One of the big decisions during the design of Wind Horse was our heating system – which keeps us toasty, and warms our washing and bathing water. At Jim Schimke’s suggestion (Jim is our heating guru) we went with a Dutch-built Kabola diesel heater. We chose a 65,000 BTU model with a built-in domestic water heater. The boat is kept warm with hot water pumped to a series of Jim’s MSR heater coils with 24-volt fans.

We had one problem early on, a faulty water pump, but otherwise the system has operated flawlessly. It is quiet on and off the boat, very efficient (the exhaust is quite cool), and is capable of a 100% duty cycle.

Lars Nilsson ( www.nortecmarine.com ) is the US distributor for Kabola. Since he is located in the Puget Sound area, we asked Lars to make a service call and check our heater. We were heading for Prince William Sound and Kodiac Island in a few days – and it can be cold up there – we wanted to stay ahead of the maintenance curve. We figured that after the equivalent of almost a full year of use, our Kabola might be showing signs of age to his expert gaze.

Lars gave us a thorough check, starting with the burner. Kabola uses a house-style burner, which you can see in the photo above. It is burning cleanly – virtually no buildup of soot on the igniter, which is at the right of the photo. Lars gave this a light cleaning.

He then checked the igniter tips, shown here by the screwdriver, looking for excessive wear. Although we carry a spare, this looks like new. Lars pointed out that if you are installing a new igniter, be sure to check the gap. Ours is set at 2mm.

This is the inside of our firebox. Again, you can see how cleanly this unit runs. There is virtually no soot or carbon buildup. Having clean diesel, which starts with good filters, is a part of this success story.

This device is inserted into a hole in the exhaust. Lars pulls a vacuum through a piece of white filter paper. This is another check on how the burner is functioning. Look to the left of the corrugated pipe and you can see the filter paper.

And the result. Not a trace of soot.

The last test Lars makes is to use a portable spectrometer to test the composition of the exhaust. This lets him know that the correct combination of oxygen and diesel are being burned – a key to clean and efficient operation. You can see the probe to the right of the photo, and then the orange case of the meter in the center.

We are pleased to say our Kabola is working fine – but then, we already knew that.

Lars’s thorough testing was somewhat different than what we are used to in the marine business. It is a good model to follow, regardless of whose heating system you are using.