Teak and Holy final walk through - 2011

April 2011 - At Marina Cortez, San Diego, CA
We did the final walk through for the Teak and Holly sole and it looks mighty fine. 

Solar Panel Hardware

 We just ordered the fittings for the bimini that will support the two 135 watt solor panels we are going to put on. Today is the last day (4-28-11) of the sale so I had to think faster than I like to :)
 They had a less than half price sale plus free shipping at
Marine Part Depot
marinepartdepot.com/


 Picked up:
  1 inch SS Tees (4)
  1 inch SS Elbows (8)
 Now we will need to get the 1 inch SS heavy walled tubing and cut it to fit etc.
We will drill out all the set screws and put in nuts and bolts, including the current bimini hardware.



Toaster

 While picking up some varnish at Downwind Marine we grabbed a toaster. We like toasted English muffins and beagles and do not want to store a electric toaster. All we use it for is the above so this one hopefully will do the trick. We can plop it on the stove and wala toast!








Stateroom door varnishing - First coat of satin - 2011

First coat of satin on and still wet
So the first of a couple coats went on the salon side of the stateroom door yesterday morning and today before going to work we got another coat on. 

Davits - Kato Marine Island Davits? - 2011

2011 - At Marina Cortez San Diego, CA
 We are now about don or done with all the major systems from the bilge to the cabin top. Which means we are done with the inside of the boat at least as far as major purchasing is done. It is now time to move out to the deck to the top of the mast. We have already started that by replacing the old tired traveler with a new Harken traveler. We replaced all the big blocks on the boom with Harken Big Boat Blocks. We added a dodger, bimini and separator for comfort. We put some new SS cleats on and some new lines. We installed a new Lewmar H3 Anchor Windless and new bow rollers. So we have done some major work on the deck already! So on we go with some nice new dingy davits.

Potato soup

Our meal of the week (last week) was potato soup.
We used half as many potatoes as in the original recipe.

Sliced them so they do not explode :) 
(could have liked to see them explode but was not wanting to clean up the microwave)

Cooked 

We cooked backed potatoes in the microwave (we will not have a microwave on the boat). But any way we then mixed some butter and then flower into a pan while the butter was cooking. Then we added the other ingredients stirring all the time.


 It came out good. Thick and filling! Debbie made it pretty like herself :) 




9 baking potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups whole milk
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup bacon bits, divided
4 green onions, chopped
10 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream


Prick potatoes with a fork and cook in the microwave, 3 or 4 at a time, and scoop out the flesh (while the others are cooking).
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook about a minute. Whisk in milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes, salt, pepper, 1/3 cup bacon bits, 2 tablespoons green onions and most of the cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated. Stir in sour cream and heat through. Serve topped with remaining bacon, onions and cheese.






Shower sump

 Went and ordered a different shower sump than we had planned to use. Ordered from WM as all said and done was about same as web and we can easily bring it back if this does not work out for us. This new pump will free us from any standing water in a shower sump.
WHALE PUMPS
Gulper IC Gray Water Systems
Model # 12026951   |   Manuf. # WM8284
Our shower does not have the room for the in the shower Gulley.


Stateroom door varnishing - satin varnish came out bad - 2011

It looks like the door is kicking my but! The satin varnish I thinned out and then applied came out crappy. It did not cover well. I thinned it too much. Now to go buy a new can and re-prep the side and do it again. Another day or actually two lost.

Foot pump cover and table stop

Ok these parts are ready to go but I’ll add a couple more coats as they will not get put on for a few days easy. The table stop will need some coats after it is installed because there needs to be teak plugs over the screws.


Downsizing to liveaboard - 2011

April 2011 - s\v Elegant'sea is at Marina Cortez San Diego CA
 Downsizing is or can be a painful experience but also liberating. Saturday one of our projects was to organize the garage for the upcoming marine swap meet at Chula Vista. Also we are moving everything to a storage shed as we are moving onto the boat. We went through photo albums and old papers, again. Last time we down sized it was also painful.

Stateroom door varnishing - polyurethane on the door hard ware - 2011

We got another coat of polyurethane on the door hard ware. That makes two. Now for a few touch ups and it’s done.

Salon Settee foam - Keystone

Picked the foam up for the ottoman at Keystone Bro
Saturday we went to the boat and picked up the settee cushions and Debbie dropped them off and the foam on Monday to Knox Upholstery for modifications.



Sample


Behind the toilet cabinet door

Got one of the hinges cleaned up for the behind the toilet louvered door.


Before




One done - after



Mermaid AC\Heat

Today we ordered our two Mermaid unites. We ordered them from Brian the sales rep. at Mermaid.

