How We Fixed Our Reverse Polarity
While anchoring out last summer we had to use our Honda generator to charge the batteries when the alternator died. Though we were frustrated by the alternator, we were relieved to have the generator with us. So we plugged it in, fired it up and started charging the batteries. Then we noticed the reverse polarity […]
Coming Clean – Installing our new shower
We live at a marina full-time. It just so happens to be a very nice marina with a very nice and new in 2015 facility that includes restrooms with showers, a laundry facility, a gym and clubhouse. Before the new building, the old restroom and showers were pretty lame. They were clean, but with only […]
New Sails and New Sail Track
Last fall we bought new sails and a Tides Marine Sail Track and Slide system (formerly known as a Strong Track). The sails we got from Island Planet Sails in Reno, NV. We were acquaintances with the owner when he briefly had a boat at our marina. Sails After a few hours of measuring, we […]
Building an Outboard Engine Rail-Mount
Way back in 2014 we bought a used Achillies rigid inflatable dinghy that came with a Honda 9.9 HP outboard. It’s been tied up at our dock ever since. We use it usually during the summer to run around on the river. On our first overnight anchoring trip, we decided to leave it behind because […]
Repairing a Self-Tailing Winch
We live about 60 miles east of the SF Bay Area. One day Rich went to a marine consignment shop in Alameda to consign some old boat stuff he had in his shop. While he was there he found a Barient self-tailing winch. While that shouldn’t seem surprising, it was. We rarely see self-tailing winches […]
Manual Foot Pumps
When we were first boat shopping we saw many boats with manual foot pumps in the galley and head. Our boat also had manual foot pump in the galley and head, but when we gutted those areas we took them out. Until recently we sort of forgot about them. As time went by, I started […]
New Balmar Alternator
Our boat came with an internally regulated, Leece-Neville 105 amp alternator. It couldn’t keep up with the high charge acceptance rate of our new 500 Ah LiFePo battery bank; it worked too hard and got too hot and finally quit on us. Plus, it looked like it had been sprayed with salt water at one time. […]
First Overnight Anchorage and Alternator Autopsy
First Overnight Anchorage A couple of months ago we finally got to take SVRO out for an overnight trip. We left Friday after work and headed south along the San Joaquin River. The wind was blowing maybe 3 knots so we weren’t able to sail, but the motor was running fine. Our batteries were at […]
New Anchor Chain
If you read Chapman’s Piloting and Seamanship it will tell you that for a boat our size, you need about 8′ of anchor chain and 300′ of nylon rope. Our boat came with just a little more chain than that and a little less rope. The more common practice now is to have a lot […]
Cockpit Bilge Pump
A few years ago I read somewhere about why it’s a good idea to have a manual bilge pump in the cockpit. I haven’t thought about it in a while, but it’s been on our to-do list since I read about it. It makes sense really. First, redundancy is key on a sailboat. Since we […]