Small Liveaboard Project

The Green Skiff

2009-07-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

Behold, the Green Skiff. Soon to be my only functioning boat, buyers-willing.

First, a little history...

I purchased the Green Skiff sometime around the summer of 2006 or 2007. Probably 2006, or it could have been 2005. I don't really remember.

I found it on Craigslist for around $250. It came with a crappy trailer that I sold and a similarly crappy outboard, which I also sold. In the end, I think the boat itself ended up being free (net).

Anyhow, the family from whom I purchased it lives south of Rickreall on a farm. It turns out that that particular family used to have an International Scout which broke down up at HooDoo sometime between July of 2001 and June of 2003. I towed that family home when I was working as a tow truck driver in Sisters. When I mentioned this to the family, they said that they had picked up the red bricks I had posted on Craigslist a few months prior. Now that I think about it, I gave those bricks away shortly after I bought the house, so I must have bought the boat in 2005.

I used to have a 3.5 hp Nissan 2-Stroke outboard that I used, and it worked well. I sold the outboard with my MacGregor 21 in 2007. I borrowed a 4 hp Nissan 4-Stroke from a friend of mine for a little while until I was able to find a 4 hp Mercury 4-Stroke Longshaft for sale from another friend. I promptly purchased that outboard, and it has powere the Green Skiff ever since.

I decided in late June that I would not only be attending Sucia, but would be attending in the Green Skiff. That meant I had about 2 weeks to get it ready.

Stay tuned for more...

Inflatable for sale

2009-07-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

A quick, entirely self-serving post:

I've put my Avon Redcrest dinghy up for sale on Craigslist, post a comment if you're interested...

My Craigslist Ad.

Sucia...

2009-07-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know:

Sucia Island is a Washington Marine State Park in the San Juan Islands. Sparse info here:

http://www.sanjuansites.com/thingstodo/parks/suciais.htm

- and -

The Wikipedia Entry, which is actually pretty good.

Anyhow, it's basically heaven on earth. The best place ever. And only accessible by boat. No rednecks in 1973 Chevy pickups here!

In fact, it's so cool that I'm actually considering tattooing a map of the island somewhere on my body. Really. And I don't have any tattoos.

Yet...

Every year, the Coots who are willing to head north (almost to Canada) get together for the Sucia Island Small Boat Rendezvous. It's hosted by Jamie Orr and Chuck Gottfried (hosted being a loose term here), both of whom have managed to construct their very own Bolger Chebacco's. Chebacco's are really nice little pocket cruisers for one or two people. Cat-Yawl rigs, shapely lines (especially when one considers the designer), easily driven and beautiful under sail.

The Sucia Rendezvous is best described as a gathering of small boat nuts, consisting of a weekend filled with fun, camping, boating and drinking on the most beautiful, accessible island in Washington. Those few souls hardy enough choose to cruise for the week after, following a very fluid, ill-defined schedule.

It was a great trip

The itinerary:

Thursday, July 9th: Drove up to Bellingham, arriving in the evening. I camped in the Wal-Mart parking lot (sleeping in the Element) and used their restrooms. I didn't purchase anything though, keeping up my roughly 5-year personal Wal-Mart boycott.

Friday, July 10th: Launched the boat (the green one at the top of the Blog) around 9:30 and motored over to Sucia, arriving in the early afternoon. I shared a campsite with Frank Mabrey, who motored over in his MFG Runabout. Spent the evening around the campfire with various boat people.

Saturday, July 11th: Woke up, ate breakfast, and generally did nothing all day. Good times.

Sunday, July 12th: Woke up, ate breakfast, saw that the wind and waves were high (3-4' steep chop and 20-25 knots). Went out and played a little in the Green Skiff, found that the boat handled everything well but needed more weight up forward. All my food and camping gear was onshore, leaving me light in the frontal region of the vessel.

Monday, July 13th: Broke camp and headed West for Stuart Island. Pulled into Reid Harbor in the early afternoon and found that Frank had already set up camp. Once again, we shared a campsite. Lounged in the folding chairs for the rest of the day. The sailboats in the fleet anchored in Prevost Harbor, a short walk from our campsite (but a long boat ride away).

Tuesday, July 14th: Woke up early and went for a hike out to the Stuart Island School. Picked up some shirts from the self-serve treasure chest. It's good to know that folks will leave piles of goods out for visitors to take, trusting that they will mail the money in later. Got back to camp and discovered that the group's consensus was that we would stay another night.

I needed a shower, so I motored over to Roche Harbor, cleaned up, ate lunch, did laundry and overall dropped about $100 on crap (including fishing tackle). I spent three hours working my way back to Stuart Island, fishing for rockfish as I went along. Caught a few small ones, then finally decided to keep this badboy for dinner:

Yes, I know, it's small. And you can't see it real well. It's a 12" Copper Rockfish. Big enough for dinner though!

I cooked that little thing up, then spent some time with the other Coots sampling oysters and drinking Bolger (box) wine.

Wednesday, July 15th: It was time to start working our way back. Jamie and Chuck decided to head over to Deer Harbor for food and fuel. I slowly worked my way over, fishing pole in hand. More small rockfish and an undersized Lingcod...

After we arrived, Chuck and Jamie decided they would like to stay the night in Deer Harbor and rented slips. Not having a boat capable of being slept aboard, I chose to move on. And move on I did, to Doe Island State Park. It may have been the late hour at which I arrived, or perhaps the fact that I was completely alone, but I didn't enjoy the island very much. It is, however, picturesque. My campsite at sunset:

Nice, no?

Thursday, July 16th: Set out early through a lightening fog for Bellingham. I decided that I would take my time and peruse as I went. It was nice, and I got an up-close look at the Bellingham Ferry Terminal and the Fairhaven Shipyard. Arriving at the Bellingham ramp around 1:00, I spent an hour or two getting cleaned up (myself and the boat), found that my laptop had been exposed to saltwater and was ruined, and then went over to Pacific Marine Exchange. I found a Bimini for my boat, thence deciding to head south to Anacortes to see what it was like down there.

On the way to Anacortes I got fired; suddenly, I was no longer a Firefighter.

I spent the night in the Element in the parking lot of a Haggen, in what I believe to be the town of Burlington. I even purchased and drank a 24 oz Tecate. In my car, in the parking lot.

Friday was the drive home, pleasantly interrupted by a side excursion to Camano Island to explore the sights and lunch with a friend from High School in Gig Harbor. Carly (the High School friend) offered me great encouragement regarding my current situation. I'm also happy to report that she looks just as good today as she did back in High School. Good for you Carly!

When I got home Friday night, I finished off the bottle of Rum I brought on the trip. Apparently it mixes well with Lemonade.

Would you expect anything else?

I also achieved my goal of not shaving for almost two weeks. Results here:

Nice...........

Pics from Doryman here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26687363@N05/sets/72157621661759102/

Doryman's thoughts on the week, put forth slightly with slightly more eloquence than mine:

http://dory-man.blogspot.com/2009/07/sucia-island-rendezvous-part-1.html

Part 2:

http://dory-man.blogspot.com/2009/07/sucia-island-rendezvous-part-ii.html

I'd like to end this post with a quote of which I became aware while on my trip.

"Poor grammar is one thing upwithwhich I shall not put!" - Winston Churchill (ostensibly...)

More changes, items for sale

2009-07-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

I just returned from my annual vacation to the San Juan Islands. It was a great trip, lots of fun and a very interesting experience; I plan to add a few posts about it soon.

During the trip, I had a lot of time to think, and plan, and I have decided to move off my boat.

Why?

Logistics. When I moved onto the boat, I was working in Salem at a job that required one round-trip commute every six days. Now, I find myself working (hopefully a lot) in Portland for American Medical Response (private Ambulance Company), which has predominantly 12 hour shifts. That means one commute a day.

As such, living on the boat in Vancouver would require that commute to be over the Interstate Bridge, known throughout the US transportation world as one of the worst bottlenecks in the country.

"Not gonna do it, wouldn't be prudent."

So, I'm going to move back in with Bozeb in the Parkrose neighborhood of Portland. His roommate recently moved out, so there is an open room; good timing.

With that, I find that it is no longer worthwhile to keep the sailboat. As such, I will be putting it up for sale soon. I think I will be more likely to sell it during the summer than during the fall.

I haven't set a price yet, although I will include the galvanized tandem-axle trailer and the 2008 Honda 9.9hp outboard.

If any of my regular readers (regular being a stretch, given the frequency of my posts) are interested, please e-mail and make an offer.

I will also be selling my Avon Redcrest Dinghy, with floorboards, inflatable and hard seats and motor bracket; asking price is $400.

Now that the business is out of the way....

What to do with the Blog? I can't really blog about living on a boat anymore, as that would make me a liar. I suppose I could post musings about living on a boat, maybe future plans or random ponderings.

For now, I am inclined to keep the Blog going under the same title (it's hard to change a web address) and include assorted boaty stuff which I find interesting. The immediate future of the blog holds setting up a shared woodshop with Bozeb in his garage and making modifications to the Green Skiff (the one boat I'm keeping) based on my week's experience with it in the San Juans.

So, there you have it. I'm off the boat, on dry land, and I'll be posting assorted boating stuff not related to living on a sailboat.

An interesting, provocative Blog has become just another small boatbuilding Blog....

I'm back. Sort of...

2009-07-17T21:42:00.001-07:00

Well, today I lost my job. I got fired.

I plan to post more Blogs soon.

Stay tuned!

Greg

Status...

2009-06-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

So, I'm still suspending the blog due to work issues. Honestly, there isn't much hope for an end soon.

In the meantime, I'd like to offer up a link to Weston Martyr's classic 1932 story, "The 200 Pound Millionaire" (200 Pound being the British Monetary type of Pound....)

http://www.out-of-the-blue.info/200quid.html

It's an old story, and some of the specifics don't really apply anymore, but the spirit of the story is alive and well in many of us.

Enjoy!

Blog suspension

2009-05-15T08:14:00.001-07:00

Due to an ongoing situation at work, I have decided it would be in my best interest to suspend posts on this blog.

I fully intend to restart my postings once this situation is resolved.

Greg

Niceties

2009-05-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing, from time to time, to take care of those little things that have been bothering you.

Bills, for instance.

I paid mine today, and it turns out I'm broke.

Good thing I bought a new battery before I paid the bills, eh?

Yes, that's right, I bought a new battery. A Nautilus NC-27 Marine Dual Purpose Battery. I even charged it on a shore charger.

It's wonderful...

I can tell you it's wonderful because it's better than the old battery; this one will actually hold a charge! This is evidenced by:

The outboard starting
Bright lights in the cabin
An inverter that is able to suck enough juice to run the laptop

Yes, I now have power. Power to spare. Well, maybe not too much power to spare, but certainly enough for my needs. I can run things without running the engine now.

It also turns out that I have a little bit of power on the dock. Not much, maybe 5 amps at 110V, but enough to run a power tool or (gasp!) a battery charger. Yes, I'm thinking of cheating on the whole "off-the-grid" thing and charging my battery on shore power. I hope you won't think any less of me....

Oh, that picture at the top? That's my dinghy. You see, I stopped by the former homestead a few days ago and "procured" a few of the items that are mine. Namely, I procured my Gloucester Gull. My marina-lord let me put it in the water and keep it at the dock. In fact, I get to keep it on the other side of the dock directly across from my floating home.

Tonight I went for a quick sunset row and watched some wildlife. I then retired to the cabin. It is here that I'm presently sitting, typing away on the laptop powered by the new battery, being warmed by the charcoal in the woodstove.

The bills are paid, I'm broke, but somehow....

All is right with the world.

May 9th and 10th

2009-05-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

May 9th:

Slept in for the first time in a few weeks. It was nice...

I got up, ran some errands, and headed south to Silverton. A co-worker of mine just bought a new house and was having a housewarming BBQ to celebrate. A good time was had by all, and I spent the night in his spare bedroom.

