condensation

[Tom Glennon]

This weekend I went to the boat to just have a little look around while it is stored for the winter.

Upon entering the main cabin, I was amazed at the amount of moisture droplets accumulated on the headliner... it was soaked! In the vee birth area it was actually frosted.  I proceeded to wipe the entire interior down from vee birth to aft cabin.  Also, I opened the hatches and ports to allow for as much ventilation as possible.  The day was cold... upper 30's, but nice and dry, with a little breeze.

I have never had this problem in the past, and I guess my question is, could all of this condensation be attributed to our rapidly changing temperatures recently... it went from 30's to 60+ degrees in a 24 hour period and then back to the 20-30's again in the following 12 to 24 hours.

The dorade vents are opened, as well as the passive vent in the aft cabin, with door open  for flow-thru ventilation.

Any suggestions?

[Ted Pounds]

Tom,

Another reason to go with day/night solar vents in both head and aft cabin (see my response to your other post).

[Ray & Sandy Erps]

The temporary change in the weather certainly could have made the condensation problem worse.  The cold interior surfaces coming into contact with the warm moist air should have been a temporary condition with good ventilation though.

We leave our front hatch cracked open about a half an inch as well as the hatch in the head, all the cabin doors are opened, I open up the door under the bathroom sink, the engine access door in the back sleeping area and I block the cushion up in the back sleeping area with one of the storage access covers.  All this is in addition to the three vents installed in the roof.  We've had good luck storing the boat this way with lots of ventilation.  The only other thing I would suggest is to get all the water out of the bilge while your boat is stored, as this would be another moisture source for the condensate on the headliner.

[Ron Hill]

Tom : Could easily be condensation with such a large temperature change.  If your dodger is up or you have a tarp covering the cockpit you might consider cracking open the head hatch.  
The key is ventilation.  

[Ed Shankle]

Since you are in MA, I assume you are on the hard and have a cover over the boat. If you are shrink wrapped, you should have vents built into the wrap. Otherwise it won't breath enough. If you are "loosely" covered with a tarp, that should allow sufficient ventilation. As you said, could be just due to the crazy fluctuations we've had in the Northeast so far this winter.

Ed

[Stu Jackson]

Some aspects of this discussion meander over to:

http://www.c34.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=10186#10186