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Mad Island Sailing – Adventures of the S/V Egress

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New Mantus Anchor.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I had ordered our new Mantus Anchor and brand new Anchor chain and line prior to our trip in May.

I knew that it wouldn’t be installed until our August 2017 trip.

After thorough research and based on a lot of reviews I ordered a 35 pound Mantus Anchor with 30 feet of 5/16 chain and 270 feet of 8 plait 5/8 line. I ordered this Anchor through our Marina on the Island and the Anchor rode through Defender as they had the best price.

Anchor install and marking the rode.

I snaked the Anchor rode on our lawn and marked the rode every 25 feet after the 50 foot mark.

The install of the Anchor and the Mantus Anchor Mate was easy peasy. I also installed a swivel. I have heard various pros and cons regarding the use of swivels but figured we would give it a shot. A swivel, I would guess, would be much more applicable when using all chain rode. I did notice after the install that I will need to add an additional length of chain between the swivel and Anchor to allow the swivel to be stored in the Anchor locker.

Unfortunately we never got to use the Anchor in 2017, but that’s another story.

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Solar power? Yeah Baby!

Yeah Baby! All the juice I need!

So with the  new Airhead now installed, it was now time to install a solar panel and controller to solve two problems.

How to power the Airhead vent fan without installing a solar vent and punching another hole in the deck, and how to power the bilge pump when on the hard. The bilge pump was especially important to us after the flood we had inside the boat in 2016 after the cockpit drains had plugged.

In the spring I had purchased a 100 watt semi flexible Windy Nation solar panel and a Go Power 30 amp charge controller of off Amazon for $300. With extra wire and deck hardware it came to $375.

I had thought about mounting options of the panel prior to making a purchase. I had two mounting options in mind.

1. Mount a rigid panel on the stern rail. Though this option appealed to me initially, most of the panels that were the right size were in the 30 watt range and quite expensive for their small size.

2. Mount a semi-flexible panel on the deck. This option seemed to me to be the best as I get get a higher wattage panel for way less then option 1 and it gave me the flexibility (no pun intended) of multiple mounting scenarios.  I could screw it or glue it to the deck. Velcro was also an option.

So I went with option number 2. You just couldn’t beat the price and much more bang for the buck when it came to wattage and mounting options. Of course there are some drawbacks of mounting a solar panel on the deck or on a dodger or Bimini, namely shading from the sails. However with a 100 watt panel I still should receive enough power when sailing for this not to be a problem.

Where to mount. And a temporary solution. Continue reading “Solar power? Yeah Baby!” →

4

No more stinky Boat! 

My sincere apologies for the long delay in posting!

The install of the Airhead Composting Toliet.

Who wouldn’t want to poop in this?

I started this project during our May 2017 trip up to the Island.

I had ordered our Airhead in late April and it was waiting for me at the house when we arrived.

I say waiting for me, as it was my job to remove the old stinky head and replace it with the new Airhead, while Barb enjoyed her time spent with the Grandkids.

First things first was the removal of the old toliet.

The old stinky toliet

The good?

Wasn’t too stinky, since it was pumped out the previous season, and it hadn’t warmed up yet on the Island.

I knew that there probably would be some smell as I removed the hoses. So I pumped a little bleach/water mixture through the toliet, hoses and on into the holding tank.

The Bad?

The hoses.

Several of the hoses where very attached and did not want to relinquish their hold on the toliet or holding tank fittings.

So I had to slice the hoses down the middle and peel them open and pry until they came off.

I had put a dab of Vick’s under my nose and put a mask on for this task. Continue reading “No more stinky Boat! “ →

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She’s a beauty!

 

Spring 2016.

During our 10 days on the island we accomplished the following.

Bottom painting

Scraped, sanded and applied new bottom paint. Since she is a fresh water boat (for now) we used Sea Hawk Monterey Blue.

The job turned out wonderful. I sanded while Barb scraped. I helped Barb apply the bottom paint though she did the majority of the work while I worked on the next project. She did a marvelous job. We now have an official bottom painter!

taping
still taping
sanding
still sanding
the end result
what a difference

Have sails repaired.

We contacted the local sailmaker and met him in Bayfield at his loft and dropped off the sails for some minor repairs.  A week later the sails were done, so we took the ferry over and picked them up. I’m ready to bend and hoist! Is it August yet?

Sails repaired
waiting on the ferry
on the ferry

Install new Raymarine i70 instruments. Continue reading “She’s a beauty!” →

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Winter/ Spring 2015 shopping list (Old Post)

The following is an older post from the Spring of 2015 that I had intended to post but never got around to posting. So here it is…

 

IMG_3305

 

The long winter of 2015 between the purchase and the launch in June of 2015 of the Egress, left an ample amount of time to set priorities in regards to purchases and projects to tackle once we had her in the water. I knew the old adage, that you should let the boat tell you what she needs, but I was anxious to purchase some items for her. 

Since I believe that it is wise to be a realist when it come to projects, and that we didn’t want to get in over our heads with plans without getting to know her needs, I believe that the priorities I set for the purchases accomplished that while buying a minimum amount of what we thought she needed without getting crazy about it and just buying stuff and falling into the trap of buying everything and anything cause its recommended for the modern cruising boat.  

Therefore after throughly reading the survey completed in 2012, and through much research on the typical systems installed on a 1977 Bristol 29.9, we set the following priorities.  Continue reading “Winter/ Spring 2015 shopping list (Old Post)” →

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Coamings and goings

It pays to have friends in high places. In this instance I am speaking latitudinally.

Ever since leaving the island in early December, we have been itching to see the deck and the cabin of the Egress. Mostly out of curiosity, but also to prepare ourselves for what lies in store for us, as we begin a plan to tackle the refit of her. After a long winter our good friend Captain Ric was able to climb aboard and snap a few pictures. 
Continue reading “Coamings and goings” →

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