May 10th:

Worked a trade payback for 24 hours. Again, no boat time.

Work in Salem: 5

Work elsewhere: 1

Boat/Home: 2

Car: 0

Other: 2

May 6th, 7th and 8th

2009-05-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

May 6th and 7th:

Worked at my FT job in Salem. No boat time.

May 8th:

Got off work in Salem, went down to the house that used to be mine to pick up some boat stuff. Specifically, I picked up my Gloucester Light Dory and my 9' Avon Redcrest Inflatable (with electric motor and battery).

The Coots were having a lake cleanup at Cheadle Lake in Lebanon, Oregon. Cheadle Lake is a former log-pond on the east end of town that it being converted into a public park. When we got there, volunteers were putting up forms for the public dock and boat ramp. We gathered a bit farther down the lake and spread out to go find trash. It was nice to get out on the water and even nicer to help clean it up a bit.

After we were done with the lake cleanup, we all got together at Sourdough Dave's house for some box wine and conversation. I ended up heading up to Vancouver for the evening to stay on the boat (finally).

Work in Salem: 4

Work elsewhere: 1

Boat/Home: 2

Car: 0

Other: 1

May 4th and 5th

2009-05-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

Yes yes, I'm a day behind. It happens.

May 4th:

I picked up an overtime shift on Medic 31 at my full-time job. As I've said before, OT is hard to come by, which makes it hard to turn down.

So, no boat time.

May 5th:

I got off at 7:00 and immediately left for a Union meeting. Ran some errands in the morning, then another meeting in the afternoon (all in Salem).

By this time, it had been about 6 nights in a row that I've had less than 5 hours of sleep. I could have driven up to the boat, but I would have had to burn gas and time, then get up early and burn more gas and time to come back down to Salem. I also really needed a shower.

So I rented a motel room. Motel 6 is cheap!

Work in Salem: 2

Work elsewhere: 1

Boat/Home: 1

Car: 0

Other: 1

May 3rd

2009-05-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

Daily Report:

I got up at 4:00 to drive to Waldport for work. It's a 24 hour shift, so I stayed overnight down there at the Fire Station. No boat time.

Nights for the month of May:

Work in Salem: 1

Work elsewhere: 1

Boat/Home: 1

Car: 0

Other: 0

May 2nd

2009-05-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

Daily report:

I got off work in Salem, then spent some time dicking around in Salem. I spent most of the afternoon doing laundry up at Bozeb's house in Portland, then drove to the boat around 17:00. I spent the night on board. Doing laundry at Bozeb's is nice because I can hang out, use the WiFi and take a shower. It takes longer than a laundromat though, since there's only one washer and one dryer.

Nights for the month of May:

Work in Salem: 1

Work elsewhere: 0

Boat/Home: 1

Car: 0

Other: 0

Small Projects

2009-05-02T19:49:00.001-07:00

I've been working on a few small things the last few weeks.

First up, storage!

I pilfered a nice little 13x15 plastic hatch from the going-out-of-business sale at Boater's World. It was one of the few items that was truly 40% off.

I wanted to put the hatch in the bulkhead behind and above the porta-potty so that I can have easy access to storage in the back (starboard) corner of the aft berth. The box comes with a handy pattern, seen taped up below:

The hole was then cut, as seen below:

Looks pretty good, eh?

The wood behind the porta-potty was installed last spring, but has gone unfinished since. I decided that now was the time to put on some Cetol; the pattern came off, the Cetol went on.

Here's the hatch after it's installed:

I'll put some sort of a box on the other side to keep things in.

What kind of things?

I have no idea. That's not important right now. Quit getting ahead of me.

The other little project I've been working on is below:

I stopped by a thrift store in Portland and found that little wooden tray in the center of the picture for $0.98. It was unfinished, so I took it down to the boat, smeared on a couple coats of Cetol and hung it up in the galley. I'm keeping general small galley-type things in there, things like salt, pepper, hand sanitizer, etc.

I think it looks pretty good. I need to go back to the thrift store and find more good stuff.

The Month of May

2009-05-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

I would like to say that I'm pretty well established in my boat now. I've done enough improvements that I feel comfortable living onboard on a regular basis. There's still more work to be done, but there will be time for that...

Anyhow, for the Month of May I've decided to chronicle my personal schedule. I work 48 hours on shift, followed by 96 hours off shift; 2 days on, 4 days off. In addition, I work a couple part-time jobs keep me overnight a few extra days a month. It seems to me (although I'm not sure) that I maybe only spent half of my time on board the boat. With this month, we shall see!

So, let me begin by chronicling yesterday:

I worked at the Fire Station. Never got near the boat.

Pretty easy so far...

This week

2009-04-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Not much to report on the boat this week; I had mandatory training at work on Monday and Tuesday, then short-notice mandatory overtime on Wednesday. On Thursday I did laundry and slept most of afternoon to recover from the previous three days, and now (Friday) I'm at work again for my regular shift.

I get off on Sunday morning, when I'll go the my former house to gather some things and fix the lawnmower. Good times.

Ah, but after that....

I'm going to a friend's house to check out some potential shop space. It's curious, when you move from a house on 5 acres to a 24' boat, well, you have more stuff than space. Thank God for good friends.

Anyhow, I've been pondering a few things lately. I went back and read Sourdough Dave's advice from a few months ago. I've decided that he's pretty much right about his "dishes" recommendation. For those who don't remember, his words are repeated here:

Folding dishrack? Psshaw! What are dishes? Paper plates, paper towels, paper bowls. Just wipe out your pots, any bugs left over just helps you to build up your resistance! And ya don't have to haul in water for rinsing. Our society is much to fastidious. Really.

I've struggled with this issue, both from a consumption standpoint as well as the associated disposal issues. The consumption problems are still the same, and represent an ongoing expense. The disposal has become easier now with the woodstove; I can burn the plates and bowls for heat.

It turns out that dishes have become one of my biggest headaches. They take up space, use water that I have to haul down the dock and take a long time to wash. Drying them in the rack puts moisture into the air, and that's something I could use less of.

So, I'll probably end up getting a few tubes of paper plates, bowls and towels. Maybe some plastic silverware too; we'll see.

I'm working on some assorted small projects as well, but I don't want to document them until they are completed. I promise they'll be interestingish.

Heater Operation

2009-04-19T21:53:00.001-07:00

I opened the hatches and let the boat air out, dropping the temp to where I was chilly in shorts and a t-shirt. The test run then commenced.

Here's the firebox empty; the ash is from my post-install draft test fire.

I made a small pyramid of cardboard and wood:

And lit it:

After it got going I added a chunk of 3" peeler-pole (wooden fence post) and five charcoal briquettes. Here's the sliding door open just a bit:

It's putting off great heat. I'm still in shorts and a t-shirt; I'm about to strip the t-shirt off and crack open the hatch.

Sweet!

The heater is installed

2009-04-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

I spent this weekend at the fabulous Depoe Bay Wooden Boat Show; this is the shot from a Sourdough's Friend's beach house. Pretty nice, eh?

Anyhow, let's get down to business. My heater arrived on Friday. Unfortunately, I was at the Coast already and was unable to retrieve it.

In comes Katie. Katie is a lady friend of mine who happened to be in Portland and was able to pick the heater up for me on Saturday (yesterday). I'm very thankful and indebted to her, as I would have otherwise been unable to pick the heater up until Tuesday the 28th.

I left Depoe Bay early today (around noon) and drove up to Portland to get the heater from Katie.

*I would like to take this opportunity to say that the town of Dundee should be bulldozed so that Hwy 99W can be 4 lanes continuously between McMinnville and Newberg.*

Anyhow, I arrived in Portland around 3:00 and picked up the heater, then stopped by Boater's World to peruse their discounted wares. I picked up a few items which will get installed in the near future.

I arrived on the boat and quickly set about getting the heater set up. It's designed to be bulkhead mounted, but due to my deckpipe location, that wasn't going to be possible. Instead, I purchased some shelf brackets to use. I attached the heater to the brackets, then the brackets to the settee. I had to use some longer bolts and washers as shims to get the heater plumb; then I cut and assembled the pipe.

Are you ready to see it?

Really?

Here it is:

Pretty snazzy, eh? That short section of horizontal pipe is a barometric damper, it allows a certain amount of air to be drawn into the stack while the stove is burning on low to keep the draft going. It came highly recommended by Dickinson.

Here's a good view of the stove and brackets:

A view of the stove and damper from a different perspective:

I burned a small fire just to make sure it worked, and it did. Dickinson also recommends a permanently open vent to allow air into the boat to ensure that the draft out the chimney doesn't reverse. I added this one in a dropboard:

So, there's the install. It's still fairly warm down here, so I haven't had a chance to burn the stove to really test it out. The sun will be going down in a few minutes, and with it the temperature. I'll let the cabin get a little chilly and light a fire to see how it works; I'll post the results later on tonight.

I'm excited!

It's Here!

2009-04-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

Finally, finally, finally, Kim called to tell me that my Heater is in.

I'm nowhere near the store, and won't be until Sunday night (they're closed Sunday and Monday).

Luckily, I have good friends, and one lady friend in particular who is willing to go pick the heater up for me tomorrow (Saturday) and even float the money for me until Monday. She kicks ass!

The last piece of the puzzly has arrived, and if everything goes as planned I will be installing it in my boat on Sunday night.

I'll post pics as soon as I can.

The Deck Pipe

2009-04-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

Looks pretty good, eh? For those who are curious, that is a Dickinson Deck Fitting and a Dickinson Draft-Prevention Cap. Here's a pic from the inside:

I had to modify the dress ring a little bit to fit the curves of the cabintop.

The heater is supposed to be in by Tuesday.

We'll see.

Heat Update

2009-04-09T20:14:00.000-07:00

So close, so very close, yet so very far.

Everything came in. The thru-deck, the cap, the pipe, the barometric damper, everything. Everything, that is, except the stove itself. Apparently, when Dickinson said they had four in stock, they meant that they had four in stock in California. The used to have a warehouse in Everett, but not anymore. And they didn't tell any of their retailers.

Grrr....

So, with my best Lemons-to-Lemonade demeanor, I took delivery of the tubular parts and installed them. I drilled a great big 5" hole in the coachroof of my boat and screwed down the deck pipe. It looks fabulous.

I forgot to take a pic though.

Oops.

Anyhow, I mocked up the pipe inside the cabin and decided that I needed some elbows to get the heater where I wanted it. I didn't order any from Kim when I ordered the stove and I don't particularly feel like waiting. Luckily, I'm headed to the coast for a daytrip tomorrow. I'll swing in to Englund Marine in Newport and pick up some elbows. The heater is supposed to arrive in Portland no later than Tuesday.

We shall see....

A Beautiful Weekend

2009-04-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

It occurs to me that my blog has been more of a "fix-up" chronicle than a documentary of living on a boat. With that in mind, I submit to you, loyal reader, a chronicle of my weekend:

Those of you in the Northwest will know that the past few days have been beautiful; sunny, warm and on a weekend no less!

I started my cruise early Saturday morning in the fog. Thick fog. Visibility between 100 - 200 yards, and to make matters more complex (worse?) it was a busy day for springer fishing. There were literally thousands of boats on the river. I left the dock at 8:00 and spent the next two hours picking my way between the fishing boats, keeping the shore within sight off the port side. The fishing boats were separated from each other by spaces of less than 100', which made it a challenging couple of hours!

At about 10:00, I came within sight of the BNSF Vancouver swing bridge. I hailed the bridge tender on VHF 13 requesting an opening; he happily obliged, allowing me to transit upriver. Here's the bridge around the time when it first came into view:

Here's the bridge half open; I was just about to begin my transit.

Kind of a cool perspective...

