Wind Scoop Ideas for bow hatch

C

Casey

New member
Happy New Year!!!

We're planning to be on the ICW for several months this summer, cruising from Florida to the Chesapeake and back.... It's going to be hot and humid ....

We don't have a/c for "Dessert First," and since we hope to anchor-out a lot,
shorepower won't be available very often. (Yea, we could take the EU2000 generator, but it can be pretty noisy in an otherwise quiet anchorage.)

So ... we're searching for ideas on how to buy/fabricate something that will help capture a breeze and funnel it into the Bomar hatch over the V-berth. Sailboaters usually use a nylon wind-scoop, and maybe that would work with some modification.

Ideas????? Pictures?????

Best,
Casey&Mary
 
Both of these are interesting ideas - in fact they might both be useful. One for rainy conditions and the other for when you want to catch any light air.

Thanks!
C&M
 
I think this is a great idea for your proposed trip. Especially since the boat typically swings head to wind at anchor. I used a windscoop (actual windscoop brand, as it happens) in the tropics and when first getting back aboard it was stifling. Opening the forehatch helped slightly, but it was rigging the windscoop that made the boat come to life, with a wonderful breeze all the way through the boat. Ahhhhh! ('course tradewinds help...)

It's easy to hoist one when you have halyards, so I've never looked into the freestanding ones. Will be interested in what you find out here.
 
We have used the various "scoops" for the forward hatch, including those types mentioned above. What we settled on, is the "Endless Breeze" fan, on several dowel rods (flatted at Pat Anderson's suggestion). This is a 3 speed fan, and you may be familiar with it from RV's--as it is in most.

This last summer we also experimented with a Ryobi 18 volt battery driven fan, and it was just as effective as the Endless breeze. We could put it in the " opening window" forward in the pilot house for ventilation.

However, These do not substitute for a good window AC unit. The fans, and scoops are OK if the evening cools off. If it remains 100 and 100% then you want AC! By the way, the 5,000 BTU AC units run on the EU 1000.

The wind scoop is fine…..if you have wind. We have spent several years total time in the Caribbean, with no AC on our cruising sail boats--but there was always wind. If it was calm it was HOT. When we got to FL, we realized that many nights up and down the ICW we would not have wind. It would be HOT. So, we did the logical thing, and went directly offshore to Maine, and worked South, with the weather….

Give serious thoughts to the fans.
 
My mind is 'whirring with possibilities.

We already have a fan very similar to what you (Dr. Bob) described. It's about 12" square and 3" thick, has three speeds, and operates off 12V, internal rechargeable batteries, or D-cell batteries. I had toyed with ideas about how to suspend it over the Bomar hatch ... some dowel rods cut-to-fit (and flattened :-) ) might be the perfect solution.

Then again, A/C should probably still be on our list of possible solutions. We already have a Honda 2000w gen, but if a Honda 1000w would do the job, I'd be willing to buy one. They're lighter, probably even quieter, and would permit us to close the cabin (which would permit us to be mosquito-free). Gotta give that option some serious Thought.

I can see this thread 'morphing into the easiest ways to mount a small A/C in the front window.

Thanks to All! ...keeps me Thinking!

Best,
C&M
 
Hey guys you remember me the guy from Mt Dora, I did two weeks in 14 going up to Savanaha and back. Using fans blowing into the V berth with the forward hatch open did the trick. You just need to hang the fan in a way so the air hits you directly, it will escape out the forwad hatch making a good cont. flow. I hardly had cloths on, I would cover up lightly every hour or so then throw it off. Just the same it was Hot as Hell August weather but the fans left my battries with juice in the morning, by the way I have two battries. Be sure to stay at the marina in Jekyll Island they have a swiming pool it's a religous experience to get in that cool water. Wear cloths that air can pour thru, when you are under way with the forward window open it is Very comfortable, If you remember I have both my forward wind shields on hindges, worth every cent in the summer. Truthfuly it is mind over matter, realise air condioning is new and we are just spoiled, if you take an attitude that you are stronger than most people, and people before Air conditiong delt with this because it was just summer and thats the way it was. Oh my large Pelican cooler is for sale, I just bought another one only smaller, again worth every cent.
 
P1000482.jpg

We have roof mounted air I did not favor lugging a window unit around with me one less thing to stow. I would go with the Honda 2000 watt unit. Not all that much heavier. In spite of having roof mounted A.C. we are addicted to fans. We have a Caframo Sirocco fan mounted on a piece of teak on the starboard side of the berth entrance along with a flexible reading light. The fan is swung out of the way except for when we are sleeping we swing it into the opening and have it blowing on us. It has three speeds and has an always on feature or you can set it to stay on for 2, 4, or 6 hours I think and it will automatically turn off to save your battery life. It can be flipped on it's gimbal to blow either in or out. It's been a good unit. We had to replace it once for some reason but we can't do without it. Be cool.
D.D.
 
Keeping cool when weather is best described as "humisery"*

What works for me w/o A/C: Water from a hand towel and a fan

Aye.

* humid, hot, no wind, miserable
 
It's true that the Caribbean tradewinds make a huge difference. I spent quite a few summers on the Chesapeake, and there is just NO wind. Not only is it hot and muggy at night, but there are noseeums. For that, a fan is nice if you have the juice to spare. Not only does it give you "wind," but it can keep the noseeums off you (they can't fly against the fan breeze) and you don't have to put up noseeum mesh (which blocks a lot more air then regular screen).

I still carry noseeum mesh to put over the regular screening if necessary, but often just the fan works to keep them off me and then no need for the extra blockage of the finer mesh.
 
DD's post about the fans, reminded me that we have fans over the aft end of each bunk, (the latest versions have a LED reading light and red light built in, along with remote control for the variable speed fan, which is up to 150 cu feet/ min. The fan blowing directly on you does give better cooling, than the fan on the hatch, which brings in fresh air--at times both are used.

The smaller 10" O2 cool fans from WalMart used to be $10--I see them for more now. They are considerably smaller than the Fantastic "Endless breeze" fans (3.8 x 14.5 x 15.2 inches).

We use Velcro around the forward window and forward hatch, to keep the no see-em netting in place. The netting we purchased from a military surplus store, and one net is probably sufficient for a number of C Dorys. It is designed to go over a fairly good size tent for $10.
 
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
 
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! .
 
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
 
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.
 
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