williamsburg
New member
Much of our boating on the CD-22 consists of staying overnight in marinas, gernerally traveling with 3 or 4 other boats. Here in Tidewater Virginia the heat and humidity combined with our age and infirmity makes air conditioning a necessity in July, August, and September. We finally took the step but I am not completely satisfied with our decision. The choices we knew of were:
Marine Air Condit - These are efficient units and are out of sight. They are expensive ($1500 for 6500 BTU), require two thru-hulls and you loose a cabinet. Since the hull shape requires that the intake thru-hull is just below the water line it attracts junk - especially jelly fish in our area. The water intake is often clogged - at least for my fellow C-Dory owners.
Camper Top Air Condit - They are efficient, relatively inexpensive, and do the job. But the lines of the CD-22 are so pretty and this really changes the looks. Also there is the problem of the condensate dripping off the top and the units are not made to withstand the rigors of salt air.
Hatch Insert (Cruisair Carry-On) - These seem to work well in cooling the cabin. They are expensive ($700+). They are a storage problem, 30+ inches in greatest dimension. The difficulty of handling the 60 lb. unit on the foredeck caused us to rule out this unit.
Stand Alone Portable Air Conditioner - This is what I finally choose (Soleus 8000 BTU) about $400 from Staples including shipping. This unit measures 12.75"wide, 16" deep, and 31.5 high. If you remove the casters and use 3/4" feet it will fit under the table top. I removed the table leg and use the unit as the support. It is easily vented using the supplied kit through the port sliding window. The table and seats are still usable. Now the problems - By nature the portable air conditioners are very inefficient. First they themselves are heat generators, especially the vent tubing. Since they use the inside air to cool the compressor, cold air is removed and sent out thru the vent tubing. This creates a vacuum in the cabin sucking hot outside air in. During the heat of a sunny day cooling is minimal (3 or 4 degrees) but the humidity is decreased. At night it cools the boat nicely. There is no thermostat so you can get too cold and have to turn it to fan manually. Finally we have had problems getting rid of the condensate - severaly gallons a day. There is a drain to which you connect 1/2" tubing and can drain into the bildge pump area. But the unit is very sensitive to leveling and can pour alot of water into the cabin. We have made a drain pan from a plastic basket and this works fine.
Will take some photos next time I'm at the boat if anyone is interested.
Drink Heavily - May be the best device to get to sleep in the heat and humidity
Marine Air Condit - These are efficient units and are out of sight. They are expensive ($1500 for 6500 BTU), require two thru-hulls and you loose a cabinet. Since the hull shape requires that the intake thru-hull is just below the water line it attracts junk - especially jelly fish in our area. The water intake is often clogged - at least for my fellow C-Dory owners.
Camper Top Air Condit - They are efficient, relatively inexpensive, and do the job. But the lines of the CD-22 are so pretty and this really changes the looks. Also there is the problem of the condensate dripping off the top and the units are not made to withstand the rigors of salt air.
Hatch Insert (Cruisair Carry-On) - These seem to work well in cooling the cabin. They are expensive ($700+). They are a storage problem, 30+ inches in greatest dimension. The difficulty of handling the 60 lb. unit on the foredeck caused us to rule out this unit.
Stand Alone Portable Air Conditioner - This is what I finally choose (Soleus 8000 BTU) about $400 from Staples including shipping. This unit measures 12.75"wide, 16" deep, and 31.5 high. If you remove the casters and use 3/4" feet it will fit under the table top. I removed the table leg and use the unit as the support. It is easily vented using the supplied kit through the port sliding window. The table and seats are still usable. Now the problems - By nature the portable air conditioners are very inefficient. First they themselves are heat generators, especially the vent tubing. Since they use the inside air to cool the compressor, cold air is removed and sent out thru the vent tubing. This creates a vacuum in the cabin sucking hot outside air in. During the heat of a sunny day cooling is minimal (3 or 4 degrees) but the humidity is decreased. At night it cools the boat nicely. There is no thermostat so you can get too cold and have to turn it to fan manually. Finally we have had problems getting rid of the condensate - severaly gallons a day. There is a drain to which you connect 1/2" tubing and can drain into the bildge pump area. But the unit is very sensitive to leveling and can pour alot of water into the cabin. We have made a drain pan from a plastic basket and this works fine.
Will take some photos next time I'm at the boat if anyone is interested.
Drink Heavily - May be the best device to get to sleep in the heat and humidity
Now, all my tree hugging enviormentalist just beat me up bad... just kidding. but you can toss it and replace it about 3 times for the same initial cost of the true marine units...with way fewer holes in your boat. You can use it on the road, in the camp grounds too. The marine you can not. Yes, the condensation draining off the top is an issue...but just how big of one? What happens when it rains? What happens in the morning dew or fog? Water is all the time moving about on the boat. Many little things can be put on the boat to "direct" the water flow. Many have a "gutter" for the canvas top that would keep it from draining into the cockpit area. Anyone tried the little plastic car window shield things over their boat windows??? These would also let you keep your windows cracked a bit in a light rain... As for where do you put the please still me generator as to allow you to run it while on the hook? I do not know. I kinda like the idea of a "polling platform" like the flats boats use. Could easily build some type of fold up starboard material "box" to put over it when you dock that could easily be locked up. Jeff at C-Dory about had a duck when I asked him about removing some of the foam in the front V-Berth area as to allow for a true marine AC unit to be mounted with duct work ran from the factory. I think that would be a great idea...but....Jeff and Scott run the factory. They simply did not want to complicate the flow of boats coming off the line. But, it is great to see that I am not the only one who really would like AC on these CRUISING boats. Some of us do not have the time to just move to a section of America when it gets hot.... and...if we are truly going to boat 12 months out of the year....we gotta have AC not only for the temp/humidity, but for the insects too.