Stayin cool on a 23!

[Mas]

Ditto on the Camframo fan love it! Have run into it a couple times and the blades may startle you but don't hurt, well maybe your ego if someone watches you run into it more than once!

Also bit the bullet on a small, 12 inches high, 5,000 BTU AC unit for use at dock. It stores in the starboard quarter berth area on the 23 just fine so you don't have to lug it on an off. Did make getting in and out a little tricky but my did it give an under fleece blanket good nights sleep on days that were well into the 100's with heat index!

It has now been moved to a larger boat and still works well.

Fall is just around the corner!

[Bilgemaster]

Companionway would probably be doable at night when you sleep. It would be annoying the rest of the time though. The other problem is simply where to store it the rest of the time.

I'd think the end of the quarter berth would end up working out OK. Interior volume is pretty small so it would likely cool the boat OK. You might night feel the breeze directly but it should cool the boat.

Avoid the air cooled free standing AC units. I tried one in my Sabre the first summer when I was fixing my diesel. It really didn't do very much. They exhaust their heat through a hot air vent. It seemed like blowing out all the heat resulted in a little bit lower pressure inside the boat which just brought it hot outside air back in.

If you don't have one get a Breeze Booster. If there is any breeze they make a huge difference in ventilating down below.

http://www.breezebooster.com/index.html

They work especially well at anchor.

Shawn

It occurs to me after looking at that Breeze Booster site just how remarkably similar they appear to be to Harbor Freight's 4 Pc Storm-Proof Wheel Covers that'll run you just $9.99 for a 4-pack.  Those covers are basically just a long 1/4"-or-so thick bendable-formable circular (or rather, horseshoe-shaped) metal bar with a sturdy white canvas half shell attached to it--all shaped rather like an old bandshell like one might find in a park, such as this famous one in Central Park in New York City:



Think of the solid back of that bandshell as the part that covers one's tire, protecting it from the very damaging UV light, with the open half facing inward towards the underside of the vehicle, and the wire sort of holding it over the inward-facing part of the tire.

Before shelling out 60 to 80 semolians for a Breeze Booster, I think I might just try cobbling together what I'm gonna call a Wheeze Luster_®, namely a similar air scoop fashioned from one of those Harbor Freight Wheel Covers cobbled together with a couple-few bungees and maybe an ultra-high-bleeding-edge-tech device called a "stick", such as the remarkable example shown below from the National Toy Hall of Fame:



The remaining three wheel covers in the package can be used to, you know, cover the wheels to keep them from rotting prematurely in the sun...maybe squeezing a couple-few extra service years from those trailer tires and that spare, instead of just letting them bake into obsolescence in the sun.

With fans, I'd have to agree that Caframo is pretty much your gold standard.  You just have to swing by some We$t Marine's fans display to witness that first hand.  With that said, I've been completely and utterly satisfied with my little 12V Chinese Suction Cup job that I got for just $10.34 year before last.  Sadly, it seems the very same model's currently going for $26.20.  If its price dips down again, I might just grab a couple more.  They're certainly not as sub-whisper quiet as the Caframos, nor do they move anything like the same air, feature a range of timers to turn off automatically if you wish, but they ARE cheap, very quiet and very VERY flexible.  You can plop 'em on the galley, in the companionway...wherever you like.  The little flexible USB fans that you can get for a buck or two each delivered are also pretty useful if you've got a USB port or two in the cabin. They won't blow your hair back, but they'll at least keep the funk moving around.

As far as air conditioning goes, over at the Macgregor Sailors Forum it's a perennial topic, with lots of great info there.  Of course, with the Macgregor 26X's and 26M's very low companionways--almost flush with the cockpit sole (or "floor"), lots of folks just lob a regular little 5000 btu window unit there and just build a little plywood box around it, like a handy seat---a relatively easy mod.  I imagine that with a Com-Pac's typically raised companionway entry, such a lowdown setup might eventually result in one's sweeping the regional Limbo championships.  Still, one might get some good ideas from our hybrid power-sailing cousins...Or, if they ever actually start shipping this little Noria Unit, that might be sweet.

