New Boat Stuff

This has possibly turned into the most boring blog in, well, in the whole blogosphere.

It's not such a big deal since I obviously don't get paid for this thing and I know very few people read it, and it's not like it was ever very exciting but it still bugs the hell out of me how stale it's gotten. However, one of the reasons I post here is to keep track of the stuff we've done to the boat and it's also helped us settle some minor disputes like, "That's not at all what happened, don't you remember...?" "That happened the day before Wilbur jumped overboard" or "Before you fell overboard!" or "Before the sun pad flew overboard."

Dear god, a lot of stuff has gone overboard the Knotty Cat. Maybe I better shut up before...

Well anyway, on to yet one more boring blog post.

Our inverter died right around the time we installed our wind generator. This inverter both charged our batteries and allowed us to use our outlets while motoring with our Diesel engines. Luckily, the battery charging part works but without shore power or our Honda generator we could no longer use our outlets for charging phones, computers, etc... Damn, it's always something.

A new inverter would cost us around $1,000 so we decided we really didn't need one because at anchor we could always hook up the Honda on an as needed basis. And then Hans got the bright idea of buying an RV inverter (the outside of the box states: not designed for marine use, but since when do we follow the rules?) Actually, he bought two of them. A small DC one that can charge phones, computers, etc... and a bigger AC one that can actually allow us to make coffee and still keep our refrigerator running. Along with battery cables the bill came to around $140.00. We tested this system the other morning after disconnecting from shore power. After unfurling and connecting the solar panels we then accidently touched the inverter cables together resulting in a shocking and brilliant display in the galley. The fact that Hans' scheme worked almost paled in comparison.

The inverter mounted under the companionway steps.

 

A view from afar.

I forgot to take a picture before mounting it so here's a picture of the box.

This is the smaller DC unit. It can charge our computers and even (be-still my heart) run our TV. Talk about getting away from it all.

I put a pen beside it so you can see how small it is.

 

It has a USB outlet and an AC outlet for regular plugs.

 

Here are our solar panels, at the bow, atop our tarp covered dinghy (and, no, I don't need to be reminded that the tarp is wrong side out!).

Since they're portable, we can disconnect them, roll them up...

...and store them in a locker.

Of course these little gizmos will only work if we have 8 or more MPH of wind (wind generator) or sunshine (solar panels), but at least they now keep our batteries topped off so we can run our refrigerator and anchor light all night long.

We could continue to add layers of systems to the Knotty Cat but I think (except for regular maintenance required gy those who own boats) we're pretty much done.

Unless of course I talk Hans into a 'so easy even your wife can install it' water-maker.

Posted with Blogsy

New Boat Stuff

This has possibly turned into the most boring blog in, well, in the whole blogosphere.

It's not such a big deal since I obviously don't get paid for this thing and I know very few people read it, and it's not like it was ever very exciting but it still bugs the hell out of me how stale it's gotten. However, one of the reasons I post here is to keep track of the stuff we've done to the boat and it's also helped us settle some minor disputes like, "That's not at all what happened, don't you remember...?" "That happened the day before Wilbur jumped overboard" or "Before you fell overboard!" or "Before the sun pad flew overboard."

Dear god, a lot of stuff has gone overboard the Knotty Cat. Maybe I better shut up before...

Well anyway, on to yet one more boring blog post.

Our inverter died right around the time we installed our wind generator. This inverter both charged our batteries and allowed us to use our outlets while motoring with our Diesel engines. Luckily, the battery charging part works but without shore power or our Honda generator we could no longer use our outlets for charging phones, computers, etc... Damn, it's always something.

A new inverter would cost us around $1,000 so we decided we really didn't need one because at anchor we could always hook up the Honda on an as needed basis. And then Hans got the bright idea of buying an RV inverter (the outside of the box states: not designed for marine use, but since when do we follow the rules?) Actually, he bought two of them. A small DC one that can charge phones, computers, etc... and a bigger AC one that can actually allow us to make coffee and still keep our refrigerator running. Along with battery cables the bill came to around $140.00. We tested this system the other morning after disconnecting from shore power. After unfurling and connecting the solar panels we then accidently touched the inverter cables together and were treated to a shocking and brilliant display in the galley. We were so relieved that the batteries and inverter weren't fried, the fact that Hans' scheme worked almost paled in comparison.

