Wet gear and condensation
One of the tougher parts about winter sailing for me is that our cozy home transforms into a collection of places to dry wet clothing. We have two outlets on our forced air diesel heater – one beneath the nav station where we throw wet gloves, hats and socks and another near the v-berth that we have added some flexible hose to for the winter so we can use it to dry underneath the v-berth or warm the v-berth or, in the case of this picture, dry shoes that are soggy from hiking in the snow.
When we first started living aboard our bed kept getting wet underneath the mattress which is hugely gross. We read and all people suggested was ventilation or to buy one of the products that go underneath the mattress like Hypervent which we bought.
What *actually* worked was the following. At the dock we put a small West Marine UFO looking “dryer” under the v-berth (in the storage area) with the cord poking out a vent hole, plus an electric blanket under the mattress but over the hypervent. At anchor, we use a piece of flexible hose stuck into the vent hole to warm underneath the vberth and we turn on a fan at night which is at the foot of the vberth to keep our breath from making the area damp. There are other things that we could do, but they involve more effort or more amps – and hey, we’re headed SOUTH.