Plastic Classic Forum

Is condensation an obnoxious enough problem on a Triton to go through the trouble of adding an insulating liner material?

It can be, depending on where you plan to cruise and in what climate. I know it's been a problem at times in my Triton.

I'm planning on sailing my boat down to the Caribbean, and hopefully across the Atlantic eventually. Would you elaborate on what conditions you experience condensation, and which areas of the boat it tends to occur?

I'll be building the lockers and cabinets soon, so I'm trying to determine if I need to add insulation between the painted interior hull surface, and my wood storage compartments.

I do have a large roll of semi-permeable polypropylene textile that seems like it might work well, as it would provide insulation, yet it breathes so moisture wouldn't be trapped behind it. Also I have the capability to treat the textile with nano silver, which would inhibit any microbial activity.

Just trying to determine if these things would be worth the effort to do now, or if I should wait to address the problem if it becomes a nuisance.

Just about any time I cruised in the late fall, winter, or early spring on the Chesapeake. Early in the mornings, the air inside the cabin would be warmer and more humid than the air outside. Result--condensation on parts of the underside of the cabin liner.

If you think you're going to spend a lot of time in colder climates, I would suggest you add insulation.

Here's something that's a little odd. When I first got my Triton she literally 'rained' on me every night (January in SF Bay). But then, after about a week of living aboard she hasn't dripped on me one time. The previous owner didn't get to spend much time on her and an old salt told me that boats that sit idle for extended times take a while to 'weather' once they satrt getting used again. Might be an old sailor myth but I thought I'd add it because even though I've been through drastic climate changes on my Triton and I have no headliner, she has never had a condensation problem since I started living aboard full time. PS - I'm still going to insulate the ceiling, probably.

Are you talking about insulating behind hull ceilings or insulating the overhead?

If you are talking about insulating behind hull ceilings, I did that on my 1982 Sabre 34. I used bubble wrap style of insulation that has a foil face on both sides. You can see this project documented on my web site here: http://earlylight160.110mb.com/HullCeilings.html

I have a sample of this stuff laying around, that I haven't ever tried:

http://www.mascoat.com/mascoat-marine-i ... paint.html

The big boats use it.

Ceramic Loaded, water based "Paint" that lowers the heat transfer to the inside of the hull.

Zach,
How is that product applied? Can it be rolled on, brushed on or just sprayed?