Chipping away at a few to-dos… Today I dropped the generator onto its new mounts. the grey parts in the photo. Everything fits nicely. Still need a couple of fittings and cables to get it operational.
I love my Winch in a Box. Perfect for these kinds of jobs.
Calm and well above freezing today. I strung some lights up inside and outside the cover.
No ice yet, but -5 or so with a stiff NE wind. Recent gusts at the island airport in the high 30s. East winds are nasty here, with the wind coming down the waterfront.
I got the shrink wrap on last week, and went around today tying the frame legs together and checking it over. Overall it’s a D grade job. Sarah and I did it all from the deck, which was a very bad idea. We messed up the belly straps. And the film I bought was low quality. Burned a few big holes. But I think it’ll hold together for the winter.
Heat is great, hot water plentiful. I had no problem filling my water tank this week using the permanent hose laid underwater from the dock house to the dock close by. It’s a comfortable home. I love the motion and connection to the water and weather. 123 hours on the furnace after 21 days of operation.
For the next few weeks I’m cocooning with family. There’s a pandemic raging around us, and the city is on lockdown. So I’m visiting the boat daily, but not living aboard.
Happy holidays!
I got solar panels installed this fall. 700 watts on the pilothouse roof.
I bought the four 175 watt flexible panels from Renogy and installed a Victron Smartsolar 50/100 controller. This connects via bluetooth to my phone to a slick app.
I put a Victron Smartshunt on the house bank as well. Ran the boat on just solar for a week or two and no problems running the fridge, lights etc.
To mount the panels I used VHB tape, the thickest available. I ran strips parallel to allow some air flow for cooling.
I’m very pleased with the result. The panels are very unobtrusive, and will allow me to live at a mooring comfortably.
Total cost was about $2,000.
I wrote wrote earlier about my plans for heat, and the new system has been running perfectly for 12 days now. Just in time.
The install went smoothly. I did most of it myself with support from Sarah, who advised, assisted with some pipe pulls and gathered local materials. As I reflect on it there really weren’t any big challenges. Running hoses and wires is relatively painless in this boat.
I should have put more serious planning into the exhaust design. I talked myself into going over the fuel tank, but the outlet is a bit high and getting enough rise to keep water out is problematic. Should have run aft then down behind the tank and out a foot lower to get a bulletproof system. I have the winter to noodle on that as I work in the ER.
Apart from that I’m delighted with the system. I now have heaters in each room, each with their own thermostats. And no cold toilet seat or shower.
I’ve averaged 6 hours a day operation on the boiler in 12 days. Fuel consumption is 1.75 l/hr. But I’ve done zero winterization and have had a warm boat. We just covered the boat today, which will really help with heat.
I hate to take pictures of a messy install. The ER will get lots of attention over the winter, so I haven’t tied anything in there yet. You can see the footprint isn’t dramatically different from the water heater it replaced.
The whole thing wasn’t cheap – about $10k – but it achieves my goals elegantly. I’ve got hot water and limited space heating available from engine waste heat when underway or plugged in, with diesel fired heat always on call.
I’m again reminded of my small fuel tanks. Full they’re about 600 l. I arrived here almost full. But that’s not going to last the winter. I’m going to pursue additional tankage. There’s lots of room under the floor.
I want to write also about my solar panel install. Will do that soon in another post.
Samantha took a few shots leaving this evening. Nice to have some festive cheer from the neighbors!
We got the plastic on today and I’ll shrink it tomorrow. Forecast looks perfect, so I have confidence I won’t fail this time. Then some decorating…
Here’s a video of me drilling out the exhaust port. Measure twice, cut once! I never seem to learn.
Boating Adventures 