Your best Boat Improvements!

[Nodak7]

General question here! Just wondering and looking for ideas. What are the two best improvements that you have installed (or had installed) on your boat? I have to say in our case
1. Electric Cabin top winch (getting old sucks and this one has saved me lots)
2. Solar Panels (no generator)
3. Bow Thruster (what a difference it made for boat handling)

There have been lots of others but these three primary items that have made our boat easier to handle and more comfortable!

 

[cb32863]

Changed the traveller to a 4:1 and longer track. Made my jib cars fully adjustable instead of pin stops. Lines already were run back to the cockpit and made the main sheet 6:1 with fine tune.

 

[Justin_NSA]

My two favorites are my LasDrop GenII dripless shaft seal and my ProCharge Ultra 40 charger and new primary wiring.
The sum of all my improvements have made sailing and overnighting much more pleasant.

 

[Benny17441]

1) adding a helm chair
2) adding a removable awning to support A/C cooling at the dock.

 

[Calif. Ted]

Helm Chair, after standing up from San Francisco to San Diego it was the first thing added.

 

[jon hansen]

loose footed main and mizzen, huge improvement
LNG stove replaced the kerosene pressure system. the old one was scary.
upgrade to all high tec sail cloth sails, and keep upgrading
A symetical chute
depth sounder, the original B&G battery unit only read to 30'
loran upgrade from radio direction finder, northstar 800X
gps upgrade from loran, garmin chart plotter
chart plotter to hand held, garmin yes the plotter at nav station still there, rarely use it anymore
still love my paper charts out, i'm old school
FM with lots of channels from FM marine radio with crystals and only 6 channels
quality filter system on fresh water
fuel filtering systems
charging regulators, engine and dock
self steadying binoculars
super high quality rain gear
boat shoes that have support
coed crews
1974 mansfield vacu flush head. the law changed on the lakes that year. no more overboard allowed. still works well
hi tec rope replaced steal cable halyards
replaced all the primary winches (barriants) with better ratio/ more powerful/ self tailing Harkens
AWL grip paint from Benz auto enamel
vapor barrier paint below the water line
VC 17 from copper "kill every thing" bottom paint
*SEASON 47 with boat coming up this spring

* things i did/do not want: roller reefing jib
dodger
windless
that's just me

 

[jon hansen]

yeah, i know only two items. thought you all would get a kick on how things changed over the years

 

[jssailem]

depth sounder, the original B&G battery unit only read to 30'

Jon, has it really helped to know there was more than 30 ft under your keel?

 

[JoeWhite]

I bet no one has heard of this one.
An audible alarm to warn that raw water through hull valve has not been opened prior to staring the engine. A common cause of impeller falure.

 

[jssailem]

Important upgrades on my boat:

1. New Prop
2. Refit standing/running rigging

It goes on from there in electronics, soon to be DC circuits, new sails, refrigeration etc. Some of these are wants not needs. Consideration must be given, if your going to go out and sail, to differentiate between needs and wants otherwise you may never leave the marina.

 

[jon hansen]

john, you bet it has. depth sounder navigation on the great lakes is very useful. you can pull out of sturgeon bay ship canal, run out to say the 100' depth and sail 200 miles to chicago just by following the depth. you can spend more time focusing on the wind and the waves for delightful sailing.

 

[TomY]

The best return on $$$ to date are new sails for us. Spread out over several seasons, the cost was easier to take. Well worth it, we sail more miles.

 

[jssailem]

I understand that concept of sounder navigation.

Is this not possible at 30 ft? Are the waters to variable at that 30 ft depth where you sail?

Before I replaced my si-Tech, I had it alarm at the 30' it reliably measured on the oscilloscope. It was a real power drain. So I upgraded the electronics. Now it gives me up to 210 feet and then goes blank. In reality anything more than 7 feet is deep for my 5 ft keel. Not racing I general plot on a map plenty of straight line deep water and only use the depth sounder when entering shallow water - less than 30 ft.

It is nice to want to know more.

 

[TomY]

I bet no one has heard of this one.
An audible alarm to warn that raw water through hull valve has not been opened prior to staring the engine. A common cause of impeller falure.

I installed an exhaust alarm as well 2 seasons ago. It occurred to me this past fall as I started the engine and realized I hadn't opened the raw water seacock, I've never heard the alarm. The engine only ran for perhaps 10 seconds before I realized - and shut it down.

Mine, a banded sensor on the exhaust hose just before the raw water injection elbow, I believe is set to sense 200F. There is a green light on the panel which shows the alarm is energized but no manual test. I suppose the only safe test is to heat the sensor.

What type do you have and can it be tested?

 

[Justin_NSA]

Some people just hang their ignition key on the valve handle if they need remembering.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

What type do you have and can it be tested?

Better than that is a raw water flow sensor:

The sensor proves itself each time the ignition key is turned on and the alarm sounds (there is no flow before the engine starts). Same idea as the low oil pressure alarm.

 

[jon hansen]

John, my 93' B&G sounder reads on the lakes down to 600' most of the time and i have seen it record over 800'. some times the great lakes thermocline will mess with the recording. on aeolus i promote all the old school nav techniques. depth, bearing triangulation, dead reckoning, course and speed, gps, (paper) chart plotting, visual awareness, steering by compass, perceived wind/ current drift, ..... all (with the crews support) while trying to keep the helmsman's mind outside of the cockpit for blissful, frolicking, dynamic sailing.

for me, it is fun campaigning aeolus this way
John, i still have a lead line on the ready on board. have the kids call out the depth in a new harbor.
part of the fun of an old boat (old house) is the old stuff in it.

do you press your 'up the street' clothes by laying them out under the bunk pads while underway so to look spiffy when out on recon in a new town? old school baby

 

[Justin_NSA]

Better than that is a raw water flow sensor:


View attachment 174500


View attachment 174502

The sensor proves itself each time the ignition key is turned on and the alarm sounds (there is no flow before the engine starts). Same idea as the low oil pressure alarm.

That would also signal a thrown belt or bad impeller.

 

[jssailem]

600' most of the time and i have seen it record over 800'. some times the great lakes thermocline will mess with the recording.

You can sneak a sub under those thermoclines, if you could get it up through the locks on the St Lawrence.
Still love the art of navigation. I'll have to rig up a lead line. I have the gear aboard but no purposed as such. When I played in the lakes of Oregon, I used a stick, but my boat only drew 1.5 feet. You could see the bottom but not always the rocks.

 

[jon hansen]

there where many many subs built in manitowoc, wis. during WWII. by the fine people of wisconson, like this