From there I transited under the Interstate (I-5) bridge under the barge channel, picking through more boats as I went. I pulled into Donaldson's Marina around 11:00 for fuel, topping off with non-E10 gasoline. Next was a passage between the Oregon shore and Government Island. I anchored up for a short time, taking time to have lunch and hank the jib onto the forestay.

The wind was blowing upriver at that point, so I raised the main and sailed on downwind/upriver on a dead run, passing beneath the south end of the Glen Jackson (I-205) Bridge under sail. On the other side of the bridge the wind was starting to peter-out and become fluky, so I struck the main and proceeded on under power.

After I passed the east end of Government Island I turned northwest to catch the downriver current. My marina guide mentioned something about some docks located on the north side of Government Island of which I was unaware. The nearest one to me (farthest upriver) was Bartlett's Landing. This is a beautiful facility with new, wide docks and plenty of space. I chose a spot and tied up facing the wind and current (I was far enough upriver to get the gorge winds) and had a meal. Here are the docks, the arrow points to the E-Ride (my boat):

The Island was begging to be explored, so I went ashore and wandered around a bit. It turns out that they have composting toilets, camping and picnicking facilities. Who knew?

I would highly recommend this moorage for anyone; it's safe, new and very spacious. No water or electricity, but it's free!

I spent a windy night aboard and awoke early in the morning to have breakfast and shove off. The downriver trip was quick. It was Sunday and fishing was closed, so the river was mostly free of boats. I stopped off at Gleason Boat Ramp (commonly known as the 42nd street ramp) to dump the porta-potti, then continued on downriver. The railroad bridge happily opened for me again, and by early afternoon I found myself back home.

I had made plans for a friend to come visit me on the boat that afternoon, and since it was so nice out we decided to go sailing. We motored downriver a few miles, watching members of an unknown yacht club returning from a cruise. Those pilothouse yachts throw big wakes!

The wind came up a bit, and we spent the final three hours of daylight ghosting our way back upriver under sail.

It was a glorious, beautiful weekend. It was a weekend that justifies why a person would want to live on a boat. My sunburn even kept me warm Sunday night.

So, there it is. No boat work, no malfunctions, no nothing. Just a great weekend cruise.

Now isn't that boring?

Delays

2009-04-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have no heaters today.

That's the word from Kim; they sent some of the stuff, some of it was wrong and there is no heater.

Dude...

In other news, for entertainment purposes I bought one of those hand-crank radios today. It's the one pictured above. Cute, isn't it?

Oh, and I got that LED bulb for my galley domelight I was talking about. It was totally worth the $39.

A Random Thought on Lighting

2009-03-31T21:35:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in my very cold cabin last night around 11:00, reading by LED light. I got up to get something from the galley, turning on the incandescent dome light so that I could see. It occurred to me that having light aboard is one of the most important things I can do (next to heat) to make the boat homey and liveable. I'm generally quite reluctant to use any of my incandescent or halogen lighting on the boat for fear of draining the battery. The LED's put out better light at lower voltages and amperage draws than incandescents and halogens.

So why don't I have more of them?

The answer, as always, is money.

It's a stupid answer. A good LED bulb costs between $20-40; a lot for a lightbulb, but let's consider the consequences for a minute.

I can spend $30 and get a much more liveable boat on which I will be happier. In addition, it will alleviate a lot of stress and worry about running down my battery.

Furthermore, I can spend a little more and get some LED light fixtures with the LED's already installed and get an even greater benefit.

It seems that so often we forgo small conveniences because of the price when having that small convenience would offer a tenfold payback in peace-of-mind.

A classic "Missing the Forest for the Trees" situation, isn't it?

Today's Productiveness

2009-03-28T19:01:00.001-07:00

Looks pretty good, eh? Installed just inside the companionway on a mount that lets me swing it out of the way if I need to.

I picked up that fishfinder (a Lowrance LMS-240) about a year ago. All that was included was the head-unit and the transducer. I bought it for another boat, but never got around to installing it. Today was the day!

I picked up a gimbal mount and knobs from Fisherman's Marine and a RAM Mount from West Marine and installed the head-unit as above.

For most sailboats, a transom-mounted transducer is just about impossible due to the smallish transom near the waterline and various angles of heel. Mine was no exception, so I decided to do a shoot-thru-hull installation.

There was a very good article on this subject in the most recent edition of Good Old Boat Magazine; I followed his technique down to the letter.

I started out by selecting an uncored area of the hull and sanding away most of the paint so I had a smooth surface. I put down a glop of hair gel (purchased just for this purpose) to test the location and found that it read just fine. After cleaning up the hair gel, I put down a glop of clear Silicone Sealant I had leftover from my window refit and pushed the transducer down into it. Success!

Here's how it looks:

I'll clean up the wiring part after the silicone sets up; I don't want to put any tension or stress on the transducer before it's secure in the glop.

You can see the bilge pump hose from a couple weeks ago at the bottom of the picture. Here's a pic of the pump itself:

Again, I'll clean up the transducer cable after the silicone sets up.

Anyone need a half-used tube of hair gel?

Final Final Decision

2009-03-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went over to the coast to look at a Dickinson Newport Solid Fuel installation on a friend's boat. I was impressed and decided I should get one.

Today I went into Columbia Marine Exchange and ordered one, along with all the piping. The total came to $524. That's the heater, two 22" sections of pipe, the thru-deck fitting and the smokehead (which she had one of in stock on consignment brand new). A large share of this cost will be recouped when I sell the old Kerosene Heater at Columbia Marine Exchange. I'll also happily sell it to one of my readers if anyone is interested!

Anyhow, when I put in my order I held off on the elbows; I'm not sure if I need them or not, and if I do they are available locally without having to order.

It's supposed to be in by Friday, so maybe I'll have it in by that evening.

I'm excited....

The Psychology of the Small Liveaboard Project

2009-03-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

What do you see in the inkblot?

When I meet my fans (I'm up to 19!) in person, I hear lots of things about my blog and my new lifestyle. A few of the statements I commonly hear:

"I envy you"

"I wish I could move onto a boat"

"I never get enough time on the water and here you are living on it"

"I'm living vicariously through you"

All this makes me ponder my situation. What is it about my life that makes people envious? Is it as simple as living on a boat, or is it something deeper? I'm getting divorced (my idea...) and striking out on my own. Is that what everyone is envious of?

Are they envious of the perceived freedom? Leaving behind family obligations? Maybe folks are feeling a little overwhelmed and wishing to escape from under the lives which they have created for themselves.

I don't know. I can tell you that the life I am living right now isn't necessarily better than yours; it's just different. In fact, in trying to simplify my life, it seems that I have further complicated it.

So, if you are going to envy my life, if you insist on living vicariously through me (either through personal interaction or via the web), just remember to be thankful for that which you have now. It may seem that the grass is greener on my side (and in some ways it may indeed be), but enjoy what you have; it may be gone tomorrow.

"Dol PA" and other mysteries of the river...

2009-03-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Anybody know what the heck these things are for? They are marked on the chart as "Dol PA", which translates to "Dolphin, Position Approximate". Dolphins are groups of pilings generally used as tie-up points for ships and barges while they're in port. Most of the ones I've seen are groups of many pilings, and there are almost always more than one dolphin so that there are spots for multiple lines. These ones seem to be made up of 1-3 pilings tied together with a galvanized steel top, something like a garbage can upside down with a dunce-cap on top (I assume to keep the rainwater from collecting). They are located about every mile or less along both sides of the river.

Any ideas?

Another mystery; there are a lot of rows of old pilings, some going out to daymarks and some not. What were they used for?

Yet another mystery: Last week (Tuesday, 3/17/09 I think) there was some sort of a government type boat stringing boom across both ends of Fisherman's Slough (between Washington and Caterpillar Island). Anyone know what event was taking place? Was there an oil slick moving down the river? They removed the boom after a couple hours.

I would also like to acknowledge one of my readers. I was anchored up downstream from Kadow's Marina on Saturday morning when a gentleman in a Boston Whaler came up alongside. His name is Craig and he lives on a small houseboat at Kadow's. I was impressed that he reads the blog and even recognized my boat! Sorry I didn't invite you aboard Craig; I think you understand why. Next time!

I made a trip down to St. Helens on Sunday (3/22/09) to dump the porta-potti. It was a gorgeous day (for the most part), intermittently overcast, sunny and rainy; sometimes all at the same time!

Anyhow, I had intended to go to Scappoose to dump the potti, due to the heavy current experienced at St. Helens last time. However, on this day and at this time, I found the current to be mostly slack, certainly less than 1/2 knot. I was able to sneak in on the backside of the dock and tie up for a while. The backside of the dock would probably be doable during periods of heavy current as well.

After I dumped the potti, I took off for the fuel dock at St. Helens Marina. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were open on Sunday. There is a small store there, and their fuel does not contain Ethanol!

For those of you who don't live in Oregon, we have been subject to E10 (Gasoline with 10% Ethanol) at automotive fuel pumps for a little over a year now. It tends to make the fuel not last too long when stored; the ethanol separates out, draws water and settles at the bottom of the tank, right where most fuel pickups are located. Bad news...

I also purchased a set of vinyl registration letters for my boat. The boat was still bearing the old California numbers, and I was starting to get tired of people not talking to me because they thought I was from California. The cashier at the fuel dock was nice enough to allow me to remain tied up while I carefully peeled off the old, brittle numbers and put on the shiny new ones. Very nice folks down there.

As you know, the Kerosene just isn't working out for me. I'm probably doing something wrong (Kerosene heaters have been used for many many years), but I'm not sure what it is. My last post suggested that I would go to Propane; since then, Michael Bogoger ("Doryman" on blogspot) has been lobbying for the Dickinson Newport Solid Fuel Heater:

I'm hoping to go over to the Toledo to see his installation this weekend. The price in the end will be about the same (I can sell my Kerosene Heater at Columbia Marine Exchange to offset the cost) and it will probably be less dangerous than Propane. I'm a little conflicted at the moment, I'd like to get heat and do it right this time.

Stay tuned for more info....

Propane: The Final Solution

2009-03-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

I've tried. God help me, I've tried. I've purchased a new burner, put in fresh kerosene, asked people who use them, asked people who sell them.

I can't make it work.

My whole boat smells like Kerosene. My clothes smell like Kerosene. The burner is cantankerous and when the flame goes out, the kerosene keeps flowing. It's just not working.

I have decided to convert my heater to Propane power. Yes, I understand how dangerous Propane is. Yes, I understand how expensive a whole new system is. I'm gonna do it anyway.

As I've said before, they no longer make my heater (a Force 10 Cozy Cabin) in Kerosene. They do, however, make it in Propane. As it would be a shame to waste money and materials that I don't have to, I've decided to convert my current Cozy Cabin Heater to Propane power by purchasing a Cozy Cabin Base Unit for my heater. It's a direct bolt-in replacement and comes with a thermocouple-protected burner (no fuel when the flame goes out), a low-oxygen shutoff and a piezo igniter (no pilot light). You can see it here.

I think it's the right choice. All together, I'll need a propane tank, regulator, solenoid, hoses and the burner unit. I'll build a rail-mount for the propane tank out of Stainless Steel so that I don't have to mess with a Propane locker.

It's the right choice. It'll also be about $400, give or take.

It's the right choice, right?

St. Patrick's Day Success

2009-03-17T20:19:00.000-07:00

I had corned beef hash and eggs for dinner this evening in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Mmmm.... Good!

That's the butane stove that does the majority of cooking in my galley. It's great! Cooks quickly (if a bit hot), fuel is readily available, etc...

But before all that, let's do a little review of the past few days, shall we?

I believe we left off with me having done a few days worth of really good work on the boat. Vents, remounting the heater, we did it all. The only thing missing was that dang burner. Where was it?

Well, as luck would have it, the burner finally arrived. Shiny, new, ready to heat my world. The stamping on the burner said it was made in Portugal, and the English translations on the instructions left no doubt.

