HAPPY 2016

Wishing Everyone a very Happy and Healthy 2016.... 

Winter life in Portland, Oregon.... offers much more "weather" than we are accustomed to in Las Vegas, Nevada. In spite of the freezing wind, persistent soggy rain, the white fluffy stuff (called snow), frozen docks and spiggots.... a good time was had by all.  John, who is typically not interested in making tourista stops during a road trip, made an exception on our drive back from Moses Lake Washington.  The stop was the Maryhill Winery. He was very patient while I admired the Winery, gift shop, and chatted with the staff.

Our heater had went out just before Christmas, so we dealt with it by using with our small space heaters (x3). We pretty much stayed bundled up, ate hot food, baked a lot and slept under multiple pounds of blankets. 

After enjoying the Christmas holiday with family in Washington, we put the word out that we needed to find someone qualified in serving a hydronic heating system, ours is a Hurricane. We got a name and phone number from another resident (also named Mike) at the marina. Jim Palmer gave us a call right back. He has a shop right here on Hayden Island (Columbia River) and arrived with his tools one hour later! He had the problem diagnosed AND the parts on hand. After replacing the brushes and circulating pump the system had no problem heating the living spaces efficiently. We were very happy with Jimmy's affordable service and will be using him to service the engine room systems, even helping train John for future maintenance.  

During the Cruise RO water maker installation, the heater was repaired, 48 LED bulbs were replaced, cat5 wifi booster installation, teak and head maintenance, etc.... there was still time to celebration New Years with family and friends. Regardless of the ice and snow, we awaited the weather window for reinstalling the winches on the fly bridge, go on a training cruise (for me) and of course pumping out, again. We would be closing up the boat for several weeks while returning to our home in Las Vegas.

Mount Hood in the distance

WATERMAKER INSTALLATION

Arriving back at the boat John's biggest priority was to take delivery of the new "Cruise RO Water Maker" and make the initial installation plans with Mike Dunlap. Mike is our neighbor here in Portland at Salpare Bay Marina, He lives aboard Faith Ryder, his Catalina 39' sailboat. He has an impressive resume with experience in the Navy and is a retired electrician.  I'm sure there are many attributes we haven't learned, but after working for us for over a week we will recommend his services to everyone. After humping all the equipment on board the guys unpacked it, moved it to the engine room and began the arduous task of designing the installation, relocation, etc. involved with making it fit in the engine room and still be able to efficiently maintain the system, as well. Speaking of efficiency, another smart move was to bring the tools to the project... This was accomplished by bringing his boat around and parking it in the empty slip next to us.

Mike's Boat, Faith Ryder

From what I can see there are numerous phases of water maker installation. Every boat is different in so many ways. We are concerned with how ER equipment is located and it takes several minds to put their heads together, coming up with the best, most logical and efficient use of the space, as well as, considering maintenance. Mounting the parts location has to be well thought out. You only want to reroute existing and mount new equipment once.  There are two pumps; one low pressure, one high pressure. There are three pre-filters and two very long membranes, not to mention the control panel and a plumbers nightmare of fittings and lines. 

Mike and John discussing location of parts.

The High Pressure pump draws 13.2 amps and the Low pressure pump will draw 8 amps. With luck we will make 40 gallons of water per hour. Total cost was just under 8K and we hope to have plenty of water for everyday life while cruising.







We were able to fit the entire system in the engine room, this will free up the Lazzerete for all that other stuff.  

Some pictures of the finished watermaker installation. You can see the blue membranes mounted above horizontally. The filters can be easily dropped for maintenance. Mike did a great job configuring the placement of intake and output valves and associated waterlines. The raised electrical box was mounted to the wall. When it was time to finish the installation by providing power, the wiring was run through existing wire chases throughout the boat. Mike and John worked together,  removing closet paneling, dropping ceilings and fishing it all up to the pilot house where the main power panel is located. It was difficult to photograph this portion as the guys were completely focused on the tasks at hand. They did not appreciated the photos opportunities, as I did. I backed off and lent a hand. The intricate shapes of the ceiling panels are definitely easier to drop then reinstall. Emptying the hall closets gave me a chance to better organize the tight quarters and inventory meds and sundries for our cruise.
Mike did a great job labeling everything and provided a binded hard copy manual with all the pertinent information. The installation went very well and was completed during our winter window.     Mike Dunlap has provided various services for others at Salpare Bay Marina, Porland, Oregon. During the water maker installation, we became fast friends and learned of his service with the U.S. Navy and his accomplishments as a sailor and delivery skipper.
We look forward to hanging out with him again and recommend his diverse services to all.

Cruise RO Watermaker

CHRISTMAS VACATION

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  We have been very busy checking things off the lists. Wedding, check. Cleaning the garage, check. Numerous visits to goodwill, check. Packing up the house, check. Organizing at home, check. Packing the truck check... all so we can get back to the boat. There has been a gaggle of doctor's appointments, planning, shopping, etc.  It's Christmas time, the grandkids presents are delivered and it was time to hit the road. There were weather warnings so we decided to spend the night in Winnemucca, Nevada. It is not a very exciting drive and John is a man on a mission. He prefers to drive straight though... Ouch! I was the navigator and  DJ, spending the 1000 mile drive preparing Christmas cards and such. Oregon has set a rain record this year for the month of December.

Lots of snow on the route made for very majestic views. We were able to use the Mt. Hood pass without the use of chains and saved some time there. Text messages for Brother Mat kept us informed of weather conditions. He told us "the good news about all the rain is....the the ramp at Salpare Bay Marina is much less steep.  We found that to be no understatement! Nevertheless, we unloaded the truck under very soggy conditions, got all the luggage and supplies on board Friday, December 18th. We would only have four days on board to get organized and start the water maker installation. John wasted no time checking in with the dock master, where water maker equipment was waiting, as well as, Mike the electrician, who was to install it.   John got to work on hanging Christmas lights on the fly bridge and after a trip to the market, I went to work in the galley. Brother Mat and Sista Liz were coming over for chili!  That always makes for a good time.  The freezing wind has been steady and on this particular afternoon the sun was out! Yeah! While the boys were in the cockpit enjoying a "cold one", they spied a sailboat whose bow line had snapped in half. The boys were fast to respond. Mat got onboard, brought her port side over to the dock and secured a new line. The owner was no where to be found. This sailboat had no registration and had not even checked in with the dock master for it's moorage. Very curious! We have been watching this abandoned boat pitch in the wind, rain and snow for days now. Her rigging has come loose and looks like there will be more damage to come.

John & Mat to the rescue

We left for our visit with Dad and Brother Dave, who live in Moses Lake, WA, on Wednesday December 23rd. And we thought Portland was cold. The guys welcomed us with open arms as usual!