Projects

Winter days in Puget Sound (for those who don't know) are overcast, cool, and damp most days--and then there are the rainy days.  Suffice it to say that winter means indoor projects on your boat.  Other than days when we are off running errands or visiting family, Jerry is working on a project on the boat.  He never takes a day off.  So, there is always something he's working on.  

After a cold ride crossing Puget Sound after Christmas celebrations in Edmonds, we decided either the Red Dot heater needed reconnecting or we needed to get a diesel furnace installed.  Lots of research on the internet (lots!!!) led us to calling the Wallas dealer in Seattle.  

  
A visit to their sales room followed and we got to see up close and personal the choices for diesel furnaces.  Now many a times we have walked past boats who had their furnaces running and it sounded like an airplane taking off (you boat owners know which brands I'm talking about).  We were interested in a quieter option, but still wanted the fuel efficiency.  We found both of these with the Wallas diesel furnace.  Jerry installed the system himself; hardest part getting a clear shot for the vent to go from the furnace to the back salon (tight quarters down in the bilge).  Bottom line?  We have heat when underway on cold winter days!

Other projects?  We took the old headliner fabric out of the pilothouse, insulated with the Prodex insulation mentioned in an earlier post, stained and varnished a thin sheet of wood for the area where the radio and auto pilot connect, and then installed new headliner fabric.  With the addition of new curtains (insulating fabric), all that's left is to trim out the side and back and paint the walls.

We did decide the deep cabinet to the left of the wheel was just an "accumulator" of things to the back of the cabinet, so we cut out an opening in the top of the counter, installed hinges, and now we can lift open the top of the counter to reach into this cabinet.  It's easier to get to what you're looking for.  While we were doing this project, Nancy decided to install vinyl tiles to improve the looks of the counter.  This photo shows the project in mid-stream.  











On a nice day in February, we started sanding the brow of the pilothouse and found the layer of paint that was on the housing of the pilothouse was falling off in sheets when touched by a sander. Whoever had painted this part of the boat last, had not prepped the area properly and we were forced to have to chip away all of the paint around the entire brow.  Luckily, it came off quite easily and after two days, we had the area ready for priming.

We are currently hauled out on the hard in Port Townsend.  Some minor repair work on her bottom, bottom paint, painting the hull, and some other minor work will keep us here until May 2nd.  Then .....   stand by!
 

Wintering in Poulsbo

The Port of Poulsbo has become the winter home for M/V Cloud Nine.  Poulsbo offers a more active marina, an accessible downtown with major shopping district within walking distance, and a lower moorage price during the winter months than what we were paying at the John Wayne Marina in Sequim.

With the sale of Jerry's house in November, we no longer needed to stay around Sequim and decided a different choice for winter sounded good.   All of the boats mooring for winter are docked on the F Dock, leaving the E Dock for guest moorage.  Poulsbo does limit liveaboards for winter, but we do have a few others here on F Dock.  

I can't say enough about how much we are loving being here in Poulsbo for the winter. We've enjoyed watching groups from nearby yacht clubs come in for a weekend, as well as the occasional large yacht arriving for a day or two.

We arrived on a Saturday and were greeted by a large group of boats from a yacht club in the Southern Puget Sound area.  All of their boats were decorated with Christmas lights, and it was quite a festive welcome to Poulsbo.  Downtown Poulsbo has many activities during the holiday season and we've been treated to carolers walking the streets, a horse-drawn carriage on the weekends offering rides to the shoppers, Santa and Mrs. Claus walking the downtown area, and a display of lights to put any Scrooge into the festive spirit.  The Poulsbo Yacht Club put on a Christmas Lighted Boat parade that was quite impressive with the number of boats participating, the elaborate decorating done by the boat owners, and the number of viewers on the walkway overlooking the marina.

One special night the Argosy ships from Seattle arrived for their annual Christmas Ship Festival.  Three ships, all decked out with Christmas Lights, arrived at the marina, one with Christmas music playing through its outside speakers.  Guests arrived at the marina and were directed to their ship for their cruise.  As the ships left the marina, carolers on the biggest ship performed a short concert for all of us in the marina to enjoy.  The music could be heard into the downtown area, too.  The boats took off for their two hours of cruising, returning later in the evening, and once again we were treated to Christmas music until the boats left at about 10:00 p.m., returning to the home base in Seattle.

