Our boats are made to be wet. Understood. But just from one side: The outer. A skipper does not want any water inside his ship, no matter what. Especially during winter season when put on dry land (here´s an article on how I´ve put my yacht out of water) a skipper should try to avoid any moisture inside his boat. Why? It will rot. Period. But evacuating all the nice cushion and other stuff from the boat won´t do it. Wooden panels, leather coatings and other stuff will aspire condensed water out of natural dew for sure – and will get destroyed over time. Here´s my experience with a product that promises to keep my yacht´s saloon dry.
Yachticon´s “Boat Dry” drainage bag: The ultimate solution?
30 to 40 per cent of our breath is moisture. That´s a lot of water! I had to experience this phenomenon when I was working inside my yacht during a cold winter´s day: Four hours after I finished my work I noticed condensed water all over the place. My whole yacht was virtually covered in a thin layer of water. Every surface! Right now I am derusting my bilge. This work is done by an acid-water-solution that has to be kept at a temperature of 70 to 80 degrees Celsius for 10 to 12 hours. Just imagine how much water will steam into the air of my boat during that process! So I am trying out a product by Yachticon called “Boat Dry”. Can this 2.25 kilogram weighing white sack make ma boat dry?
First of all, this product can be bought in every yacht-shop or online for about 9 to 15 Euros. It´s sealed in plastic (don´t open it prior utilization!) and pretty heavy. Inside it´s just a sack of coarsely meshed denim with some 6 or 7 solid disks. These disks are made of Calcium Chloride as the main desiccant. You just unpack the whole sack – reminding me of Grandmother´s lingerie – and hang it high up in the middle of the room. That´s it. Oh, don´t forget to place an empty bucket right underneath it. Fire and forget.
3 weeks. 3 liters. Boat is dry.
After having a forced pause of overhauling work on my boat of three full weeks I returned to the yacht recently. We do have a fairly mild winter in 2015 here in Northern Germany, mostly temperatures not lower than 5 degrees Celsius, today even 15 plus. Opening the hatch to the boat I was astonished: It is dry as desert! Not a single tiny drop hanging from the ceiling, the bilge is as dry as a bone and even on the inside of the portholes not a hint of moist. Wow. Looking into the basket causes surprise: Not less than about 3 liters of greasy, light yellowish glooming water has been sucked out of the humid air by the drainage bag.
Producer Yachticon sells this product with up to 6 months of active desiccant work. I do have another one as backup but I am really pleased with what I see. There are a lot of other products too of which some come with a fancy plastic bowl or other stuff: Just forget it. Take the cheapest one (“Dry Boat” is the cheapest) and you´ll be fine. Promised.
Product rating: 5 out of 5