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Old 02-07-2019, 01:18 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by MiltonP View Post
On my Camano, I shut off the water input to the HW heater and drained it most of the way which also drained the higher HW lines after opening their faucets. My CW is all still on except I did try to drain the lines to the cockpit. We'll see if I failed but last year I did fine. I have an extreme heater in the engine room and a ceramic on the galley floor pointed at the open head with open cabinet door. I sit in ice a few days each winter. Got to believe your water temps in PNW are much better.
Not sure what you mean by much better water temps, but Puget Sound is very cold especially in winter, below 50F. There is ice around my boat all this week. PS is quite cold, even in summer it rarely goes much above 50F.
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Old 02-07-2019, 01:31 PM   #22
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Richard, are you in the water at Poulsbo or hauled out?
In the water, Ken.
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Old 02-07-2019, 02:08 PM   #23
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I have a Wolverine oil pan heater (200W) on the engine on 24/7. It keeps the engine room (with the vents blocked with foam) around 50 degrees and helps to fight off moisture caused corrosion and makes for easy starting.
I also use a dehumidifier in the galley draining overboard through the sink drain. I also run 2 electric heaters, one in the galley and one in the master forward, set on low power. This AM the boat temp in the pilothouse was 55 degrees. I am using around 10-12 amps on the AC power (30 amp service).
I have most of the cupboard doors open, and the door to the head open for air circulation.
Because we don't use the boat in the winter, I have, as an extra precaution, put RV antifreeze in the water lines, drained the water heater and water tank, and added the antifreeze to the anchor and stern (raw water) washdowns. Fuel tanks are full.
One year on my former boat, the cockpit shower nozzle split from freezing even with the antifreeze (probably didn't ensure that all the water was flushed out).
I also check on the boat more often in this weather (I am also prone to "overkill").
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Old 02-07-2019, 03:40 PM   #24
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I am with Lepke on this relying on seawater temps for protection from freezing.
With nearly 6 feet of both boats below sea level and all of the plumbing that I am aware of near or below sea level, I do not add heat when I am away during Winter cold blasts. I was pretty worried the first couple of years but when temps are around 18F as they are projected to be in this blast, I have never been able to find a temp below 40 anywhere on the boat.

Not saying I don't worry a little.... but perhaps worry less about freezing than I would about heaters running, even diesel furnaces which are on both boats. Quite often with the windy NE cold blasts here we lose power at the docks. I prefer to have minimal to no draw during those periods and am often 5 or more hours from the boats.
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Old 02-07-2019, 03:41 PM   #25
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By cold, I mean water temps below 40 since that is when I give up on my reverse cycle heat. That happened around mid-January here. I am only concerned about the cockpit lines as far as air-temps go since I have no wash down for the anchor.
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Old 02-07-2019, 05:59 PM   #26
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We use two calframo heaters:

#1 is a calframo low wattage “palli” engine room heater which kicks in below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and just provides enough heat to keep things safe below decks...

And

#2 a calframo adjustable heater on the floor in the galley which is adjustable and keeps the interior around 50 degrees farenheit when it is around 25f as it has been recently in our area. ( this is at a fairly low setting)

Works well to date and the main risk I see, is to ensure that if you have a power outage that you get to the boat and run the boat heater.

We also drain the cockpit shower for the winter....
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Old 02-07-2019, 07:19 PM   #27
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The coldest I have ever seen the water in the Puget Sound is 48 degrees.
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Old 02-07-2019, 08:28 PM   #28
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Well it varies of course from place to place. I don't drive around in my boat with a sea temp gauge but here is some info. And yes it does get below 48F in PS.
https://www.currentresults.com/Ocean...emperature.php
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Old 02-08-2019, 12:14 AM   #29
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We're in Blaine and were looking that frigid northeaster right in the teeth. Temps in the low 20s/high teens and wind howling 30-40 mph for days on end.

No heat in the bilges/engine space. One small ceramic disc space heater in the aft cabin and an oil-filled radiant heater in the forward cabin. As I always did when living aboard my sailboat in Seattle, we use simple physics to keep the boat bone-dry. A small fan draws in cold, dry air at the stern, pressurizes the boat, and the warmed air, having absorbed water vapor as it was heated, is ejected out vents forward.

Have never drained water lines or added antifreeze. The only concern I would have would be in the event of a prolonged power outage as we depend upon shore power for those two heaters. When we're aboard the diesel stove and a couple of fans heat the entire boat nicely.
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Old 02-08-2019, 12:24 AM   #30
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Sounds like your area will get most of the wind, but less snow that south of you. I hope to avoid the wind with all the big trees I have around. Our danger zone is ESE though and NE is not usually a big factor here. But we are in the red zone for 4-8 inches of more snow!
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Old 02-08-2019, 07:13 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tiltrider1 View Post
The coldest I have ever seen the water in the Puget Sound is 48 degrees.