As it happens, I also have a fancy old 12V evaporative cooler gizmo called a "swamp cooler" that I once described here. Not the greatest long-term heat beater, but it'll definitely take the edge off for a couple-few hours, and you'll find lots of DIY plans and YouTube videos on how to easily cobble a basic one together out of an old ice chest, if you're so inclined.

[BruceW]

Well, I need the tire covers anyway, so thanks for the tip on them.

Seems like I have a breeze booster also.

Now, I need one of those band shells over the sliding hatch, maybe two facing each other so I can stand up!

[Bilgemaster]

You mean, like this?



'Cause I tried it once in the boat lot, and the groundhogs are still pretty skittish.

[brackish]

   If you don't have one get a Breeze Booster. If there is any breeze they make a huge difference in ventilating down below.

http://www.breezebooster.com/index.html

They work especially well at anchor.

Have to say I have one and highly recommend it as the best of the wind scoops.  I thoroughly dislike the people who make and sell it.  When I ordered mine by phone they sent me two and billed me twice with two different prices.  I received them on a cruise and, despite the fact I didn't have room for the extra one, I carried it with me all over the Gulf and then the southeast.  When I finally got back to deal with it they refused to refund my card until I returned the second one and then wanted to credit me the price I was quoted and charge me the higher price.  They then got very insulting about how I was a terrible customer despite the fact they made the mistake and they didn't trust me to send it back and refund my card before I was charged interest on the over billing. So watch your back when dealing with them.

Bilgemaster, I don't know where you live, but in Mississippi we never use anything that puts water in the air in the name of cooling.  We spend most of our lives trying to take water out of the air.

[HeaveToo]

Brackish, which size did you buy?  That thing looks pretty nice.

I am thinking that I could probably figure out how to fabricate one.  I would definitely need a version with bug screen because the mosquitoes and no-see-ums in this area are HORRIBLE in the summer.

[Bilgemaster]

(...snip!)
Bilgemaster, I don't know where you live, but in Mississippi we never use anything that puts water in the air in the name of cooling.  We spend most of our lives trying to take water out of the air.

I'm up here in the DC area in Virginia. It may not be "Mississippi muggy", where the saltine goes limp between the package and your mouth, but it's soupy enough.  And you are of course correct: Those swamp cooler evaporative gizmos on their own, just dripping water on a kind of porous fiber cloth sorta like a 3M scrubber pad and blowing air with a fan through it, are really best in a dry heat.  The thing is, the one I have has a little sort of ice bucket built in, so it's ice water.  It's not like it really cools down a whole area, so much as blow a lovely stream of cool air directly at you through adjustable vents that sort of resemble old car AC vents from like a '60s T-bird.  Mine looks like this one, except it has a sort of ice bucket box built onto the bottom:



All I can say is that it'll really help you keep your cool for maybe 2 or 3 hours depending on the ambient temperature with maybe 2 or 3 pounds of ice.  After the ice melts, it's just a pleasant fan. Sadly, they don't make that model anymore, but you can see what they offer nowadays at http://www.swampy.net/,  And like I said, there are lots of DIY ones to choose from.

Speaking of evaporative cooling, these Harbor Freight Cooling Towels don't completely suck.

[brackish]

Brackish, which size did you buy?  That thing looks pretty nice.

I am thinking that I could probably figure out how to fabricate one.  I would definitely need a version with bug screen because the mosquitoes and no-see-ums in this area are HORRIBLE in the summer.

I don't remember.  I measured my hatch and ordered the one that was appropriate for the size on their website.  The reason I like it is that I can use the hatch's OEM bug screen with it and it can be deployed and removed from inside the boat.  I can remember many nights having to get up middle of the night during a storm and having to go out on the foredeck to remove the type that has to have a halyard to hold it up.  The downside is that in shifting wind direction, if you are docked you have to reset it to the wind direction.  But at anchor the normal swing takes care of that.

