Heaters

Keeping the cold at bay when you cruise in cold climates
If you cruise in the higher latitudes, one of the greatest comforts on your boat will be a cabin heater. There can be nothing more heartening than leaving a wet, freezing cockpit for the dry warmth of a cheerful stove down below.Not so many years ago, when boating was a more Spartan sport, the purists would have regarded a heater as a sign of weakness and moral turpitude. Sailors, like mountain climbers, backpackers, and other outdoor enthusiasts, were expected to suffer in order that they might better appreciate, by comparison, the subtle highlights of their experiences: the glorious sunsets and the panoramic vistas.The advantage of boating, compared with most other outdoor sports, is that you can have a heater. The size and type of heater you need depends, as always, on the size and type of your boat and where you do your boating. I have cruised on a Santana 22 in which a Coleman pressure kerosene lamp provided not only brilliant light, but also sufficient heat to warm up the cabin and dry out my soaked underwear.Most cruising boats, however, are better served by a compact heater permanently mounted on a bulkhead or—if you want to get a little fancier—an oil-burning furnace in a locker, with electric fans and ducts to distribute the warm air throughout the boat.Bulkhead heaters burn almost anything, including flotsam and driftwood from the beach. The marine catalogs list heaters that burn propane gas, diesel fuel, kerosene, charcoal, cardboard, coal, wood, and pellets.If you already carry diesel fuel for your engine, a diesel heater makes sense—except on a very small boat because they run exceptionally hot. Like a kerosene heater, a diesel heater can be fed by a pressure tank or, if the source of supply is raised, it can function as a drip-feed.Many heaters have glass fire doors to create a cozy fireplace atmosphere and have a comforting “shippy” look about them. They should be vented through the cabintop via a stainless steel flue and deck-pipe cap, or Charley Noble.Don’t be tempted to buy a household kerosene heater from your local hardware store: they tip over easily and create a dangerous fire hazard.Alcohol heaters are small and cheap, but they put out comparatively little heat and are expensive to run for long periods. If they’re not vented to the outside atmosphere, they also produce a lot of moisture, which will condense in the cabin as soon as the temperature drops.All unvented heaters give off copious quantities of the killer gas, carbon dioxide, so make sure your cabin is well ventilated. In fact, even vented heaters, if they are not completely airtight, will introduce some carbon monoxide into the cabin. One of the great dangers of this gas is the speed with which it can travel upstream against a flow of air. If you have a heater, place a carbon monoxide detector in each sleeping area.See also Accidents on Board.