don't have an insulated cabin and the humidity rises to the point that the dew point is higher than the temperature of the sides of the cabin you will get condensate. One of the reasons that people think that solid fuel stoves produce dry heat is that they use large volumes of air. Cold outside air contains less total moisture so when it is heated the relative humidity is reduced.

Jeff B. · Jul 17, 2010

Just what one guy did

Hey there,
Exciting time for you! In terms of your questions, here's what I did when I lived aboard my 30' in Seattle:

Heat: West Marine space heater kept my cabin in the low 70's through the winter, helped by some window insulation inserts made of that foil/bubble wrap stuff cut to fit. I also had one of those low wattage air dryers, which seemed to do the trick. I had that Dry-Z-Air pellet stuff in my hanging locker for a while, but it made my clothes smell funky so I went with a layer of corkboard liner instead and it worked well enough.

Bed: After much experimentation (and not much money to devote), I settled on one layer of 3" firm foam from Freddie's, with another 3" memory foam topper. I also had an underlayer of this plastic fiber combing stuff that allowed enough airflow under the cushions to make moisture not a big issue. If you search around you can find it for not too much money.

Other things that worked well: an electric stove element and a hotpot for boiling water (skip the microwave, I never used mine); nesting pots and pans from a camping store to cut down on space; plastic sliding drawers from BB&B for my clothes, stacked in the quarterberth; for laundry, a flexible zippered bag held up/open with those plastic pronged clip things (my words fail me) fastened to the wall in the quarterberth; a boom tent made of a camping tent rain-fly to keep the rain out when I come and go.

That's about it. Everything else is just like living anywhere else, except your house shakes a lot when the wind picks up. Have fun!

Solitude25 · Jul 17, 2010

I hope you'll keep us all posted on your findings; best of luck and wisdom to you.

jimmcgee · Jul 18, 2010

There are some great suggestions above. Here's a couple of other things we found living aboard weekends during the summer and in the winter until it gets below 40 degrees.

Tackle boat smells. There will always be some water in the bilge, the shaft seal on the Catalina 30 is adjusted properly when there is a slow drip unless it's been replaced with a dripless seal. Vacuum both bilges (salon & under engine) with a wet/dry vac and scrub it out with bleach and spray nine.

Make sure there are no fuel leaks. Diesel odors get into everything aboard if there's a leak. If you have a gas engine, well you know the dangers of a gas leak. Solar vents help a lot with odors. Read the Head Mistress section of this site for advice on dealing with head odors.

If there's a carpet lift it up and look for mildew on the underside. If there is you can replace it with a carpet remnant (cheap) using the old carpet as a pattern.

It's also hard to get used to living with so little storage space. We're on our third summer with our boat and I feel like we've finally got our boat organized so there's little or no clutter. Check out Right Track storage bags. We've had good luck using them to add more storage.

Battery operated LED lights are a great way to add task lighting. We have them in lockers and use a large one from BB&B for galley lighting.

Living aboard I'd also think about investing in a set of doors. They're not cheap but it's a LOT easier than lifting hatch boards in and out all the time. Zarcor makes a really nice set or you may be able to make a set yourself.

Canvas repairs are expensive. Sailrite is a great source for canvas projects and boat parts if you want to tackle them yourself. If not talk to other liveaboards, a lot of folks do canvas work for side money, just make sure they do good work.

Finally you have a Catalina so check out CatalinaDirect.com and Catalina30.org. There are more Catalinas than any other boat brand, that means there are a lot of things made just for Catalinas.

Best of luck,
Jim

Bill Roosa · Jul 18, 2010

Shower install

A shower install is just a direct replacement of the existing head faucet with one that has the removable spicket. west marine, defender, other have them in stock for ~$120.00 A no brainier but doing the actual install can require some gymnastics if space is tight under the counter. Get one with an on/off button on the spicket so you can turn off the flow and leave the hot/cold handles alone.

Steve Dion · Jul 18, 2010

Your best bet for a mattress is Latex not memory foam. It is a "natural" material and does not grow mold/mildew in the rubber (not foam). Having the dry bunk is a good thing to keep the sleeping quarters fresh & dry. You can also put in some Bounce or Downey drier sheets to keep things drier & fresher.

Not using an onboard shower is a good idea. This just adds to the problem with condensation. I suggest that you also put some fans in the boat to keep air circulating. Cooking with the electric element is also a good idea. When you cook, you can open a port to let cooking air out and fresh air in.

Be sure that you electrical connections are in good shape. Remove the outlet where the AC power plugs in and be sure that the wires are in good shape. Many times these outlets have been overheated and will eventually cause a power failure when you need them the most. The same goes for the power cord connection to the vessel.

Cayennita · Jul 18, 2010

If your on board shower drains directly to the bilge, you will get some unpleasant odor from all that dead skin rotting away and the rest of whatever came off your body. I installed a shower drain pump with a switch and connected from the shower drain to the sink drain with a high loop. We have a teak grating that is about 2-3 inches off the head deck and allows for some water accumulation before hitting he switch.
I used a de-humidifier on my Hunter 35 boat and that took care of condensation and at the same time kept the boat warmer. I plugged it directly to a dock outlet.
We motored down the ICW to the keys and I installed a car heater with a 12 volt fan and piped the engine coolant through it. Same as a car. If the engine is still the old Atomic 4 then forget that unless it has a closed cooling system.
A simple bulkhead kerosene or white fuel lamp will also go a long ways to keeping the boat warm and dry.
Up in New England we used a light bulb in a can trick to keep the boat dry.
Always insert a drier sheet in every locker or plastic container to keep your clothes smelling fresh.
Do you have a multi-function volt meter yet? Very important item.
Make sure you use only extension cords rated for outside. Your on-board plug should be of the GFI type. Get a grounding cable and a guppy or old zinc and connected to your boat rigging if properly grounded. Drop it in the water and prevent all that stray electricity from eating away your zincs and eventually the prop.

zeehag · Jul 18, 2010

after your shower, pour a little vinegar thru the system but rinse it out also--will help with the odors......wont smell like vinegar either--i let it sit a few minuets in the shower water as it sits int he bilges and then let it out....helps to rinse a bit of the bilges when there is movement of the boat.. bilge soap also works in this situation.

"Your best bet for a mattress is Latex not memory foam. It is a "natural" material and does not grow mold/mildew in the rubber (not foam). Having the dry bunk is a good thing to keep the sleeping quarters fresh & dry."

latex breaks down over short period of less than 1 yr in the environment of boating. try to get a closed cell non latex foam with memory foam on top--works great--place dri-deck or some such aeration allowing material under the mattress--latex is a very very allergenic material--75 percent of population is allergic to it--is best to not have to breathe it or have it near your skin. the powder it makes when deteriorating is nasty to try to breathe, as you must when the mattress cushions are old (more than 3 months). there are much kindlier and less allergenic materials of greater life expectancy than latex, and latex has been one of the biggest problems in cushions on board--they powder and die easily and quickly. even the pro-made.