Generating some headaches...

You are on my list Mr. Generator and its not the Nice list

I like blog posts that neatly wrap up a topic into a tidy little page. I am not a fan of the "to be continued" type of storytelling. This is the reason you've not heard much lately, because the big project right now is still dragging on and on and on. Our generator is generating some serious headaches.

Our current decor theme on Ceol Mor, piles of tools every where

Our generator probably dates back to the original commissioning of Ceol Mor, most likely sometime in early 1985. Due to the fact that Ceol Mor was largely a dock queen, there are only 1200 hours on it. A well cared for diesel engine will probably outlive most people, so we thought rectifying the fact that we were dealing with sooty exhaust would probably be fairly quick and painless.

Yeah. After almost 3 years of refitting we are either eternal optimists or just really naive. Suffice it to say, that there has been a whole lot of us Cha Cha-ing with the generator. 2 steps forward, 3 steps back and not a whole heck of a lot of progress. It's annoying both Mark and I so much that I am not even going to get into all the dance steps we have taken thus far but will save it until the project comes to a conclusion. Then we will not only have a functional generator but a neatly wrapped up, tidy blog post as well. It will be like freaking Christmas.

Rather than get schmoopy about what hasn't gone right, I'm going to happily blather on about a project that has gone right. Ceol Mor now has the ability to be hooked up to a dock water hose and wonder of wonders, to have dockside water at the flick of a tap.

Never mind the construction dust, WATER!

Mark plumbed it all in, cut into the coaming (cutting any holes in the boat always freaks me out. Even ones well above the water line) and installed an outlet, plumbed some more and voila! WATER!!!

Yet more tidy plumbing

The naysayer in me would point out that we are unlikely to be tied to many docks while out on our cruise but its a function that was missing and since we are tackling the plumbing, might as well get it done. Lest you think it was all a perfect project, there were a couple of fittings that had to be removed, replaced and adjusted to rectify some leakage but all in all, a fairly straight forward project. Thank you Universe, for balancing out the stupid generator.

The fully functional, well plumbed inlet for dock water

September has come and passed and while work on the boat has been slow, the kid project has been zipping along at a blistering pace. I am just now starting to get a handle on our school year schedule and I have to say that I am really looking forward to homeschooling as it will be easier on me.

Maura's schedule literally has me ferrying her to activities every week day. She is really throwing herself into making the most of what should be her last year of public school. And while I love her enthusiasm, this would be much, much easier if she could drive herself. It's hard to complain because for the most part, she is just becoming a really helpful and grateful person so I just shut up and drive.

Kitty has started preschool. She is going 2 days a week and she absolutely adores it. Even though this means that the 2 days following school consists of her being totally and completely exhausted, its all worth it when she pipes up "I have school today! I LOVE SCHOOL!". So it makes for a bit of a challenge trying to adjust to the new schedule but its totally worth it.

Speaking of Kitty, can I just say how much fun a 3 year old is? To be sure, they are probably the most challenging age but she is just so darned fun it all balances out. Today, Kitty was deliriously happy because it actually rained. We've been in a drought for so long I think she thought rain was something that only happened in the movies. Today, it rained and she had her zebra boots to wear in the puddles, an umbrella to shelter her as she walked around saying "Tut tut! It looks like rain" while wearing her Supergirl dress. Kitty likes to dress for an event EVERY day but this Supergirl dress is currently her most favorite thing ever. She insists on wearing it every.single. day.

No matter how manky it gets ( I have to sneak it into the wash) it will always make me happy that she believes that when she puts her Super Kitty dress on every morning, it means she is going to work. To save the world. 3 year olds rock.

Jewelry Schmewlry. Hardware a girl really wants...

I know lots of women who think that nothing says 'I love you' quite like a nice piece of jewelry. I like jewelry as much as the next girl, but this week I got an even better materialistic representation of Mark's adoration of me. Houston, we have a water heater. Those of you who are living on land with access to plentiful water at the flick of a tap, dispensed immediately at your desired temperature might not understand my glee at this most recent development, but my fellow boat babes will understand. Testify my sisters! Having the ability to heat water without the use of a tea kettle and stove is pretty darned luxurious living. I can't wait until it is all plumbed in. Yes, I will still be forced to wet down, turn off the tap, lather up, then turn on the taps to shower in an effort to keep our water usage to a minimum but that little spray of water will NOT be cold. This is awesome.

