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Florida flat-lander refitting an Alberg 30, hull #329, for an eventual circumnavigation of the globe and the journey of a lifetime before I get too old!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Winter is my bane!

Have you ever seen the goats that fall over when startled? That is me when I walk out into cold weather.


Needless to say, if that is true, I am badly bruised from hitting the ground daily here of late. Why do people live in the North? I am only here because of my rather lucrative job situation. I suppose it is the same for everyone else because I really can not come up with any other reason to be here. Look at my poor boat....sad.

If you look closely in the picture, you sailboat people might notice that there is no companionway hatch. That is because the storm that blew in with all of the snow also blew off the hatch. Someone forgot to secure it and it is now in five or six pieces on my porch. I managed to build a temporary replacement yesterday but not before several inches of snow got in. I guess a new hatch is now a higher priority than it was before :)

Procurement Report:
I have excelled in this area lately! [pats own back]

The new Beta16 diesel is on the way. I actually paid for this months ago but held off on having it shipped due to storage limitations. Spring is around the corner and the new mounting beds and stern tube will be going in first. The motor will follow almost immediately!

I have purchased and received all of the parts for the new fuel system. This includes a new Moeller 27gal fuel tankRacor fuel/water separator and all of the hoses, clamps, return kit and fittings needed for the install. The new tank will be in the starboard cockpit locker where the old 18gal tank was. It is going to sit up kinda high on a stringer, against the hull and be about 3 inches below the deck. This will have some adverse affects on sailing performance but I hope to install the old tank on the opposite side to help even things out. With the tanks up in this space you would never even know they are there. They are completely out of the way which keeps the lockers open for even more heavy crap which will further degrade performance!

I also sprung for and received a new Airhead Composting Toilet. I did a lot of research on this type of head and decided on the Airhead because of the evolution of the product and owner reviews. This model has been steadily improved upon until now and is just better than the rest! Should I test it out and post pics of the results? It is going in the bow, under a removable board that I will crawl across to get to the chain locker.

I also bought 50 feet of good quality 1/2" bungee cord to make chain snubbers and line snubbers with. Once I perfect my design I will post some pics.

I am currently trying to decide upon refrigeration. None, yes and if yes what model. I have narrowed my search down to either this Engel MB40 drop in unit or this Waeco SuperColdMachine coupled with this Evaporator. The Engel would be an easier than normal install but these units are new to the market and therefore untested among the cruiser community. When I talked to Engel I asked for more information which they sent. It was written in Japanese and I don't feel like being a guinea pig. Engel is known for great portable refrigeration though. I will make a decision in the next few days.

Next up, weather and time permitting, is removing the existing water tank structure that is built into the cabinetry in the bow. I fully expect to see a great deal of nasty, gross mildew in there. Fun fun fun :)