U.S. Toll Free: 800.330.3553
Worldwide: 239.418.0535
Fax: 239.418.0538 
Email: info@mmair.com


2651 Park Windsor Drive
Suite 203
Fort Myers, FL 33901

One 12,000 btu
Ands one 52,000 btu
They are what will work for us. It was a hard decision to buy two unites but it is the option we like the best.
For instance the Honda 2000 genset could possibly run a 16,000 btu unite that would cool our boat. It would take a few tricks and then run full blast all the time, not good. Would work great on 110 volt. Not many choices to install the unite.
The usual spot here is the aft hanging locker. For us the noise and the loss of space is a consideration for us.
We opted for:
A 5,200 that will cool the stateroom and head.
And
A 12,000 that will cool the rest of the boat.
We have options to run either unite with the Honda genset.
So we could for instance run the 12,000 at anchor and be comfey in the salon, then switch to the 5,200 for going to bed. The 5,200 could theoretically run off the batteries. That is unlikely to happen but it is an option.
One unite will go next to the mast under the salon seat, the 12,000 because of height restrictions.
The 5,200 will go under the aft settee on top of the water tank by the fill hose. It will be ducked to the stateroom and closed off for noise and so it gets air only from the stateroom.. This way it will not be heard much in the stateroom and my wife keeps her hanging locker intact. At least that is the plan. We have done the measurements and have talked to Mermaid on this and all should work out fine. Just and easy hugh J  Also we will have a backup unite just in case, that way we could always sleep some place cool.  And who knows it could be we won’t need them at all and so it goes.
 There are a lots of good choices out there and this one is for us. The physical size of the unite is one restriction.
 
Another is the btu’s to cool the boat. Mexico south 16,000 is needed I think for the whole boat.
  1. Another is the noise factor.
  2. And of course the genset if that is a consideration, to us it is.
  3. And of course the $$
Of course there are those that say no AC\Heat and no refrigeration, etc etc.
Lots of opinions and all good but this is our choice. As you must know by now we will be living onboard from next week to forever and cruising, so it is important for us to have options from the equator to Canada.
The only downsides I see are the money, the weight and the work. Gee what’s new, it’s a mobile home of sorts after all.

Stateroom door varnishing - final coat of gloss saloon side - 2011

Top of the door with run
Debbie tapped off the outer edges of the door so the gloss would not drool over to the other side of the door. Then we put the final coat of gloss varnish on the salon side of the stateroom door and it came out beautiful, EXCEPT for on big drool along the top of the door. Dam! 

Salon courtesy lights looking great - 2011

April 2011 - At Marina Cortez Harbor Island, San Diego, CA

Turned on the courtesy lights just for kickers and the lights look nice as expected.

Hot water heater


There is a support forum at the Florida Beta dealership. I emailed them and this is what Stanley there replied.
betamarinenc.com/
Forum
I had asked if we could put a "T" in the water tank hose and fill the engine cooling system that way if it needed coolant.

 "While it is possible to get all the air out of the system  with the water heater higher than the engine as you describe, I personally dont like it as it can lead to problems. Not to put to fine a point on it, you cant pour water uphill and the fill point for the cooling system needs to be the highest point in the cooling system.


 I have attached a photo of a coolant pressure tank that we supply and recommend that this be plumbed in to the hose that goes from the heater to the bottom of the heat exchanger tank. This needs to be the highest point in the cooling system, above the hot water heater coils. The pressure cap on this tank needs to be 13 lbs and fit a coolant recovery tank on the pressure cap on the heat exchanger. This will keep the bilge clean. If your stainless tank will do this, I recommend re-using it if it is in good condition.
I have also attached a basic plumbing diagram.
Stanley"


Their tank


Our SS tank on left


Ottoman - foam

Stopped at Keystone Bro on the way home from work and ordered the foam for the ottoman. I grabbed some “blue” nimbus foam.
15W X 25L X 5D Blue 
 Will pick it up today.


Foot pump cover and table stop

We got the foot pump piece prepped and varnished again. This is about six coats.
The piece for the salon table has about three coats here. We now have four on it.

 At a later date we will fix the drill holes in the plugs on the foot pump cover-probably, maybe, we think, who knows :)






Salon Settee Done - almost

It is a mixed bag....
In the pictures none of the cushions are installed, meaning not screwed or snapped into their final place so they do look off in the pictures.

We like the new upholstery but are disappointed by some of the “features”.

The corners on the settee are rounded showing the plywood underneath. Not so with the old ones, they were square. 

They are a bit high so the cabinet doors do not open. The original ones were not that way. 
We talked to Dave at Knox and he said he can fix this by removing some Dacron filler and fix the corners by removing some pleats etc..

The cords in front do not match up that well. However removing some of the foam inside the cover and it will straighten this out.

We did lose some head room at the settee.

The Salon is about the same. Some cushions are thicker than others. I think this is a result of the stitching on the bottom cushions. On the back ones we do not know why. This can be corrected by some adjustment when installing them.
















They are very comfortable which counts for a lot.

The salon looks and feels elegant.

The settee is very comfortable.

All in all after they are installed they will be just fine. We will put a strip of fabric under the front of the settee cushions on the plywood and attach it so it does not move. This and adjusting the cushions out a bit removes most of the V that is seen in between the cushions.










Lots of highs and lows on these projects.

When we get the area varnished they will also look nicer. I broke a lamp so we are a bit challenged on mood lighting. Still the area looks inviting and comfy.

We then packed the settee cushion up and covered the salon for the desk varnishing.