The Official "What Did You Do To Your Mac Today" Thread!

[RussC]

Sumner spent more time doing the write up than I hope to spend on my whole improved cooler project. that boy is seriously ambitious . The ice chest that we use now is a very good stainless unit, so I think I'll continue to use it, but add an insulated wall around it to add to the insulation. I picked up a 4x8 sheet of the 2" rigid foam with foil backing today and will get to work on it soon. got go sailing first, on Friday and Sat, however. first overnighter of the year . thanks for the input

 

[walt]

If you have an ice chest you like, another option is along the lines of putting a blanket or sleeping bag over the ice chest. I bought a cheap comforter from Walmart and was hoping my wife would sew this in to a nice cover that easilly allowed the lid to open. . I ended up sewing something by hand.. not real pretty but I think a cover like this does make at least a small diifference..

 

[RussC]

I got a bit ambitious today after all and got a good start on our ice box upgrade. towards the end of last year I cut into the port side bench so our ice chest sets down in it 4"-5". that does a good job of keeping it from being tossed around the cabin when things get sporty, and it takes up a tad bit less cabin space to boot. today I got the additional upper insulation finished, and will be carving out foam blocks to seal around the portion below the bench later on. the 2" foam is R10, and most of this addition will be thicker than that by quite a bit, so I'm hoping for a pretty good improvement in ice retention. I'm starting with a decent ice box, as a 1/2 gal milk jug of ice was good for 2+ days already.

 

[walt]

Happy picture of dog a few hours ago sailing San Diego bay. Shortly after this picture, dog got sick and made a nice mess in the cockpit making for an especially memorable day..

 

[walt]

Another data point on solar..

Just finished five nights and six days on the boat. I had a 20 watt panel plus a 10 watt panel off the stern rail and burned about a gallon of gas. Used autopilot, GPS fishfinder, Ipad as a chartplotter, lots of LED lights, VHF radio, charged cell phone, watched TV before bed a couple nights (15 inch screen - just a little over 10 watts) charged a cell phone hot spot and used my laptop fairly often from an inverter which was by far my largest energy use. On the morning when I pulled the boat out, the charge monitor showed I was down 21 amp hours (about 11% of my capacity) and the battery voltage was 12.8 volts (solar was charging the batteries when this was measured). I dont know what others have for loads but 30 watts of solar is very adequate for my use. In the first picture, the closer panel (which looks larger but isnt is the temporary 10 watt panel, the farther aft panel is the permanent 20 watt panel. A friend ( photo credit Cathy Iacuelli) took the second picture of us cruising along on auto pilot.

 

[RussC]

A single 30W panel, which is overkill for me. running auto CD player, lights, cell ph charger, wx radio when needed, portable shower (a must have btw).

 

[walt]

I think 30 watt is an overall great panel size choice for this size boat.. When you are a guest at a marina, you dont know how the boat will be oriented to the sun and in the trip I just did, I had good morning sunlight but in the afternoon, the bimini would shade the panels. One day I took the 10 watt panel off the rail (where it was shaded) and put it on top of the bimini - but that was too much of a hassle. I dont really have much of a problem to solve as what I had was more than adequate so this is way down on the list but for my second temporary panel used for camping trips, a flexible and light panel that I would quickly put on the bimini would have been a little better. During the week, the bimini was put up and taken down several times but generally stayed up. The permanent 20 watt panel is more than enough for the four month winter slip sailing I do and I dont even have the bimini on the boat then.

 

[walt]

Another mod I just finished getting ready for another trip this summer.

I have two six volt golf cart batteries up in the Vberth as far forward as they can go. I only have one battery (composed of the two six volt cells) - my "reserve" is the pull start on the outboard. Im of the opinion that one well taken care of and monitored battery is more reliable than two separate batteries where one acts as a reserve. You can see where I cut a new access above the batteries many years ago when I put the batteries up there so they can be watered or removed when needed. We have been storing drinking stuff (1 or 2 gallon water jugs, coffee drinks, soda pop) in the Vberth area just behind the battery set and since I store stuff in plastic bins in the Vberth area, always had to move stuff out of the way to get to the stock hatch. PITA..

So.. I lost control.. LOL.. and did more fiberglass cutting... (my wife says this is a good boat for me since I like to drill and cut so much). I put a large hatch door on the Vberth vertical wall in the cabin area so now we have easy access to a large storage area. I also put a 1/4 inch ply floor with ribs in that area and a Lexan plastic divider (trying to keep the weight as low as possible). All the screws for the plastic hatch have aluminum angle backing strips which add mechanical strength but little weight.

The first picture is of the battery mounting that I did about eight years ago. I first epoxied and glassed a piece of wood (probably pine) over the top of the structure inside the Vberth area. No screws.. that is right above the water ballast tank. The wood peice first had some anchor bolts installed before it was epoxy glassed in. When the plastic battery box's were in place, I used expansive foam to seal them in place. I cant say how long this exansive foam will last but its still 100% intact after all the many miles sailing and trailering the boat has done.