 I was so excited at the prospect of getting this on the boat I did not even mind the fact that I looked like a Clampett family member transporting this huge box in the passenger side of my mom's tiny little car. (My car is in the shop in an attempt to keep the Hoopty running for just one more year....) Kitty was disappointed that such a huge box did not contain something a bit more exciting. She was convinced that such a large box must contain something really amazing and you could see the disappointment on her face when I told her that while said box did not contain a pony, it had something even better- a water heater. Maura also seemed a little dubious as to the awesomeness of said water heater. I think I will let them shower in cold water for a bit so that later they can have an appreciation for how awesome our little Iso Temp really is.

We took break from making template patterns for the forward cabin seat cushion (me, messing up my first attempt) and from redesigning the engine exhaust system (Mark) to rectify what we think are serious design flaws to kick it around the docks with the kids.

Kitty's favorite place to go in all of Kemah is Kemah Hardware. Fortunately for her, they carry so many of the copper fittings, epoxy, etc, that she is pretty much assured of regular trips. This time she was beyond excited because in addition to some copper fittings, we were going to acquire a crab net of her very own and promised to take her crabbing. Mark, thinking he knew better than I- despite never having crabbed in his life insisted that what Kitty needed was a tiny bait net. I knew it wouldn't work but I let it go because Kitty was so jazzed about having a net of her own I couldn't bear to steal her joy.

After procuring the requisite chicken legs (how is it you can no longer buy just the necks anywhere? Galveston Bay- you have changed) we went off with bucket in hand to get to crabbin'. Mark thought all this production would be a waste of time. "You will never catch a crab" he said. "Check my birth certificate" I said. "Hello..SEABROOK NATIVE. I guarantee we will catch a crab. I spent endless hours playing around this bay as a kid and while it was too murky for swimming there were crabs a plenty. Galveston Bay=crabs.I am like the crab whisperer. I'm all Deadliest Catch on Galveston Bay. Trust me." I informed him knowingly.

So off we went. We did not manage to land a crab because I timed it wrong and the tide was coming so our crabs kept getting knocked off the line before we could attempt to net them. I should add that after seeing the inadequacy of his preferred net, Mark went off and added an extension. I didn't mind because I was able to smile the satisfied smile of the correct. Of course, Mark got all Captain Perfecto on us and the extension is a bit more finely crafted than mine would have been but its all good. Kitty can not wait to go crabbing again and she really hopes to land one next time. Maura is happy just to kick it around the water and I am just happy to get to spend a little bit of time with them all wasting time in pursuit of crabs. Soon enough, I shall be able to introduce the girls to the fun of crab drag racing.

Dubious Mark

Now a believer, Mark tried to bring the crab along the dock. I told him it wouldn't work, he did not listen. The crab let go. Hello- listen to the crab whisperer next time. Pull up slowly, scoop quickly. Be one with the crab...

In High Cotton

We fired up the engine. This might seem like a non-momentous occasion until you realize that it has been over a year since it was last started. The fuel lines have been disconnected for a year as Mark began working on the big project marked "plumbing". The plumbing punch list includes not only replacing all of what you would normally consider plumbing- i.e. water lines, toilet lines, etc. but also the fuel lines which feed the engine and generator. It has been an enormous job. You don't realize how big a 42 foot boat is until you decide to totally redo the plumbing lines...or the electrical wiring.

As Mark finished hooking up the fuel lines after his massive over haul of the fuel filtration system, having just finished the seawater lines to the engine and generator, our fingers were crossed. The generator seawater impeller was replaced (more on this later), the engine flushed and the engine was primed using the new fuel pump. It was now or never.

Mark went up to the cockpit, turned the key and...it fired up the very first time. Only sailors who have previously dealt with a cantankerous old diesel engine (are there any other kind of engines?) will understand, but it turned over the first time. The exhaust was not overly smoky, the engine was not belchy, the vibration was noticeably lessened and the exhaust water was sputtering out of the stern as we had hoped. WINNING!!!

