Kiwigrip.......

I will have to face up to the deck on TIH in the near future.  The smooth parts will probably be Awlgrip which I will contract out as its too much voodoo for me.   The non skid parts I will probably do in KIWIGRIP.  I bought two quarts of it some time ago and always planned to do a test run, which the company recommends.  The top floor of my cockpit locker proved an ideal opportunity.

I am pleased with the results and ease of application.  Search kiwigrip on YouTube for advice.

Arch dry fit..........

Wow, pretty close for an eBay purchase.

Cockpit Locker 2.....

Second level in.

Dry fit.  The marine ply has now been epoxied.

Storage buckets.  I try to make all my lockers "mess proof".  That almost never works, but it can delay the interval when I have to pull everything out and re-stow.  To this end I will fill the locker with 12 plastic buckets to hold lines, cleaning gear and all the other junk that goes into a cockpit locker. 

Cockpit Locker....

I haven't been totally idle over the  Christmas, but I came close.  Managed to finish the port water tank and put a lid on it.  This will be part of a double floor in the large locker accessible from the cockpit.

She moves....................

Moving your boat 200 ft from one slip to another, under her own power, may not sound like a big deal but this was the first time in TWENTY years TIH propelled herself through the water.  She sat on the hard for fifteen years under her previous owner and in a slip for five under my ownership.  Call me sentimental but a boat is meant to be moved and I got a big buzz out of this.

De-Nial is a river in Egypt.....

All boats, at some stage, will have water inside the hull either from leaks or condensation.  Obviously, the first thing you  is minimize these leaks or reduce the cause of the condensation.  The second thing you do is prevent this water from pooling and soaking woodwork, upholstery etc.

The forward Engine Room bulkhead on TIH has always had some water damage / wet rot.  I was happily ignoring it as I assumed that the whole bulkhead was compromised and it would be a major job.  I finally bit the bullet and happily found that only the bottom edge was affected. 

Some penetrating epoxy and fill the void with epoxied marine ply and it should be good to go.

Forward Battery bank.........

I have been undecided on the need for a forward battery bank for some time.  I will have a windlass (Lofrans Tigres) and possibly a 4HP Vetus bow-thruster installed.  I finally decided to bite the bullet and install two group 24 batteries (79AH each, installed in parallel)  in the port locker in the vee-berth.  I have connected the two banks (house and forward) with 1/0 cable via the Mastervolt DC Distribution 500. This cable is fused at both ends and has a switch at the forward battery end.  Most of the time this switch will be off.  The forward bank will be maintained by a Xantrex Echo Charger.  This will ensure that the forward bank is charged anytime a charging source is charging the House Bank.


My logic is as follows.

1.  The windlass needs a battery bank of a minimum of 100 AH - check.  Its max draw is 125 Amps.

2.  Under normal windlass operations I will switch the connecting switch ON.   This will allow the alternator/house bank to pass this amperage to the windlass should it be needed.  The 1/0 wire is far in excess of the minimum required for a 30 ft (round trip) of 125 Amps.  This setup will permit almost continuous use of the windlass.

http://circuitwizard.bluesea.com/

The bow-thruster is another ball of chalk;

1.  Interestingly it only needs a min battery bank of 108 AH.  It draws 350 Amps for a max of 4 mins.  In reality you use it far less that this or you are doing something wrong.  I would have to connect both banks using 3/0 wire to facilitate recharging from the house bank.  This was a non starter.

2.  Under normal bow-thruster operations I will have the connecting switch to OFF.  The bow-thruster will ONLY operate off the forward bank.  This is acceptable in my book.  Any current used will be recharged from the Echo Charge once a charging source (e.g. Alternator/solar/wind) is available.

All opinions welcome, speak now or forever hold your peace.