Airhead composting toilets

I chose to use Airhead composing toilets ( http://www.airheadtoilet.com/ ) both port and starboard.  These units are well made and are completely self contained.

Special note:  after finding that I was missing a vent fitting, I contacted Geof from Airhead and they quickly mailed me the fitting without question.  Customer support is outstanding for the Airhead product.

Here is the external vent for the electric air circulating fan  This component did not come with the Airhead package but I found this nice vent cover while visiting Australia.  It is Sea Bird vent item # RWB 125 from R W Basham pty ltd Australia

 a close up

This is a rather blurry photo of the fitting that houses the small fan

Here is the final install of the forward starboard side composting toilet.

360 gallons of epoxy

When cleaning out the shop, I needed to get rid of my empty epoxy containers so I put them on my flat bed trailer to count.  In addition to the containers seen here, I also used two 55 gallon drums of resin making it a total of 360 gallons of resin in the boat.

ethical delima

So the boat is 23ft. 1 inch wide and my shop door is 22ft. 6 inches.   That means I need to chop about 18 inches off the door jam.  However, a bird made it's nest in the tin around the door and in order to widen the door, I would have to evict three baby birds.

 

The beam of the boat is wider than my shop door.......
















Baby birds in the tin siding. 

Locating a safe place for the Propane tank

For safety sake, I chose to locate the propane tank on the outside cabin bulkhead.  I fastened a bracket to support the base of the tank along with four eye bolts to strap the tank in place.  This provides a safe and secure location for the tank.

Down side up

I painted the flat portions of the underside of the boat with a safety orange paint mixed with non skid granules.  My thinking is that in the event of a capsize, this would help increase visibility from the air if we ever face the need of an air rescue. The non-skid feature should help provide a safe place to hang out in case we find ourselves upside down........or in this case, down side up.

Coating the boom

Rather than paint the raw aluminum spars, I elected to use a product called Nyalic.   This stuff is said to provide a UV coating that is superior to conventional  paint and it can be applied and touched up with relative ease.

http://www.nyalic.com/

 the coating

end result

Mast track install

The installation of Harken CB mast track required the drilling and tapping of 160 holes in the tailing edge of the mast.   With the help of a pneumatic drill and a couple of brand new taps, this went faster than I expected.

lower section of the mast near where the boom attaches

base of mast

tapping tools

looking down from the top of the mast.

Chain stopper

at anchor,  a chain stopper is usually used to keep from loading the windlass. This is a big beefy model that is mounted in place with a big aluminum backing plate atop a block of solid expanded PVC to keep it in line with the path of the chain.

Bedding in the mast base plate

here is the stainless steel plate and mast receiver

here is the mast base fitting with socket insert

since the mast base insert is made of epoxy saturated end grain white oak, I didn't want to ever have to worry about a remote possibility of rot so where the screws attach the plate, I over drilled holes in the wood and filled the voids with epoxy and cabosil.  after this cures, I will drill holes for the screws and fasten the base plate to the mast base structure. This way, any water that makes it's way past the fasteners will never be in contact with wood. 

here's the finished bonded mast base. I bedded it in place with a thickened mixture of cabosil and epoxy. To insure a neat edge, I rubbed the seam with peel ply.  When it cures, I'll rip the peel ply off and it should reveal a clean edge seam.

Harken roller furling in the works

Here are the components of the Harken roller furler,

Windlass wiring

Here's the final windlass install.  the windlass in mounted to a structural element that will allow chain to be pulled through the hause  (sp?) pipe and fall below into what will be built out as an anchor chain fall space.  I think I will make a flexible rubber cover over all this wiring so that mud fouled chain goop will not be slathered all over my neat wiring.

windlass install

foredeck mounted foot switches

( these operate the 6 post solenoid which hammers the contacts for the high amp winch motor ) 

What would seem to be a simple install required this pile of tools + more down below.

fresh fluids for new engines

After consulting with the service manuals and double checking consensus from the Cruisers forum, I've added fluids to the new engines.

Turns out, Yanmar recommends Rotella 15W-40 oil and Havoline extended life coolant for the 3YM20 engines.

Havoline extended life coolant

one part concentrated coolant

one part water

in the tank

then.......

2.5 quarts of rotella T 15W-40 heavy duty diesel oil

Weight

In order to get an approximate weight of the boat, I've used two chain hoists and two 10,000 lb "fish scales" to lift the port side hull off it's cradles.  To find the total weight of the boat, I add the two measurements then multiply by 2.

weight of the port hull bow sling :    2700 #

weight of the port hull stern sling:   2750 #  

So........  2700 + 2750 = 5450 

              5450 x 2 = 10,900 #   

To reach design waterline displacement of 17000, this will allow 6,100 lbs for rig, sails, tankage and cruising gear.

Cooling water strainers

The twin Yanmar diesels require sea water to circulate through a heat exchanger and before the ocean water runs through the small belt driven pump, it needs to be strained.  These neat strainers should do the trick.  They are mounted a little over 6 inches above the water line.

new in the box.

Port side installation.  This picture was taken while sitting in the engine compartment along side the engine. ( underneath the port side aft bunk )

Bulkhead mounted with two stainless thru bolts.

Soft shackles

Whenever you find yourself waiting for fuel water separators to arrive in the mail and it's raining, it may be a good time to learn how to make soft shackles.

Soft shackles are loops of dyneema line that can take the place of metal shackles.  for example, rather than use a metal shackle at the clew of a flapping Jib sail, one of these shackles would make for  a less lethal arrangement.

there are quite a few You tube tutorials on soft shackles but here is the one offered by Colligo Marine :

soft shackles

here are a few of my practice shackles.  These should be good for 5,000 lbs tension. ( enough to lift a small car )

after making three using the tutorial, I can now make them on my own without Youtube.........give a man a fish and he has fish for a day,  teach a man to make soft shackles and he can sit around all day eating microwave fish sticks and making soft shackles.

Hatch handle

Yet another small but necessary little detail........


 I created a "toe stub proof" anchor locker hatch handle by fabricating a stainless fitting, threading a loop of Dyneema line through the hatch and through a short section of tubing.

The two stainless carriage bolts are part of a locking mechanism ; the details of which,  I regrettably must not divulge.

 Here's the finished result. Although this handle isn't out of a marine catalog, I sort of like the tough durable nature of it's components, and it's not likely to wear out in my life time.

perspective

Every once in a while, with large projects, it's good to step back and look at what's been done rather than what needs to be done.  I think I built a boat.  It's not "finished", nor will it ever be. Like anything, it can always be modified, improved or re worked.

all I want for christmas....

is some Vetus exhaust hose.....and a back ordered gooseneck in a pair tree.

Port side exhaust system install

I't s bit nerve wracking drilling a hole in a perfectly good boat but the installation of engine exhaust systems require it to be done.  Vetus exhaust system documentation specifies minimum and maximum dimensions of various heights so it's more than just drilling holes and attaching tubes.

The exhaust tips specifiy a minimum of 5cm above H2O line.  I gave myself 10 but it still seems a bit close to the water.  (I guess I'll put my trust in the God of Vetus on that one )

The exhaust tip came with a nice pre formed sticky gasket so a couple of minutes with a hole saw and the tip was ready to install.

 A chop saw fitted with an abrasive blade makes short work of the wire reinforced rubber exhaust hose. 

Here's a blurry shot of the port side exhaust configuration.  Again, it's comprised of a water lock, a gooseneck a silencer and an exhaust tip.  All in all, it's a good thousand + bucks worth of plastic and rubber. She should be a quite cat.