Marine diesel repair sounds so simple in the abstract but in reality, every tiny repair or modification is a giant pain in the butt. The simple sounding task of replacing the generator seawater impeller was made incredibly time consuming by just trying to find the right impeller. Our first attempt at ordering one online ended up in us having the absolute wrong one. Turns out we need an Oberdorfer impeller which as far as I can tell is made by one person who lives alone somewhere in the Alps and the parts are delivered to the post only once a month when the snows clear enough to allow the pack goats through. Also, Karl the impeller maker is getting pretty sick of making these so his production is dependent on whether he feels like it or not. So we ordered the right make and the right size, it was the bore diameter which was wrong. We managed to score one on our second attempt and you can bet that we are having Karl whip up another to carry as a spare.

Our dock neighbor Hugh stopped by. Hugh is sort of the Dock Daddy genius, experienced sailor and talented engineer of our dock. His boat, which he designed and had  custom built by Tashing is hands down the most perfect and beautiful vehicle for cruising I have ever seen. To say his boat is well thought out and absolutely beautiful would be a gross understatement. I do not covet many things, but his boat is the one thing I would give a kidney for. I say this so you understand how over the moon and chuffed Mark was when Hugh exclaimed that the fuel filtration Mark designed was the most functional, elegant, tidy and practical installation he had ever seen. What took 3 separate filters to do on Hugh's boat, Mark managed to do with only 2 and to retain every bit as much functionality as the 3 filter system Good on ya Mark. I told ya it was something to be proud of.

So now its time to take a moment to sit back and toast the work done on the engine. I say a moment because well, the generator is generating some consternation and difficulties of its own. Of course. Enough so that its going to get a post of its very own. Like I have said before- boats are really stupid.

 I have been anxiously awaiting 2 things to happen. One for late summer to get here so I could grab a photo of the local cotton crop ( I love cotton ) and 2. For something to go so well that I could use the phrase "In high cotton". I was worried these 2 requirements would not align, but this week they did.

Inch By Inch...

...the refit keeps moving on. We lost a full week due to Mark having to be out of town but hey, they pay him for these little jaunts so we try to take it all in stride. We like the refit to keep moving forward but a paycheck is necessary for this to happen right now so a week behind schedule? Schedules are for airlines and even they aren't capable of sticking to one. Keep on keeping on...

We've reached a point where we can start whipping the engine compartment into shape. It, like every other hidden bit of the boat was a mass of poorly routed hoses and random add ons taking up twice as much space as necessary. Since Ceol Mor is an aft cockpit boat, we do not have the luxury of a big engine compartment so making this area as tidy as we can is a priority. We have an old faithful Perkins which should out live all of us but in order to make that happen, we have to be able to tweak and coax her into chugging along with early and often maintenance. Having the engine be as accessible as possible will be appreciated the first time we have to do some engine trouble shooting and repair at sea. Notice I did not say 'if', I said 'when'. It's inevitable so it makes sense to plan ahead.

Before

So the old hoses which ran every which way, were unsupported and had mismatched hose and bar sizes have been replaced, rerouted, clamped, checked and organized. The old filter installation which compounded the clutter due to having separate sea water and fuel filters for the engine and generator have been replaced by a single seawater filter and manifold which supplies both the engine and generator.A dual fuel filter and manifold has been installed to supply the engine and generator. Mark designed and built the fuel filter assembly which includes valves for fuel polishing and online filter replacement and selection. Everything is labeled to identify valve function and position for various operating modes (no guessing!).We have installed new sound insulation through out the compartment.

After

If we ever do have to repower, it will seem like a piece of cake after all of this!

Kitty loves nothing more than helping with the boat. She is our quality control inspector.

What's That Saying?

Busier than a one legged man at a butt kicking contest? Yeah. That would be Mark. A butt kicking contest in Sub Sahara Africa with 80% humidity. The man deserves accolades not just for keeping the refit moving forward, but doing it in extreme weather conditions. Man, it has just been stupid hot and poor Northern European Mark has been sweltering in the belly of the boat making daily progress, though that progress can be measured in inches a day. Did I mention it has been really hot? Ok, there is my yearly complaining about the heat done.

After our mini-cruise last summer, Mark decided to rip out the plumbing and rectify what can only be described as a huge freaking mess topped with a bit of random chaos. So you want to check the fuel level in the tanks? Grab that handy dowel rod, maneuver your way through THIS :

open an inspection port, thread dowel into the opening and guess. Even better, try to do it while the boat rolls and pitches. Seems a something a bit less like "yachting" and more like something from Bobby Ray's Redneck Yacht Club*. ( I am from the South. My Dad actually has a cousin named Bobby Ray and while he is not a Redneck he comes from a long line of them. It is my heritage, I know Redneck Engineering when I see it and this is a fine example of it).