Luckily, it was a direct bolt-in for the old one. Yesterday was the day. I got it installed, did a leak test (the system passed with a few tightenings) and filled the fuel tank with kerosene. Pump it up, preheat the burner and turn it on.

I got a yellow flame.

Kerosene is supposed to burn blue.

Grrr.... I spent quite a bit of time screwing with it last night, then went to Bozeb's house to do laundry. That took forever, and I found myself back down on the boat at around 1:30 in the morning. I spent about a half hour trying to get the burner to burn blue, then finally gave up and went to bed. Good thing I have a 0-degree sleeping bag.

I awoke this morning and played with the burner. I got it to burn blue on a low setting, then slowly turned it up to ensure the burner was adequately heated for more fuel. Slow is the way to go with Kerosene apparently.

I have spent most of the day today hanging out on the boat, running the heater and reading. It has performed splendidly all day! It definitely needs to be started low and turned up slowly to avoid yellow-flame syndrome, but once it gets going it tends to stay lit! Here's a short intro:

This is the height at which I originally installed the heater:

This is the new height (9" lower):

Kerosene burners require preheating with alcohol. You start off by putting some liquid alcohol in the "spirit cup" underneath the burner and lighting it. This causes the burner to get hot, allowing the kerosene inside the preheating tubes in the burner to vaporize and burn readily. Here's what it looks like:

After the burner is preheated (immediately after the alcohol burns out) you can light the burner. It should burn with a blue flame; mine burns blue with yellow tips:

I also got a guard for the burner so that I wouldn't accidentally swing my feet or arms into it. The guard is a locker basket I picked up from Fred Meyer. Kinda ghetto now, but I'll cut it down to work better in the near future:

I also managed to get some Sterilite drawers for my clothing:

I hung a gear hammock on what used to be the starboard settee (I removed the cushion) for my pants. It seems to work alright.

I'm going to try and run the heater all night long. It's just about 21:00 now, which means the heater has been running for a good solid 12 hours without setting off the Carbon Monoxide alarm. I have to get up in less than 8 hours, so hopefully it can keep me warm without too much fussing until then.

Wish me luck!

Mucho Progresso

2009-03-12T19:50:00.001-07:00

And by "Progresso", I don't mean soup.

Today was great and glorious. It was sunny, warm (compared to the last few months) and I got a whole bunch of stuff done.

Starting off the day was installation of the new vent in the foredeck. Here's the before:

Here's the after:

Yeah, I know, the pic is horrible. It's hard to get perspective on a white deck. That, and I forgot to take a pic of the vent itself. What is shown above is a cool feature of the vent I purchased; universality! It's a Nicro vent, and all Nicro vents use either a 3" or 4" deck plate for mounting. That means that if my current vent gets damaged or it doesn't live up to my expectations I can just pull it out and go buy a new one without having to change the deck plate. Pretty sweet, no?

Project number two was installation of a bilge pump. The original manual bilge pump that came with the boat didn't work and was installed in the starboard lazarette, taking up a bunch of space. I had purchased a thru-bulkhead Guzzler 500 diaphragm pump for another boat a couple years ago, but never got around to installing it (thankfully). That means that I get to have it on the Bayliner! Below is a pic of the door that covers the handle socket (it's the dark thing under the fire extinguisher).

Incognito, isn't it? I mounted the handle right under the door with spring clips so it's there when needed. This pump has pretty high capacity and actually works (I tested it). Here's the pump with the handle in place:

It's mounted under the companionway; I think a person could sit and pump comfortably for quite a while if needed.

After that I forgot to take pictures. So let me try and paint a picture with words:

I managed to get the Kerosene tank mounted in the starboard lazarette where the old crappy bilge pump was. The fuel line is run as well. I also lowered the heater and put in the new exhaust chimney. The burner still has not arrived, apparently USPS sent it back to Cali because there was something wrong with the address.
I scraped some more foam from the bilge. It's looking pretty clean now. I sponged less than a quart of water today, so I guess it's a really slow leak!
I removed the old antenna mount on the aft rail. It used to be hooked up to the stereo and cb radio (it was a dual-purpose antenna), both of which were also removed today.
I put the mainsail on the boom and put the boom cover on over it all. It looks like a real sailboat now.
I pondered clothing storage options; more on that later.

So, as you can see, it was a pretty full day. I got a lot accomplished and I feel comfortable staying on the boat again as soon as the burner for the heater arrives. There is still a big hole in the floor from the bilge project, and that will be covered temporarily by some plywood the next time I'm up on the boat. I have a plan for the floor too, but I'm going to leave you in suspense for now!

It doesn't look like there's gonna be much time for boat work in the coming week, so there may not be another post for a while. Or maybe there will be, you never know...

Further musings on the boat

2009-03-11T14:22:00.001-07:00

Only a little bit of water this morning! I appears to be running down from somewhere up forward. It's very little, so for now I'm not really gonna worry about it...

Today was supposed to be a grand and glorious day of solar venting, foam scraping and heater modification; one out of three ain't bad!

Bozeb has a brand-new 1800 watt generator he purchased a few months ago that he is generously loaning to me for work on the boat. That means power tools! I used a circle cutter to drill a hole for the solar vent. They say not to use a circle cutter in a handheld drill, and they're right! I did it anyway though.

Here's the hole being started:

Here's the hole after about 10 minutes of fighting with the circle cutter. Fiberglass wears that blade down quick!

The vent went in pretty easy. It's a Victory Day/Night vent, it has the solar panel to charge the battery and power the fan during the day, then the battery takes over at night. Solar vents are truly a marvel. It has a wide foam-rubber gasket; prior experience told me it wouldn't seal, but I decided to give it a try anyway. A few stainless screws and we're in!

There's a switch on the underside that will turn the fan on or off regardless of the weather. Perfect for when I'm trying to build up more heat.

I had planned on also installing a mushroom vent on the foredeck for more ventilation today. I'm concerned that the solar vent will create such a negative pressure within the cabin that it will pull exhaust fumes from the heater into the cabin; I'd like to get ahead of that problem and alleviate it.

Two things prevented me from installing the mushroom vent today:

The blade on the circle cutter is really dull after the solar vent drilling and I don't have a file
I can't find the mushroom vent

I also planned on lowering the heater and putting in a longer exhaust stack. I succeeded in lowering the heater, but I couldn't find the exhaust stack that I purchased just two days ago. Grrr...

I gave up. I went to Sexton's, found a ventilator that I liked in their used parts room and had them cut me a section of exhaust stack to the exact right length.

Assuming everything goes right, I should be able to work on the boat for a full day tomorrow. Further ventilation and the heater install (without the burner) will be on the agenda.

More to come (hopefully) tomorrow night!

The Bilge

2009-03-10T23:15:00.001-07:00

It's Bilge Day! That special day when I cut the floor out of my boat and try not to cause it to sink.

Today I had the help of a good friend of mine, Bozeb. Bozeb is a Firefighter for the City of Portland; we used to work together in Turner (back in the day). I'm staying in his basement until I get the boat livable again.

We started off the by gingerly cutting out a small section of the cabin sole. I purchased a cheap handsaw at Parkrose Hardware today for use in this task. Why a handsaw? A few reasons:

I don't have electricity on the boat
It's really easy to cut too much (or cut through the hull) when blind cutting with a powersaw
These handsaws don't last long, but they're really sharp at first, which is what matters today
It was cheaper than renting a generator

So, without further ado, here's a pick of the first cut:

As you can see, the starter holes were drilled with a holesaw. As we cut along, water spurted up from the bilge. (The bilge is the lowest part inside a boat, where any water that finds it's way inside collects). The bilge on this particular boat, as on most Bayliner Buccaneers, is filled with a two-part expanding foam. Great for taking up space, ok for flotation, but not good when it gets wet and stays wet. Here's a blurry image of what we found after tearing up the floor and removing some foam:

The blurry brown stuff in the middle is water. The blurry white/tan stuff at either end is foam.

We bailed the water as we went, cutting and chipping out foam too. We found that we could safely (and easily) cut out the floor for the full length of the cabin sole, going one section at a time. After a couple hours we had the whole thing cut out with 98% of all the foam gone. There was still a little stuck to the sides and bottom, but it was wet and difficult to get off (especially since I didn't have the right tool...)

I dried out the bilge completely, then left for Burgerville with Bozeb. When we came back an hour later there was water in the bilge. Good thing it wasn't much:

Yes, that is all the water that collected over the course of an hour. Not bad...

I putzed around the boat for another hour or so, cleaning and scraping up foam. When I got ready to head out the puddle (above) hadn't grown visibly. This could be a good sign...

That's a shot of the cabin sole from the companionway as I was leaving. A clean, dry bilge is a good thing.

Check out what 3 cubic feet of foam turns into when it's in little pieces:

That's a lot of volume.

So, I'm going to let the boat sit overnight and check on it in the morning. I need to let things dry out so I can see where the leak is coming from. I'm also curious to see how much water collects over a period of time.

One thing I learned today is that Bayliner actually fiberglassed over the lead ballast keel. I was under the impression that they had not, but I was wrong! I'm excited about that. Once I get the bilge dry and the leak fixed, I'm probably going to patch a couple holes in that fiberglass (the part over the ballast keel) and then seal the whole thing with Bilgekote or something similar. I also need to put in an automatic electric bilge pump just in case. Oh, I should probably get that manual bilge pump working too.

That's all for today. My burner still hasn't arrived, so not too much heater stuff tomorrow. I will be installing the tank and routing the hose though. I'll also be installing a solar vent that Kim ordered for me.

Good times. Stay tuned for more!

My day doing boaty stuff

2009-03-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so there really wasn't that much boaty stuff, but I do have some things to report.

I started off my day running errands that were decidedly not boat-related, things like shopping and looking at cell phones. After that, I went to Sexton's Chandlery on Tomahawk Island. It's a nice place, a bit pricey but certainly professional and well-stocked. I hadn't been to a marine shop for almost a week, and since Kim is closed on Monday, I was left with no choice.

My first stop whenever I got Sexton's is the consignment room. They only take really high quality stuff on consignment, so the room is understandably small. Lots of cool stuff today, but nothing I needed. On to the rest of the store...

I wandered around a bit, looking at various items, then asked about getting some kerosene for my heater. The gentleman behind the counter showed me where it was, I payed, and then remembered that I needed some new exhaust pipe for the heater too. The gentleman behind the counter was again happy to oblige and cut me a 4' chunk of 1" stainless railing (that's what the heater uses for exhaust). I got to talking with him about my heater situation, about how I ordered a new burner from away and how I was pretty sure I had a part missing off mine. He whipped out a brand-new unit and showed me that I indeed did have a part missing, and it's the part I expected it to be.

He sells a complete burner for $65.

I paid $85 for mine and it isn't even here yet.

Grrr.......

So, armed with the knowledge that I'd just hosed myself out of $20, I headed on up to the boat. I started off my boaty work day by pulling the kerosene tank out of it's locker in the bottom of the boat, taking it outside and letting all the pressure out. I disconnected the tank, pulled the fuel line and flushed everything out. The old kerosene was dumped into a fuel jug; it was about the color and clarity of a Fat Tire.

I measured a few things and decided that I could reasonably lower the heater about 10" with little difficulty and still have it high enough to not catch things on fire. Sweet....

I placed the Kerosene tank in the lazarette and found that the menagerie of fittings on top of the tank wouldn't allow the lid to close. I was going to have to get rid of some adapters and find an elbow that would replace them all. The fuel line was too short for the new tank placement, so I made a mental note to get another that is roughly 12' long. On my way home I stopped by Premier Rubber on Vancouver Way in North Portland. They quickly made up a new fuel hose and sold me the new elbow I needed.

Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Back up to the part where the heater project had progressed as far as it could for the day. Before I went to Premier Rubber, I had to take a look at the wet floor.

