Cabin Ventilation

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C

Capt.Guy

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I was wondering if I could get some feedback on what fellow Pilot House owners do to ventilate thier cabins in the summer months,while the boat is sitting in the slip all week. My boat sleeps in a marina all week and I use her almost every weekend from mid April till November. The problem is that I live 1.5 hours from the marina,so I cant just leave windows and cabin doors open and close them in the rain. For the past four years I have left the sliding windows open about 1 Inch on both sides with the screens closed,and the cabin door closed & locked. I keep the door locked for security reasons (electronics etc.) Up to now I have not had any serious mildew problems,but it does get pretty musty from lack of air movemnt. Any and all opinions are welcome! Spring is almost here!!
 
I put a dorade box up on the cabin roof, see below. I only crack the windows 1/2" or so, as I guess we get sideways rain up here ... any more and I'll get water into the helm station.

I am thinking of adding a solar-powered fan set to 'vent' or 'exhaust', they are about 4" in diameter. There are 2 models, one with a battery so it'll run through the night or just via solar power. They can do intake or vent, but whereas the dorade lets fresh air in, I want the fan to exhaust the air so it'll keep it moving.

I am thinking of putting it in through the front hatch, so is Megabyte too ... but I think we're each waiting for the other guy to cut their hole in the plexiglass first!

Tarp-Pitch-S.JPG
 
I put a solar vent in the top of my cabin (close to the anchor/all around white lite) several years ago. works great. Not a hard project to do. I have the solar/battery powered vent. Haven't changed the battery yet. still working great.
 
I haven't done much til this past summer. I have a 12V fan mounted between the two front windows for when I am there and if I need it while I"m on the water. I am on a slip and if it gets too hot while we are there I have a small 110V fan too.

To your direct question though I started in the hot weeks leaving the front pilot window open an inch or so but but tightened in place.

Dana
 
I like the syle dorade I see on Dale's rig. A quick search online turned up some pretty nice looking dorades(pipes?). Is a box needed? Or is it really just a pipe?
What stops water from entering? Can they be closed? Or need they be removed and a screw in plug goes into the hole?
 
kalm-c":2q3vu0xg said:
I like the syle dorade I see on Dale's rig. A quick search online turned up some pretty nice looking dorades(pipes?). Is a box needed? Or is it really just a pipe?
What stops water from entering? Can they be closed? Or need they be removed and a screw in plug goes into the hole?
Click to expand...

Dorade boxes are really '2' pipes, one DOWN from outside the box and into the box ... and the other is a pipe UP from the cabin side and into the box. The 'up' side is 1/2" from the top of the dorade box. Enough so that air can move and flow from down pipe to up pipe, but water can't. Water exits out the sides of the box - see those small notches or slits?

Mine is oriented 180 degrees from the usual position, but I have received zero water thru it. The typical orientation (shown below) is for sail boats that would dump a siderail underwater while heeled over and it still stays 95% water tight. Mine has been 100% water tight!

It also comes with a screw in cap to close it off 'from the outside'. I simply modified the cap plug by wrapping the threads in 3M blue tape so it is a friction fit from the inside into the inside trim ring. Simple and works, specially on cold days. By the way, this is only to block cold breezes, as it has ALWAYS been water-tight! Only $35 on-line from I forget where ...

ventilation_dorade_shema.jpg
plastimo_doradeboxe.jpg
 
There is a sealing baffle in the Dorade vent. Air goes down and water goes around and flows out. Here is page 3 of an article typical about Dorade vents, with a lot of links, if you want to go this route, http://www.marinershardware.com/InfoVen ... Basic3.php. Here is another example of info about the dorades and boxes, http://www.ahoycaptain.com/shop/dorade_main.html.

Years ago I had a solar vent from Nicro Marine that some have used or mentioned before, in an older sailboat. They work well, I didn't want to cut a hole in a Parker though they do work. See this site, http://www.marinco.com/scpt/brandDrill. ... creational.

Dana
 
I want to install one of these stainless solar powered vents in the middle of the Bowmar hatch on top of my v-berth.

6775944.jpg


I'm just not real keen on cutting a big azz hole in the middle of a perfectly good Bowmar hatch. :(

I know that it will give me the ventillation I want... I'm just waffling on that first saw cut. :cry:
 
John_Madison CT":1v9iwymu said:
Mega: Isn't the glass on that hatch tempered glass? if so, you can't drill it. It will shatter.
Click to expand...

Far as I know, it's polycarbonate.
But now you have me wondering, and the boat is 90 minutes south of me under shrinkwrap.
 
Wow! Thanks Dana! :D

I've been putting this item off for awhile, but that installation pdf told me all the stuff I was wondering about.
I was really stressing on cutting a hole in that Bomar hatch! :shock:

I'm going to be putting a solar vent in the middle of that hatch this spring, so stay tuned for the project photos. :wink:
 
OK.

Like I said I put one in before on another boat in a fiberglass hatch. Was a sailboat I had and it went fine.

There is an inner ring that cleans up the look.

I have seen boats near me that have put them in a clear hatch.

Years ago I bought the more expensive one that had solar and a battery it charged so it could run longer. The vents come with a fan blade you can flip over to have air pull in or exhaust.

Dana
 
Just checked Bomar's wesite (pompanette.com), and found that depending on the hatch model the hatch is either acrylic or lexan.
Drill away !!!!
Even if it was glass you could remove the hatch and take it to a quality glass shop, they would have the circle etcher needed to cut the hole properly.
Maybe check a salvage yard for an old hatch to use as a test?
 
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