Micro by Shop Vac (R)

Meet my new friend Mic, yeah he sucks but wet or dry he's there for me. Compact and light... Total impulse buy, think I paid $25 on sale.  

Right away I threw away the paper filter and used the foam sleeve filter. 
























When I need more filtration, I cut off some old pantyhose and stretch a leg over the foam filter. 

A  strip of inner tube makes a large rubber band to hold the pantyhose over the foam filter.

Wet vac is great for cleaning out the 4 foot deep bilge well...

Columbia River Day Sails and Tomahawk bay Marina

I just wanted to post a few pictures of the river at various times of day... If you see buildings with lights, I'm probably looking west... Mt Hood is up river due east.  That's the November 14, 2016 Perigee Super Moon at the bottom. The closest the moon has been to the earth since 1948 and until November 2034.

Clear Companionway Hanging Cover

It gets pretty dark in Oregon during the winter.  If the late sunrise and early sunset isn't enough, we get an average of 39" rainfall per year which means grey clouds and the sun AWOL for days at a time.  During mosquito season this summer I installed a hanging screen for the companionway by screwing a snap on top of each side of the companionway hatch.



That screen worked so well, that I recently went to TAP Plastics and bought a sheet of 20mm clear acrylic. The sheet has snaps on each upper corner for attaching to the hatch.














The clear sheet simply hangs down over the companionway.

The 20mm sheet is heavy enough to lay flat, yet light enough to easily roll up of flop up onto the hatch.

On the right is a view into the cabin when it is dark outside.





Below is the view of the light yet rainy cockpit... It helps that Sedna has a fully enclosed cockpit.

Clear Tape Tarp Repair

I'm not much for miracle cures, but Gorilla brand Clear Repair Tape really is incredibly strong. I bought this when white duct tape didn't adhere to Sedna's ripped canvas bimini. 

You know, the tarp that protects the cockpit from rain. Well, autumn is upon us and winter is coming. This 1.88" wide clear tape is heavy duty, has tons of adhesive, and it's waterproof.  I even applied it on damp canvas. Spendy at $7.00 for 27' in length?  Not compared to several hundred dollars to replace my dodger and bimini. That can wait until next spring. 

Spring has sprung...

I installed tile on the bulkhead where my Woodstove and hot water heater are installed. 

Spring came early this year. Good thing cuz I've been waiting for warm weather to mount new tile to the bulkhead next to Sedna's settee. 

Sedna has a solid fuel (wood) stove and I bought an lpg on demand water heater. I wanted heat resistant tile behind both. 


Update 8/20/2019:  I pulled out the LPG water heater over a year ago... seemed like a good idea, but I never felt comfortable that the flame wouldn't be blown out by the wind.  

Instead I bought a regular 6 gal AC Electric and engine cooling system heater which works well.

Used a water based adhesive to mount the tile then grouted, washed excess grout off the tile surface, and painted on sealer. 

All went much easier than I expected and I could drill behind or through the natural slate tile to mount the stove and heater.

Installing the stove pipe was a little work, this handy crimping tool was purchased from Home Depot. I cut the pipe to length with a metal cutting blade mounted on my battery powered circular saw.  I wrap painters tape around the pipe to provide a nice cutting surface and for drawing lines for the cut.  I wear good leather gloves because the pipe is super sharp and I don't like to bleed all over the boat...

I routed the pipes to two different Charlie Nobels. Both seem to vent fine. 

After I eliminated the LPG water hearer... instead of two chimneys, I have one chimney and another deck vent. 

Gadgets - Hot and Not

A few weeks ago I bought these suction cup items. The first one, a shower nozzle holder works great. It sticks well to the bulkhead or the head's mirror.

The second item is "not so hot" this hand hold with dual suction cups doesn't hold a suction even on fiberglass. That seems like an accident waiting to happen. 

Coffee!

Can't start my day without Joe, and a couple months ago I got this 1 liter electric kettle off Amazon. Works great when at the Marina and really saves time, effort, and propane. 

It's hard to believe, but I have been caught without coffee. Arrrrggggg. So I bought a package with 8 pouches of Starbucks instant coffee. Ok in a pinch.