No AC in FL summer

Strongly considering buying a 34-40ft trawler to live on the hook in South FL / Keys. A top concern is how hot it would be inside the sleeping quarters in particular? I live in a waterfront bungalow in Miami now, and basically only use the AC in June thru Sept, so I'm quite tolerant as long as I have a ceiling fan & window breeze. But perusing trawler photo's online, I notice that the sleeping quarters are always down below with only a few tiny ports for ventilation. I just imagine it'd be like trying to sleep in a sauna. Am I wrong?

Welcome to the forum! It depends on wind getting into the stateroom. Many forward staterooms have a roof hatch (fire escape) often 16" square. Setting up a deflector to force air down the hatch and out the side ports is pretty common. I would lean towards adding an AC that ran off a generator, even if only portable. After the sun goes down, crank up the AC and turn the stateroom into an ice box. Then turn it off, close it up tight and go to sleep. It will take a number of hours for everything to warm back up without the sun. Remember, you can tolerate a lot more heat if the space is dry (dehumidified).

Ted

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

My orthopedic surgeons told me you can get use to any pain eventually (his reference was to football knees) but an uncomfortable het bedroom might qualify. I grew up in south Florida before AC but I don't remember how bad it was. Battery powered fans are available and wind capturing covers are available to funnel the wind into ports and hatches.

Why don't I see a single sedan layout with a bed up above where there's windows?

I understand most people don't want a bed in their living space, but as a single guy I wouldn't mind it. Most under 40' vberths look more suitable as closet/storage than a bedroom anyway.

Nothing prevents you from turning the saloon into your bedroom at night. My forward stateroom is often cooler than the saloon as it's water cooled by the hull being surrounded by water.

Ted

ERTF said:

Strongly considering buying a 34-40ft trawler to live on the hook in South FL / Keys. A top concern is how hot it would be inside the sleeping quarters in particular? I live in a waterfront bungalow in Miami now, and basically only use the AC in June thru Sept, so I'm quite tolerant as long as I have a ceiling fan & window breeze. But perusing trawler photo's online, I notice that the sleeping quarters are always down below with only a few tiny ports for ventilation. I just imagine it'd be like trying to sleep in a sauna. Am I wrong?

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It would be hot. Really hot. And not the good kind of hot.

O C Diver said:

My forward stateroom is often cooler than the saloon as it's water cooled by the hull being surrounded by water.

Ted

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Wouldn't water temp in summer SoFlo be too warm to have that effect?

As William F Buckley - a serious big boat sailor - used to say, "Air condition or die." Sometimes you can get a breeze but at anchor the boat is typically into the wind. And if it starts raining and you close the hatches...

Dougcole said:

It would be hot. Really hot. And not the good kind of hot.

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I just spent last week in the lower keys. Water surface temp is 88 deg. No cooling potential. U will not enjoy it. There was a breeze half of the time.

The warmest water temp I can remember in south Florida of water was 85 degrees and that was in shallow water. Air tempatures reach the high 90s.

Concerning the V berths. I don't need a big bedroom to sleep after being out on the water, happy to have a cool dry place to sleep.

I've been working on my boat every day here in Sarasota. Sleeping in this kind of heat and humidity would be a little much for me. The next best thing about boating other than being on the water is having a good night sleep. If you're not having comfortable sleep, I doubt whether you're going to enjoy living aboard.

Boats with state rooms in the bow can be quite nice in anchorages or tied to a mooring. Being tied at the bow keeps you pointed into the wind, and should there be a breeze of any kind, a forward opening hatch can scoop a great deal of that air, providing decent stateroom ventilation. Marinas may not be as good for ventilation, but being able to plug-in is a bonus for A/C, even if iit's a portable. Who wants to run the generator all night.

You are in Miami. It's August. Turn off your air conditioner, set up some small fans and see how you do. It won't be any better, or worse on a boat.

I don't like to try to sleep hot. I have a little 5000 BTU marine AC in my cabin. I power it with a Honda 2000 but I wish I had a place for a real generator.