The inverter mounted under the companionway steps.

A view from afar.

I forgot to take a picture before mounting it so here's a picture of the box.

This is the smaller DC unit. It can charge our computers and even (be-still my heart) run our TV. Talk about getting away from it all.

I put a pen beside it so you can see how small it is.

It has a USB outlet and an AC outlet for regular plugs.

Here are our solar panels at the bow atop our tarp covered dinghy (and, no, I don't need to be reminded that the tarp is wrong side out!)

Since they're portable, we can disconnect them, roll them up...

...and store them in a locker.

Of course these little gizmos will only work if we have 8 or more MPH of wind (wind generator) or sunshine (solar panels), but at least they now keep our batteries topped off so we can run our refrigerator and anchor light all night long.

We could continue to add layers of systems to the Knotty Cat but I think (except for regular maintenance required by those who own boats) we're pretty much done.

Unless of course I talk Hans into a 'so easy even your wife can install it' water-maker.

Posted with Blogsy

Rainy days and Tuesdays...

                                                                   ...just can't get me down.

And shame on me for skewing the lyrics to the Carpenter's 1971 hit. What's really sad is I remember when that song came out!

I had huge plans this past Tuesday which included hanging our laundry on my 'solar dryer' (fancy phrase for red neck clothes line), scrubbing both heads from top to bottom, washing the galley floor, clearing all of our junk from our salon shelves in order to dust and rearrange said junk, and vacuum.

But I knew I was in trouble on Tuesday morning when I was awakened by raindrops hitting me in the face from our overhead hatch.  And since rain to me means closed hatches and high humidity where nothing will ever dry, I figured my day was pretty much screwed. Things got worse when I discovered we were now down to one washing machine (still waiting for that pesky repairman) which required my walking all the way around the marina (in the rain) times two and why I bother with an umbrella I'll never know.
I believe the last good hair day I had may have been back in 2011.

But remember, this is Florida, and by noon the rain had stopped which put a damper on my backup plan of eating Bon-Bons and drinking a pitcher of Wilbur Wow Wows while watching old movies on TCM.

In between laundry runs I lathered our heads in Dawn detergent and then blasted them with the garden hose that I dragged down through the cockpit door.
I love hearing the bilge pumps do their thing.
I only wish I could hear them after cleaning the galley floor, but unfortunately there is no drain there.  Instead, I have to push tons of soapy water into a shallow reservoir (known as the dust pan) in the center of the floor and then sponge and sponge and sponge soapy water into a bucket. I wish there was a better way but I've yet to discover one.

So anyway, even though I got a late start to my day and didn't have time to attack the salon shelves I'll tackle those another time.

We're also in the middle of repairing some damage to the Knotty Cat's gel-coat.

Taped off area to be repaired.

Not sure where all these 'dings' came from.

These are just a few, there are a lot more.

I was looking forward to cleaning those salon shelves tomorrow, however, our friend who's repairing the gel-coat has informed me instead that we need to go to Island Packet in Largo once again for more supplies. 

So that's about as bad as it gets here;  we're talking rainy days not rainy months, and a day of cleaning ruined by a trip that just may involve a detour through a Duncan Donuts drive-thru isn't such a bad thing.

And that's why rainy days here just can't get me down.

Slightly gross boat stuff that just needs to go away.

If I had any shame or pride this post would never be written.  However, anyone who knows me knows that my life is basically an open (if somewhat boring) book and I never seem to know when to keep my big mouth shut.

So, this brings me to our two shower curtains.

