Great first weekend to be a boat owner :-(

BellevilleMXZ

Rain all weekend, just my luck! I'm almost ready to just go down and sit on it ;-)

mvn

Ok,  so what are you waiting for?  Get out there and sit on it!  Crank up some tunes and plan all of your upgrades! 

Mark

MarkB

We sit on our boat all the time.  You don't need to be out to enjoy it. 

Gregg

Total agree first year with our boat and we have had wind all the time up north ,we go and enjoy well we can.Almost thought I would trade it for a sail boat this year.lol

duane.mosley

i'd rather be sitting on my boat in the rain, then sitting at home thinking about it! i sit on my boat in the driveway on the trailer all the time! lol

BellevilleMXZ

Tried to go sit on it today, canvas leaks bad enough it wasn't fun ......hence my other post....lol

Michael T

I have used 303 Fabric Guard to waterproof canvas before. It comes in a spray bottle and your canvas must be dry. I have used the 303 on Sunbrella fabric (it's recommended by them) and Top Gun fabric and the product works really well. There are other good brands available too. IF we get a couple of days of sunshine and you want to use the boat the rest of September and some or all of October you could pick some up and just do the top of the canvas and down the sides a few inches until you get new canvas.  BTW Are you sure that your canvas is shot and can not be restored? The guys on this forum like TJ but I'd also get some local quotes. Make sure you specify what type of clear product you want for windows as there are a number of types at a variety of prices and you want to use known type names (Stamoid, Isinglass, Strataglass) to make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Also do you want add-on screens, screens zippered-in behind the clear plastic? How many? It is important for your enjoyment that you get the configuration right. We had add on (zipper-in) screens made for our front walk through window and the two "triangle" side windows above the front windshield. What a difference they made for a small price. If you get all of your work done at the same time it will cost less.....P.S. Thought I'd better add my last 2 cents - don't rush this take some time to get to know the lay-out of your cockpit, where you will sit etc. then get the canvas, windows and screens configured to best suit you - not necessarily just another knock-off of the original design - IMO.

BellevilleMXZ

Good points on the screens Michael, We had noticed it only has the back screen and I m sure it will be hot on summer,thats something we will have to have done.  Yes its supposed to be nice this week(of course i'm at work!) so maybe i'll give it a good spray and see if that helps.

Black_Diamond

++ To Michael's comments on the top design. 

A balmy 45F here today. Lk Mich rolled over last night too: from 70F to 54F over night. Welcome to fall!

TonyWalker

Has anyone with a 342 considered installing an air conditioner in the curved area beside the cockpit fridge?  To me this is just too much wasted space.  It looks like it is begging to be used for this purpose.

 

There is a 342 in our area that has an AC unit mounted in the storage compartment in the right hand "side seat."  Very nice installation but it takes up a lot of valuable storage space.

 

Tony

Salt Shaker 342

TonyWalker

And, we too are in the "sit on the Boat" club.  Very pleasant time spent.

Michael T

Tony with the cabin door open and a fan in the cabin we can heat the cockpit of our EC 360 nicely BUT that doesn't work as well for AC as the compressor tends to ice if left on too long. I asked about installing a smaller ac unit in the space under the Port bench passenger seat and was told (pun intended) that it would be a breeze. A new 110v line could easily be run to the panel (the guy didn't want to use the extra 110v plug under the refreshment center as he thought it'd trip a lot) and a condensate drain line could easily be put through the hull in that location. He preferred that to simply running a drain line into the bilge but said that could be done even cheaper if I wanted to. We also looked at the area under the refreshment center. The guy said there are lots of ac systems that allow for the separation of the parts of the unit allowing it to easily fit and probably even a smaller 6 one 7 K BTU would be plenty. His only concern with the refreshment area location was the heat that would be generated by the compressor in the vicinity of the fridge and ice maker but on your 342 I believe they are on the Starboard side. At any rate, I did have an AC  technician look at the cockpit and he said there were several areas that it could be done for a reasonable price.

Black_Diamond

Guessing you could get a smaller unit in there. Power would be the issue to get around, if you don't need to run both AC units at the same time should be doable. 

06Rinker270

@Michael T you run the heat in the cabin and with the enclosed eisenglass it heats up the cockpit? Very cool, I will be trying that this fall

Michael T

@ 06R270 - Yeah, we put a fan in the cabin and it blows a sh*t load of hot air up into the cockpit. I was looking at running a heating duct hose off the one that feeds the rear berth with a damper to close one or the other off. Maybe that'll be a winter project. I don't think that would be too hard. For now the fan works great.

BellevilleMXZ

Michael T said:

@ 06R270 - Yeah, we put a fan in the cabin and it blows a sh*t load of hot air up into the cockpit. I was looking at running a heating duct hose off the one that feeds the rear berth with a damper to close one or the other off. Maybe that'll be a winter project. I don't think that would be too hard. For now the fan works great.

Great  idea I'll have to remember that

06Rinker270

Nice way to extend the cockpit usage for fall and winter.  Someone told me to do it for the AC but I dont know how well that one will work.

I will also second everyone that just sitting on the boat is one of my favorite past times.  And as a new boater you will learn to love it.  There will be days where its beautiful out but too windy or whatever the circumstance is...best time to open up a cold one.  

Dream_Inn

I have an air duct that goes into my cockpit off of my mid-cabin unit.  It actually shoots out air from the lower port side across the helm.  Keeps my feet nice and cool at the helm!  I've left the cabin door open many times, especially in the evenings for the A/C if I have the isinglass up.  This past March I had the boat in maybe a tad early.  The second weekend in, it dropped to 22 degrees that night.  I had the cockpit door open all day and until about 8pm, keeping the upper area in the 70s and the cabin at 80. 

Now, my buddy that just moved up from a 342 to a Regal 4460.  He has 12k (or 16k) BTU in his cockpit, just for that area.  It does a great job anytime of year!

Michael T

We were talking about heating the cockpits in the fall at the docks today - a bit crazy as it was 75+ degrees but one of the guys said he has a 110v mini fan heater from Walmart called Airworks. He said it has a low heat setting of 600 watts and a higher setting of 900 watts. He said it works great. He said he also has a 12v heater but it draws a lot of amps.