In the size range you're looking at, the boat will most likely come with a generator, no reason not to add an AC.

Just so I'm clear, my current and last four boats have had AC, I love it and when it quits well .......

HopCar said:

You are in Miami. It's August. Turn off your air conditioner, set up some small fans and see how you do.

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I can handle that, I do it regularly even in the summer. The difference is I have 4x6ft windows.

I understand I can run an AC off a generator, but I imagine that would be both costly and annoying.

ERTF said:

Why don't I see a single sedan layout with a bed up above where there's windows?

I understand most people don't want a bed in their living space, but as a single guy I wouldn't mind it. Most under 40' vberths look more suitable as closet/storage than a bedroom anyway.

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Welcome ERTF.

One thing I have done is used air beds. Sleep any where you want, on deck, flybridge or in the salon. Stuffy inside, blow up the air bed and sleep up on deck. My children love them when they were small and even now they use them and they are in their 20's . One thing I also like about it, the air bed folds up and uses little space.

Cheers.

H

hfoster said:

Welcome ERTF.

One thing I have done is used air beds. H

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I had the same thought, in which case focusing on a sundeck style would make a lot of sense.

ERTF said:

Wouldn't water temp in summer SoFlo be too warm to have that effect?

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The hotest months it won't work, but you will find that it works many of the months. Are you opposed to AC when it becomes unbearable? You may find that 3 or 4 months a year you may want to pay to be in a marina and have AC at night.

Ted

ERTF said:

I had the same thought, in which case focusing on a sundeck style would make a lot of sense.

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They work well Mate and you can get a blower power by batteries to blow it up. A little more $ but it is well worth it.

My wife and I have even slept on one up on the flybridge (and other things! ) So I would get a queen size!

Cheers Mate.

H.

O C Diver said:

Are you opposed to AC when it becomes unbearable? You may find that 3 or 4 months a year you may want to pay to be in a marina and have AC at night.

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I'd prefer to avoid it, by buying the vessel best setup for the task. So I was trying to get a vibe on what kind of layouts and specific models have the most robust natural airflow.

hfoster said:

They work well Mate and you can get a blower power by batteries to blow it up. A little more $ but it is well worth it.

My wife and I have even slept on one up on the flybridge (and other things! ) So I would get a queen size!

Cheers Mate.

H.

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TMI.

Just get drunk every night and go to sleep. Lots of people do it this way.

seasalt007 said:

Just get drunk every night and go to sleep. Lots of people do it this way.

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I suppose that is probably the trick for all the fringe characters living on derelicts in the keys.

ERTF said:

Why don't I see a single sedan layout with a bed up above where there's windows?

I understand most people don't want a bed in their living space, but as a single guy I wouldn't mind it. Most under 40' vberths look more suitable as closet/storage than a bedroom anyway.

Click to expand...

The couch in our salon turns into a pull out bed. The factory put it there! It is not wasted on hot nights.

Sun covers that are wider than the boat and 3-4 ft off the deck are a great help in daytime.

At dusk run a pump and wash the decks and deck house to reduce the structure temperature to water temperature.

A fan (or a breeze) will allow sleeping in a warm cabin , if it can move a good amount of air.

The Fantastic fans do a great quiet job with low power .

A single solar would work to keep it happy. No solar? Some run on D cells if needed.

You might install a Goiot hatch which can be opened from either end with no changes to aid air flow.

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ERTF said:

I can handle that, I do it regularly even in the summer. The difference is I have 4x6ft windows.

I understand I can run an AC off a generator, but I imagine that would be both costly and annoying.

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Close the windows, except for one, maybe 3" open. Turn off your overhead fan, and use only two small portable battery (not AC) fans. See if that works.

If close, then there are maybe ways to route air better into a specific stateroom, better fans, etc... but if not close, those improvements may not ring your chimes.

In any case, I suspect you'd want a boat with built-in AC and genset anyway, genset being useful to living on the hook for battery charging, etc. You could likely augment with solar and/or a (often noisy) wind generator, but whether that could be sufficient would depend on your energy budget.

