On Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:11:05 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

Some possible discussion items:

First, let me state that MY WAY is the RIGHT and ONLY WAY...

For me.

YOUR WAY is the RIGHT and ONLY WAY....

For you.

Of course MY WAY and YOUR WAY have to be almost endlessly modified for
an almost endless number of reasons: Money, ability, your/my boat
setup and capacities, etc., etc., etc.

For a bit over 2 years we are a live-aboard, full timer cruiser
couple. The boat is a Pearson Rhodes 41. Not a real roomy 41, she's
long and lean and FAST.

I've lived-aboard and/or extended cruised off and on for a total of
about 8 years.

Having said all that....


- Type of dinghy, dinghy power, dinghy storage.

I much prefer a hard dinghy. We have a Sandpiper 8. Power is usually a
small trolling motor or oars. I just got a 2 HP outboard and will use
it for those longer and hurrier trips. Most of the time it's rowed,
except for those places we have to anchor more than about a tenth of a
mile out. When not used it's on davits.

I tried a Porta-Boat and found it much more trouble than it was worth.
I wound up giving it away.

I've had inflatables and my only grip is they really don't row too
well and can be pretty wet in a chop.

We're thinking of getting a WaterTender 9.4. I tried one out and it
has the stability and room of an inflatable, but rows well.

- Water tankage and/or water maker?

70 gallons in 2 tanks. That's what the boat came with and there's
really no way to add more.

PUR 80E 3.4 GPH watermaker. I wouldn't even consider not having one.
Our cruising is extended stays in out of the way places. I would not
have one if we took occasional weeks or months cruises.

- Pressure water?, hot water?, shower?, number and type of heads.

Yes for pressure water, hot water and shower-for-two. We have a manual
pump in the galley but it doesn't work. One can conserve with pressure
water. If you can't bring yourself to do it, buy a "water saver" for
each faucet. It screws on in place of the aerator and has a little
rod. You leave the faucet on and when you move the rod water comes
out.

We also have a pressure raw water system plumbed to separate faucets.

One head with a Jabsco toilet going to a Lectra/San. A lot of folks,
including the Princess of Poop, Peggie Hall, bad mouths the Jabscos,
but it's been used ever day for 2 years and another like it was used
every day for 3 years. Never had a problem nor had to rebuild.

- Number and type of anchors, length/type of rode, windlass?, etc

4 anchors: 45 lb Bruce, 45 lb CQR, 35 lb (I think) Danforth and same
size aluminum Danforth (I think it's 11 lb). The Bruce is the main
one. I swear that thing has a "bottom magnet". We use a dedicated GPS
as an anchor alarm and the Bruce has never dragged. Note too that the
aluminum Danforth sets faster and holds better than the "iron" one. I
don't know why and I suppose it doesn't make sense, but that's the way
it is.

Main anchor rode is 130 ft of chain plus 250 ft. 3/4" line. Secondary
is 40 ft. chain plus 250 ft of 3/4" line.

Simpson Laurence 2-speed manual windless. The gypsy will take any size
chain. In fact the main rode is 30 ft. of 5/16 chain coupled to 100 ft
of 3/8 chain. I think that's the sizes.

- Galley equipment, stove type, refrigeration type, microwave?,
blender?, toaster?, freezer?

4 burner w/ oven gimbled propane stove, Norcold 110/12 Volt icebox
conversion in re-insulated built in icebox. I would NOT recommend the
Norcold. It doesn't come close to the Adler/Barber I had before.

1,000 Watt compact mirowave, toaster, 110V Haier 1.3 cu. ft. freezer
with decicated inverter.

- Safety equipment, liferaft?, EPIRB?, SSB radio?, Sat Phone?

Spot, Ham/SSB radio with modem.


- Aux power, none?, outboard?, inboard gas?, inboard diesel?,
tankage/range?, fuel filtration and polishing?, oil change system?

Perkins 4-107 inboard diesel. 40 gallon tank, again that's what the
boat came with and no place to add tankage. We usually carry 20
gallons in jerry cans on deck (I HATE that!). Range is 300 nautical
miles at 6.3 kts to 480 nautical miles at 5 kts, including the jerry
cans.

Standard Racor and inline filters. No polishing system. Oil change is
locking ball valve on oil pan with hose to drop in gallon jug.


