After good meals, a key factor in crew comfort is adequate cabin heat. What a treat a warm cabin is after a cold watch…and how nice it is to be able to dry clothes at sea! We have had experience with diesel heaters before in our Catalina 42 and friends’ boats. They are very economical to run (about 0.5 liters per hour), are quiet/safe in operation, and offer loads of nice hot air.
An Eberspacher Model D3LC was chosen for its heat output and reputation for quality. They are readily available in the USA through selected dealers.
This model was designed for a slightly smaller boat, but installation space and other factors must be considered. Finding a way to mount the heater, locate the exhaust, and run the heat output required careful planning. After much thought, we settled on mounting the main
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Head Lid and Seat Support
Dave Peffer 10/1/1998
Hull #: 20
The earlier hull numbers were designed without support for the lid and seat in the raised position, which means the hinges break. I made a “T” support of teak, which is screwed into the bulkhead behind the head. Since the bulkhead does not line up with the hinge axis, the “T” is angled 8 degrees to provide a direct 90-degree support for the lid. A rubber tip protects the lid. Looks OK, works fine.
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Spare Propane Locker Becomes Cockpit Cooler
Dave Peffer
11/1/1998
Hull #: 20
We rarely need two propane bottles aboard, and we don’t want to open our refrigerator more often than absolutely necessary. My solution was to line the outside of the spare (starboard) propane locker with insulation, working from below in the lazarette. I used three wraps of roll insulation (from a home store) which sandwiches bubble-wrap between layers of foil, lightly gluing it and wrapping it in place with nylon strapping. The bottom was covered with expanded foam insulation board, and the joints sealed withlatex expanding foam insulation (Find this stuff! It cleans up with water!).
The locker cover was lined with the same rigid board insulation. Here I cut one piece to fit inside the water-exclusion fiddle, another to extend down just into the round part of the locker, using contact cement to hold them in place on
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Gotta have them. Even the red light over the galley hurts night vision from the cockpit. We added two night lights: one in the head next to and six inches above the seat of the commode below the sink, and one on the curve at the aft end of the starboard settee just above the cabin sole and just inboard of the navigator’s chair hinge support. When installing the latter be sure to remove the settee cushion base (only six or eight screws hold it down) to find the right spot for the light and to avoid drilling a hole in the holding tank, which fits snugly into this corner! You will find a simple electrician’s snake invaluable in such electrical installations. For some reason these lights are hard to find, but I got some from M&E Marine. You may have
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A swing-down white plastic tray/drawer that mounts easily under the medicine cabinet to hold small items such as milady’s makeup, wallet and change, car keys and whatever. It has positive detents in the up and down position. It is available from ABC, Inc, 1-800-877-4797
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The anchor locker provides no place to install a chain lock, which is required to keep the anchor locked on the roller underway. I made one up as follows: a short length of 3/16″ stainless wire (length depends on the length of your anchor stock) with a lifeline pelican hook (West Marine model #543132, which adjusts in length) swaged on one end, a stainless thimble nice-pressed on the other. A galvanized shackle attaches this to the bitter-end padeye in the anchor locker. The pelican hook goes through a chain link as close as possible to the anchor, and the adjustment on the hook allows this to be snug. The anchor is not going to fall overboard. This can also be used to snub the chain and allow you to transition the chain to the gypsy while raising the anchor if you do
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