I love working on projects – I usually have 10 or so in process at any given time both on the boat, and at home. Many of these projects turn into reviews of various products or technology, which I also enjoy. Almost all of the projects are driven to make our lives on the boat and elsewhere more comfortable or safe, and are cataloged here.
After months and months of troubleshooting problems, changing chain and anchors, and replacing electrical components, I finally have an anchoring system that I feel very confident in. The journey to get here, though, was not quick or easy.
A sneak peek at some of the projects I am finishing up. Includes a new LiFePO4 battery bank, water pump, lights, and more.
In the last 4 months, I have been developing my overall network on board Rendezvous. I wanted a good WiFi/Ethernet network to connect me to the outside world, as well as a well developed NMEA 2000 network for marine equipment while underway. So far, here’s what I have…
Monitoring my diesel tank level is much easier now that I’ve installed a Maretron TLM ultrasonic tank sensor.
As part of the project to update Rendezvous electronics, I planned on replacing the older Furuno open-array radar, which required looking for a new mounting solution on my arch. I started searching for mounts, and came across a lot of solutions.
Updating your boat to LED lighting is an easy way to make it feel more updated, livable and safe. MarineBeam, SuperBrightLEDs and Dr. LED converted me fully to LED.
With my LiFePO4 power design complete, I was excited to install and use the new system for most of this sailing season. The installation took longer than a traditional battery installation, and had more complexity, but turned out to be a fantastic setup for the longer trips I went on this summer.
Due to weight and features, I decided to convert my sailboat power system to LiFePO4. This article covers the design which settled on Victron components.
Grace came with a factory prop when I purchased her – it was OK, but after 3 years of using that prop, I felt that I could get better speed and potentially other benefits.
In the last year I have had a number of issues with items in or on Grace’s mast. During a recent trip to Blake Island, the anchor light stopped working, and that was the last straw. It was time to dig deeper into fixing all of the issues.
I’ve written a lot about my boat network, and in particular, Peplink products that offer a ton of functionality and features. For the last 6 months, I have been playing with configurations and hardware that cost less, but still provide flexibility and features that more expensive solutions offer.