[BruceW]

I think mine needs a halyard to hold it up. I only have used it once, a couple years ago. I think I have a screen, too. Better look for it; maybe the screen I am thinking about was a previous boat. Eh, next time down, I'll try to check.

Wind coming in: another approach to getting air in is to anchor stern-to. Then the cabin is its own wind scoop. This is kind of fun, if it's not too much wind.

[HeaveToo]

Bilgewater, where are you.  I am on the Potomac out of Colonial Beach but I live up in Woodbridge.

[Mas]

Well this topic reared it's head again right on schedule....the beginning of warm weather! We generally try not to be out if we know it will be little or no wind, and hot and muggy, which pretty much describes the Chesapeake in the height of summer. The 5,000 BTU/AC unit we got last year keeps our 31, which has an open layout, sleeping under fleece blanket cool on 90 plus degree days. Clearly only useful at dock but small enough to stow even on a 23. Admittedly it is oh so much easier on the 31. With the knowledge we simply will not go out if miserable this works. We use a wind scoop on the forward hatch, have screened companionway and 10 screened opening ports, two dorade vents, and a camfro fan and another battery/AC operated fan for ventilation. We use a dodger, bimini, removable cockpit sunscreens, boom tent, and soon to have port blinds to shade things when out, or at dock whether the AC is needed or not. Have also rigged up a foredeck shade at times. Can't say enough about the ability to enjoy simply being on the boat in miserable weather with the little AC unit. Interlude is also our home down there and we could not use her as such otherwise

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Frigidaire-5000-BTU-150-sq-ft-115-Volt-Window-Air-Conditioner/50342322

It has gone up since last year but still pretty inexpensive and helped us get through a block of time last summer when we were redoing out 30 year old geothermal system at home.

A quick look at her summer mode (the aft sunscreen was redone since this pic to fully shade around to the side panels and be same length, it was mistake the folks that made it fixed). Having a huge bridge deck makes the AC thing way doable. The 23's bridge deck though much smaller is still a good size. Boats without good bridge decks make it oh so much more difficult to get one in place.

All of the ways we try to say cool on Interlude we used on our 23 minus the cockpit sunscreens and a dodger. It just was smaller and had less ventilation.  Mas on the other hand........she is what she is!

[Bilgemaster]

Bilgewater, where are you.  I am on the Potomac out of Colonial Beach but I live up in Woodbridge.

Døyr fe, døyr frender
Døyr sjølv det sama
men ordet om deg aldreg døyr
vinn du et gjetord gjevt

For en overraskelse! Jeg bor i Woodbridge også, du rare gamle Viking. Du må være fyren med den store hjelmen med frukt fast i hornene som alltid forsøpling i grønnsaks delen i Aldi på Smoketown Road. Vi skal møte noen helg...kanskje gå ut for et seil. PM meg!

And for the benefit of those who may not be Norse Berserkers yearning to raid coastal settlements and plunder rich monastaries, or at least not professionally, here's the same in English:

What a surprise! For I too dwell in Woodbridge, thou weird elder Viking.  Thou must needs be that fellow with that prodigious helmet with yon fruit stuck in its horns ever tarrying in yon produce section of the Aldi on Smoketown Road. We should get together some weekend...maybe go out for a sail.  PM me!

[Mas]

ok du Viking ønsker å være er, vil du lett bli identifisert med din manglende evne til å få av og på båter på grunn av hjelmer! For morsomt!

Yup it begins, trade avdrift

Heck if in Norway you don't need a way to stay cool on your boat! You might need a larger crew secondary to the rowing thing.

[Bilgemaster]

Techno-Viking observes and approves of this thread drift!

[HeaveToo]

I would be more impressed if you guys were writing in runes!  LOL