Watermaker Install 3

We have located and installed the control panel and the two pressure vessels as shown below

AquaMaax Control Panel Installed in the Shallow 

Locker Below the Galley Sink

This is the Wet Locker Where We Have 

Installed the 2 Pressure Vessels

Pressure Vessels Installed

The Blue Line is the Product Water Line

Lower View of Pressure Vessels

Top of the Pressure Vessels Showing Feed and 

Discharge Connections and Product Water Line

The Brass Fitting at the Upper Left is the Cockpit Locker Drain

Bad Weather 2

The wind in the marina is currently 21 knots from the east - consistent with the counter-clockwise movement of the low.  

Bad Weather

Saturday Radar

The weather map is not good at the moment.  The winds off the Strait of Juan da Fuca is in the 50 to 60 knot range.  The same speeds are showing up in the lower area of the Strait of Georgia.  BC Ferries have cancelled all sailings in the southern portion of the Strait until further notice.  Flights at YVR are delayed or cancelled because they can only use the cross wind runway (Runway 12/30).  We very rarely see this runway in use, but the winds are such that it is the only runway open at the moment.  

Reset the Flag Counter

We have reset the flag counter.  We are getting a lot of page views, but it is a flow through of sites that are somehow not legitimate.  The flag counter registers page views of people who are actually interested in the site.  

Living Aboard and The "Real"World

It has now been six years since we took delivery of Terratima and started a different life style afloat.  For us, this has been and continues to be a choice.  We simply would rather live on our yacht than in a house, apartment, or condo.  We are not knocking houses, or apartments, (or condos), we simply find life simpler, less complex and more rewarding being afloat.

We'll admit it's not for everyone.  However, we find our life with the marina and boat community more diverse, more communicative, more balanced, and certainly more friendly than any place we have ever lived.  It is true that what binds us together is the water - and our boats.  But it is also more than that.  There is an additional ingredient in every sailor.  It is that sense of exploring what lies beyond the horizon.

We are bound here for a slight time longer.  We are faced with a decision of retiring in spite of it being a meagre retirement from a financial point of view, but the equation at this point is just having enough to live on and cruise the world with the wind at our backs.  We have had enough of the rat race and the values it holds dear.  We side with God and look to our daily bread on the faith of His Word, and our love of the sea.  

Labelling the Clutches

I had re-rigged the clutches a while back to help us better manage the main sail in higher winds.  The mainsail outhaul and the furler were on the same side and did not allow us to use the winches effectively.  To shorten sail, we needed to release the outhaul and then winch in the furler.  Without a winch right there to keep tension on the outhaul as you furl, you get into trouble really quickly.  The new arrangement solves the problem.

Furler and Spare Mainsail Halyard on One Side

Main Sheet, Staysail Sheet, and Mainsail Outhaul

on the Other. 

Working on Amateur Radio License.

I need to get an Amateur Radio License to get the most from our Icom IC-M802 single side band transceiver.  Studying the guide for the basic license and will write the exam in December.  Trying to do this on top of everything else.  Curious, here is the Amateur Radio Fact Sheet.

WATERMAKER INSTALL

The first portion of the install is done.  This includes the high pressure pump and its electric motor, the 20 and 5 micron filer housing, and the charcoal filter housing.  We had to make a bracket for the high pressure pump.  I did not want any "amateur" installation of these components (i.e.  me doing it) so we had Prodigy Marine make and install the bracket.

View of Engine Room with High 

Pressure Pump and Motor

Placement of Filer Housings.  Background is

the Charcoal Filter.  To the Right is the 20 Micron/5Micron 

Filter Housing

View of the 20Micron/5Micron Filters

WATERMAKER INSTALL

We are going to document the installation of our AquaMaax Watermaker.  We planned out the installation with Dave from Prodigy Marine and have diagrammed it below.  Everything is VERY compact.  The 2 pressure vessels will be mounted on the side wall of the wet locker.  All of the connections are a short distance from each other.

Layout of Watermaker Components. 

We will be doing the installation over the next several weeks  (taking our time).   

