For those of you who moor...

[SteveB]

As you may know from reading my other posts, our 2009 R21EC is our first-ever boat. We figured we're going to want to use it a whole lot this summer, so we got moorage until October so we don't have to trailer every single weekend between now and then. 🙂

We're moored in fresh water in the Seattle area and the thing I'm most terrified about is getting any kind of mold or mildew going inside the cabin. This is probably less of a concern during these upcoming summer months but I thought I'd ask more experienced folks for some advice.

I figure that it's a good idea to not to let the damp air stagnate inside the cabin, so I leave a porthole open at all times. Is this advisable? I thought maybe this would cause the porthole to start to tarnish on the inside of the cabin, but I prefer the porthole to leaving any of the other windows or hatches open. My basic question is: Am I correct in assuming that I want some aperture open to allow for air movement?

-Steve

 

[Tom Ray]

I wouldn't leave a port open, but we have violent summer thunderstorms. You might consider a vent in the cabin roof.

Active solar powered ones like this:



or passive ones like this:

 

[Bruce Moore]

Our tug, like yours, is our first boat. We keep her in Elliott Bay Marina year-round. All winter we've run an Air Dryer Dehumidifier we picked up at West Marine. Everything is nice a clean and dry. It circulates dry, warm air, is spark-free (no cycling), and uses virtually no power.

Cheers,

Bruce

 

[captain's cat]

Those are great if you're alongside a pier Bruce but if you're at a mooring, unless the mooring ball has a 110V electrical outlet, you're outta luck! 😀

Charlie

 

[Bruce Moore]

May be an east coast/west coast thing. We're moored in a marina slip - shore power and all. I get charged (boy do I) for "moorage" every month. Does "moorage" imply something else out there :?:

Steve didn't say anything about a mooring ball. May be. If so, my bad. But I still like this simple device.

 

[Auklet]

Steve --- The answer to your problem is already there and won't cost a cent. I don't know about your EC21 but on the 25 the hatches are made for just this situation. Look at your hatch. There two handles that lock it down. Open the handles and note that there are two plastic lumpy things that they lock against. When the hatch is sealed the lock is under the bottom one. Lift the hatch and put the lock between them. This locks the hatch both up and down leaving an opening of about a half an inch. OK, so I'm a bad writer. If a photo would help, I can have one in my gallery by tomorrow if needed.

I have moored boats in the water year 'round in the Seattle area for over 50 years and have had a mold problem only once. And that was in an open boat on Portage Bay. Generally you won't have a problem in the summer because you will be using your boat.

Anyway, welcome to the northwest boating experiance. Once you are comfortable with handling your boat on the lake, do make a run through the locks. They have a good flyer that details the proper procedure. Pick one up at the locks museum. Word of advice: Don't go there on a busy weekend, this can be the largest concentration of bad boaters that you will ever experience.

Most important---have fun.

Cary

 

[CaptMac]

I'm still trying to figure out how to use my solar panels to run the West Marine dehumidifer. They work great - I use them all winter long. If I remember correctly, it uses 80 watts - not a trivial amount of current at 12 volts, so I want to ensure it doesn't kill the batteries on the rare rainy days here in Seattle. I'm looking for a low voltage cutoff switch that adjusts (or allows me select the voltage I want -i.e. 50% of the battery charge).

Running the Chittenden (Ballard) Locks to get out of Lake Washington and into Puget Sound is pretty easy - as long as you are prepared and know what to do. I'd recommend the Army Corp web site - and even watch the videos.

http://www.nws.usace.army.mil/PublicMenu/Menu.cfm?sitename=lwsc&pagename=Navigating

Mac

 

[K7MXE]

First thing is to make sure you don't have leaks in the coach roof. I did and was quite a hassle and
only leak I have at present is from snow melt as got caught in that major dump last Saturday night.
Its small but un monitored it could leave to problems later on. Also look for leaks in the hatch above the
bunk area. Good idea leaving it in fresh water but make sure its checked to make sure the bilge
pump has not failed and boat is full of water as we all know it rains in Seattle. I think the solar vent
is the way to go in fact that and a lightly cracked port hole would seem to be a good plan to me.
But the best part is free and the more you use the boat the least chance you will have mold spots
on everything. Bob Heselberg Eatonville Wa