Its not just trying to discern the fuel levels that was a challenge. Doing any kind of troubleshooting or maintenance was just about impossible. We had no schematics, 12 diesel lines for each supply configuration from the 2 tanks to the engine and generator, 4 selector valves for engine and generator supply and return, unidentified and unsecured lines running here and there, multiple electrical cables running every which way, an water drain line with a gate valve whose purpose was a mystery, water and drain lines and air conditioning tubing just sort of shoved in there and even better, the condensation line from the ac was allowed to just drain into the boat interior which caused water to pool in various low lying areas as it meandered to the bilge which caused the teak and holly sole to swell and bow. Seriously. A HUGE FREAKING MESS.

Nice labeling, huh? So yes, it has taken almost an entire year to get this sorted. To be fair, we had other projects (such as the master cabin) that distracted a bit but finally, finally it looks as if we are ready to hook the diesel lines up to the fuel filter system Mark completed at Christmas. Christmas. The man deserves a medal.

No Mark project would be complete with out a schematic. I tease him about his obsession with them, but honestly I do not know how people manage to troubleshoot systems without them. If it all goes pear shaped and I need to track down an electrical or plumbing problem, even I- a bear of little brain can do it. All I need to do is open up the handy boat book and voila! There is the schematic I need for whatever system needs attention. We are never going to sell Ceol Mor but if we did, I would tack on another 5k just for the schematics. :) A first time boat buyer would scoff, an experienced one would say "What a bargain!".

And so after months and months of careful and painstaking work. This is what the under sole area now looks like.

Everything is labeled and has a diagram to show which direction is open, which is closed. The 12 diesel lines have been reduced to 7 and are labeled. 4 valves have been replaced with one 6 port valve. We have added a fuel pump. The dowel rod has been retired and we now have THESE tank level sensors installed. All the water lines have been replaced and secured as well as the AC lines. The electrical runs have been routed through ducting.The diesel fill and vent lines have been rerouted to give greater access and for the finishing touch, a light has been mounted so that when you need to work in this area, you can actually see what you are doing/ Phew.

Let us once again admire Mark's handywork. Its not just a refit, its ART.

Now if you will excuse me, I think I really owe Mark a beer. Or 3. Seriously.

Rites of Passage

Its summer. Despite the fact that the calendar says its is not yet officially summer, the fact that the daily temperatures are flirting with the notion of spiking upwards towards the 100 Farenheit mark means its summer no matter what the calendar says.

Maura has indulged in the American teen rite of passage of running around with friends, swimming and catching up on all the tv she missed during the school year. Kitty enjoys the summer rite of passage of dancing in the sprinklers as they make a vain attempt to keep the green stuff from turning a crispy brown. Sailors have rites of passage too.

The first rite of passage is for your surveyor, no matter how good and how thorough to miss something big on your pre-purchase survey. This will be monumentally time consuming, or expensive or both. Happens to everyone. Expensive miss? Check.

Another sailing rite of passage is to have your engine fail at a time when it would be a really good thing to have your engine. Like when coming into a narrow, busy marina lane and no, boats do not have brakes. Check.

Then there is the first time overnight at anchor when you hear the weird bacon sizzling noise of tiny crustaceans doing god knows what around your hull.Check. Running aground. Check. Ripping a sail. Check. Anchor refusing to set/dragging. Check. See? These are all rites of passage that everyone who sails will encounter eventually. We are no more cursed or blessed than anyone else. I just figure its all part of it and make a check list to count down the inevitable.

With the heat coming on gang busters, we had the opportunity to experience yet another rite of passage. In order to keep the refit moving forward, it is an absolute necessity to run the ac while sitting in a windless marina. An ac that requires an intake through hull. An intake through hull that will eventually, suck up some poor unsuspecting sea creature to its demise. I was hoping we would get a squid because they tend to be squishy and a little easier to extract but no. Our sea creature is of course an over achiever so what did we get? A big, fat  fish. That sucker was seriously wedged in there.

