Questions on a Nauticat 33 Mk 2 – from Andrew Wilson

[Anonymous]

Dear All,

I am interested if any members have any information on the following subjects for my
1978 Nauticat 33 Mk. 2.

– Suppliers of Bimini Hoods and covers with frames for our above vessels. Were they easy to fit and costs. How effective for weather conditions and costs.
– Fitting and suppliers of air conditioning systems for our above vessels. These could be stand alone systems or dual shore connection systems. I’m thinking of u.k hot summers and Mediterranean environs here. Also costs, and fitting etc.

Regards

A.j.Wilson

[39Schuss]

Here is my two cents :
I cover Naïla with a tarpaulin from november to april. Initially the tarpaulin only covered the helm house and the roof. I had an extension built to cover the foredeck and also the aftdeck (Naïla is an mKII) to fight against unsalted rain water and moisture that would develop on the deck teck or below (the anchor compartment is prone to almost permanent condensation and thus rotten plywood, it is left open under the tarpaulin during all winter which does help a lot). As of cost the fore and aft tarpaulin where recently made in La Rochelle with 900 g / sq meter at a cost of 1800 €.
If I had to redo the two center tarpaulin I would have them larger to fully cover the space between the handrail and the deck and forbid nort westerly rains to develop moisture on the teak deck.
A positive side effect of those two tarpaulin is that condensation no longer develop on the inside windows when I am onboard in winter time.

[39Schuss]

forgot to contribute about installation time : 2 hours to install 4 tarpaulins, 1 hour to remove and fold.
Never though about a bimini to protect the aft deck from the sun but this year when we had torrid weather in august and sun was a real nuisance 😉

[Piers Covill]

HI AJ Wilson
I fitted AC to my Nauticat 43. It is important to get the correct capacity units and think about siting of the vents to ensure the system works correctly. Installation is quite complex: you need enough space to fit the units (they cant go in the engine room as it gets too hot) and also the sizeable ducting and outlet grills. You also need a water intake for cooling and this water is vented out over the side. If you run them off shore power only that’s fine, just make sure your system is in good order to cope with the continuous increased current draw. If you want to use it whilst not on shore power you will need a decent capacity generator. I have have a 6kva unit that runs two AC units of 12,000 and 16,000 btu respectively. It does this quite happily – the main load is fairly steady, it’s the startup current which can be quite large and cause problems. In terms of cost, the whole AC installation kit cost around £6000 and the time and effort to install was considerable and probably cost around £1000 alll in with the carpenter and electrician included.
It is lovely to have and this summer has been a real bonus but not to be undertaken lightly. Also you need to run the system regularly to ensure it doesn’t foul up or become unprimed.
If you want to find out more, give Rod Boreham at Advance Yacht Systems a call – he designed my system and I recommend him highly,
Best wishes Piers

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Piers Covill.

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