I pulled up the carpet (apparently water softens contact cement), took out my handy cordless drill and chucked up a 1 3/8" holesaw; I was going to drill a hole in the bottom of my boat!

Well, actually it was the cabin sole, but whatever.

When I drilled, this is what I saw:

See the shiny part around the edge? That's water...

So, I did what anyone would do; I tried to bail it out! Didn't work though, the foam underneath kept clogging the pump.

After a few tries, I gave up and plugged the hole with a tapered pine bung; that should hold it until next time.

With any luck, I'll be able to get up to the boat tomorrow, cut out the floor, dig out the foam, find the leak and patch it. Then my floor will be dry.

Stay tuned for the results episode!

Heat Options

2009-03-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

I ordered a new burner for my Kerosene heater on Wednesday, so I think it will arrive on Monday or Tuesday. In the mean time, I have been researching other options for next winter. Here's what I've found so far:

Dickinson Newport Solid Fuel Heater - This little stainless beauty is wall mounted just like my current heater. Unlike my current heater, it requires a 3" flue. It has a small firebox and a heat output of 4-8,000 btu's. It's designed to burn wood or charcoal briquettes; total cost for all the parts would be roughly $7-800, depending on where I buy it.
The Sardine from Navigator Stove Works - This cast iron stove is very nice, traditional and has been around for decades. The firebox is much larger than the Dickinson and is designed to burn wood and "hardwood charcoal", whatever that is. The heat output is much more than the Dickinson at 7,500 - 18,000 btu's. The downside? Total cost is roughly $1,300, and the flue size is 4".
A nifty little stainless steel unit I saw at Sportsman's Warehouse yesterday. It's about 10" x 12" x 10" and is made from some pretty thick-gauge stock. It is designed for use in a wall tent, but I think it could be used in a boat fairly easily. I have no idea what the heat output would be, and it uses a 5" flue. I'm a little concerned about using it in an enclosed area such as a boat, since it is designed to be used in a wall tent with (presumably) more ventilation. It's cheap though, only $169 for the stove; the 5" flue and accessories will probably add on another $500.

As you can see, I'm leaning towards solid fuel. It's readily available, but has a much lower volume/btu ratio than petroleum; in other words, it takes a much higher volume of fuel to produce the same amount of heat. It doesn't stink like petroleum though, and depending on the species has a pretty nice smell.

Another option is to construct my own stove. I'm a reasonably competent welder and could easily weld something up out of Stainless Steel to meet my requirements. I may try that.

The biggest consideration is space. The boat is small. The current wall-mounted heater renders the starboard berth effectively useless; because of that, I'm probably going to make that side of the boat predominantly storage.

The Dickinson would mount in the same spot as the Kerosene Heater; the two floor-mounted units would probably require that I cut out a portion of the berth to fit them. I'm open to doing that, but it would mean more work and a greater chance of flubbing something up.

So, there it is. Those are the options if I choose to lose the Kerosene. I'll hopefully be able to install the new burner this coming week. When I put in the new burner I'll probably move the Kerosene tank into the Starboard Lazarette with the gasoline tanks. I hope this will cut down on the Kerosene smell in cabin and make life more palatable this spring.

Stay tuned for the heater modifications...

Heat

2009-03-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

So my heater isn't working real well. I mean, it works ok, or at least it did at the start, but now it's not so much....

You see, when I first installed the heater last summer, I couldn't get it to light on it's own. The heater has a pressurized burner which shoots the kerosene out under pressure; the burner is preheated with alcohol enough to vaporize the kerosene, and then the burning kerosene is supposed to keep the burner hot enough to vaporize the kerosene, etc...

I can't make it work. Every similarly designed burner I've ever seen (mostly on camp stoves) requires a diffuser plate type of assembly onto which the fuel is sprayed, vaporizing and burning on that diffuser plate. My burner doesn't have one, and as near as I can figure wasn't made to work with one. I've made a few diffuser plates over time, and they work well to get the stove going; it has worked fine since.

However, a few nights ago that all changed. I was running the heater at full blast for about three hours in the evening while I was awake, then turned it down to low and went to sleep. Three hours after that, my Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarm went off. The burner was still burning, so I shut it off, vented the cabin and went back to sleep. I worked the next morning, so I didn't get a chance to look at it right away.

Last night I tried again. I made a few different diffuser plates, trying to get the flame to burn properly and in what I think is the right direction. The problem now is that the burner is clogged. I pulled it apart and cleaned it out, and it worked fine for a little while, but then it clogged up again after about twenty minutes. It's very frustrating...

So, I e-mailed Force 10 to see about getting a replacement burner; I'm pretty sure there are some parts missing from mine. I'm also going to pick up some carburetor cleaner and try to get all the gelled kerosene out of the burner workings.

I'm open to ideas though; does anyone have any? Better yet, does anyone have one of these stoves? I'd love some pics of what the burner is supposed to look like...

To St. Helens and back...

2009-02-28T18:20:00.003-08:00

Ok, so it was more impressive in person.

That is a picture of the St. Helens Marina in St. Helens, Oregon. According to BoatOregon, it is the pumpout station nearest to me. You may remember how I had posted earlier of my plan for a weekly water-borne trip down to St. Helens to charge my battery and dump the porta-potti...

Today was the first run.

Accompanying me today was Andrew Linn, a fellow Coot and close personal friend. He's also a little crazy, which generally makes for interesting times. He showed up at the boat around 1:25 or so; we shoved off at 1:30, bumped bottom heading out over the south entrance to the Slough and were soon out in the river.

Times with Andrew are always fun; this time was no exception. You see, Andrew is into maritime history in a big way. He tries to recreate and relive earlier times, which generally involves food and drink; sort of a waterborne SCA guy.

Anyway, today's concoction was a Pirate drink (the name of which escapes me) made from soaking ginger root in Vodka. Apparently gunpowder was a common ingredient as well, although he spared me the saltpeter-laced explosive. It was quite ginger-like; almost as if someone had made a drink from the ginger at a sushi restaurant.

We sipped a few shots each as we made our way downriver at 8 knots over ground. Running with the current, we pulled into the St. Helens Marina shortly after 3:00. We were only at the dock a couple minutes, just long enough to dump the porta-potti, refill the flush tank and shove off again. The current really rips along by the pumpout, which makes docking difficult with only two people; I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to do it by myself.

We left St. Helens, headed back upriver at speeds between 4 and 5 knots over ground, slower due to the head current. Along the way we passed the dredge Essayons working to deepen the channel. I have a special connection to that dredge, as it's the one on which my father spent 18 years working. They had just dumped when we went by, then turned around to make another pass at whatever mid-river hump they were seeking to eliminate.

We pulled back into the dock shortly before 6:00. Not bad, 1 1/2 hours to run down and 2 1/2 hours to run back. I think I could do that every week.

Now for the bad news: My battery didn't get charged. I mean, it got charged a little, but it should have been able to start the engine pretty easily after four hours of charging. Alas, I think my battery is not good. I'll probably have to get a new one soon; I'll probably upgrade to a Group 31, as it has a little more capacity.

So, there it is; my first Potti Run. It's over, it worked great, now I'm all snuggled up in the cabin with the heater running, blogging away. This really isn't a bad way to live. I think I could get used to this...

First Night (in the morning)

2009-02-26T10:43:00.001-08:00

Wow, what a night... I went to bed around 8:00 (I didn't get much sleep the night before at work), shutting off the heater before crawling into my North Face 0-degree sleeping bag. Slept like a baby until about 5:00 in the morning.

You see, when I went to bed the wind had been blowing out of the southwest at around ten knots. This wind was pushing my boat into the dock, keeping my fenders nice and tight and not flopping around. (Fenders are inflatable things used to protect the boat from the dock and the dock from the boat). Anyhow, the wind had subsided at some point during the night, allowing one of my fenders to swing free. It was bumping into the hull right next to my head. Time to get up and fix it!

That's when I noticed the snow.

Not much, but enough to make things slippery. I gingerly clambered off the boat and onto the dock, stowed the offending fender and climbed back aboard. It was really really cold. So I started the heater.

For those who have never used a Kerosene Heater like mine, I need to tell you that it's not something you just turn on. You have to put some Denatured Alcohol in a little cup and light it to preheat the burner before you actually turn on the Kerosene. This takes a couple minutes. A very cold couple minutes.

So, heater lit, I climbed back in bed and slept. I'm glad I had some earplugs in the key-pocket on my sleeping bag, I needed them with the roar of the heater going. At around 8:18 I was awoken by the sound of my phone ringing (which I could hear through the earplugs....). It was my Fire Chief wanting to know something; he said it would be a thirty second conversation. He's notorious for underestimating time requirements. So I called him back, then spent a good 15 minutes researching his question. Good times...

After that I was up, so I made breakfast. Eggs, oatmeal and coffee. Mmmmm....

It was all cooked on the seaswing (I'm out of butane for the stove and so is the Fred Meyer in Vancouver), so breakfast was eaten in stages. I used my new coffee press tumbler for the first time, it worked well. I also have some coffee singles on board (tea bags full of coffee), which will probably be a cleaner way to go.

The weather is so beautiful this morning (see above) that I really don't want to leave, but leave I must. I have things to do today (unfortunately).

I'll be back on the boat Friday.

First Night

2009-02-25T18:59:00.001-08:00

Looks pretty friggin' cozy, doesn't it? That square cushion in the center is the filler cushion, there's another one just like it that will make the whole thing into one great big bed. That backrest up forward will fold out flat to make a second berth up higher and forward; that's where all my crap is currently stored.

Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Tonight is my first night alone aboard the boat. I have spent nights on the boat before, but always with someone else (usually my wife). However, I intend for this space to be my new home. The boat is in the water, the month is almost over and I figured I might as well give it a shot. Commence the test run...

I arrived at the boat in things I wanted to do before I settled in for the night. First off, I wanted to get a boom tent set up. I purchased a while tarp (just like the blue ones only white) at Fred Meyer today for use as some shelter. Boom tents are very fashionable, although they are usually made of real fabric, not polytarp. I'm poor though, so whatever; I used polytarp!

There was a squall coming through when I tried to put it up initially. I succeeded, but it would have gone quicker if it wasn't gusting to 25 knots at the time.

Next up, I installed my seaswing stove. Here it is:

My neato stainless coffee pot doesn't exactly fit perfectly, I'll have to work on that. The stove works beautifully however! I used it to heat up some water for a cup of ramen. I found a Vietnamese grocery store today that has all sorts of weird stuff in it. The really cool part is that they have a whole aisle of ramen. They have rice noodle stuff too. I'm going to have to go back there for some more.

Here's the galley in all it's glory. From left: The seaswing previously mentioned, the sink back in the corner, a coffee cup, the stainless coffee pot previously mentioned, paper towel rack, folding dish rack below, cutting board over the butane stove. There are cabinets underneath for food and dish storage.

Ah, the Veranda:

Above is the view from my companionway. The folding ladder was outside to get it out of the inside. I'm not sure what to do with it, so it'll live there for now. Pretty nice outside deck, eh?

So, there it is. My new home. I'll take more pics later, sorry but that's all you get now. You may end up with some more ruminations on all this after a few rum-n-cokes, or maybe not. Either way you'll receive a full report of the evening by tomorrow.

Sleep tight; I hope I will!

Decidedly Un-Filler

2009-02-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

After many delays and decisions, after much hemming and hawing, and most of all after paying the yard bill, I was finally able to pick up by boat. The pic above shows it tied up at the yard dock; it's the one in the center of the photo.

Two fellow Coots (Frank Mabrey and Dave Hayden) accompanied me on my voyage from Hayden Island to the new Marina. What follows are the events and approximate times:

0915: Arrived at Schooner Creek, unloaded the boating gear from my car and took it all down to the boat.

