Wind Scoop Ideas for bow hatch

[jennykatz]

Casey we use a 5000 BTU A/C in our front window you must take the side struts off the window and pull them back . We have never used our 2400 watt Yamaha gen set for it .When I bought it it was a lot easier to move around weight is 75 lb and way to big for the cc-23 . I have heard the Yamaha 1000 will power up the 5000 A/C. I am looking at the Costco 2000 watt with Yamaha motor in it assembled in China for Boat and RV.
Hopefully see you at St. John's Gathering is there electricity at Hooton Island ? Jim

[maryvmcclain]

Casey, did you find a windscoop or did you just go with the aircondiioner? We were thinking of buying this particular windscoop for Lake Powell because there is no room for the air conditioner. We will probably drag the generator along since our refrigerator on the 2013 trip to Powell last time caused battery failure and we had to leave early. We also now have solar so that shouldn't happen! We now also have a new toy.. our new inflatable kayak so we must prioitize We didn't really need the air conditioner in Sept but some airflow would be nice.

I do wish we had invested in a portable freezer for Lake Powell but we are a little concerned with the longevity based on your story. Is it still working for you? Also we don't know for sure how much the solar panel will help run the little frig...as we've not been without shore power more than a 2 days yet.. So one experiment at a time probably would make sense. We'll probably try the rock salt plan this year.

Anyway, I'm not sure the wind scoop mentioned herein makes sense as its stationery, and might not scoop from the angle you are beached in. The sailboat scoops usually (I think) are multidirectional? So, before I throw money at this, I wondered if you or anyone else has one of these specific scoops and if they are practical in a beach scenario. Thoughts?

I'm still hoping there will be a lake Powell gathering, and am sad that we are not having the grand slam western lakes gatherings. We'll be doing it on our own but probably spending less time in total at each spot.. A bit nervous because we don't know the good anchorages etc. So much better to have a group with a knowledgeable leader. Besides we always have a blast with other carats. Chris, you will be Missed! .

[Casey]

I agree - a wind scoop would probably be limited when beach camping (it needs the weather cocking to capture any breeze).

The Waeco/Dometic is back to its old 'self, and working perfectly. Looking back on it I think the biggest factors were the ambient temperature and that we (badly) needed to defrost the unit. The day before yesterday I raised the temperature from 16degrees to 20degrees (it was freezing stuff in the chill side), and it seems to be working fine.

We're still playing with ideas on how to deal with the humidity. If I find it, we may buy one of the $99 a/c's that folks have used successfully. It would be nice to have a custom made mounting surface, etc etc but for the time being we'll probably just go with an impromptu mount.

Best,
C&M

[thataway]

I did use one of the "Breeze boosters" on one of my boats. It would not work well for "beach or marina" camping--and only if you are swinging into a breeze--which often you are not. It is nothing like a real wind scoop.

We had both the ripstop cheap nylon ones, and a custom one which had a 36" diameter tube which was about 7' long with SS hoops in it and three way tie up at the top, so we could orient the flaps into the breeze. On the large ketch we took to Europe we used the mizen halyard for the aft cabin--and we used a spinnaker halyard and a snap shackle to the forestay for the forward and middle staterooms. With that rig, we had a real breeze going thru the entire boat. On the Cal 46, we had a high radar arch aft, and ran a line between that and the main boom to hold up the wind scoop.