V-Berth to Centerline

Thanks Tom, I will look them up. I think I will first try tunnels approach if I can find something quiet enough to work in our cabin while we are sleeping and empty into the bilge.

On the rebuild side I did some measurements and it looks like I can fit a double/queen on the starboard side of the cabin similar to the Uniflite 38. It would be a partial walk-around however I will probably need a plan to re-use the existing cabinet fronts.

 

empty into the bilge???? that's moisture that needs to be dried out as well . the dehumidifier will dry everything every where as in total so toss the water over the side . this could be a real contributing factor and a big part of your moisture problems . you really need to think a little !! moisture is every where not only in the cabin you sleeping in but other parts of the boat as well if theres water in the bilge its sloshing from one end of the hull to the other and doesn't really care where it goes if you worried about noise at night put the de humidifier in the next cabin but don't open any windows or doors that lead out side any where believe me after 3 days of it going 24hours you should be taking note of the amount of moisture its finding and see how long it takes before the water in the tank is almost nothing !! . it will dry your bilge as well if you leave the floor hatch's open so the air can circulate but while this is happening just make sure no air comes in from any where outside !!

Every breath you take in and out you are expelling moisture !! and if there two people in the same space that's even more in a small space the moisture percentage in the air gets higher and higher until it could reach 100% humidity and that's just from breathing !! , air is every where !!!
top of the cabin will be slightly warmer than at floor level so there is a slight air circulation going on without you even realising ,so water in the bilge is evaporating into the air trying to equalize and dry out but of the air has lots moisture so it will condense on a cool smooth shiny surface and rundown and find its way back into the bilge . so just keeps going round and round . so get rid if the water in the tank and keep dumping it till its almost stops being produced by the dehumidifier !!! once dry its takes a long time for the moisture to find its way back but it will come back so a couple of times a week run it 24hours and see ,feel and smell the results of dry air !!

 

hey tunnels - there is a "box" with half-decent airflow built into/under the v-berth that currently has one of those West Marine type UFO dehumidifier/heaters in it. I was going to put the larger one down there as there isn't room for our feet if I have it on the floor. If it's better to empty it at first then I can; but I can also run a hose through some open air passages back to the bilge.

Our bilges are physically separated, one for cabin; one for cockpit; with separate pumps for each. Stern bilge does stay wet most of the time because of the heavy rains up here. I've replaced some of the flooring from previous water damage so I've had a look under it all.

Any thoughts as to what brand is a good place to start for a mid-size dehumidifier?

 

probably the main cabin as a starting place !!

Take a look at some of these places !! its really quite interesting
http://www.thenutritiondr.com/daily-body-water-losses/
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/respiratory-system-facts.html

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0073048763/232418/chapter01.pdf full of facts

Humans exhale 237ml.to 400 mL of water per day times that by 2 people in one small place at night that's a lot of liquid that's not taking into account the moister that come out of you skin either plus cooking , cups of tea or coffee and even beer and the likes showers and washing is all adding to this so by the time you add it all together !! a easy quick way to see the moisture is sprinkle some salt onto a plate and leave it sitting on the bed or a table , it draws moisture out of the air so the higher the moisture the quicker it gets wet !!

For flooring to do a quick check if there's going to be a problem a big square of clear plastic tapped down around all sides and in a very short time there moisture droplets forming on the underside of the plastic . some people don't believe it when they see it and are even more amazed and surprised at how quick it happens .

 

Will do, thanks!

UPDATED: OK - found a great dehumidifier for $80 on Craigslist after the routine checks and reviews (note - do your Craigslist buying in high income parts of town!). Tunnels you were right, it is significantly drier in the cabin. We can't leave it on when we sleep (not due to noise but to the fact that it literally dries out our eyeballs) and after running all weekend and pulling about 5 liters out of the cabin it looks like we can just use it during the day as needed.

However .... when I installed the dehumidifier I found some 1" marine plywood and build a platform to support the base of the bed in a queen-size config. It turned out more or less the same stop-sign style shape as the above photo though on the starboard side of the cabin). My co-pilot seems to like the new shape of the bed so I am going to try to follow that through while retaining the existing support structure.

I will hopefully replace the 1/2 hanging cabinet with shelves/drawers, relocate the heater/air con and reuse the existing cupboard faces under the new bed. This will take some time but if anyone is interested I will try to add photos as I go. Thanks to everyone for their input and if you have any photos of remodeled Uniflite forward cabins (36'-38') please post them or PM me.

Cheers!

 

still alive ??

Just checking to see if you have dried up and blown away or the boat has dried out and leaks-a-lot !!Or you still battling with wet walls etc

 

Haha - good to hear from you tunnels. Yes the boat is dry thanks to the dehumidifier and the weather is good up our way as well which is nice. Thanks for your input on all of that.

I also changed the mattress shape (on the existing V-berth) to more of a queen size shape from the standard V. I built a small platform and the dehumidifier stands under it - seems to work well. I am still planning to take off part of the V-berth platform to allow a step up to the berth as it is a bit of a jump.