Trawler Airflow

As a sailor on sailing forums, which know I am looking at trawlers, I get comments about airflow a lot. I know this is an issue as trawler friends of mine have come over and among the first thing commented on is how much better airflow there is on my sailboat.

Besides running the air conditioners I bet there are work arounds etc. trawler owners have come up with.

If you have one please share it.

Thanks

I have two electric oscillating fans which I place in front of each A/C outlet on our boat in times of extreme heat. They really help distribute the cool air a lot.

Hatches are the obvious start. We take 2 18 volt fans whenever we go on the boat. They move a tremendous amount of air and on low are dead quiet. With a 4 amp battery they will run 2 days on low and we can each carry the fan to wherever we sit. I use Ridgid tools since they have a lifetime warranty including the batteries if you register them online within 90 days of purchase.

Comodave said:

I use Ridgid tools...

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We all know it's really because of their calendar ;-)

Our boat is very breezy when needed. Open the middle windshield, open the rear access door and sliding hatch for starters. This will allow flow through the saloon. If more needed open all 5 side windows. It will be the same temp inside as outside real quick.

I also made an exhaust fan for the captains quarters, it pops into the hatch right above the bed. Drawing air from 8 porthole windows it will keep the sleeping area as cool as the outside temp.

If anchored out, a stateroom forward with a hatch that opens forward, generally suppies a lot of ventilation with an open aft saloon door.

Two pilothouse or sedan doors open with the aft saloon door open, provides a lot of ventilation.

Many saloon windows (such as mine) open and have screens. While on the subject, I'm seeing more trawlers with retractable screen doors. A very nice addition to for large saloon and pilothouse doors.

Ted

ScottC said:

We all know it's really because of their calendar ;-)

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Actually I have not seen one, can you send one to me?

Air flow on my trawler is way better than my sailboat was. More openings, bigger openings, etc… I’ve never heard anyone boast about air flow in their sailboat, only talk about ways to improve it. We had one of those wind scoops made from spinnaker material on the fwd hatch that helped a lot.

Don L said:

As a sailor on sailing forums, which know I am looking at trawlers, I get comments about airflow a lot. I know this is an issue as trawler friends of mine have come over and among the first thing commented on is how much better airflow there is on my sailboat.

Besides running the air conditioners I bet there are work arounds etc. trawler owners have come up with.

If you have one please share it.

Thanks

Click to expand...

DOMINO has great airflow. t
That airflow can be passive using only the opening under their own power when cruising or with a breeze, or the flow can be active using a fairly high-power exhaust fan if anchored in a still place. I much prefer the former.
Air is introduced at the openings above the helm station which are protected from spray or seas by design under the brow. Aire exits aft via doors, a window that opens or by the exhaust fan if we closed up due to sea conditions.

Below they are pictured closed and open.

When anchored out, our forward stateroom with a hatch that opens forward, a screened companion door, all open windows and the screened salon door generally supplies a lot of ventilation.

We have super scoops for all hatches, and I modified them to work with hatch screens in place.

No problem when anchored. When docked I just rotate the scoops.

It can get cold if blowing ten or better.

For aft cabin boats, airflow into the aft stateroom is typically lousy, just as it is for center cockpit sailboats that have aft staterooms. In warm climate, aft stateroom can really need A/C at anchor. Forward stateroom with traditional large overhead hatch is workable.

A few trawler style boats have opening center windshield windows which is great for air, not so great for heavy spray conditions (unless they are deck hatch-style with heavy dogs).

Most powerboats have forward sloping windshields (vs reverse slope) and large dashboards that tend to capture heat and radiate it into the cabin. Can definitely have more of a greenhouse effect.

Much can be remdiated with awnings, though rarely seen on powerboats for some reason.

Peter

Our last boat was an aft cabin sundeck. The aft cabin had 6 portholes out of the 11. I replaced all 11 portholes with S/S ones. I also installed the deck hatch in the aft cabin that the PO had removed and decked ober, no escape hatch. It had pretty good ventilation overall.

On a small trawler, say under 38 feet, air circulation will be a problem in the forward cabin. Not so much in the aft cabin, most are air conditioned anyway. Fans and hatches and windows open in the V berth. It will help but still can be stuffy.

pete

Large tinted opening side windows
Large overhangs providing shade
Roll down shade cloth from edge of overhangs blocking sun
Roll down blockout curtains inside but rarely needed.

Full time cruiser in sub tropical to tropical regions
ZERO air conditioning
But do pull out 240v fans on occassion.

klee wyck said:

DOMINO has great airflow. t
That airflow can be passive using only the opening under their own power when cruising or with a breeze, or the flow can be active using a fairly high-power exhaust fan if anchored in a still place. I much prefer the former.
Air is introduced at the openings above the helm station which are protected from spray or seas by design under the brow. Aire exits aft via doors, a window that opens or by the exhaust fan if we closed up due to sea conditions.

Below they are pictured closed and open.

Click to expand...

Nice setup
We looked at doing similar but not enough space so am considering a couple of new windows, top half opening outwards.

We also have the top 2/3rds of the wheelhouse windows covered in static cling mesh.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/363435031230

That cuts down on heat and glare, so much so that I very rarely need sunglasses.

Comodave said:

Actually I have not seen one, can you send one to me?

Click to expand...

You will get an idea here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Rid...HZfvDT0Q_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=899&dpr=2

It depends a lot on the boat. We have an upper/aft helm only. The center windshield opens for airflow there, as does the canvas on the sides.

In the cabin, we have great airflow for the forward cabin and salon, but the aft cabin isn't as good. The forward cabin has a hatch in the foredeck and a pair of opening ports in the hull sides. The salon has a side door, the companionway, and big sliding windows on both sides. The aft cabin has sliding windows on the sides, but they're a bit smaller and just above the deck line. And there's nothing that opens to the aft, so you need a bit of a cross breeze to get good air flow back there. Without one you only get okay airflow.

I see other boats that don't have half as much openable stuff as we do and would likely struggle with ventilation.

To some extent, we try to plan around really hot weather. If it's going to be miserably hot, I'll try to be at a dock where we can plug in and run the A/C.