T&T: Winter and plumbing in Maryland

[Cole]

"Recommendations for engine room heaters?  Bilge heaters?"

I live aboard on the lower Chesapeake ( York River) 3 years on a 1962 Trumpy
and going into my second year on a 1984 President 41.
I have never had to heat my engine room or take any other precautions. I do
not heat the boat during the day at all, I have this severe aversion to
running any high draw electrical appliances when I am not aboard. There is the
hot water heater in the engine room giving off a negligible amount of heat.
The boat is heated when I am home from work by two 16k btu marineairs. It
seems enough heat gets from the living areas into the bilges to keep them
above freezing. I have one of those indoor/outdoor thermometers at the lower
helm with the outdoor probe down in the engine room, so I can monitor the
temperature there easily. The coldest I saw it last year was 36 in the engine
room one morning that was 16 outside with 37 degree water temperature. I have
a second in/out thermometer on the pier with the out probe in the water to
watch that. I have heated the boat with 37 degree water but I think it's
better to give up on the marineairs when it gets below 40. I had low water
flow through my forward unit last year due to a dirty strainer and the water
froze in the system, I was really afraid I'd find broken lines due to that,
but she thawed and all was well.
Baltimore is a little colder than here, but I think a 100 watt bulb or two is
all you'd need up there unless we have an exceptionally cold winter. I grew up
here and have seen temps as low as 0 and 4 or 5 day spells that didn't get
above freezing, but it's been years since we have had that kind of weather.

Good luck!

Cole