Annie Hill wrote:

There used to be a convention that if the window were more than one square foot (300 x 300 mm, approx) you would carry storm boards for them.  We hear so much about 'safety' and yet these practical, simple ways of making one's boat more resilient seem to have been forgotten. 

Not by Bill Churchouse here in this video (second mention this thread).

The large windows fit very well with this thread: but I suspect that the Richards of this world would eliminate them or reinforce them long before he got round to adding extra flotation.

to consider it very much, because it's already a life-threatening mistake to have your companionway open when there's a chance of the sea breaking over your boat.  But still...

David wrote:Well I have found out a bit more about this. The yacht was a 47 ft Bavaria of the deck saloon type so with very large windows on the coachroof. Wind speeds were 48 to 60 knots in the Bay of Islands on the day, and expected to be more offshore. The rescuing helicopter crew said that conditions during the rescue were extremely difficult with the seas like walls of water and they had trouble getting the survivors up to the helicopter. the rescue right . 

How curious.  I actually heard the radio broadcast in which they said winds of 40 - 45 knots and no great difficulty about the rescue.  They dropped a liferaft right next to the people and then winched them up one at a time.  Your account sounds completely different!

There used to be a convention that if the window were more than one square foot (300 x 300 mm, approx) you would carry storm boards for them.  We hear so much about 'safety' and yet these practical, simple ways of making one's boat more resilient seem to have been forgotten.

The large windows fit very well with this thread: but I suspect that the Richards of this world would eliminate them or reinforce them long before he got round to adding extra flotation.

Mark Thomasson wrote:Generally, I agree that good bulkheads are a must. 

Annie Hill wroteHardly extreme weather, David: it was gusting 40- 45 knots, the waves were 6 m and we are talking of a 47ft boat here.  Some people I know who were sailing S at the same time heard all about it on the radio from other crusing folk.  Apparently a big sea flooded the saloon (why were the washboards out?, one asks oneself) and the pressure from the inundation blew the windows out.  Cockpit lockers are a possible villain here, but most modern Beneteaus (which is what this boat was) have double cabins under the cockpit.  Apparently the boat went down so quickly they didn't have time to do anything and the liferaft went off without them.  One person had a personal EPIRB and this is what they rescuers homed in on.  The chopper pilot referred to it as a quite straightforward rescue and the wind speeds/sea state I quote are from this, not that long after the boat foundered.

It is interesting that the European bureaucrats would consider this boat to be safe to voyage around the world, while my little Fanshi should never be taken more than 5 miles offshore.  I don't think my windows would blow out should the boat be inundated.  Nor, I suspect, would she instantly sink.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Years ago I bought an 80% efficient furnace for my home...... It used a plastic pipe exhaust, and an aneroid sensor to turn the gas on once it sensed that the exhaust fan was functioning.   I was disgusted with the flue temp, which was around 150F, and seemed like a lot of wasted energy.

150F is quite good, most heat driven flues require 200F to 250F and are less than 80% of course. The other half of a gas driven heater that is not measured and not a part of the efficiency rating, is the amount of heat lost through the flue when the unit is not running. A non-pilotlight operation with a exhaust flap can help but does not help the efficiency rating and so few manufactures bother.

  As a result I took an aluminum car radiatior, and installed it after the primary heat exchanger, in a way that the fan drew the air through it also, but I angled it in such a way that the condensed water could drain out, and I attached a drain line to it.   The result was that the temp at the stack now runs about 10 deg above room temperature.   I'd call that very efficient..... and used it for over 20 years in that configuration.   It's amazing how much water condenses out.

The furnace manufacture would not be allowed to do this. their lawyers and insurance and maybe regulations in some of the places they want to sell, won't let them.

     I prefer unvented catalytic heaters, and have switched over to them, as humidity is something I need in this climate in winter.   100% efficient, they wouldn't of course work on a boat.

How do you supply them with air for burning?

 The catalytic heater simply draws air from the room for combustion, and exausts CO2 and water vapor into the room.  It would  not be ideal for a very tight house, but it works where live. It's simple almost to the point of being primitive, but the real advantage as far as I'm concerned is that it is radiant, and I have it mounted in such a way as to point toward me (on a hinge system).  This allows me to maintain a far cooler room temp than most folks would tolerate.  I prefer a gradient, rather than the "normal" 100% uniform air temperature.  For example I absolutely hate modern vehicle climate control.... I want warm feet, and cool air around my face.... I haven't had a car that allowed me to do this for many years..... guess I'm not "normal"

                                            H.W.