Gensets are subject to the "use it or lose it" law of the universe, but at least having one would give you more control over whatever options you discover you need.

And that'd give you Diver's option, to run the genset in the evening (charging batteries, making hot water, etc.) to turn the stateroom into an icebox befire shutting down for the night.

-Chris

ERTF said:

Strongly considering buying a 34-40ft trawler to live on the hook in South FL / Keys. A top concern is how hot it would be inside the sleeping quarters in particular? I live in a waterfront bungalow in Miami now, and basically only use the AC in June thru Sept, so I'm quite tolerant as long as I have a ceiling fan & window breeze. But perusing trawler photo's online, I notice that the sleeping quarters are always down below with only a few tiny ports for ventilation. I just imagine it'd be like trying to sleep in a sauna. Am I wrong?

Click to expand...

A 34'-40' trawler for sale in FL will have a 85% chance at having working A/C installed.

I have a RV rooftop unit installed and while noisy it works well. I also have a portable unit in the Berth vented under the bed(outside). I also like that it doesn't have to be plumbed to a thru hull(with a small chance @ failure/sinking) and don't have to deal with clogged intakes.

I get to the boat, open windows for venting, close up, run A/C and keep it on until I leave(even while running unless its early/late). My Genset runs as long as i'm not on shore power.

Simply put buy one with an A/C.

No idea where your bungalo is in Miami, but once anchored, you will pick up more mosquitoes and no-see-ums. Are you on a ground floor or 30 flights up?
In any case, sleeping well with no AC in June-July-August is a challenge S of 27 deg Lat.

I've tried this in 23 CC, 27 small cabin, and 32' small cabin, no A/C on any. Anchored out always. Maybe 300 nights +/- mostly in Bahamas. I wish I kept a log. In JJA, the prevailing wind is light from SE. On the comfortable nights, a fan directly on you tends to work fairly well on those 90 deg, 90% RH nights.
The entire concept of natural ventilation down there has a couple of fundamental issues you need to get a handle on. First, no-see-ums. At SS and SR, they will be bad with low wind conditions. Mosquito screen does not stop them. You need a finer mesh, one that will block them. Unfortunately, it also blocks near 75% of any existing breeze. On the worst nights, once you get the breeze chute and mesh filters set up, it will thunderstorm for 30 minutes, unleashing 1/2" of water and 25kts winds into/onto your venting system. But, this will happen only about 25% of the nights.
If there is a good breeze, fairly rare in J-J-A, there will still be mosquitoes all night. At dusk, its button up time. All the way until after the no-see-ums go away at decent light.
But all that is doable; what is more difficult is the managment of wet, salty bedding and linens. Nothing drys when salty, so plan on using a lot of FW to manage that, with quick sun drying during the day. But, you need to get them salt free first.

Its all good and definately worth it!
Oh, on the getting drunk thing at bed time. Not my style really, but a number of hard core fisherman friends of mine do that and then stay anchored on the reef all night in a 25', miles from land. It does solve the bug issue, but things can get very exciting when a summer thunder boomer comes around, and they do.
I've lost count how many times I've wandered around at night in the shallows looking for a tenable anchorance after winds either change direction, or get strong due to storms.

If you're into being miserable at night with no A/C in S. FL. just go get a sailboat. Besides the sailboats have better through ventilation than a trawler. Many sailors do it all summer throughout the Caribbean, Bahamas and S. FL. without having A/C!

Mrwesson said:

I get to the boat, open windows for venting, close up, run A/C and keep it on until I leave(even while running unless its early/late). My Genset runs as long as i'm not on shore power.

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Everybody has different priorities & tolerances. Personally, that just strikes me as contrary to my (& many others) reasons for wanting to live on a boat (particularly on the hook) in the first place. Besides the cost and the noise, seems antithetical to seal myself off in a cold cocoon from the tropical environment I'm there to enjoy.