Insulating a 40' 1980 fiberglass racer for living aboard?

[El Pinguino]

The OP's boat is in Seattle. I associate that with cold and *wet* ( and high humidity) not heavy snow build up. Similar to Chilean Patagonia where snow build up at sea level is rare . Not icing such as one would expect in the White Sea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Seattle

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

The OP's boat is in Seattle. I associate that with cold and *wet* ( and high humidity) not heavy snow build up. Similar to Chilean Patagonia where snow build up at sea level is rare . Not icing such as one would expect in the White Sea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Seattle

Seattle??

Well Jeez. He barely has to worry at all about the winter. It’ll be fine.

I wintered over a couple years in the northern Gulf of Maine and it was every bit as serious as my post was.

Seattle? Delete my comment

[Jim Cate]

I'm no expert, but my memory is that typical fishing m/v have much lower AVS than typical sailing yachts. They also tend to have lots of gear and deck house weight and area well above the deck level, so that accumulating ice weight might well be more dangerous than on a yacht.

Still, too much is too much, and regular sweepings seem advisable, as Chotu recommends.

Jim

[RaymondR]

The case for liquidating the shore side assets, throwing off the mooring lines and heading for the equator gets stronger with every post. Phew, shoveling snow at midnight in the middle of a blizzard sounds positively medieval.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

The OP's boat is in Seattle. I associate that with cold and *wet* ( and high humidity) not heavy snow build up. Similar to Chilean Patagonia where snow build up at sea level is rare . Not icing such as one would expect in the White Sea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Seattle

Image from December 7, 2022

Seattle's Famous Public Fish Market at Pike Street

"With overnight lows sticking close to freezing into early next week, forecasters said there could be additional chances for snow before things dry out. Looking ahead to next week, the Climate Prediction Center favors cooler temperatures lingering while the probabilities for precipitation even out. Things may get wet again to close out December, but long-range outlooks are inconclusive on the temperature front. Whether or not Puget Sound will be treated to a white Christmas remains to be seen."

[Montanan]

Video of Seattle waterfront.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwlKdmmarQU

[Oeanda]

When heavy rain alternates with heavy snow I’m guessing that it ain’t no treat even way down south in Seattle. I grew up in the Yukon and interior far north of BC but usually prefer that extreme cold to the coastal version (the boat systems would probably feel otherwise). A dehumidifier is a near essential first step if you’re on shore power.






PS. I’ve been following this thread from the start because I’m considering insulating, not just to post gratuitous freezy pics .

[El Pinguino]

Phhht
https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/seattle/ext

Biggest issue for me would not be the keeping of the warm in - your door is in the roof after all - but insulating to stop condensation. First up would be the windows and hatches - which are simple enough to double glaze with - on the windows - a bit of draft excluder holding the 'cling film' clear of the glass, hatches are even easier.
See Pic

At the end of the day some people just need to toughen up.

[noelex 77]

Insulation makes a significant of difference to the comfort in both hot and cold climates.

The best option for applying insulation to an older fibreglass boat is probably Armoflex. When trying to apply insulation to an existing design you will limited in the thickness that can be practically accommodated. Even 10-20mm will help but don’t expect miracles, a thickness of around 75mm is needed for good insulation.