Mark tried everything he could to get the fish out without resorting to cutting the lines. He tried working on it from the outside, the inside, from every conceivable angle but in the end- due to a 90 degree angle, the lines had to be cut in order to remove the now very dead fish. Mark was annoyed that the intake was designed in such a way that he could not rod out the intake. You know what that means. he is busy redesigning the intake/strainer set up to avoid this. Ceol Mor will be getting a completely redesigned ac system that will allow rodding of any and all through hulls.

Refit project list expanding project by project despite your best efforts to whittle it down? Check.

Its Just Never Easy

Ever have one of those days where despite your best attempts, despite your careful attention to  precise execution, nothing seems to go as planned? We have a lot of those days on Ceol Mor.

Kitty's most recent frustration was do to her desire build a drum kit which kept slipping on the slick table causing her to drop her groove. Some days, we feel exactly the same way kid.

My most recent frustrations were due to the wind picking up after being dead calm as I laid out painted panels to dry and my never ending on going battle with my sewing machine which I am pretty convinced is intelligent, cognizant  and for some reason is very, very angry with me. Mark's frustration of the day (he gets daily ones) is the routing of hot and cold pressurized water lines.

It seems the industry standard for plumbing runs is to just shove the hose in any available space and call it good. Since we want to maximize the space in the boat, keeping everything tidy so we can utilize every single centimeter of space and since Mark is Captain Perfecto and therefore can not sleep until he manages to execute a complete redesign of all the systems to a level of perfection never before seen except on nuclear class subs, its slow going. Just planning out and beginning the install of the hot and cold pressurized lines ate up a good 2 days and its still ongoing.

Our pace is also slowing down a bit due to the heat. Whether you call it 32c or 94f its essentially the same thing. Freaking hot and its only going to get worse.In a vain attempt to keep the boat at a tolerable level while we work, we have installed our awesome boom tent. By awesome, I mean completely Red Neck fabulous. I would love to have one of these Ronstan Air Arch or one of these Shade Tree but at around $700 for either of them, our $50 TP version starts to look really good. If I just can learn to play Dueling Banjos on the banjo, I think I can convince the marina neighbors its a stylistic themed choice. All we lack are old tires for fenders and an old green sofa on the foredeck and we are good to go.

In other news of progress, the "varnish lady" has been hard at work applying the varnish to the new teak and holly sole in the master cabin. Due to that particular piece of mill work being on the spendy side, we opted to hire someone who does varnish every single day to finish it. Mark will let me varnish exterior stuff because it doesn't matter how perfect or imperfect it is, you are going to have to redo it sooner rather than later anyway but interior stuff requiring a bit more control and finesse? Best to hire it out. I figure I will post a photo when its done, instead of taking shot after shot as each layer is applied. That would be sort of like watching paint dry. No actually, it would be EXACTLY like watching paint dry.

Wash Down Pump Installed -Verdict In

If we have learned anything in our 3 years of refitting (who's counting, right?!?!?) its that many times things that sound like a great idea can disappoint you in oh, so so many ways. Let's face it, there is a ton of stuff-gadgets and geegaws a plenty-out on the market to festoon your boat with. Lot's of stuff that while they say it will make life easier, your boat sail faster and make you more attractive and more fun at parties, often just leaves you with a lighter wallet, missing a weeks time and something else that will inevitably need repair. This is not the case with our new wash down pump. This thing is awesome!

Mark got the pump and the necessary plumbing installed. The hose which was supplied by the manufacturer was well, how do I put it nicely? Crap. It was crap. We bought a heavy duty hose, removed the brass fittings, installed heavy duty plastic ones and added a pressure spray nozzle for it. Oh, and you might think taking apart a hose is no big deal until you realize that Mark let me do it, which means he let me use his heat gun, hose cutters and screwdriver. Yes, he let me touch his tools. It's a red letter day around Ceol Mor.

After emptying the anchor locker of the chain rode and dropping the anchor so we could get access to install everything, we had enough disgusting slime, ick and sticky black mud to see how the pump would handle it. It handles it fantastically! We had a moment of doubt when we first turned on the pump without the pressure fitting and saw what appeared to be a tiny little trickle of water. Not to fear, once the pressure attachment was fitted and the sprayer was engaged it had plenty of pressure to knock the mud off. Kitty had too much fun spraying the chain...and the deck...and me. Mark made her day by allowing her to work her way up from Baby Bilge Rat to full fledged Deck Monkey. With some assistance, she was able to work the windlass in a stop and go manner while Mark washed down the chain. She eventually got enough skill to work the windlass on command by herself, although she wasn't maybe spot on when Mark would tell her to stop. Oh well, That's what reverse is for.