You can find these plastic hatches here at SBO for a good price.

 

[walt]

FYI, in the mod above, I cut through this funky glassed in rope and knot "thingy" to install that Vberth folding hatch. The bottom of the boat did not fall off when I made the cut.. fortunately. Its not very robust rope so I believe the purpose was to hold something together during assembly. Too late to worry about it now.. I will let you know if something bad happens because of this.. LOL..

 

[Leatherneck]

Installed tiller tamer, solar ventilation fan and wind vane. Removed wet compass from cockpit and replaced with red led light. Rewired mast head anchor light and wiring. Installed inclinometer. Sanded and stained tiller. Sewed new tiller cover. Installed pulleys for raising and lowering rudder. Ok I didn't do all this today but over the last two weeks. Next up is fiberglass repair.

 

[My Mistress]

Its not very robust rope so I believe the purpose was to hold something together during assembly. Too late to worry about it now.. I will let you know if something bad happens because of this.. LOL..

It's my understanding that the rope was only used to pull the boat out of the mold.

 

[BudGates]

It's my understanding that the rope was only used to pull the boat out of the mold.

That was my understanding as well.

 

[BudGates]

At 110# my long shaft outboard is too heavy to be removed for trailering and, to avoid hitting the skeg and/or prop on a bump, I have to drive with it in the up position. Doing this makes it difficult for following vehicles to judge distance so, to avoid the risk of someone hitting my outboard from behind, I slid a bright orange (Home Depot) bucket over the entire lower unit and balanced this by installing a second bucket over the swim ladder and secured it so that both buckets are at about the same level. A few bungee cords hold the buckets securely while 1/2" holes provided drainage. These buckets also provided a place to install a second set of lights. (I've never liked that my trailer lights sit several feet forward of my transom and driving with the outboard up makes it even worse). Both the buckets and the trailer use LED lights to minimize current draw.

Buckets $3.18 each
Wiring $6.14
Connectors $4.25
Lights $0.0 (They've been sitting around the garage for a while.)
Total cost $16.75

Okay, this isn't really "today", I actually have used the bucket over the lower unit since I installed the outboard and I did the rest of this before moving my wife and boat to Minnesota last month. I had hoped to get pictures but that didn't happen and now I'm back in California until the end of July.

 

[Tsatzsue]

Walt. Where did you get that hatch assembly? That is awesome!! I would like to do the same thing.

 

[Tsatzsue]

The one thing I note with the batteries so far forward is the slamming they would take. Mine are just behind the winch and under the laz. A perfect pivot point for the boat and center of gravity. Our NE coast waters can get real nasty with a little wind and current. Love that cover!

 

[BudGates]

Walt. Where did you get that hatch assembly? That is awesome!! I would like to do the same thing.

Just do a search on here for access hatch.

 

[walt]

The store here (SBO) has lots of stuff so I may have missed some options.. but try here for hatches http://shop.sailboatowners.com/prod.php?7742

If that doesnt work, search for "access hatch". I have found the prices here are very competive and I have always had a good buying experieince. I also try and use SBO just because I like so much that they make posting pictures so easy..

 

[Meriachee]

Seconds on the batteries. Might not be such a possible problem if they were sealed, or gel but if one of those caps got knocked loose it could be a bit of grief.

 

[walt]

A perfect pivot point for the boat and center of gravity.

Yep.. the two heaviest "items" on my boat are at the far ends to the boat (outboard plus batteries). Both would be better mid point in the boat. but I will have to live with a compromise again.. The good news is that I have had it this way for years including sailing in the Pacific Ocean, crossing large tub boat waves, many thousands of miles motoring and its all held up (including the old Mac.. now 26 years old). A good point about the slamming with the batteries up front.. That piece of wood I glassed in under the batteries also distributes the loading. It would not be good to find a battery at the bottom of the ballast tank because it busted through the roof.

FYI, I think I have a little "rope thingy" myself from a hernia operation. Dont want to cut that.. my t_st_cles would probably drop off or at least drop down a ways and then I would be sitting on them all the time. OUCH..

 

[walt]

Regarding the battery location, no matter where a battery is, its a good idea to have it robustly mounted. You might have proportionally more movement the farther forward the batteries are but for heel or a knockdown doesnt matter front to back - different axis.. For heel or a knockdown, the batteries may be best along the center line of the boat. No matter where they are located.. I dont think you can back off secure mounting.

I just re-did the battery box straps as this had been neglected for some time and the original plastic buckle/ snaps were in poor shape or busted. The nylon straps themselves (that wrap around the box) were still in good shape so I just mounted a horn cleat on the top of the battery box. Sewed some loops in the strap for some line to tie to. There is an aluminum backing plate about the size of the horn cleat base with a plastic cover over the backing plate- all away from the battery terminals and not anywhere near close to being able to short anything but I will have to watch it for corrosion. Should be easy to secure and remove for water maintenance now.