Brrrrr…

A little backstory regarding Joint Venture…. back at the Annapolis Boat
Show in 2008, Sabrina and I were shopping for a diesel heater, and we were
shopping HARD! We had spent two winters living aboard JV- 2006 wasn’t so
bad, 2007 was downright cold. In 2007 we had huge electric bills to run
electric heaters to keep the boat barely live-able. We knew there had to be
a better way. Then we stumbled upon it at the boat show, a Webasto forced
air diesel heater!

We researched the heater extensively, shopping around the Boat Show, talking
with vendors, comparing Webasto to Espar, and eventually we purchased the
“Webasto Air Top 5000 ST Do-It-Yourself Kit.” We began the installation as
soon as the heater arrived, and it took a couple days to run all the
ducting. After that, we enjoyed winter while we lowered our energy expenses
by 25%, even as energy costs soared! Later the heater saw us through the
Maryland blizzards, a.k.a. Snow-mageddon/Snow-pocalypse, as our boat stayed
toasty, dry, and comfortable. From the moment we first started the heater
we’ve wondered how we managed during the winters on the boat before it was
installed.

But why am I telling you this? Because it’s October… in Maine… and (for
now) we’re happy?!? The water up here is deserted, we only share it with the
friendly lobstermen. Yesterday I washed the boat off at the Southwest Town
Dock in a t-shirt and shorts. Today was dreary and I was wearing foulies and
boots, but as I type this I’m in a short sleeve shirt, completely
comfortable. Granted we’ve traded lemonade for hot cocoa, grilling out for a
hearty bowl of chili, and our sunset rum and Coke for hot buttered rum – but
we get to enjoy the changing seasons. We’re taking short jumps between
anchorages, moving during the warmest part of the day, which also seems to
be the time for the best wind for sailing.

The only drawback to this time of year is not having hot water for showers.
With the seawater temp in the mid-50’s we have to run the engine for a long
time before it gets hot enough to generate enough hot water via the heat
exchanger for a shower. We’ve taken to heating water on the propane stove
and showering with that, a quicker, more fuel-efficient approach. We still
get occasional long, hot showers when we have to run the engine to charge
the batteries because the solar panels haven’t produced enough during these
short, cloudy days.

Back to the Boat Show in ’08 – We were staring at the advertising literature
for the heaters, it showed a young couple enjoying their coffee in flannel
pajamas while outside it rained. It was a “downeasterly” looking boat, there
might have been pine trees in the background, and I imagined it was the
Maine coast where they were anchored. The photo might even have had another
boat outside, with the owners shivering in the wet evening, wishing that
they too could have a warm diesel heater to chase away the cold. (My memory
might have embellished that detail.) I remember glancing at the photo and
muttering something to Sabrina along the lines of ‘Look at these two
grinning moronic yachties.’

From where I sit I’m watching the rain and it’s 100 yards to the pine trees
on shore. I realize that a couple of years later, we’ve become those two
grinning morons. But if you see us in an anchorage near you, don’t shiver in
the cold, come on over for a hot drink… and a lukewarm shower.