Taking my retirement on the installment plan.
Howdy y'all;
I'm Joshua, the newest owner of a familiar boat - formerly Island Bird (owned by @llenrow), and before that Mischief Maker. S/V Nobody lies currently in Blaine, WA, for easy access to the San Juan Islands.
S/V Nobody was described on the forum as a 'creampuff of a boat', which everyone loves to read right after they sign a big check, and it's certainly in pretty good shape. The PO had begun updating many systems, including adding a radar mast, a redundant VHF antenna, a forced-air heater, and a stack pack and lazy jacks. They'd also well-maintained many of the systems, such as addressing a diesel tank leak and upgrading the batteries.
The head of course has the E38 separate shower and I'll be stealing @Christian Williams' excellent idea and adding 110" of coiled showerhead hose so I can shower on the deck.
In the balance, I like this quite a lot. It's easily left open, but when sleeping aboard the most useful berth has access to navigation equipment and controls. The PO installed a wall-mounted powered mount for an iPad, which displays current chart and boat telemetry (not visible in these photos, on the bulkhead upper left in the center photo.)
The onboard electrical system needs some attention; as rigged, the alternator charges only the start battery, leaving the house bank only the solar. In the PNW, motoring is inevitable, and starting a diesel takes relatively little energy, so it makes sense to make sure it charges the house. I'll update it with a unified charge approach across all sources and a DC-DC charger that keeps up the starter battery. I'll be getting rid of the bow windlass battery (dead-as-in-doornail on delivery) in favor of a fat run of 2AWG copper to run the windlass. I'll be detailing the electrical upgrade plan in a subsequent blog post, but the diagram is attached as a PDF below. There's also no SOC monitoring, so I'll be adding that right away. The house bank is two pairs of 190Ah 6V batteries in parallel, so 380Ah.
The windlass is frozen and doesn't veer, but worked for retrieving the anchor, slowly, over a 10AWG line to the house bank (!).
The solar panels have a lovely controller and look bullet proof; the cables run through the companionway so I'll be taking my hole saw down to the boat before too long. While I'm at it, the forced-air heat runs through the electrical compartment, so I'll be figuring that out.
The built-in ICOM VHF is venerable but functional; it doesn't support modern Rescue 21 protocol, and the handheld mic at the binnacle is non-functional, so I'll need to replace that as I singlehand frequently.
The radar is of similar vintage, which makes it functional though it doesn't broadcast data over a local bus and thus is restricted to usage on the patent monitor. It's already come in handy on the Strait of Juan de Fuca; good to have.
The stereo system was a car stereo with a CD changer; I am leery of moving parts in electronics and have replaced it with a bluetooth amp. I'll probably replace the speakers with transducers that resonate the entire bulkhead, something I'm experimenting with, and add a subwoofer built the same way - no visible speakers, and much better sound.
The water pump was recently replaced, but apparently leaks, and caused rust on the oil filter, which burst spectacularly. I'm uncertain how to approach this yet.
The prop is a Flex-o-fold and the PO doesn't know the size. At WOT the boat won't get over 1850 rpm, so I suspect an incorrectly sized prop. Or maybe this is just the transmission dying. Or both.
All lights are incandescent! There's a few amps.
The sails are tired. Aren't we all.
I'm Joshua, the newest owner of a familiar boat - formerly Island Bird (owned by @llenrow), and before that Mischief Maker. S/V Nobody lies currently in Blaine, WA, for easy access to the San Juan Islands.
S/V Nobody was described on the forum as a 'creampuff of a boat', which everyone loves to read right after they sign a big check, and it's certainly in pretty good shape. The PO had begun updating many systems, including adding a radar mast, a redundant VHF antenna, a forced-air heater, and a stack pack and lazy jacks. They'd also well-maintained many of the systems, such as addressing a diesel tank leak and upgrading the batteries.
Overall
The main salon is in nice shape. The sole has 40 years on it and is in mostly 'good' shape, with noticeable wear only in the galley. The headliner is in nice shape.The head of course has the E38 separate shower and I'll be stealing @Christian Williams' excellent idea and adding 110" of coiled showerhead hose so I can shower on the deck.
Quarter Berth
The quarter berth is an interesting plan; it's fully enclosable with a pocket door and an accordion-fold window into the saloon.In the balance, I like this quite a lot. It's easily left open, but when sleeping aboard the most useful berth has access to navigation equipment and controls. The PO installed a wall-mounted powered mount for an iPad, which displays current chart and boat telemetry (not visible in these photos, on the bulkhead upper left in the center photo.)
Topsides
The Ericson logo stripe is vinyl, and immaculate! Overall the decks are quite nice. The brightwork needs attention, with no visible varnish, and the cable for the solar panels runs through the companionway. The dodger and Bimini are in decent shape and welcome in the PNW. I in particular like the pillar seats behind the helm, which provide a fantastic view of the entire boat from the upwind side.
Instrumentation & Equipment
The binnacle instrumentation is modernized and color, and there's a mount for a dedicated iPad controller. All boat data except radar is relayed wirelessly via a YDNR-2 and shows up in Navionics Boating or other charting apps. I'll be adding a Maiana AIS transponder, which looks like a stellar piece of kit, for AIS.The onboard electrical system needs some attention; as rigged, the alternator charges only the start battery, leaving the house bank only the solar. In the PNW, motoring is inevitable, and starting a diesel takes relatively little energy, so it makes sense to make sure it charges the house. I'll update it with a unified charge approach across all sources and a DC-DC charger that keeps up the starter battery. I'll be getting rid of the bow windlass battery (dead-as-in-doornail on delivery) in favor of a fat run of 2AWG copper to run the windlass. I'll be detailing the electrical upgrade plan in a subsequent blog post, but the diagram is attached as a PDF below. There's also no SOC monitoring, so I'll be adding that right away. The house bank is two pairs of 190Ah 6V batteries in parallel, so 380Ah.
The windlass is frozen and doesn't veer, but worked for retrieving the anchor, slowly, over a 10AWG line to the house bank (!).
The solar panels have a lovely controller and look bullet proof; the cables run through the companionway so I'll be taking my hole saw down to the boat before too long. While I'm at it, the forced-air heat runs through the electrical compartment, so I'll be figuring that out.
The built-in ICOM VHF is venerable but functional; it doesn't support modern Rescue 21 protocol, and the handheld mic at the binnacle is non-functional, so I'll need to replace that as I singlehand frequently.
The radar is of similar vintage, which makes it functional though it doesn't broadcast data over a local bus and thus is restricted to usage on the patent monitor. It's already come in handy on the Strait of Juan de Fuca; good to have.
The stereo system was a car stereo with a CD changer; I am leery of moving parts in electronics and have replaced it with a bluetooth amp. I'll probably replace the speakers with transducers that resonate the entire bulkhead, something I'm experimenting with, and add a subwoofer built the same way - no visible speakers, and much better sound.
Known Issues
The transmission is the original Hurth, and shows signs of wear. That'll be a replacement before too long.The water pump was recently replaced, but apparently leaks, and caused rust on the oil filter, which burst spectacularly. I'm uncertain how to approach this yet.
The prop is a Flex-o-fold and the PO doesn't know the size. At WOT the boat won't get over 1850 rpm, so I suspect an incorrectly sized prop. Or maybe this is just the transmission dying. Or both.
All lights are incandescent! There's a few amps.
The sails are tired. Aren't we all.