So Remiss

Sorry for all the sporadic posts.  It's been hectic.  It has taken over a week of down time to even relax a bit.  Here are some shots so far from a bit of cruising:

Megayacht "Eileen" Anchored Close By in Pender Harbour

The Dock at Fisherman's (Now John Henry's) 

in Pender Harbour

Looking Toward Hernando Island from Lund Harbour

A Blue Heron on the Breakwater - Lund Harbour

Coming up soon, the installation of our new AqauMaax water maker.  

Water-maker Part 2

After much deliberation and research and a couple of false starts, we have settled on purchasing an AquaMaax water-maker.  We will be doing a step-by-step on the install as soon as we are able

Bimini Side Curtains

Spent the last weekend working away in the office on side curtains for our bimini with our trusty Sailrite Ultrafeed.

One Section of the Curtain Completed

Our Table Set Up and Ultrafeed 

Sewing Machine

Another Panel Almost Finished

Sewing Along the Rough Edge

Sewing Along the Hemmed Edge

Know Your Boat

We have been aboard this boat for over five years yet we are still learning how all the systems interact.  Last Wednesday, I came home to find that the battery monitor reading 11.7 volts and the batteries showing significantly drained.  We had no idea what was wrong.  The charger was working (we checked both AC input and CD output with the multi-meter.

Well as it turns out, we looked t the DC panel and noticed a switch on the battery panel.

Island Packet's Main Battery Panel

Notice the switch to the right that has guards above and below it - this one:

Charger Output Switch 

I had noticed this and then again NOT noticed it until I took a good look and found it was OFF.  Turn it on, and all is well again.  The battery monitor again reading as it should when on shore power:

Xantrex Battery Monitor Reading As It Should 

I have seen that switch a thousand times and yet when I had a problem, it never occurred to me to check it.  Lesson learned:  KNOW YOUR BOAT'S SYSTEMS!

Bimini Enclosure Curtains

We've started the process of making the Bimini enclosure curtains.  We added the zippers and patterned the side curtain.

Port Side Zipper Added to the Length

Aft End of the Port Zipper

The Aft Zipper Can Be Seen as the Second Black Line

Aft Portion of the Starboard Zipper

We will have more pictures of the pattern and subsequent work on the enclosure.  

Boat Maintenance

I arrived back to the boat after work earlier this week and my wife greeted mw with the news that there was water in the engine room and that there was no pressure at the galley sink faucet.  I checked out the water pressure elsewhere in the boat (faucets at the sinks in both heads) to find all was fine, so it was not the pressure pump.

We had some difficulty once before with the sprayer on the faucet.  The rubber hose was protected by the spiral wind of a metal cover and I found a split in the rubber hose and water leaking down to the engine room beneath.

This time around, it turned out to be the OTHER end of the hose and that was much more difficult.  Nothing in the documentation of the boat gave me any hint of how to get to the water and drain connections to the sink.  As it turns out, there is a plywood cover box that houses the entire sink and drain area and that box is covered with acoustic protection.   This was deduced after a lot of investigation.

So here is the chaos:

Faucet Sprayer Removed and Top of Faucet

A Bit Fuzzy, This is the View in the Engine Room.  

Bottom of the Sinks on the Upper Left,

the "Box" that Encloses the Sink and Fittings

from the Rest of the Engine Room

New Faucet in Place

A Month Gone By

A whole month flashes by.  I had promised myself I'd be more diligent in posting and tracking our life aboard our yacht.  We have been really busy with some interesting projects in the office.  We were relatively slow for 2015, but things have become very busy lately.  (And we certainly hope it stays that way for a while).

Portage College Proposed Heavy Equipment Trades Building

Farewell John. We'll Miss You

When we first came to this marina, we met Dr. John Faulkner.  He had the boat in front of ours.  He had lived in this marina for 25 years on his boat Tjaldur.  In 2011, he lost his son Chris.  It was a sad and sobering reality to face.  In 2013, he moved to Bowen Island.  The marina there had services close by and was much more convenient for him.

We heard today that John passed away a few days ago on his boat.  Dear John, we will miss you.  May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.  Farewell.

  

Dr. John Faulkner Aboard Tjaldur

John and Crew Preparing to Depart for Bowen Island