To address the ongoing war about diesel inboard vs. outboard: I think
either are fine. An outboard will burn more fuel, but is a lot cheaper
to buy and/or replace. It would take a lot of running to make up the
difference. Some, maybe most, boats would have the problem of the prop
coming out of the water in rough conditions. A longer shaft should
take care of most of this. An old outboard dealer told me one can just
order shaft and foot extensions and put as many together as needed, so
a 4 or 5 or 6 or even 10 foot shaft is not unreasonable.

I had a Morgan 27 with an Atomic 4 inboard. The clutch developed a
problem. I had a 15 HP outboard so fabricated a mount for it. To my
surprise the outboard reached hull speed at about half throttle and
burned the same amount of fuel per hours as the Atomic 4. I eventually
repaired the clutch, but kept the outboard handy in case. I had
decided to sell the boat, but before that decision I thought seriously
about removing the Atomic 4 and going with the outboard.

I would consider a 4-cycle outboard if the Perkins died, but we have
too much overhang, plus the dinghy/davits would have to go. Here goes
another discussion maybe... If the Perkins dies, I plan on replacing
it with a DC electric motor and diesel generator. The motor would
probably mostly be run from the house bank for short periods and
calmer conditions.


- Electrical system, none?, basic 12 volt?, house bank/size?,
recharging capability?, inverter/type/size/switching?, generator
type/size/switching?

House bank: 4 golf cart batteris plus 1 deep cycle marine (this was my
trolling motor battery I replaced with a smaller one). 500 Amp Hour
total. I'd like to add 2 more golf cart batteries, but the problem is
room. Engine bank is 2 group 24 marine starting in parallel, with a 10
W solar trickle panel.

Recharging: 600 Watts of solar panels with a Blue Sky MPPT controller;
Air Marine 450 Watt wind generator; 100 Amp Baldor alternator on
engine; Freedom 10 50 Amp charger/ 1,000 Watt inverter.

Inverters: Vector 2,500 Watt, 750 Watt, 450 Watt. The 450 is used for
the flat screen TV and DVD recorder. The 750 is dedicated to the
freezer. The 2,500 is used for the microwave and coffee pot. Note that
the coffee pot takes 70 Amps from the battery, but only takes 5
minutes for a total of 6 Amp Hours.

Generator: 3.5 KW gasoline on cabin top. Yeah, I know. I hate the
thing and always refused to have one. But I bought it last summer so
we could run the marine A/C for my wife. And me too, I have to admit.
It was HOT and this summer seems to be the same. At least it's pretty
quiet. Halfway thinking about getting a Next Gen diesel...


- Self steering?, autopilot?, wind vane?

Raymarine S1 Wheel Pilot with an old Simrad wheel pilot for a spare.
Wouldn't be without one! I do like the idea of a wind vane, but I'd
prefer to have my dinghy on davits.


- Electronics, GPS plotter/features, radar/features, depth sounder,
AIS?, DSC VHF?, handhelds?, entertainment systems?, etc.

2 Garmin GPS color plotter/sounders, 1 old B&W Garmin chartplotter for
anchor drag alarm, wired to LOUD piezo buzzer, Garmin handheld GPS,
Garmin StreetPilot GPS (which works with nautical charts), Navetec GPS
sleeve for one of the Compaq IPaq pocket computers, Delorme serial
output GPS.

4 laptop computers, 3 Compaq/HP pocket computers, all with Nav
software.

DSC VHF down below, VHF at steering station, handheld VHF.

SPOT Satellite Messenger.

19" flat HD TV, antenna on mizzen, DVD recorder with digital conveter,
auto type AM/FM radio with 5 CD changer.

Would like to have AIS, at least receive only, but too durn
expen$ive!!


and so on....

OGM LED Tricolor/Anchor light and mostly LED interior lights.


No one should criticize another for his/her choices. We're all
different. I've cruised aboard different sized and equipped sailboats
over the last 47 years, and a few powerboats. My first was a 16 ft
Petral with a gasoline camp stove and D-cell running, anchor and
interior lights. The engine was an old 5 HP outboard. I was 16 at the
time and it was a most pleasurable few months. Could I do it now at
age 63? Certainly! Would I? No, I don't think so.

Rick