Since I am retired, I camp several nights each month of the year on my Halman 20 sailboat in the Southern Gulf Islands of the BC Salish Sea in Canada. I keep warm in the colder months thanks to added insulation in the boat and a Dickinson 9000 propane fireplace heater with a 12 volt electric fan to circulate the heat. When tied to a dock with shore power electricity in a marina, I heat the boat with a Compact Heat Deluxe High Performance Heater from Cafrano Ltd. This small portable 120 Volt AC heater is quite powerful and more than adequately keeps me warm and dry with virtually no condensation issues. I actually prefer to camp cruise during the winter and shoulder season months, because I prefer to avoid crowded anchorages and marinas. The boat lives year round on the dock at a marina, and when I am not cruising I keep the electric heat on throughout the winter months. I would spend even more time "camping" on my small boat if I was not needed at home for domestic responsibilities. My wife has her own interests and has no interest in sailing or cruising, so my boating is my time to enjoy solitude. In summertime, I spend more time at home gardening and trying to avoid the crowds by seeking out shallow anchorages to get away and relax. I am basically a part time live aboard.
We built our 15’ Catboat as a camp cruiser with thoughts of occasionally sleeping aboard….It will be 41 years and five states later and we have yet to spend the night….parhaps this year? Bill R
I'd do many more short overnights if my launching facility situation was better. As it is I haven't been getting my Horizon Cat out nearly as much as I'd like.
New to boating and in my early 50s, a friend took me for a sail on his Ericson 38 one spring day, eastward on the Severn River, past the Naval Academy, out into the Chesapeake for a spell, then back into the Severn. Coming back in, seeing a number of small-cabin sailboats anchored out in the Severn, a hundred feet or more from shore, I asked my friend, pointing to one such boat as we slowly drift by it, "Is that legal?" "Yep," he said. "Just throw the anchor out anywhere you want?" "Yep, pretty much." "And sleep on the boat overnight!?" "Yep." I've been hooked on the whole scheme of the thing ever since.
Since I am retired, I camp several nights each month of the year on my Halman 20 sailboat in the Southern Gulf Islands of the BC Salish Sea in Canada. I keep warm in the colder months thanks to added insulation in the boat and a Dickinson 9000 propane fireplace heater with a 12 volt electric fan to circulate the heat. When tied to a dock with shore power electricity in a marina, I heat the boat with a Compact Heat Deluxe High Performance Heater from Cafrano Ltd. This small portable 120 Volt AC heater is quite powerful and more than adequately keeps me warm and dry with virtually no condensation issues. I actually prefer to camp cruise during the winter and shoulder season months, because I prefer to avoid crowded anchorages and marinas. The boat lives year round on the dock at a marina, and when I am not cruising I keep the electric heat on throughout the winter months. I would spend even more time "camping" on my small boat if I was not needed at home for domestic responsibilities. My wife has her own interests and has no interest in sailing or cruising, so my boating is my time to enjoy solitude. In summertime, I spend more time at home gardening and trying to avoid the crowds by seeking out shallow anchorages to get away and relax. I am basically a part time live aboard.
We built our 15’ Catboat as a camp cruiser with thoughts of occasionally sleeping aboard….It will be 41 years and five states later and we have yet to spend the night….parhaps this year? Bill R
I'd do many more short overnights if my launching facility situation was better. As it is I haven't been getting my Horizon Cat out nearly as much as I'd like.
Launching challenges are the main reason my Halman 20 sailboat has lived in the water for the last three years.
New to boating and in my early 50s, a friend took me for a sail on his Ericson 38 one spring day, eastward on the Severn River, past the Naval Academy, out into the Chesapeake for a spell, then back into the Severn. Coming back in, seeing a number of small-cabin sailboats anchored out in the Severn, a hundred feet or more from shore, I asked my friend, pointing to one such boat as we slowly drift by it, "Is that legal?" "Yep," he said. "Just throw the anchor out anywhere you want?" "Yep, pretty much." "And sleep on the boat overnight!?" "Yep." I've been hooked on the whole scheme of the thing ever since.