Five Ways to Make it Through a Re-fit!

Taking a break is definitely on the list but what other ways do we stay sane during what has become the biggest re-fit of our cruising "career?"

Sundowners at sunset are absolutely THE best part of life on the water. (Miami, 2012)

I'm not sure who came up with the idea of a "Gratitude Journal" (Oprah, right?ha.) but I've got to tell you, it's magical. The theory is, of course, to write down at least one thing you are thankful for each day. The act of physically writing it down is probably the hardest part for me, I'm the type of person who is constantly in motion. I rarely keep a routine, unless otherwise forced, for example, work, library returns, showering daily. Whatever, routines are over rated. I'm a Gemini, remember, we hate monotony.


NEWSFLASH: Felicity is currently docked in a boat yard (her first time since we purchased) we've got to finish these decks and the paint job. While I try very hard to put on a good show (SMILE) inside I sometimes wonder if maybe we bit off more than we could chew. She misses resort style living very much, so does the rest of the crew, but in an attempt to keep up moral I've pledged to create a list of my  favorite boatyard things. (#favoriteboatyardthings) On Facebook, I've made it a point to share my thoughts with my friends and family so as to be held accountable by them not to forget my obligation. I'd like to share my list as it stands to date.

Day 1 - 1.) Looking At Boats! 
              2.) Meeting Incredible People 
              3.) Yard Days are Always Long (sh*t gets done!) 

Day 2 - 1.) Everyone has a story to tell.
              2.) We are all in the Redneck Yacht Club (like it or not!)
              3.) Every puddle of liquid on the ground is liquid death - One learns to be very nimble.

Day 3 - There's a bunch of boatyard kitties here, and one is so sweet.

Day 4 - I helped a boat limp in that lost it's steering, three guys struggled to help but I was able to pull them in and was cheered, " See it takes a woman!" by all the people on board!

Day 5 - Gia has made friends with a pair of sisters and they are serious fishergirls!

Day 6 - Did I mention we have a fully, functional, brand new ELECTRIC head!!!!! Swoon!

Day 7 - Coming home from work and always finding a parking spot in front (not many others here overnight)


I know many of our friends are in transition at the moment, in boat yards, awaiting parts in exotic locations, underway and even waiting on a potential buyer.

My question to you is, "How are you making it through?" Please share your thoughts, comments, suggestions and questions below.

Dinosaur Removed: An Update

So if you have been following this blog then you know "work" has pretty much been at a stand still for the past, well, a solid 2 months. GR began removing the "dinosaur" 1968 12 kw Onan (original, factory installed) piece by piece trying to salvage many of the parts in case someone wanted to have them. Sadly, it actually ran when we decided to replace it but we were getting coolant in the oil; which is typically a head gasket. Normally, you would get the head checked but the parts are obsolete so we decided it wasn't worth sinking our money into!

How did we get it out you ask? One word. YOUTH.

 "Youth is wasted on the young."  George Bernard Shaw

God, it's so true!

Unfortunately, we have come across more "dudes" that give the *"Florida Promise"! GR slowly dismantled this 1200 lb monster. Piece by piece trying to salvage the parts and give them away to someone who could use them. Some of the parts include the heads, the exhaust manifold, the stator, the rotor, alternator and water pumps. All of which can be conveniently recycled at DJ's Recycling up the road for a few cents on the pound.We posted on the Hatteras Owner's Forum, Craigslist and even some Onan Discussion Forums. Hopefully, someone's will put them to good use. Along the way G  painstakingly reported his attempts to dock neighbors that anxiously await to hear our progress on Project Motor Boat. Graciously, one of the yacht owners organized guys to muscle it out. (translation -  youth)

As I walked up the dock, I saw one of the boys (5' 5", 160lb of pure muscle) walking away from Felicity. I jokingly called out, "Hey, Did you get that thing out of there?" To which he humbly laughed out a "Yea." I thought, he was being sarcastic and we were back to square one but as I got closer to our finger pier I saw that ugly, hunk of junk OUT of the boat!! At the site of it, I jumped, squealed in delight and ripped open the 12 pack of beers I brought home, just in case. I gave one to Alex, the "young muscle", took one to GR and one for myself. I quickly snapped a pic and posted it to Facebook. I was thrilled!

Next up is major renovation of the generator room all 100 sq. ft of it! First, clean up all the grease, scrape the paint, removing old fuel lines and just a whole lot of cleaning and sanding to prep for all the new goodies we will install!

