(for cold wintertimes)
"Wherever there is a woman involved, there is a heating pad!"
Our first wintertime living on board proved to be a good challenge to go about some sewing for the boat. We were watching our hatch, the acrylic door over wood, almost dripping water into the cabin in the morning. From condensation!
We needed some better insulation.
So we bought regular foam from a department store, cut it to size of the hatch (outside measurements) and I did sew a water-proof covering for it. We attached this foam (2 inches thick) on the OUTSIDE of our one-panel acrylic door. This was somewhat of an insulation, but still didn't prevent condensation on the inside.
So we thought we do the same on the inside. Another foam, another covering (not as water-proof, but water-repellent), and see what happens!
What happened was that cold stays out, heat stays in and no condensation in between!
What you see on the photo below is the inside foam insert. Because it is just 2" foam, it is very light. To keep it in place we strap two strips of fabric (with Velcro at each end) across it, so it doesn't fall down.
We remove the inside foam each winter morning of course and store it in the V-berth. The outside foam just stays attached to the acrylic door and does not interfere with traffic or just opening/closing the hatch. The two little straps, when not in use, are attached alongside the inside hatch, on the starboard site (with Velcro).
Depending on the weather we open the boat up more or less -- it is not the case that we want to close it tight. We just like to be in control of WHERE the fresh air is coming from, not to be at the boat's mercy.
But In case everything else fails there still is the heating pad, as long as there is shore power!!:-)
