Winter Cruising: How We Keep Warm

I have been told that there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Clearly, I need some better clothes!

The weather on southern Vancouver Island rarely goes below 0° Celsius. The average temperature in the months of December and January is 5° Celsius but with the wind blowing across the water it can be hard to keep warm. When out on deck we wear several layers of clothing.

Down below we still need to keep warm but we don’t want to have to wear a lot of layers. That would be like sitting in one’s living room while wearing a sweater, ski pants and a ski jacket! Thankfully we have a Hurricane furnace that keeps the boat warm and comfortable.

The Hurricane system uses diesel fuel to heat a water/anti-freeze mixture. The mixture is then pumped around the boat in a closed loop. Throughout the boat there are fans with thermostats–heat exchangers–so we can regulate the temperature. We are able to be warm and comfortable.

The system works very well. The fans use a lot of electricity but so far our batteries and charging system have been able to keep up. Our boat is warm and comfortable down below. If anything, we sometimes get too hot and have to open some windows to cool things down.

Now if only we could warm things up outside!