my folks owned a cheoy lee 32 for 11 years.  she was a '79 model.  she had a forced air propane heater.  with this setup she was a 12-month boat for puget sound sailing.  heat is really nice to have till mid-june and after the first weeks of september.   negative ... always the concern about CO and the propane system (propane also used for the stove/oven).  the other, as stated, is the amount of water in the cabin because of condensation.  my father always talked of getting a diesel heater.  he sold the boat before beginning 'that' project.   funny thing ... the heater system venting by ducts throughout the boat. not that 32' is all that long.  the first 'stop' in the duct-work was the head.  when using the heater we proped the door to the head open to speed the cabin heating ... if you didn't the head would be 15-20 deg warmer than the rest of the boat.  guests always wondered about this.  but, as we all know, on boat you just do things different ;-)     dave scobie M17 #375 - SWEET PEA visit SWEET PEA's www-site: http://www.m17-375.webs.com --- On Wed, 6/10/09, John R. Butler <theoldcat@cox.net> wrote:     I have had successful cabin heaters on a Cape Dory Typhoon, a Cape Cod Catboat, and now my M15.  I always had a good Charlie Noble for each, and I believe that using an external combustion air source is counterproductive to one of the benefits of cabin heat: Any vented, internal combustion heater lowers the relative humidity in the cabin by raising the cabin temperature.     I used natural oak charcoal for fuel on the first two, and Sterno "canned heat" on my current heater which had to be built smaller for the smaller cabin size.     Solar powered cabin ventilation provide more than enough combustion air.    John R. Butler theoldcat@cox.net First M15 was "Joy", '83 #264 Now sail "Rejoyce!", '86 #361