0930: Came back up the ramp to find Frank and Dave waiting for me; They drove up to the marina in Frank's truck. I followed, then gave them a ride back to Schooner Creek. We left Frank's truck at the marina so we had a way to get back.

1030: On the way back from the marina we stopped at Boater's World. Although I brought the fuel tank and the engine, I didn't bring anything to get the fuel from the tank to the engine. I picked up a new fuel line and some fittings that might fit. None of them said they would fit Honda fittings, but they looked close (they didn't have any Honda fittings). I got half lucky; one of them worked on the tank side.

1100: Went down to West Marine and wandered around for a while, looking at expensive shit. I picked up an actual Honda fuel fitting.

1130: Back at the boat now, we hooked up the fuel line and started the engine. I let it run for about 10 minutes since it hadn't been run since last August.

1145: Underway now, we headed out to the swing span on the Burlington Northern railroad bridge.

1200: Arriving at the swing span, we saw that the bridge at the current river level had about 37' of clearance according to the guage. My boat is supposed to be 35' from the waterline to the top of the mast. I looked up at the top of the mast and noticed that I now had a Davis Wind Indicator. I didn't have one before and I didn't ask them to put one on. On the other hand, they didn't charge me for it either, so whatever.

1205: Just about to go under the bridge. The 10 seconds before we went under the bridge were fairly tense, as we were all pretty certain that we were going to hit. We cleared it by at least a couple inches.

1340: We arrived at the marina and tied up. I spent a little bit of time tidying up and installing a lock on the companionway hatch and dropboards.

1400: With the boat secured, we took off. I had some other things to do and it was starting to rain. I'll be back Wednesday and Thursday for all kind of fun boat work.

More Filler

2009-02-21T23:40:00.000-08:00

As I sit here in front of the computer at work, pondering a likely night of interrupted sleep, I'm reading the blog of Doryman, a fellow Coot. His subject matter is mostly boats, although it occasionally strays into politics, economics and philosophy. I'm pleased to say that all these posts generally come back around to boating by the end. He has some really good stuff; you should read it.

Also, I'm pondering my imminent liveaboard situation. This is, after all, the main purpose of this blog, is it not? Living aboard a boat is a dream I have had often over the years and here is my opportunity to live that dream (however unfortunate the circumstances surrounding such an opportunity may be). Someone recently told me of a friend (I don't remember the name of either person earlier mentioned in this sentence) who lived aboard his boat during the warm months and housesat for Snowbirds in the winter. Not a bad existence I think; maybe I should look into it.

I have lived in Oregon all my life. I pride myself on being a native Oregonian, choosing to disregard the fact that both of my parents came from other states. I tend to take further pride in having lived not only in the Willamette Valley (as most Oregonians do), but also having spent varying numbers of years in both Central and Coastal Oregon. I therefore consider myself a well-rounded Oregon resident.

With that situation comes a certain fear and trepidation of change, namely change of address. You see, my boat will be moored in Washington. I, however, am an Oregonian by birth and by spirit. I know I can keep my legal address in Oregon until the divorce is final, but what then? Do I really have to become a legal resident of Washington? Do I really have to give up my lifetime Oregonian status? Do I really have to pay that thing, the thing native Oregonians hate so much (sales tax...)?

Oh, the decisions to be made. There will be time for that though; no sense in rushing...

Quality Filler

2009-02-21T13:37:00.000-08:00

A fellow Coot nicknamed "Sourdough" sent me a message on our Yahoo Group about my Blog. It was good, so I thought I would republish here.

SD: Enjoying your Blog, Greg. I wrote some comments, sign-in was a bitch. So, here are my comments!

Random thoughts,

Do install the mushroom vent. If not too inconvenient, use a section or two of clothes dryer venting to put the incoming air down at floor level. Ventilation doesn't help if you don't have CIRCULATION and down low is where you need it most. On a similar vein, those little cubbyhole storage spots down low are the biggest trouble spots for mold and mildew.

Me: That is a good idea! I'll try and figure out a way to get the air to come in lower. Probably not dryer vent hose, but we'll see.

SD: Any local RV place has 6" dia. plastic dehumidifiers to place down there. Obviously, get the 12 v. ones! You have to drain out accumulated water once in a while and replace the desiccant (worth every penny).

Me: I didn't know those things actually worked. I'll get one and give it a shot.

SD: Do NOT live in there w/o a CO detector! Repeat after me: "I will obtain a CO detector". In fact, some fire departments pass them out for free........

Me: I already have one... The last thing I need is CO poisoning.

SD: Spare time - Yup, ditch the caffeine except for wake up time. Then read, read, read. Which means good lighting is a must. Get yourself a good Aladdin lamp. I have a source for replacement parts (hard to find). Bright light and too many shadows gets old very quickly. I love propane lights, but they put out a lot of moisture and are distractingly noisy in confined spaces.

Me: Jack's Country Store in Ocean Park Washington sells a whole bunch of Aladdin lamps and parts. I tried to get a gimbaled one but they didn't make them anymore and the new ones are awfully tall. I'm thinking about a regular old wick-type oil lamp. Do those work well?

SD: Folding dishrack? Psshaw! What are dishes? Paper plates, papertowels, paper bowls. Just wipe out your pots, any bugs left over just helps you to build up your resistance! And ya don't have to haul inwater for rinsing. Our society is much to fastidious. Really.

Me: Boy, I don't know. I'd have to find a place to dump all that paper waste. It's gonna be hard enough figuring out where to put a little garbage; where would I put all the disposables?

SD: About that dream-girl pic which you shamelessly "borrowed" from Duckworks, she looks like a very high-maintenance sort! Go to Google Images for "Natural and Hairy" for a more realistic "stimulus package".

Me: Ok, I didn't shamelessly steal that pic from Duckworks. If you look at the date of the weblinks article on DW you'll see that my photo was posted two days before. Chuck likes to use pics of women to increase readership ;-) She was supposed to be a Vegas Showgirl, but I had a hard time finding a pic of one I could use. Use the pic I mean...

SD: Store your dirty laundry and towels in plastic bags ON DECK or the trunk of your car. Your won't smell the "locker-room blast", but your visitors sure will. When possible, just heat water, don't boil; and when possible do your boiling on deck.

Me: Dirty laundry on deck is a good idea. I'll have to work on that.

SD: Avoid greasy foods; grease is your enemy when it comes to cooking cleanup. Or, here's a novel idea! Load up your greasy stuff in your pack when you go to beach combing and clean up with sand on the beach. Have your fast-food junkie friends collect napkins, condiment packets, and salt and pepper packets for you. You'll be glad you did.

Me: I don't eat much fast food, so I will have to work on others getting those things for me. Free is good!

SD: Your floor is the coldest: wear two pairs of socks, one heavy and one lighter.

Me: I've been giving this one a lot of thought. Carpet would be nice (that's what it has right now) but it tends to get wet and stay wet. Maybe removeable carpet?

SD: As always, stay grounded and put on your pants one leg at a time.

Always good advice...

Delivery Day! Almost....

2009-02-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Ok, so the mast is up, the boat is in the water, the bill is paid (roughly 5 months of basement rent's worth) and it's tied up the the Schooner Creek dock, ready to go.

Except I'm not.

You see, I had this really great plan all made up; supplies loaded, car shuttle taken care of, crew rounded up and scheduled. However, a co-worker called in sick last night, and apparently I was next on the overtime list.

You see, at my job it's hard to turn down overtime. Overtime opportunities are few and far between, so when a 24 hour shift (on an Engine no less) comes up, it's pretty hard to say no. Couple that with the bill I just paid and it's just about impossible.

Did I anger some people? Of course.

Will the boat get moved? Of course.

Most of my crew can make it tomorrow, which means that it will make it to the dock, I will get pictures and I will post them. It'll probably be in the rain, but what're ya gonna do.

More tomorrow...

Disappointment and Delays

2009-02-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, first off: No one sent me any questions. WTF? Have I really done that good of a job explaining all this?

Second: My boat is not ready. It will not be ready until the end of the week. Due to various scheduling issues involving my job, I can't pick the boat up until Saturday. The help I had arranged for today can't help Saturday, which means I'll have to find someone else. I have one "definite maybe" so far...

So, why is my boat not ready? Well, it seems that with all the cold weather we've been having lately, the epoxy hasn't set up as quickly as they would like. Apparently a Bayliner Buccaneer doesn't deserve as spot inside!

Ok, they're right. It doesn't deserve a spot inside. That's ok. Anyhow, they probably won't be able to get started on the bottom paint until tomorrow (you can't paint a repair that isn't completed), which means it'll go into the water by the end of the week. Hopefully.

On the upside, I did manage to make it down to the house to pick up a bunch of my boat stuff. Sails, boom, radio and various sundry items. Most of what I need to live is already on the boat; there's some stuff I bought for the boat at the house that I would have to install (cleats, chocks, etc...) that's still there and I'll pick it up later.

So, that's the scoop so far. I would love to have some really cool launching pics, maybe a few of a nice river run under the sun and my boat all tucked in at the dock. But, alas, it's still sitting in the yard, on stands, waiting for the epoxy to kick off enough to paint.

As long as it's done by the end of the month...

Questions?

2009-02-12T13:55:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd start this one off with a pic of my boat under sail. This was taken just east of Spencer Spit State Park on Lopez Island in the San Juans last year. Alycia Staggs took this pic from a Washington State Ferry; we met her and Eric while they were camped at the park; it turns out that Eric used to volunteer where I work now. You never know who you'll meet....

Anyhow, I don't have a specific topic today. I'm headed out for a weekend of fun and debauchery with some friends tomorrow morning and likely won't post again until Sunday night. I'd like to ask my loyal readers (all nine of them) to post any questions they may have. Equipment, plans, experiences (there aren't many yet), all are free game. You can either post a comment or send me an e-mail; I'll try and answer them Sunday.

Here's your chance to make this an interactive blog!

Heating and Ventilation

2009-02-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

The number one enemy of any liveaboard sailor is moisture. Sounds counter intuitive, no? We move onto boats to be on the water, then we expend a tremendous amount of energy keeping moisture out. It's moisture inside a boat that causes horrible things such as mold and musty odor. Remember that part about how musty odor negatively affects one's social life? I'd like to avoid that problem.

We have two main weapons against moisture. Can anyone guess what they are?

They're both in the title to this post...

That's right, Heating and Ventilation!

Here's my plan:

Heat the cabin
Ventilate the cabin
Repeat as required

My heat will come from a Force 10 Kerosene Heater. The link takes you to the Propane version, which is slightly different but looks the same. My Kerosene Heater is fed by a 2-gallon fuel tank which is pressurized by a bicycle pump to two atmospheres (roughly 29 psi) to force fuel up the hose to the burner. It is there that pyrolysis takes place, turning kerosene into heat; the exhaust gasses are vented upward through a 1" stainless steel exhaust pipe to the outside. It sounds like a jet engine (a quiet one) when it's running and does a good job of heating the small space.

The downside is that the heater is at roughly waist level. Heat rises, so I must have a way to circulate the warm air down and bring the cold air up. Generally, this is done with an electric fan. My boat came with a very old one that works ok, but it uses a lot of power and draws the battery down pretty quickly. It moves way more air than I need, so I'll probably switch to a smaller unit that draws 1 amp or less.

Ventilation is provided by the companionway slide and the forward hatch. These work for venting the boat, but can let in things like rain and critters. I just picked up a solar vent like this one at Columbia Marine Exchange. It works off the sun, powering a small fan that constantly draws air out of the boat, creating a negative pressure that allows outside air to come in. Hence, a constantly changing body of air. It will be mounted in the head, near the aft end of the cabin

Somewhere at the house I have a mushroom vent that I've been meaning to install. It works by turning that knob on the bottom (which is inside the boat) to push the mushroom portion up, allowing air to flow through with the threat of rain coming in. I think I will put it up forward, hoping that the air drawn out by the solar vent will be replenished from the mushroom vent and create a full flow-through airflow.

