Boat Life

[desimulacra]

I'm seeing a slow down in my area of houseboat sightings. I seldom see one moving and all of the boats at my marina, including mine, are dock queens. This reflects a similar sighting of less runabouts also.
This forum has lost a few great members and I guess that is why it's so dead, but maybe indicative of a slow down of boating in general?
I still love our houseboat and it's in progress of coming back to life. This is a slow but steady process. This week I'll be finishing the install of a Mr. Cool DIY mini split unit. I think this will be transformative as my 1977 Sumerset rooftop heat and air while STILL running is noisy. I'm installing the condenser on the rear roof and a single air handler in the former mid boat bunk area and plan on mixing the air with flex duct that I'm installing in the hold. I hope the unit is sized correctly at 18k, will report on this later. The goal is for the wife and I to spend more time at the dock, and eventually do a few cruises.

[easttnboater]

Your Sumerset reminds me of our first houseboat. It was a 1976 Sumerset. We bought it when our kids were just babies. Now we have our grandkids - who are also babies - over on our current Sumerset. Time flies when you are having fun.

Our houseboat will become our full time summer home next year when I retire.

[Zilpo55]

First of all, it's good to hear from you. It seems like the same 3 or 4 of us are the only talkers on here and I would love to hear from more boaters. Facebook groups are fine, but they get too noisy. I still prefer forums like this, especially for discussions about technical issues and troubleshooting.

Second, please be sure to post pics of your HVAC project when it's done. As I mentioned in another thread, I've seen a mini-split used in a boat similar to yours and it looks like an ideal solution.

As for houseboat sightings, I estimate that less than 20 out of 200 regularly take their houseboats out at our marina. My wife and I still go out every chance we get and 2019 was a great season for us (and the fuel pier). I believe that boating in general was way up at our lake this year, judging from the weekends and holidays. We have at least 10 families that upgraded to brand new pontoons at our marina this season.

[BananaTom]

This forum has lost a few great members .

This is true

[desimulacra]

The Mr. Cool HVAC is up and running. Rain started so pictures will have to wait. I bought the 1.5 ton unit and still think it will be plenty (fingers crossed) and it should be as is double the requirement for a home however if I had a mulligan I would have used the 2 ton. I just checked the temperature from home then turned it off, that's nice.

[easttnboater]

The Mr. Cool HVAC is up and running. Rain started so pictures will have to wait. I bought the 1.5 ton unit and still think it will be plenty (fingers crossed) and it should be as is double the requirement for a home however if I had a mulligan I would have used the 2 ton. I just checked the temperature from home then turned it off, that's nice.

Wifi thermostats are great.