August 15, 2016
Well I suppose it should be expected that the one hatch that leaked would be over my bed. At least in Mexico and San Diego there isn’t a lot of rain so it wasn’t major issue. Mostly just a just a pain in the ass when washing the boat, since I had to remember to put a bin under the…
August 7, 2016
By dumb luck I saw a Safety at Sea brochure at Downwind Sailing, the training was to take place at the end of my refit trip but if I hunkered down I thought I could squeeze it in. And seriously, it probably is a smart thing to do given the plans to sail down to La Paz in October/November. Snapped…
August 4, 2016
The last thing you want to happen in an emergency is to struggle to know where things are located. Especially important for visiting guests who aren’t intimately familiar with the vessel. In an effort to pump up the safety margin on Strikhedonia, I have put together a laminated map of where safety equipment and potential failure points are located. Any…
August 2, 2016
Disassembly of a Harken 46 was pretty straight forward. The pictures were a big help in making sure everything fell back into place when reassembling the winch. Supplies used: Bucket for clean and dirty parts Small cleaning brush (nylon) 1” Paint brush Harken Winch Grease Harken Pawl oil Large and small flat head screwdrivers Allen wrenches Clean rags Mineral spirits…
August 1, 2016
It was an exhausting, at times overwhelming, grind, but from July 7th until August 1st I buckled down and cranked out a lot of work. The days were long often starting before 6:00am and not knocking off until after 8:00pm. I skipped a bunch of meals and made daily trips to the marine store, Home Depot, and Target (some times…
July 26, 2016
Two engines means two chances to get it right. Or to screw it up… Clip the zip tie holding the coolant hose Remove the alternator belt guard Remove the lower bolt from the back side of the alternator Loosen both the front and back bolt holding the alternator Remove the alternator belt Remove the alternator cables Zip tie the alternator…
July 18, 2016
In a cloudless day, with the sun directly overhead, my calculations (based on the “typical” stated outputs numbers and not the “ideal” laboratory numbers) show I have the potential to bring in around 60 amps (at 12V). It is hard to know the loss from the solar controller or the wire runs so I was excited to see what would…
July 17, 2016
Boat in San Diego, new stainless hardware acquired from Marine Exchange, MC4 crimp tool (and connectors) means I’m ready to go! Lug the panels to the top of the solar arch and slide them into position. Jump down to start threading the bolts, using the dingy as a ladder, and find that we have a problem…the outside holes don’t line…
July 14, 2016
Wow, this drawing turned into an epic project. I started with the current Seawind 1160 electrical schematic (thank you Seawind for providing the DC drawing!). My boat had a second inverter installed plus my solar upgrades and lithium batteries. Spent a good deal of time tracing wires to confirm the accuracy of my schematic drawing and even fixed a couple…
July 12, 2016
The plan had been to cruise down to Ensenada and jump right into installing the solar arch. A long lunch and a few cocktails with friends put an end to those ideas. But Alejandro was flexible and agreed to come the next morning. Which was a good thing, since it took a lot of effort to scrub the original 3M…
June 7, 2016
Let the fun times begin! Destruction must come before there will be progress. The first step in my power upgrade would be to increase the size of the solar arch. The arch was a good starting point, but sized to fit small 125W BP panels it just wasn’t going to cut it as is. Arch with BP panels The first…
May 24, 2016
Another chance to sample many wines from Valle de Guadalupe and to help out a local children’s hospital? Sounds like a smart way to spend a Saturday. Throw in a couple celebrity chefs and it is a slam dunk. Winery Vinicola Bibayoff hosted the event with around 50 wineries and a number of food vendors. Low clouds and light rain…