Lastly, I need to ventilate the enclosed spaces (like the galley cabinet and the storage areas under the settee). Somewhere along the way, I picked up the idea of using those little round soffet vents they sell for ventilating attics in houses. Here's one in plastic, but they also make them in aluminum. They're pretty cheap compared to most boaty stuff one could buy, and they do the job well.

Unfortunately, there's a good chance that all this won't be enough and I'll have to put in more ventilation. More ventilation means more openings, which means I have to drill more holes in my boat. More ventilation also means having to cover the holes to prevent rainwater intrusion, which also means more money.

I guess I'll have to live with it for a while and see...

Pictures!

2009-02-11T11:57:00.000-08:00

I finally got some pics to transfer from my camera to my computer. Here is the boat from afar. Looks kind of impotent without it's mast...

The keel repair is coming along nicely. You can see here that they have ground out quite a section of the fiberglass, it looks like they're going to do a first-rate repair!

Here is a close-up of one of the first layers, they started with some heavy stuff and I imagine they'll finish up with some lighter-weight stuff to get a fair keel bottom:

I couldn't get much of an interior shot, it's winterized so there's a bunch of extra stuff in the cabin and everything is opened up to promote air circulation. This is the galley:

That's all for now, I'll work on the ventilation/heating blog tonight if I have any time.

Progress!?

2009-02-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

So this installment was supposed to have a really great picture of my boat up on stands, keel being repaired, waterline taped off for new paint...

Except I can't get the computer to read my photo card. It really irks me. I guess you'll just have to take my word for everything today.

I spent most of today out-and-about, looking at various items that I may need for my new lifestyle. I had to drop the car off early at the dealership to have some stuff installed, and there was a Harbor Freight right across the street, so I stopped in to research thier electrical offerings.

Mainly, I wanted to look at their line of Generators. There were a couple there that may work, both Chicago Electric (cheapo) brand. I can get one with the same stated capacity as the Honda for $200. The extended 2-year warranty will probably cost an extra $50, but the thing isn't gonna last very long anyhow so the warranty is kind of a must.

I know, I know, Harbor Freight stuff sucks. It doesn't work well, and when it does it doesn't work for long. But come on, $250 and they'll replace the thing every month when it breaks. That's not bad...

I didn't buy it. I'm just considering my options.

Next up was Columbia Marine Exchange. Kim's stock is constantly changing, so it's worth stopping in every week or so to see what's new. I'm proud to say that she knows me by name now, which must mean that I'm a regular. There was a really cool folding plastic dishrack that I had to have (I hate drying dishes) and a solar vent that I've been wanting for quite some time. I had Kim order some hasps and locks to keep out the honest criminals; they'll be here in a few days. It's really nice to be able to go in and get cool old stuff and cool new stuff all in the same place.

After CME, it was off to Schooner Creek to check the progress of my boat and take a few measurements. I am happy to report that the keel repair is coming along nicely, they have a few layers of heavy woven roving down already and the waterline is taped off and ready to go. The lazarette had to be measured as a possible home for a generator, so I commandeered a ladder and climbed on up. Imagine my displeasure when I found the heater not plugged in and the upper drop-board laying in the cockpit.

For those of you unfamiliar with a drop-board: A drop-board is a flat piece of material (usually wood, fiberglass or plastic) that forms the vertical part of the companionway (the door going into the boat). The drop-boards go in vertically, then the companionway slide (a sliding hatch type thing) slides back over to cover the drop boards and form a mostly weather-tight seal.

Can anyone guess what problem we may be having when there's a dropboard not in place and a heater not plugged in?

Any ideas?

Anyone?

Moisture. Or, more accurately for today, rain and snow. The aft 2 feet of my cabin is soaked. I am not happy. I left a message for the service manager to call me, which he did a little later in the day. He quickly learned that I am not happy. He was apologetic (what else would he be?) and said he will get it taken care of immediately. On the upside, the boat has 6 days to dry out before it goes in the water. All is not lost (yet).

So, that's the status report for today. I have lots of really cool boat pics, but no way to get them onto the computer. I'm headed to the Fire Station for 48 hours of work tomorrow, so I should be able to stop by Radio Shack and ask them what's up with my computer.

Assuming I still have any time tomorrow, I'll write up something about heating and ventilation.

It'll be a good read. I promise.

The entertainment factor

2009-02-09T16:46:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be living all alone, not even a neighbor within earshot. Night comes early this time of year, which means turning-in sooner rather than later. What to do with all this free time....

This article actually relates to the previous one regarding electricity. It seems that most modern entertainment revolves around electrons flowing through wires to run those magical glowing boxes that effortlessly pull information from the electromagnetic waves that surround us. Take the magical box on which I am typing right now for instance...

Yes, right now. It's a small laptop, more properly termed a Netbook. I have an Acer Aspire One, a small netbook that's made primarily for surfing the web and writing e-mail, at which it excels. The downside? It has no CD/DVD drive. Yes, portability and neato-ness has it's price. I have to purchase an external drive if I want to use it as a DVD player. I also have an AT&T wireless internet card in the computer and the service at the marina is just fine. The downside is that it is capped at 5 GB per month, which could be quickly eaten up by my normal habit of watching hours of Hulu and Youtube.

I guess I could get a TV, there are quite a few 12 vdc units that are roughly the same size as the computer and come with an antenna tuner and a DVD drive. Like this one for instance. It cost $300, every penny as much as a larger TV for a house. Normally I would just go pick one up at my favorite used-parts Chandlery. However, with the digital transition looming, I will need to get a new one that already has a digital tuner. A 12 vdc TV from the early 80's just won't cut it anymore.

The bad part about both of those options is the cost in terms of electricity. Remember how I have only one battery and it gets charged once a week? Electronic entertainment will eat that up in a hurry.

There's always the radio. I can pick up a small battery operated unit at Goodwill for less than $10, and I probably will. I could also install a car stereo. I do enjoy the radio and I'm partial to NPR and local Alternative Rock stations.

Failing all that, I could just read books. Yes, actually get a bundle of paper with printed letters arranged to form words and sentences. I could study those strange characters, make sense of them and then have a coherent thought about them. The problem there is that my attention span has recently become close to that of a spastic 4-year old; I've tried to sit and read, oh how I've tried. I've tried fiction, I've tried non-fiction. I can't even make it through an entire newspaper article unless it's really compelling (which it normally isn't). Grrr....

The last option? Downers. Alcohol, benzos (Valium, Xanax, etc.), or whatever.

I don't plan to actually take that route, but I thought I'd list it for giggles. Paramedics tend to have odd senses of humor. Like the other night when I picked up a homeless guy at work and got mad at him when I realized he brought beer into my ambulance. I thought the funniest thing to do was to pull over and dump out his beer, and that's just what I did. Funny, no?

Anyhow... My sincere hope is that the slower, simpler life for which I'm striving will help to extend my attention span to something over 5 minutes in lemgth. I might even cut down on the coffee, which should help as well.

There is one thing I'm excited about that will hopefully take up some of my time; a long road with lots of room to ride my bike. Yes, exercise and fresh air, all at my front door (front hatchway????). There is a mile-long island really really close to my boat too, and it wouldn't take anything for me to row over and go for a stroll up and down the beach, maybe with a little weight in a backpack or (gasp!) at a dead run. Or a jog at least...

So let's see, what have we learned tonight?

Greg watches his electricity more closely than Scrooge watches his gold
Greg has an attention span that's in pace with today's modern lifestyle
Entertainment costs money
What were we talking about again?

Right, entertainment. You see, the whole point of this experiment/experience is doing more with less. I'm not going to give up my computer (if I did, how would you read my bits of wit?) and I'm not going to give up the radio either. I'm pretty sure that I won't get a TV, we haven't had cable at the house for quite a while so I won't miss it. Besides, the only place I watch TV is at work (ha!). I guess that, like most things in this experience, I can plan all I want. In the end, it'll just sort of work itself out.

Maybe I'll take a Valium and give that reading thing another try after all...

Food and such things

2009-02-08T14:15:00.001-08:00

A man has to eat.

Cooking on a boat requires a special level of fortitude. The space is small, the appliances gas powered. I don't have a whole lot of preplanning on this one, but what I do have I'll lay out for you.

I'll be doing without quite a few of the normal things that one lives with in a modern kitchen. For instance, I will not have:

Refrigeration
Hot water
Oven
Microwave
Dishwasher

What I do have is a cold water and two gas burners. One burner is your standard butane powered unit sold at the local sporting goods store, something like this. The other is a propane-powered seaswing stove pictured above. Both are installed in the boat. I plan on using the seaswing for boiling water for coffee, noodles, etc. The butane unit will be used for frying, sauteeing, and everything else.

How to bake though...

I have to admit that I like oven-baked chicken. Meatloaf is good too. It seems that there are at least a few options out there for me. One is a pressure-cooker. I'm not sure exactly how this works, but I've been told that it's a stove-top unit that tends to cook things rather quickly. Maybe if I can find one at Columbia Marine Exchange I'll give it a shot.

Another option is the Coleman Camp Oven. I have no experience with this one, but it seems to me that a friend of mine used one to bake a cake once. It too looks promising and appears as though it would be easier to store than a pressure cooker. I fear that it will be less efficient than the pressure cooker, causing me to burn more cooking fuel and put more moisture into the air.

Food storage will become an issue as well. You see, since I won't have any electricity, I won't have any refrigeration. There have been a few articles written on this topic too, and I have read them and think it can be done. One option is to have a cooler, although I'm not too excited about buying ice and draining off meltwater every couple days. It is an option, but one which I hope to avoid.

Happily, there are a few commonly-refrigerated staples which can be kept for a period of time without refrigeration. Eggs, cheese, butter and most vegetables for instance. I have a tray in the bilge under the aft berth designed specifically for this purpose. It stays close to the temperature of the water down there (right now somewhere in the 50's) and is accessible. I plan to keep all those semi-perishables luke-cold until they are needed for use.

In the end, it seems that I'll have to modify my diet, eating more canned and dry-packaged food and keeping fewer leftovers. I see more soups in my future, and probably a goodly amount of oatmeal. More numerous smaller shopping trips will have to be made (no more Costco), which means I'll have to resist the urge to kill the stupid people in front of me in line at Winco more than my current three times a month. I really like frozen fruit smoothies. I know that I can buy an inverter big enough to run my Magic Bullet Blender, but how to keep the fruit frozen? And there's the issue of the soy-milk that doesn't like to be warm. It seems I'll have to come about the answers to these questions by trial-and-error. It'll be fun.

Follow along and see how it turns out!

Electricity

2009-02-06T10:45:00.000-08:00

So here's the problem: I have no shore power. No household AC current. I have an inlet for it, but there's no plug on the dock.

What I do have is a 12 volt DC system. In fact, I just reworked and expanded it last summer. It works well and the power currently comes from one of two sources: the battery or the outboard. The battery is a Group 27 lead-acid deep-cycle that's maybe a year old. The engine is a 2008 Honda 9.9hp outboard with a 12-amp alternator.

Let's cover some terms real quick. Since I'm a firefighter, I'll relate it to water flow.

Voltage (volts) is basically equivalent to pressure in a water system, in other words a force to move something.

Amperage (amps) is equivalent to flow, or total volume pushed through.

Amp-hours When looking at batteries, you will often find something called an amp-hour rating. This is the number of amps that the battery can provide for one continuous hour. Let's say you have an 80 amp-hour battery; that means it can provide a flow of 80 amps for one hour, 40 amps for two hours, 20 amps for four hours, etc...

