Carry-On Air Conditioner

[carlos]

I need the "Hatch Bag" that seals the unit onto the hatch. Mine has gone AWOL. Anybody have one? Thanks

[carlos]

Bit the bullet and bouhgt it new from West marine. S110 shipped!
OUCH!

[SteveF]

Carlos,

Out of curiosity - which carry-on do you have, and how do you like it?  I've been thinking about one, especially given our weather in CA lately.  Just seems like lugging it around to put it on and take it off would be a hassle?  

Appreciate your comments on this!  

Thanks

[carlos]

Steve,

I just bought the Cruise Air 5000 carry on (used on e-bay, @ $ 600 shipped!). As expected it puts out almost 5000 BTU's. I think it makes the difference between actually boating or staying home. When you are out on the water, the heat doesn't seem to be too bad...fun, bla bla bla...but back at the dock it's a different story. We have a small 242, but we like to overnight. Nice head, TV, and little galley makes this possible. The air works great, and it cools the crap out of the cabin. We also put up our camper top and leave the cabin door open, and within a few more minutes, the entire "livable" space doubles. Very useful. It is kinda heavy, but 1 person can put it up and down if you have to. When we are gone, we store it in the indentation space on the front v-berth space, and fits almost perfectly. It really does make a difference. We love it. Until we can upgrade ( I can't believe we already talked about it!) to a vessel with full time ac/heat, this is a great solution. New runs about $1100 shipped, but look on e-bay under - marine air conditioner- They are all over the place.
My 2 cents

Carlos

[SteveF]

Thanks for the info. Carlos.  We have a 270 and, like you, we like to stay overnight on the weekends.  We've had to 'abandon ship' a few times because of the heat and we've been thinking of getting one.  We could probably put it in a locker at the dock when not in use.  I don't know, most of the time it cools down in the evening and we don't think about it, but when it's hot we kick ourselves for not spending the extra money on the genset/AC.  At the time, though, it was all we could do to afford the boat as it was so that was more than we could spend.  Anyway, I think we'll probably end up with a portable AC in the not-too-distant future.  

As for thinking about moving up .... isn't that something we all do after we've had our boats for a few weeks!?

Take care.

[carlos]

LOL.... a few weeks....LOL
I know. After months and months of research we thought this would be our PERFECT first boat......WRON-GO.....(somewhat) bigger IS better.
There's always next year....
see ya' in the water

[Babyboomer]

A little hit on the hatch air. I had one for 3 years on a cuddy, put a beach towel over the front of the unit before you put the canvas around your hatch, keeps the condisatuion from dripping down on you and your boat.
Nothing like a cold drip of water on you while your asleep.

[carlos]

Weird you should mention that Boomer. When I used it last week, I didn't have the hatch bag (arrived yesterday!), nor the drain hose (which I now also have). So I put a towel around the unit to kinda seal the hatch. Worked pretty well, but it DID have a nasty drip into the cabin. We put a bucket and fix it temporarily, but I assumed it was because I didnt have a hose to drain...I hope with the bag in place and the hose hooked up it stops!

[carlos]

Used the towel trick. Thanks Boomer, not a drop into the cabin; as a matter of fact, we froze our b#$%s off at night. It cooled the cabin and the deck with the enclosed camper top.
Steve, go for it...all the difference in the world!