These curtains are original to the Knotty Cat (circa 1995) and even though I don't think they got a lot of use before we acquired her, the hems were in a bit of a grubby condition.  The first thing I discovered was that the curtains couldn't be removed in an ordinary way like those in an apartment or a house.
 Believe me, I've tried.
But, I had no desire to rip down the caulked track on the ceiling that holds the curtains in place, and that's the only way they can be physically taken down. I'm not kidding.

I tried soaking the hems, as is, in bleach etc... but they still looked like crap and I finally gave up and tried not to look at them.
But they continued to prey on my mind.

Here is what the shower curtain hem looked like to the the casual  (family or friend) observer
.

And an even uglier close up.  Disgusting!

Yesterday, out came my trusty seam ripper and after opening up the hem of one curtain,  I found that it was stitched in a double fold which meant that after being exposed to water and soap, it never had a hope of drying out between uses.

Soaking in detergent.

Aha! After a good scrubbing, an opened up and very clean hem line.

On the port side I had to set my machine on the toilet.  The mirror version on the starboard side had my machine sitting on the sink.

I opted to turn the hem up on the outside as opposed to the inside of the shower. I didn't sew a double hem either and thanks to the holes from the previous stitching I hope less moisture will build up.

Why I decided to do this on Valentine's Day I'll never know.  Because in addition to all this cleaning, scrubbing, and sewing, I stuffed and roasted a chicken, made mashed potatoes and gravy, baked an apple pie, and found time to take a shower and wash my hair.  As a former waitress I refuse to go out to dinner on this particular holiday.

I'm loving my Winn-Dixie flowers and I love my coffee pot vase too (I've had this coffee pot for over 25 years).

I feel like I should get a Home-Ec-Gold-Star-Blue-Ribbon Reward for my day but then I remember that back in the day this is what women used to do on a regular basis.

Oh, what the hell, I still want that award!!

Knotty Cat Updates

We are taking advantage of our Knotty Cat being on the hard, and having some improvements made to her. In our opinion adding Solar Panels is a no brainer. But----aha, there always has to be a But---- we had no idea what kind or how many we should install. We mentioned to one liveaboard sailor that we'd heard about panels that can be rolled up or down as needed but he said they were worthless. Other liveaboards have solar panels mounted on their life lines and they just drop them down when they're underway. We don't have a hard bimini so mounting them up there isn't an option.

What did we end up with?

The ones that can roll up when not in use of course! Our electrician really felt that these would serve our purpose best. But then today we got a call from him that left me mildly confused (a really big surprise, right?). The original idea was to use Velcro to hold them down when in use, and then roll them up when they're aren't needed. However they came with permanent sticky stuff on them so now the idea is to lay them down permanently. But doesn't that completely ruin the concept of 'roll up solar panels' if they can't roll up?? And then there's a question about where the hell they're going to be glued down! If it's on top of the boat (near the mast), that's where Hans has to stand when we raise the main, and solar panels would last about a minute there with a big German man stomping around! They certainly can't be placed on the front of the boat as that's where we walk around on nice days.

The electrician is going to lay them down and take a picture for us first and then we'll decide.

I think we've gone and opened a can of worms with this project.


The other problem we're having is with our water pump. That damned thing caused us untold problems this summer and we finally said ENOUGH! let's just get a new one. Hans ordered one as soon as we got off the boat in August and it still hasn't arrived. It's from Japsco and I told Hans that if getting a new one is such a huge problem, imagine what will happen if we have troubles with it!! Personally, I think we should look for a different brand

This is a picture of the solar panels (on someone's showroom floor).

They look awfully long to me.

On the home front, I've been trying to keep Wilbur busy and even though I swore I'd never do it, I recently took him to a fenced in, no leash area. My daughter takes her pit bull there and assured me it was okay. The reason I hesitate is because if a skirmish should ever occur between my dog and another, my dog would be blamed solely because he's a pit bull.

We've already been there four times and so far everything's gone smoothly. I'm surprised at how many other pitty's and pitty mixes there are there.

A worn out Wilbur.

He gets chilly you know!

And in his new bed.