Wattage is amps x volts. For example, a 12 volt circuit providing 6 amps would theoretically be pushing 72 watts. Due to things like resistance and loss of efficiency, the exact number can vary slighty. In addition, most "12-volt" systems are actually somewhere closer to 13.6 volts. Wattage is also useful for converting the measurement of electrical energy from 12 volt DC to 110 volt AC.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about my specific problem. The only real way I have to charge my battery right now is by running my engine. I can idle at the dock, but that doesn't produce my amperage; the full 12-amps only comes into play when it's at cruising speed (I think about 4,500 rpm). That's one option, but let's look at a few others.

Solar power is always an option. The upside is that once it's installed it's pretty much automatic; it does what it does until it doesn't anymore. Right now, I'm looking at two panels; a Sunsei SE-1500 and an SE-4000. For now, ignore the prices listed.

The SE-1500 provides roughly 1.5 amps at full sunlight, and costs about $300 for a full installation; this leaves us with a cost of roughly $200 per amp. I could purchase two panels and connecting cord, which would leave us with roughly the same per-amp cost.

The SE-4000 provides roughly 4.0 amps at full sunlight and costs about $700 for a full installation; this leaves us with a cost of roughly $175 per amp.

Wind power is another option. I'm looking at this one. The total installation is pretty spendy at about $1,400. It too has the advantage of being automatic once installed. The downside is that it's big; I will have to put a mast that's about 6' tall on the back of the boat to clear the 46" rotor span. Another disadvantage for me is that I'm surrounded by trees, which will create fickle winds that windmills don't really like. It can, however, produce a whole bunch of power; up to 16.6 amps at 28 mph. At full tilt, that equals a cost of roughly $100 per amp. Pretty cheap when compared to the solar panels, but terribly inconvenient and noisy.

Generator power is the final option. Right now I'm looking at a Honda EU1000 generator. This particular unit can produce roughly 900 watts of power at full tilt. It also has an interesting feature; an 8-amp 12 vdc output that can be hooked straight up to the battery. This will allow my battery to reach full-charge in about 80 minutes. If I were to take the AC power of 900 watts and run it through a battery charger, I could theoretically power a 40-amp battery charger and charge my battery in only a couple hours. The generator costs about $700, and a 40-amp battery charger roughly the same.

$1,400 for 40 amps; that's about $35 per amp. Pretty cheap...

However, it requires attention. It has to be taken out, set up, plugged in, started, ran, shut down, unplugged an put away. There's also the noise factor (Honda's are quiet but still make noise) and the stink of the exhaust and the fuel. Let's not forget Carbon Monoxide too.

So, which is best? I'm not sure. I have to give it all some more study. Right now I'm leaning towards the generator with no battery charger and just use the 8-amp output. This will give me the advantage of 110 vac power for tools and such. It all costs money that I don't have, so any of these choices will have to wait.

For the time being, I'll motor down to St. Helens every week to dump my porta-potti and charge my battery. The trip should be roughly 5 hours round-trip, which means that I'll just about be able to fully charge a dead battery every week.

I'm also working to reduce my energy usage. I've already replace one of my halogen interior lamps with an LED bulb and I plan on removing the electric fresh-water pump in favor of a manual unit. I'll also install a gimbaled kerosene lantern for non-electric light and ambiance.

Once the boat gets on the water (right now slated for Monday, February 16th) I'll take some more pics of what I've done and put them up.

For the few loyal readers I have gained: Thanks! I'll post another topic this weekend sometime, although I'm not sure when...

Sanitation, part 2

2009-02-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

The other day a friend of mine asked, "So when you move on the boat does personal hygiene go out the window? Do you have a shower?".

In short, no and no.

Staying clean is important. It makes it easier to live with oneself, and in such a confined area it also helps to keep the general odor onboard to a minimum. Having a stinky living space can have an adverse effect on one's social life; specifically, it discourages repeat visits from friends and family. And I like visitors dammit!

So what's my solution? I'm joining a gym. I should belong to a gym anyhow, and my employer recently started offering a discounted membership rate at 24-Hour Fitness. It's cheap ($29.95/month) and having to attend the gym to bathe will hopefully encourage me to work out more, which is something I've been loathe to do lately. Sometimes I just need a good kick in the ass.

Aside from that, I am blessed to be employed as a full-time Firefighter. My work schedule is 48 hours on and 96 hours off (that's two days on and four days off) and all the stations have full bathroom and shower facilities. That means that at least two of six days my waste sanitation needs are taken care of by my employer. Additionally, three out of six days worth of showers are offered (the morning I go on shift, the morning in the middle and the morning I go off shift). The station at which I'm currently assigned has pretty nasty water, so I keep the showers there to a minimum, but come April I stand a better-than-50% chance of being assigned elsewhere, so that problem will be relieved in the short-term.

For smaller scale washing needs, I plan to use my galley sink. It is currently set up with an electric water pump, but I was able to pick up a foot-operated galley pump at Columbia Marine Exchange yesterday for a paltry sum. It needs fixed, but that's not hard. Why foot instead of hand operated? Two-words: hands free. Have you ever tried to wash one hand at a time? It's difficult, the job doesn't get done fully and you're bound to waste a bunch of water. It's kind of like the sound of one hand clapping...

Right here, I'd like to raise a big flag of thanks and support for Columbia Marine Exchange. They are located at McCuddy's Marina on Marine Drive (click the link for the address and phone number) and Kim (the owner) is the best friend a boating person could have. She is knowledgeable and her store is well-stocked with all sorts of used marine items at reasonable prices. There are a few items that she stocks new, but the really great thing is that she can order just about anything a person needs and can always beat West Marine's prices. Give her a call or stop in the next time you're after something.

Hmm, lets see, what else do we need to cover... Oh, that's right, laundry. Clean clothes and odor prevention go along with what I said at the beginning. Basically, my plan is to use a laundromat. I work in Salem, and my plan for right now is that the morning I get off shift will be spent at laundromat (preferably with free Wi-Fi) south of Portland. I can save up my laundry for six days and get it all done in a couple hours, get some serious internet surfing done and socialize. Laundromats are a good place to meet people, right?

So, I think that's about it for sanitation and hygiene. I'm sure I've forgotten something, and Lord knows it won't all work out how I've planned; I'm certainly keeping an open mind about my plans.

Next up: Electricity

Sanitation, part 1

2009-02-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

Let's start off with waste, hereafter known as #1 and #2.

There are a few choices one can make regarding this necessary amenity on a boat like mine.

1. Installed marine head (head = toilet) with a holding tank. When the tank gets full you have to go to a pumpout station and suck it all out.

2. Porta-potti. When it gets full you get to go to the pumpout station and dump it out.

3. Composting toilets, both commercial and homemade.

4. Rent a shoreside porta-potti, like the ones at the fair.

Let's investigate each in a little more detail, shall we?

1. Installed marine head - This is the most complex option, requiring not only a head (toilet) designed for such use but also a thru-hull for flush-water, a tank for holding the waste, and a deck access for pumpout, as well as flexible plumbing to connect everything. It takes up a lot of space and can have serious odor problems. Cleaning it out if it gets clogged is no fun either. The expense is moderate, especially since I the head itself all ready to go in my garage.

2. Porta-potti - These little gems can be had for a reasonable price (usually under $100) at any local sporting-goods store. The tank capacities are small and you actually have to dump it, causing you to at least have to see the waste as it goes into the receptacle, if not actually contact it. They can also have an unpleasant odor about them. It is the least expensive option for me, since I already have one onboard.

3. Composting toilets - We've only had indoor plumbing for a couple hundred years folks. What did we do before that? Contracted Cholera from poor sanitary conditions and died! Seriously though, today's neato commercially made composting toilets are pretty cool. I'm especially excited about the Airhead, which promises to compost your #2 in no time! Your #1 gets separated and directed to a storage bottle for separate disposal through an ingenius design that's actually designed around the human anatomy! What a concept! It's pretty sweet and my personal favorite. However, it costs just under $1,000. A little too much money right now...

4. Shoreside porta-potti - We've all used these plastic closets at various fairs, concerts and other events. They usually stink and require a service contract for regular cleaning and emptying. In my case, it would require permission of the landlord, and I'd like to impose on him as little as possible.

So, given the above conditions, I've decided that the best thing for me to do right now is use my small Porta-Potti and empty it regularly. The nearest pumpout station is about 10 river miles away. I figure that given my frequency of use (I only spend about half my nights at home) I can make it last about a week between dumpings (hehe, "dumpings"). If I can use shoreside facilities at places like work and the gym (more on that later...) then I can probably make it last even longer.

Next up: Personal Hygiene

At the yard

2009-02-04T13:34:00.000-08:00

Today was the day to get the new home to the boatyard for a couple repairs and some new bottom paint.

Now, in case you didn't already know, I used to have a really nice 2006 Toyota Tacoma that I used to tow my boat. It worked very well and had lots of power. Unfortunately, I rolled and totaled it on Christmas morning going to work. Now I have a Honda Element; much smaller but gets the same gas mileage (?????).

That being the case, I had to figure out a way to get my boat from the house in Turner up to the boatyard on Hayden Island in North Portland. Enter my good friend and quasi-coworker, Dustin. He has a nice mid-90's Dodge Dakota with the heavy suspension and a V-8. It actually has a higher tow rating than my old Toyota. He was going to tow the boat up for me, but late last night he got called to work an extra shift on the ambulance and couldn't do it. Luckily he trusts me (I'm not sure why) and let me borrow the truck anyhow.

I got to the house nice and early this morning to get the boat ready and up to the yard as soon as possible. The ice storm we had last month had caused a few branches to come down on the boat and tear the tarp, but I didn't think there was any damage. I untarped the boat and noticed that the forward hoop of the bow pulpit (front railing) where the mast lays was bent down. Apparently one of those branches was indeed big enough to cause some damage...

So, I hitched up the trailer and go moving. I stopped for fuel and coffee in Brooks, then made my way slowly up I-5 to Hayden Island. It took me a little while to find the yard, but I eventually did and dropped the boat off. I talked with the service advisor guy (I'm sure he has a more proper title) and told him about the bow pulpit damage; he said he would get me a quote.

The yard I have chosen is Schooner Creek Boatworks on Hayden Island in Portland. I would like the title to their webpage, but I haven't figured out how yet. They have given me a rock-solid quote for the bottom paint (almost $700) and will soon give me a quote for the cracked keel and the bow pulpit. I am anxiously awaiting the dollar amounts to see how much I have left to spend on other stuff.

Next up: Sanitation considerations

The beginning

2009-02-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

I'm getting a divorce and I've decided to live on my boat!

What's so special about that? Why is that worthy of a blog?

A few reasons:

1. My boat (A Bayliner Buccaneer 240) is small by most liveaboard standards

2. The marina I have chosen has no electricity or running water to the dock

3. The marina I have chosen also has no shoreside bathroom, shower or laundry facilities

4. Neither does my boat...

So, as you can see, I'll be living a very minimalist, off-the-grid type of existence on the boat. Let's explore a few things:

The Boat

My new home is a 1976 Bayliner Buccaneer 240. It is 24' long and is rumored to be able to sleep as many as 6 people. This is obviously based on horizontal square footage and not on practicality. Sure, you could fit 6 people inside this boat and they could all sleep. Most would have to be small and not mind being in constant contact with everyone else. More realistically, we could cruise and sleep with three folks who aren't involved romantically (read: don't sleep together). But, it'll just be me with an occasional guest (I hope), so I'll be making use of that extra bunk space for other things.

The boat has a number of amenities. Among them:

Enclosed head area
Full galley
Onboard water system
5'10" of headroom
A goodly amount of room for a 24' boat
An externally vented Kerosene heater
A brand-new Honda outboard (you'll understand later...)

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I don't do things like this without giving it at least a moderate amount of forethought. I have plans for all of the above listed problems, and I promise to lay out my perceived solutions for all these problems. I'll even explore the realities of these situations and what I may do different as time goes on!

Coming up tomorrow: Taking the boat to the boat yard to get it ready for the river.