Heating your boat .

[Ozzie]

I WOULD BOLD TYPE A WARNING HERE. WHEN USING ANY METHOD FOR HEATING YOUR BOAT. VENTILATION IS ABSOLUTELY PARAMOUNT. KEEP A HATCH CRACKED IF YOU ADOPT ANYTHING THAT PRODUCES CARBON MONOXIDE AND THAT IS ANYTHING. EVEN THE CLAY POTS IDEA APPARENTLY. I’LL ADD RESEARCH.

WHEN DEALING WITH FLAME ON A 19FT BOAT, ALL WARNINGS FROM THE STOVE POSTS STAND . THE FURTHEST YOU CAN GET AWAY FROM A FLAME IS 19 FEET.

DO NOT GO TO SLEEP WITH ANYTHING KEEPING YOU WARM STILL ACTIVE UNLESS IT IS A HOT WATER BOTTLE OR YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER


As per the article I hijacked in the general section. I’m interested in how users heat their boat. Leads on from here.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1140

I might go with this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX5CgCItFgE

[Ozzie]

Thanks David, I think many will be interested in this topic . When researching such things I always google a term like say “heating small boats” and hit “images “.

This saves you opening and reading a mass of sites. You can visually zero in on things that grab your interest.

Using this search method works for anything. However as google algorithms sometimes seem to be written by kindergarteners you often get pictures of things that appear to have s#a to do with your search.


For instance google/image Investigator 563, down the page you get a pic of a 60-inch cyclotron taken in 1954.

[Topaz Bill]

David, we get extremes of weather in FNQ too, I distinctly remember once it got down to 19 degrees and we thought we were all dying of hypothermia.

Comfort is important if we are to enjoy our sailing, the terracotta pot on stove seems simple and effective.

[Ozzie]

I reckon Ozzie,that you would be along time heating your boat with that home made tin can heater...LOL!!! I watched the video, and even after it had been running, he was still able to touch the can.

A good quality sleeping bag, and simply go to ed, would work the best. Or just layer up with thermals.

Actually no, British sailor Dylan Winter from “Keep Turning Left” fame (YouTube) and Practical Boat Owner made the odd visit to tsp. He actually had a system using only candles and small clay pots that was very efficient at heating small areas. Point being you don’t need much heat to raise the temperature in a small area . But once again venting, while necessary, removes heat.

I was only half joking with the tin can stove. These things are on the net and YouTube everywhere and they provide a lot or radiated heat , but the main advantage is that they have a flue. If you can roof vent this out of your boat as they do in Alaska and Canada with their on board potbellys it’s much safer from CO point. Probably safer than using internal heating devices and needing lots of ventilation. The odd times we have o’nighted in cooler weather like Easter on the lake I’ve often wondered about having a clip in piece to fill the gap where the entry hatch slides forward made of fibre sheet with a hole to take the flue . Your little fire box could sit on the step with a floor tile under it. Probably this idea will remain in my sketch book , but I’m very fond of fireplaces. Every house I’ve lived in has had one. With the above setup you’d need to use the front hatch as a door.

Off to bed, tired after a few celebration Champers tonight with friends. We don’t talk about what we are celebrating on this forum, but everybody knows

[Ozzie]

Just a quick look and couldn’t find Dylan Winter’s piece but searching turned this article up for home use.

https://theprovidentprepper.org/terracotta-pot-heater/

Warnings still apply. Also mentioned installation of carbon monoxide detector. I have one on my Motorhome.