For the time being (unless we add a new ac unit and watermaker under the v berth) the plumbing and wiring is done in the front cabin. This means the construction on the cabinetry in the front cabin can begin again in earnest- if only we had a boat wright. *sigh* Let's just say the Universe giveth and the Universe taketh away and try to keep a stiff upper lip and get on with it.

OOOHHH Plumbing AND Electrical runs....

Plumbing...just to document how lovely Mark's installs are. No one cares but boat dorks. I am a boat dork too. Its ok....

Soon....very soon!

On Shut Off Valves, Wash Down Pumps and Artists.

Oh you KNOW there are schematics for this. I'll post them soon.
As much as I tease him, he does manage to solve a lot of problems
using that Perfecto noodle of his.
 

Mark was pretty darned stoked about the valve on our water tank. He excitedly told me how he had spent days designing and manufacturing a custom valve that would allow us to isolate the secondary water tank without ripping the settee which houses the tank apart. He started talking about the lack of commercially available valves that would be accessible and functional while installed in a boat setting and then he started telling me about psi and flow rates or something along those lines. I can't tell you precisely because it was at this time that my eyes glazed over and I started noticing that his hair was kinda crazy and made him look a bit like a mad professor... then I started thinking about mad professors movies...then I started thinking about the movie Real Genius and how much I would like to be eating popcorn. I snapped back to attention when he said "it will allow us to isolate the water tank so when we run the water maker we can test the water before mixing it in with the main tank". This means he has agreed to put in a water maker! WHOOP! Since a water maker is at the top of my wish list, only just below an in boom furler I was pretty ecstatic myself. Now if I can just get him to see the beauty of the engineering of the Leisure Furl...and sell a kidney to fund it will be better than Christmas around here.

Every day our UPS man rings our doorbell and drops off various small brown boxes. Kitty is well trained. She pipes up "A present for Daddy!" and runs off to open the door and collect the days parcels. In her world Santa Claus wears a brown UPS uniform. She waits eagerly for Mark to come home so they can open them together. Usually, they are filled with odd bits of plumbing supplies but every once in a while, we get something exciting- like a wash down pump. Kitty thinks it is great to pretend to spray her dad. I think its great that I never again have to remove the thick black mud that loves to stick to our anchor by hand. Ok, so I will still have to remove the muck by hand but now at least I have a shot at not being completely filthy by the end of the job.

One of the cool things about having an almost 3 year old is to see the leaps in development they make. Up until now, Kitty has been happily scribbling with crayons and mixing paint colors in abstract designs with an occasional circle drawn just to show she can. Today, she started drawing objects intentionally. It was such fun to see the pride she had in her work and for me to be able to recognize the objects she was drawing. She will happily spend hours drawing if you will only draw with her. She carefully doles out the paper and assigns the crayons you will get to use. we might want to start helping her learn to not micro manage other peoples projects. (wonder where she gets THAT?!?!) She is also developing a bit of kindness in that she never points out that I can not actually draw. "Good job Mama!" she says, no matter how wonky the rendering. Yeah, having an almost 3 year old is pretty awesome.

Suns

Why its a boat of course.

An owl, with "softly feathers"

Who says we aren't wild and crazy adventurers?

" A plumber is an adventurer who traces leaky pipes to their source"- Arthur Baer

We live and breathe plumbing these days. I thought our boat, at 42 feet was modest in size.  If you are having to find supplies and install them inch by inch, 42 feet soon seems like a veritable megyacht. I was worried that I might one day succumb to 10 footitis. That was until I started having to source various 'esoteric' plumbing fittings to replumb the whole thing. Yes, that is the terminology a sales rep for a plumbing fitting manufacturer used to describe the 'oddball' fittings I was trying to track down. Esoteric and oddball and only available special order from the manufacturer and that $2 part will require $10 in shipping fees. Must be a Mark project.

Advantages to using pipe- tidy installation. there will be removable access to the pipes but this is the routing of the plumbing to our forward holding tank under the v berth. The wooden straps delineate where shelves will go in the new master cabin.

