Location, Location, Location.......

I think I have posted about this before but here goes again.   Most installers will not take the time to "war-game" the location of any new equipment.  They will usually find the nearest blank location on a bulkhead or deck-space and bang the item in place.  The fact that you will have to remove the item later or else hire a member of "Cirque du Soleil" to service it, or the item behind it, is not their problem.  And they are right, its your problem.  Take your time locating new and replacement equipment, make mockups. The new inverter may have switches in a totally different location to the one its replacing.

So that's my excuse for  taking so long to install the hot water tank.  Most boats have it installed in the bilge area under the galley.  I have batteries in that location.  This is what I eventually came up with;

At least it will keep all the junk in the cockpit locker nice and toasty.

Dry fit of new toerail to take arch

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.