Return of an Old Favorite

One of our favorite parts of living on a sailboat in the city is going to the local eateries for breakfast. One of our favorites, Sofies Crepes closed last year and we were quite saddened by the loss of these delicious crepes! 

We used to go to the farmers market on Saturday mornings with Morty and then get a delicious crepe there before returning to the boat. Since they closed, going all the way to the farmers market began to feel more like a chore without that sweet or savory treat that used to go with it. 

As is the city, everything is always changing and Sofies closed. It had been almost a year since we had ventured in that direction. Last night while walking back from an ice cream shop, we decided to see what had filled that vacancy. 

We can't wait! 

Making Battens

Battens are simply long strips of wood. They are easy to make and handy to use during construction. Battens used in construction are similar to the battens used in sails, but the ones in sails are made out of much higher quality wood!

The battens used to hold the tar paper in place on the tiny house are made out of cheap pine 2x4s from Home Depot. A 2x4 is placed on a raised platform (scrap pieces of wood) and then ripped with a skillsaw.

A rip fence is installed in the front of the skillsaw, allowing you to control how wide you wish to make your cut (how thick the batten will be). I cut mine to 1/4" thickness. To cut the batten, the rip fence is placed on the side of the 2x4 and held firmly onto the wood as the cut progresses. The rip fence lets you take your focus away from how thick you are cutting and instead focus on holding the saw onto the wood. Cutting the battens is as simple as holding the saw and pushing it along the plank! Instead of buying pricey battens, buy a 2x4 for less than $2 and rip several battens out of it; because of losses by the kerf of the saw, I was only able to get 6 battens out of the 2x4. This would equate to $0.33 per batten, much cheaper than buying battens from the store.

Wrapping the Tiny House

Plywood will not last long exposed to the elements. While the plywood sheathing will be protected by the siding, leaks will still occur unannounced to us which will rot out the plywood sheathing. To protect the plywood, tar paper is placed around the tiny house!

Since I'm working alone, tar paper was installed in smaller (more manageable) pieces. I started at the bottom and worked my way up to the roof. The bottom of the next row overlaps the top of the lower row to provide a shingle effect, effectively keeping the water from entering the tiny house sheathing plywood. 

I wrapped the tar paper around the corner. When I wrap the sides of the house, those sheets will overlay these sheets. It is important to work on one wall at a time, covering it from bottom to roof with overlapping layers. 

Battens were cut and screwed to the the outside, tacking down and supporting the tar paper. If battens were not used, the tar paper would probably rip off the nails that hold it and blow away in the wind. Battens help hold everything in place and keep the tar paper installed on the tiny house until the siding is ready to go on.

The windows are left covered at this time as the tar paper will keep out any water that might come in. After everything is wrapped, the windows will be cut out in the tar paper and the glass windows installed. Until then, the holes will be protected from rain as construction progresses.

Cutting Out the Windows

The tiny house has been sheathed and screwed completely! The windows are now covered by plywood and only visible from the inside by the outlining frames. In order to cut them out without missing the mark (and cutting random holes in the side of the house) I will need some guidance.

From the inside, I drilled a series of holes outlining the window. From the outside I connected the dots with the help of a straight edge. This gave me a scribe line indicating where to cut with the skillsaw. 

The depth of cut was set to 1/2" which is slightly deeper than the sheathing we used (15/32"). This will let me cut out the window hole without damaging the framework of the walls.

Once the line is cut, sheathing screws are set around the frame of the window. I waited to put these screws in because the saw would be damaged if it hit a metal screw along the cut! Now that the sheathing is scribed, cut, and screwed; it is time to remove the window panel and open up the window opening.

A three pound sledge hammer works wonders! I simply bash the cut wood from the inside and from the outside along the edge next to the cut. After a few hits, the panel will fly out of the hole and come crashing into the ground (make sure no one is standing around when you do this!)

The rough edges can be smoothed off by hitting it with the hammer again!

This works well on windows with no obstructions, but what about the windows near the rafters?

The skillsaw didn't fit under the rafter. This section of the cut was skipped while all the other areas were cut free.

A series of holes was drilled to weaken the wood in this area, then the panel was bashed out of the hole with the sledge hammer!

Using these techniques, all the windows were opened up. All this natural light transformed the tiny house from a wooden box to a home!

Dealing with the Heat

This summer has been very hot in Maryland. The outside air is incredibly hot and humid, making any desire to go sailing on the weekends wither and die. Our top priority is to keep cool and stay comfortable while this heat wave blows by.

We have air conditioning installed in the boat, which cools and recirculates the air presently in the boat and an active and passive air circulation system which keeps the boat filled with fresh outside air.

We keep the air conditioning set to 68 during the summer and the unit is able to keep the boat around 70 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. During this heat wave, the air conditioner was struggling to keep the boat cool as the interior temperature reached 84 degrees! We need to take some steps to help it out.

Our first step is to tackle the air circulation system. The active air circulation is powered by solar fans which draw the interior air out. As the air is drawn out of the boat, the passive air circulation lets fresh air enter the boat via a series of vents.

We decided to leave the head's air circulation intact. This consists of a dorade vent to let air in and a solar fan to draw air out. Our composting toilet likes the air to turn over and circulate, so this setup can be left alone as long as we keep the door closed so the heat doesn't enter the rest of the boat.

The other dorade is in the hallway that connects the forward berth and salon. It also lies right over the air conditioner intake. Air from this dorade makes its way through the boat and then exits via a fan above the galley, also keeping a fresh turnover of air inside the boat. During colder months, this constant turnover of air helps keep condensation issues under control, but we don't have to worry about that with the summer heat. 

Maddie and I noticed that the hallway was significantly hotter than the rest of the boat. The heat also became more intense as you moved your hand closer to the vent in the deck where the dorade feeds. 

Dorade vents are typically screwed into the dorade box and held in place with a set screw. Simply loosen the set screw and unscrew the dorade vent to remove it from the box.

We then covered the dorade vent hole with a cover plate that screws into the same threads which hold the air scoop on. These covers are meant for heavy weather use, when raging seas are expected to swamp the deck and fill up the dorade box. Dorade boxes allow air to enter the boat while separating out any water, letting it drain out through the weep hole visible in the bottom right corner. If a huge wave were to fill the box faster than the hole could drain the water, water will then pour into the boat and soak the interior in salt water. In these situations, replacing the vent with a cover plate will prevent the ingress of water and keep your interior dry and clean. 

We have never needed to use these cover plates before, since we heave to in heavy weather and don't take waves over the deck, but we had them in a locker and I knew right where they were. 

As soon as I installed the cover plates, the heat in the hallway vanished and the interior temperature in the boat started to drop. In a few hours, the temperature was 71F and the air conditioner doesn't need to run as often either. 

During these hot times, keeping cool takes priority over sailing. It certainly is nice to be plugged into shore power in a marina while living aboard!