Seriously, this is a momentous occasion for us. We were really beginning to think we were in over our heads. Power boating was just not for us. We longed for the simplicity we once had. Now, we are are encouraged once again, that the seemingly impossible - really IS possible! It just takes good old fashioned hard work, perseverance and youth, looooots of youth.

*The Florida Promise is a promise made to you by a local contractor to show up and do work, to which they never do.

Removing a Dinosaur

Okay it's really not that BIG, but it might as well be! (Image found here.)

Removing Felicity's original generator, a 1968 12KW Onan, has become a very daunting task. Similar to removing a dinosaur. It's huge, heavy and OLD!! A dinosaur in that the technology has advanced so much in the last 44 years that many of the parts are obsolete. A major factor in why we chose not to fix it; spending money on something that in the long run, could cause headaches.  It's also a dinosaur in that it's monstrous, considerably larger than many new generators and almost double the weight. While GR has spent many a night, crouched down in the generator room below our galley disassembling the engine, we have managed to get the bulk of the job done. However, the actual "removal" has become another beast entirely. We are still in the concept stages of how we will 1) lift a 1000lb generator  out of the hole and remove the hunk of metal our of our galley, up 6 steps that round a corner and out of our salon without ruining carpets or walls. 2) THEN WHAT?! What do we do with this thing?? We have no way to transport it.

Our biggest issue is that we just don't have the right kind of equipment. We don't really want to put out the expense to build a framework to lift it up and move it out. Then we have all that wood left, to what...store it? No. Normally, we are do-it-yourself-ers but on this project we need someone that already has the equipment AND the manpower!

Yeah.

So that's what we are up against. Any ideas? Have you done something similar? Please leave your comments below!!

Several Projects Underway

Having GR home for *good* is an amazing sigh of relief for us. It seems that over the last few months we have done more projects than in the past year we have owned the boat. Since our change of scenery he has significantly cut down his travel time to and from work AND now he will no longer have to leave for charter trips! A recent change allows him to only work Monday - Friday with no trips and weekends are just for US; meaning more completed projects aboard Felicity! (clap, clap, clap)

When I last wrote about our head project we had just begun painting, well painting is complete. We are now in the process of researching products and prices for flooring and counter tops. On Friday, we were able to go shopping together at a couple of the local places to check out laminates. Then we measured the floors and counter tops in all three heads and came up with our numbers. After some comparison we have narrowed it down and have two winners! Alas, the ordering is on hold because we have a much BIGGER project underway at the same time!

Did I forget to mention on fuel system is currently inoperable? Hmm, yea well, something we have struggled with since the beginning is the fuel system. A pretty serious issue to have is we want to actually "cruise". By far, the longest hold up of this progress has been traveling (for work). GR did an amazing job re-configuring the entire manifold and even added a fuel polishing system. Felicity, built in 1968, has mostly been untouched and much remains original including original fuel valves and copper fuel lines. Of course, this was state of the art equipment 44 years ago but time and technology have advanced rather quickly and it's time to adapt! We were able to remove the old manifold, prep, paint and install the *new* manifold. Designed by GR using bronze shut off and elbows etc, he had the panel made by Ward's Marine. Here's a picture for now but I will go more in depth in another post.

Fuel Manifold from 1968

Fuel Manifold from 2012

Small advances were made including the addition of a hand crank pencil sharpener! (Yes, I am old enough to remember these) This little addition makes life just a little easier and astheticallly, it brings a little vintage feel back to the engine room!

Engine Room - Water Heater Replacement

Replacing Felicity's water heater was a necessity of Project Motor Boat. Our goal is to ultimately stay "unplugged" because we don't plan on being at the dock on shore power forever! Also, we don't plan on running a generator 24 hours a day. Just because it's a power boat doesn't mean we will use our powers for evil instead of good. (tee hee hee) We are trying to set the boat up to use battery power created by solar, wind and our engine's alternators. We will use the generator mainly to run A/C or Heat and when/if the wind/sun aren't working in our favor!;) (In our experience, you usually have one or the other & sometimes both!)

We chose the Seaward 20 gallon 120V AC Water Heater with Heat Exchanger. This bad boy provides us the options to use it in anyway we like. We can make hot water by using the engine, the generator OR the shore power!

These big, box like water heaters are designed to sit on a platform or a shelf . Unfortunately, we have seen on other boats that the shelf holds moisture which allows it to deteriorate quickly. To be one step ahead of that issue we built a frame work, more like a bottomless shelf.

You'll notice in the "Before" photo the area was dark and dirty and in the "After", the walls have been painted white and the area was a bit more cleaned up. Well, that was the bulk of the work, we sprayed degreaser all over, scrubbed, hosed it down and dried it up. Then, we sanded, vacuumed and wiped the entire area down with acetone before we began to paint. Once the paint was dry we began the shelf creation. There was a lot of measuring to custom fit one arm of the platform around the approximately 8"exhaust hose.

