KEEPING COOL on NoRDHAVN 47 RANGER

There is no "suffering" happening on Ranger. I’m sorry, but while we are into all the amazing aspects of cruising, we refuse to abandon creature comforts. Ranger excels in all the components of a comfortable life. Air conditioning and heating are just the beginning. Ranger has five reverse cycle air conditioners/heat pumps. They are: 

• CTM Master Stateroom has 12K BTUs
• Dometic Guest Stateroom has 12K BTUs
• CTM Pilothouse has 16K BTUs
• Dometic Galley has 16K BTUs
• Dometic Salon has 16K BTUs

The primary Achilles Heal of this kind of HVAC configuration is the dependence on sea water for heat transfer. Mostly because there is stuff in the water that is not water! Marine air conditioning systems have to strain and filter out everything from seaweed, to crabs, to minnows, to jelly fish and my personal nemesis, soft bottom muck. The salt water plumbing system found on the Nordhavn 47 uses a central sea water inlet and valve feeding a hose that leads to strainers, pumps, compressor coils and then returning water back to the ocean. After the pump, a manifold distributes the sea water to each of the five individual AC units. We have replaced the fixed manifold with one that allows of complete pressure water cleaning of the entire sea water path from inlet to the individual units with just a quick connection of a shore pressure garden hose and then some manipulation of the valves. In less than 15 minutes you can blow out all the muck and return the sea water flow rate to that of a pristine plumbing system! We spend several months each year in a slip that is shallow and contains all the mud, grass, muck and detritus that I am certain makes up the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay. 15 minutes every second or third week and it’s completely cleaned out. In all of the other places we stay, the frequency is even longer.

Sleeping cool (or warm) should ever be an issue!