The standard procedure for plumbing a boat is to wrangle flexible sanitation hose into position. There are a couple of advantages to using hose. 1. Its readily available. 2. Its cheap- well, cheaper than pipe.3. Its fairly quick to install That is about all that recommends it. There are also disadvantages, like everything on a boat. 1. Eventually it will become permeated and your entire floating home will smell like a holding tank. 2. It is hose and therefore susceptible to friction damage. 3. It is inherently less structurally sound than pipe. 4. It has a constricted bending radius so you will never get as tidy an installation as you will with pipe. Can you guess where this is going? You are correct. Our plumbing is an absolute Mark project which means a vastly superior installation which will take 10 times as long and 4 times as much money. It makes him happy to improve upon functionality and I am 100% in favor of his happiness (and 100% in favor of fully functioning plumbing!) so I go along with it all and spend my spare time tracking down those exotic fittings.

Cleaned and ready to go water tank. The smaller tank which goes under the settee in the salon cleaned and ready to be installed in the newly sanded and painted compartment under the settee.

All of our seacocks, tank fittings, through hulls and outlet connections are fitted with hose and clamps between the fitting and pipe. The biggest advantages of using pipe are the smell containment, the ability for the system to be pressurized if needed, longevity and the fact that you can get a very tidy installation which leaves room for other systems, more storage, etc. The down side? Standard plumbing fittings from Home Depot are not going to get the job done. You will have need at some point for a strangely angled fitting and your delivery driver will start sending you thank you notes for keeping them employed. It will take for-freaking-ever to install the pipe because you not only have to route it carefully but it has to be secured with straps all along the pipe to keep it from moving. Its still susceptible to calcification so regular maintenance still has to happen.

And the fittings to the forward holding tank. There will be a pump between the first and second holding tank to keep things moving to where we want them.

So I might have to tease Mark about our over engineered plumbing but it really is a thing of beauty. I did have to point out that nobody else does their plumbing this way. His response is that no one does it  because of the man hours and expense necessary. I had to point out once again that everyone still uses hose. I really do believe that Mark's system is vastly superior but by pointing this out, I can say "This was your idea, you clean it up" should any plumbing ever fail. Seems he is not the only clever one in the family.

And the head goes bye bye

Words can not adequately express my excitement at the interior destruction going on aboard Ceol Mor these days. Things might currently look to be in an absolute state of upheaval but its all for a very good cause.

 I love our boat. She is a great sailing boat, large enough for our family to cruise in relative comfort and has a beautiful teak interior. Since ANY boat has trade offs and no boat can ever be perfect, there are a few things that really annoy me. One of the biggest annoyances is the front cabin. Since the rear cabin is too small for Mark and I, we have opted to commandeer the v berth. The plus side has been awesome ventilation. The down side has definitely been the lack of floor space.

When Bob Perry designed the Nassau (Tatoosh, same boat. Really.) He designed it for the typical American sailing family who will typically feel that 2 heads are absolutely necessary. I guess we are not typical because we found the squeezing in of a forward head to be completely unnecessary and to make the front cabin feel cramped, stuffy and uncomfortable. So we are ripping that sucker out!

Mark has finally found a boatwright who can put up with his perfectionist tendencies and whose level of craftsmanship is on a level he is comfortable with- Rick. Rick is an artist and has a tendency to perhaps over embellish on the fit and finish but Mark has found a way to get on the same page with Rick. You guessed it- really, really detailed drawings of what he wants. Drawings that look a lot like this: 

You didn't really think Mark would be able to just do some rough sketches on a napkin did you? So with Mark's detailed instructions and plans and Rick's excellent craftsmanship, we should soon have a truly spectacular Master Cabin. WHOOPIE!! I can not tell you how very happy this makes me.

As to the naysayers who say "but what will you do when your only head breaks?!?!" The answer is- fix it.Quickly. And use a porta potty until such time as the repairs are affected. We are keeping the forward holding tank as the rear one is on the puny side and will have a secondary pump installed so that we have the one head plumbed to both holding tanks. I plan on being completely OCD on the head maintenance and preventative use so if you come visit us, be prepared. A small price to pay for a comfortable master cabin with additional usable storage.

I am so excited about this portion of the refit that the current state of the boat doesn't even phase me. Even though right now it looks a lot like this:

Its gonna be messy for a bit but oh it will be worth it!