The *hottest* thing about this water heater project is that the space we gained from the modification allows is to build a workbench with a drawer! It will make a great place for a vise, a bench grinder and we will have room on the walls around it for shelving!! Just one more check off our looooooong list!

Donations Sent to The Casa!!

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.  ~Margaret Meade

For those of you who have been following along for a while you know that we are all about Guatemala! And at every chance we get, we talk about our favorite non profit, Casa Guatemala! Our karma yoga is to promote and support them in any way we can. For those of you who'd lie more information, check out these posts; Casa Guatemala & Hotel Backpackers.

About a month ago we received 3 boxes totaling about 42lbs from some *great people* who collected donations through their office. We had hoped to hand deliver them but instead ended up storing them until a volunteer appeared! Since they are school supplies and the best thing to do is to get them to the kids as soon as possible; we are happy to know they are well on their way! The beautiful kids of the orphanage oat Casa Guatemala will soon be receiving crayons, pencils, notebooks, markers, band-aids and tooth brushes & toothpaste! We can't think of a better way for them to start off the new school year!

So the first group of people collected the goodies, then we stored them. Then I found a volunteer heading to Guatemala to work with Casa Guatemala in Florida He went ahead and paid the extra charge to carry a whole suitcase full of stuff. Then I bummed a ride (since we don't drive or own a car) from a friend who took me and all the supplies to the nearest Fed Ex and we shipped it to the Volunteer who leaves Monday morning for Guatemala City! PHEW! I tell ya, it really does take a village. But again, thanks to just a handful of committed people we made it happen!

It makes us so happy to know that "Together Everyone Achieves More" and we worked together as a T.E.A.M. and got the supplies to the kids with very little expense and within very little time!! Want to help? Email us @ MVFelicity (@) Gmail.com .

Don't forget to support Casa Guatemala by checking out their Facebook page.

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Make a donation by clicking here.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Click on the monkey's fist to read others bloggers on this topic.

Gear we are drooling over now....

We love to talk about the products we are google-ing in our spare time. Lots of people wonder what we are doing when we aren't doing boat projects. Well, wonder no more! We are doing "research", of course! One of the most exciting things about buying Felicity was the fact that many of the projects we wanted to do would not "require" marine products. Meaning we could just as easily ride our bikes down to the nearest hardware store and purchase any number of things to do the job! Recently, we have been doing more research than anything else, check out what we have found!

• Splendide

Wouldn't it be nice to do a load a day? Wouldn't it be nice to quit lugging laundry around? Tired of guessing at what kind of machine your going to get? Or having your favorite things stolen? If you said yes to any of these questions; I'm on your side. This Washer/Dryer combo saves time and headaches. For anyone with kids, guests, pets or enough room to have one of these babies on board this unit will be a lifesaver!;)

• SharkBite Plumbing Fittings

These are a little pricey but they are cool because you can put the plumbing together and take it apart, in case you change your plumbing needs. There is no need to glue them together anymore!

• Raritan Atlantes Freedom with Vortex-Vac

Originally, we want the Tecma Silence Plus but they do not support a 32 volt system. So, we moved on...This head is like the same thing we have only quieter, more compact and aesthetically pleasing; no hoses exposed etc. The biggest thing for us is that they make it in 32 volts. There are NOT many heads that are made with a 32 volt motor.

• OutBack Inverter

Again the big thing is 32 volts. Almost all the Hatteras owners on the forum boast about this make of inverter. AND they support a 32 volt system, BONUS!

• InSinkErator Evolution Excel  - (Garbage Disposal)

Basically, two things draw us to this model the quiet and the fact that it has three chopping sequences to grind even the toughest island fruit rinds!;) BUT mainly the quiet.

Now, we are back to work so we can keep affording this crazy, fun, expensive habit!

Oven has arrived!

The second delivery of the stove was much better! I was called prior to the driver dropping it off, I ran down the street from work to receive it and when I had him open the box up it looked great! So last night we easily carried it down the steps to the galley and tucked it in nicely to the space where the old stove used to be. Isn't she pretty? We haven't come up with a name for her yet but imagine the more we get to know her the name will manifest.

Now we just need to get some hoses and fitting and hooked up the propane system. I think it's safe to say as early as this weekend I will be a baking fool! Here is another shot of the whole galley, I think it really looks great! I am so happy and thankful and proud to see things coming together in this way for us! Now, whose coming to dinner?!

