“Beautiful wooden boats are easy to find. The real story lies below the waterline.” These words were muttered to me by the inspector we’d hired to check out Sandavore before we bought her. He was slowly skittering sideways along the the keel of the boat, tapping lightly with a tiny (8 ounce!) peen hammer, listening. […]
Resolving engine room stink
Cruising will inevitably reveal aspects of any boat that can be improved upon. I have discovered that I’m most comfortable- at least for now- sleeping in the forward bunk room. I can be up at the helm in a jiffy, the sounds at anchorage transmit nicely, and it’s just a bulkhead away from the engine […]
Modern Tank Monitoring
Time again to address the niggling issues that aren’t worth working on during the summer! This time we’re looking at fresh water and black water tank monitoring. Traditionally, marine tank volumes are determined by a device that is mechanically screwed into the top of the tank. It consists of an electrically powered sending unit that […]
Bowthruster Cripple
What an amazing cruise: with my 85 year old mom aboard we set out for Roche Harbor, arguably the Disneyland of all resorts in the San Juan Islands. All systems go. Sandavore has a sizeable Lewmar bowthuster installed, and I’m not ashamed to say that it quickly became my Go To for close quarters maneuvering. […]
Making Coolant Ain’t Right
Years ago I learned from an insurance broker a disturbing fact:in his experience, something greater than 50% of recreational power boat fires originate at the onboard auxiliary generator. “In the course of ownership they are often just forgotten. The main engines are maintained because the trip won’t go without it. But the genset? Hit the […]
Battery Essentials
As a young pilot in the Navy I flew a couple different aircraft that had extremely complex electrical systems. Understanding them was daunting: silicon control relays, transformer rectifiers, this bus, that bus….I truly hated studying it, and felt like I never mastered them. At one point I was selected to be a Fleet Replacement Squadron […]