At depth you are right. On the surface, it can be a lot colder. I had 3/8” thick ice around my boat in Gig Harbor on Wednesday. Since there is a creek and storm sewer outflow there, the water on the surface is brackish so not as cold as frozen sea water but still really cold.

I use a Wolverine oil pan heater on the boat year round. This keeps the top of the engine around 60 degrees during really cold weather. This heat is enough to keep the salon above from getting too cold.

I don’t like to leave any heater on in the boat that depends on a fan to keep the heating elements cool. This eliminates the typical Camframo/West Marine heaters. I simply don’t want them running long term on the boat unattended.

I do have two of the Caframo dehumidifiers. Yes, there is a low speed fan in them, but if the fan quits the is no danger of the element overheating. They only are 90 watts. One I keep in the aft lazarette where the batteries are. It runs all year along with my oil pan heater. When it is is cold, like now, I have another one in the forward cabin. Again, only 90W but it gently keeps the air moving and provides a tiny bit of warm.

This has proven very adequate for long term temps in the 20’s.
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Old 02-08-2019, 07:47 PM   #32
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Oh damn, had not even thought about the cockpit shower. We never use it but I am sure it has water. I guess I will find out when the thaw comes.
IF its any help, I've had the cockpit shower freeze many times and just never had an issue. Maybe its the plastic lines or something, but its just not been an isssue. They freeze when it gets cold, then thaw with no ill effects. Knock on wood.
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Old 02-09-2019, 03:04 PM   #33
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If you can, best to drain cockpit shower for the winter. Takes two seconds and may prevent replacing fittings/fixtures. Don't forget about raw water washdown lines as well. Many people think the salt water in those lines won't freeze until the ocean freezes, but the salt water in a pipe or hose WILL freeze. I believe salt water starts freezing at 28F if the entire water column is at that temp. I keep my saltwater lines and pump full of antifreeze over the winter.
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Old 02-15-2019, 04:27 PM   #34
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Since the original poster's primary concern is fw pipes. Have you considered low wattage electrical tape to affix to the pipes and keep them above freezing? They are available from Ace hardware in a variety of lengths and you simple tape them to the pipe in question, plug it in and voila! Typical wattage is about 7 watts/foot. Should be no fire concern since they are designed to be unattended. Seems like an elegant solution to me. For years I used them on exposed pipes on my house roof and they worked well.
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Old 02-15-2019, 06:48 PM   #35
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What about those of us with boats on the hard for the winter in the great PNW?
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Old 02-15-2019, 09:09 PM   #36
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What about those of us with boats on the hard for the winter in the great PNW?
Make the effort to winterize it properly. Sitting on the hard you are not planning on using it so protect it.

When on the hard your boat will be at the same temp as the surrounding air which means pumps, water lines, any liquid food or refreshments will freeze if not drained AND antifreezed and may very well cause damage.

Many boats will fare just fine if the freeze only lasts a day or two with sunny skies between but let it go on for long and there will likely be trouble.
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Old 02-15-2019, 09:51 PM   #37
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I just checked our boat today. Been in the water for some time.

Total of less than 1Kw in electric heat running 24-7. Installed the heaters about a month ago and all is well.

The heaters are;
One 3’ goldenrod in the engine compartment.
Two goldenrods in the head at the base of the WC. One 18” and one 22”.
One heater/dehumidifier in the Laz about 150w.

Takes a long time for 400 gal. of fluids (fuel and water) in a boat 3.5’ down in the water. There is also 4000lbs of concrete ballast that also acts as a heat stabilizer.

On the downside there’s no insulation in the boat. Always been fine (even in Alaska) but I used more heat up north. Don’t remember being in single didgit temps but probaby was at some point. Oh I remember the single didgit temps. Never had a problem as long as the boat was in the water.
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Old 02-16-2019, 04:13 PM   #38
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My hull sits into the water about 3 feet, but cold air settles and some years I have seen ice form soild chunks to the hull in the bilge, boat is in SE Virginia on the bay. Takes temps into the upper teens for a few days to do that. Thick wood hull may insulate bilge more from the surrounding water.

I drain the water lines, and the water heater then use a wetvac to suck out any water left behind. This year did not drain the 70 gallon tank, but it does have a copper line to the pump, so I used an incandescent 40 watt bulb laid on pump and line. All my fresh water lines have some foam insulation on them.

And I drained all the heat exchagers, the raw water cruisair and raw water utility pump.

We usually have mild winters, but the polar vortex plunged us into the teens again this year.
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