December 19th we woke to snow here in Poulsbo.  Quite a beautiful sight.  We were happy to be on the boat and not having to be in a car driving anywhere.  





Christmas found us over in Edmonds to visit with Jerry's son, Sean.  The crossing was a bit of a bumpy ride from swells, along with a rather large wake from one of the passing cargo ships that had some wine glasses flying out of their "secure" spot.  We have since switched to stainless steel wine goblets after the 12 wine glasses we bought for $10 from Costco all broke over a period of a few months. We love the new goblets as they hold 10 oz. to the top, so you can give a nice 8 oz. pour of wine.  We have not noticed any difference drinking out of stainless steel.  However, you may have to be the judge on whether or not we have a wine palate.

The sun came out for a short period while in Edmonds and we enjoyed the view of some of the  Olympic mountains from our moorage.  Dinner at Anthonys, always a treat, added to the festive feeling, as the entire restaurant was decorated with lights, and the Edmonds Yacht Club had their boats lit up directly below the restaurant windows. 

 




We are looking forward to 2013 and would like to wish everyone the best for the New Year.  We hope to see many of you out cruising during the coming year. 

Power Management 101

With our Indian summer behind us, temperatures are rapidly dropping, and I am getting a quick study on how to stay warm in the boat.  As stated earlier in the blog, Jerry has the experience of living on a boat for four years, so he knew what was coming.  Me?  This is a whole new experience, and it's not just turning a dial on the furnace to a higher temperature.  Running ceramic heaters all over the boat doesn't work either because the dreaded "30 amps maximum" on our boat is used up very quickly with a couple of electric heaters going.  

For those of you never living on a boat before in the Pacific Northwest, one must become a power-use watcher, vigilantly checking the electric panel to make sure you are staying under the 30 amps available.  Having the water heater on uses 10 amps while it's heating water, so do you want hot water available all the time?  Probably not, if the other option is being cold.  So, we turn the water heater on 30 minutes before we want to wash dishes or shower, otherwise it is in the off position.  The lovely ceramic heaters mentioned above?  They use at least 10 amps if at the 1500 watt position. Running the electric drip coffee maker? Check the panel so you don't throw the breaker.  Do you need to re-heat your cup of coffee in the microwave?  You'd better turn off one of your heaters. 

I could go on and on, but you probably are getting the drift.  Power Management 101 is the class I'm currently taking on this boat. But that's not all.  We're deciding to be assertive and try to improve the boat's ability to maintain the heat inside by adding insulation.  Waking up in the morning and having the boat's inside temperature just one degree warmer than the outside temperature is unacceptable (so says the woman used to a warm house)!

A marina friend, David Cooper, who is also a captain on a ship near Cook's Inlet, happened to be back in Sequim on a break from his regular job and stopped by to share with us some new insulation he found.  It's called Prodex and is approximately 3/8" thick with foil on either side and comes in either 24" or 48" width rolls.  

Prodex insulation in the 24" wide roll

It has an 'R' value of 15.6.  It's installed with a double-stick tape, and let me tell you, this sticky tape sticks to anything and everything.  [Click the word 'Prodex" above to go to the website; they sell the tape there, too.]

So, installation of the insulation has begun on Cloud Nine, starting in the salon, followed by the v-berth, and finally the pilot house.  Of course, this means having to replace all of the header fabric and not just the salon's, but we didn't have anything to do at the moment, so why not.  [Wish I had smiley faces to insert here, as I'd insert the winking "you've-got-to-be-kidding" face.]

Salon ceiling with Prodex insulation installed

The good news is that after the salon ceiling was insulated, our temperature the next morning was 10 degrees warmer than the outside temperature and that was still running only a small 750 watt heater during the night.  Obviously, as the night temperatures drop lower, we'll need to run the heater at 1500 watts (if not add the Dickinson diesel furnace into the mix, too).

Next up for keeping the heat in the boat?  Insulated curtains!  Get to sewing woman!

Until next time,

Nancy