As we watch to see the track of Invest 97L and wait for it to go by, we’ve been passing the time tackling some final prep tasks. The above sign struck me as funny and oh so true! 🙂 First, down I went into my favorite cramped space…the engine compartment. I changed some belts, hoses, and hose clamps that showed some wear as well as making sure we had spares of any of these. I also removed the raw water pump, checked the impeller, and cleaned and back flushed all the parts of the engine cooling system, followed by flushing …

Rewind a few days, I had cut the big hole in Holiday in preparation for installing the propane locker I built the week before. There were a few more tasks I needed to complete before wrestling the locker below and bolting it in place. First, I drilled yet another hole in Holiday. This one for vent hose for the bottom of the locker to take any dangerous propane over board and out of Holiday. The hole was small but very close to the water line. I checked about 10 times before drilling not wanting to witness my dreams sinking at …

With new wind indicator in hand, Lindy took me back up the mast to reinstall it. Feeling a little braver this time, I took a few more pictures. And the wind indicator worked…so that was good. Wind indicator doing it’s thing.

The time has come in my propane locker project to cut a giant hole in Holiday. 10.5″ diameter to be exact. It really wasn’t that big a deal, but I definitely didn’t want to mess up. So, after getting all my tools ready and the cutting project prepped, I went to town on it. No issues, and I’m glad that part is over. Boats of Holiday’s vintage have a balsa wood “cored” deck and hull. Balsa wood resists rot even with some moisture present, and sandwiched between two pieces of fiberglass, makes a very strong and relatively light weight (as …

Let me start by telling you: this project is no joke! I have spent over 40 hours on it this week, and I’m only through with the locker body. I haven’t even started the process of cutting big holes in Holiday and mounting this bad boy. And, I also want to say that I know why Jesus was a carpenter…because it takes miracles! Definitely not something I want to do on a regular basis. With that said, rewind back a week where I started cutting pieces of marine plywood into a circle for the bottom of the locker, a hoop …

So, I went about cutting the fiberglass pipe to the correct height for the propane locker. This pipe will be the main body of the locker that the propane tank sits in along with a top, bottom, and some other pieces that I still have to make, all caulked together for a vapor tight seal and vented over board in case of a leak. Let me tell you, this fiberglass pipe is substantial! I went through 2 batteries just cutting around the circumference with a diamond grit blade made for cutting cast iron! I think the propane tank could blow …

One of the last items on the “To Do” list was to exchange or refill the compressed natural gas tanks that we use for cooking. This was a task I had never done before due to the tanks last a while, and we don’t cook all that much on the boat since we aren’t living on it yet. I had read that exchanging the tanks was becoming non existent and had never really looked into refilling. Well, it turns out you have to go to an unmanned fill station made for city vehicles that run off CNG and use an …

Lindy and I have always noticed condensation on the tops of the refrigerator lids and that they are just two, one inch thick boards without insulation. Also, there is no gasket to make an air tight seal when closed. Basically, we are making the compressor work a lot harder than it should have to. Air conditioning the cabin of the boat by way of the fridge sounds like a great idea in theory, but I’m pretty sure it’s not making it any cooler in there for us on a hot tropical day. Let’s make that fridge do what it’s made …