The Sandbar

Me and James, GR photo-bombing us

Every place has one, a little sandbar out in the water where people can tie up like the country song, "Redneck Yacht Club" and get wild and crazy! Miami did not disappoint, our first trip to "The Sandbar" was a success. We brought all of our girls, sure they were all under 10 years old but whose checking? We filled the requirements, lots of girls! The sun was blazing, the breeze was cool and the water was the perfect blend of blues and greens.

The kids jumped off the fly bridge into the water and even swam a few hundred yards to get to the very shallow sand bank to collect shells. While we were out there having a blast we were reminded of the couple of things we want to "repair". One being a stereo and speakers, our set up is really weak. We need the front deck and all the rooms down below to be able to hear music not just the salon. Thankfully, for us a boat pulled up along side with a full on DJ on board blasting the typical booty shaking music. We weren't short on loud music or Brazilian bikinis bouncing around! We were also reminded that our time on the water can only be limited to a few hours because of our refrigeration. With this massive household fridge and no generator we can't keep our food and drinks cold.

So we enjoyed our time on the water, got some sun and headed on back to the slip. We needed that trip out so bad. We all feel refreshed, ready to go back to work and make some more money to create the dream we long for.

Electrical freedom, free from the dock; financial freedom, free from the job and creative freedom, the freedom to live our dreams!

The Objective

*borrowed from Pinterest*

So, just what exactly are we planning to do with this blog and this boat?

Although all plans are written in sand we definitely have an idea of how we want this to go down. We will just keep doing what we have always done; pray about it, work towards our goals and let everything else just kind of happen.

When we were looking for another boat after San San we knew we needed a third cabin. Why? Well for the masses of guests we plan on having come out cruising with us of course! Once we are ready, we plan to jump across to the Bahamas and invite people to fly in and experience" Island Life" as it should be. We will practice yoga on the sandy beaches of our "own" private islands and just generally do the cruising thing. We love sharing this with anyone who wants to learn and play!

Through the blog we hope to find many friends who'd like to join us. We'd like to share our knowledge with the boating community. We want to spread the wealth and find companies who will sponsor us and allow us to review products and test gear. Hopefully, we will turn our followers onto their gear. Now that we have entered the mysterious world of power boating we have all new concepts and products to explore!

So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!

Felicity's Five Favorite Items to Drool Over

"Good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true." - Lester Robert Bittel

To say that we look at West Marine or Lewis Marine catalogs very often would be an understatement. I venture to say we are not the only ones though. I mean who doesn't love scanning through the pages of all that fancy gear and dreaming of having it on their own boat? Why not dream big, right?

Since it's Miami Boat Show weekend, I see it only fitting to mention our five favorite items to drool over:


12' Livingston Dinghy w/ a 30 hp Yamaha - Yes, we will absolutely get another Livingston dinghy! We had so much fun with our last one we can't think of a reason not to! We are excited to go a size up because the 10' was great for the three of us or even another full size human, but if we had two extra adults along for a ride we weren't able to plane. Since we plan to have more guests along in our now bigger boat we plan to be able to get up on a plane and hit the beach in style!


Tecma Silence Plus Heads - Sure two heads are better than one, but we've got three and only one is operable. GR was exposed to these bad boys through the current yacht he works on and he is sold! The design is easy on the eyes with clean lines, keeping all the hose under wraps. They are affordably priced at under $1,000 and operate electronically so none of that hand operated pump action. Guests will feel right at home when they just push a button to quickly and silently flush. The system has programmable flush cycles that even prevent flushing when the tank is full.


Northern Lights 10KW Generator - The difference in the technology of models built in the 1960's and today is enough to want to replace the generator not to mention the difficulty in getting parts that dated. The Northern Lights 10KW weighs less than half of what our current generator does and would offer double the fuel efficiency. The goal of Project Motor Boat is to create a live aboard motor yacht that can be as efficient as a live aboard sailboat. We don't plan on staying at the dock forever and the sooner we get to self sufficiency the sooner we can get cruising!


Magnum MS4024 Inverter Charger - Basically we will need this unit to operate the reefer; something we have grown to depend on! Although, we currently have a household refrigerator I would love to eventually have an RV style counter depth unit that would be more efficient. Our boat is currently on a 32 volt operating system which makes this unit perfect for us to slowly make the switch to a 24 volt system.


Ocean LED Underwater Lighting - You've seen them, those boats that light up the night making their own personal anchorage aquarium show! WE WANT TO BE THAT GUY! I can't tell you how long we have pined over hauling out and installing these incredibly efficient LED lighting systems. To be precise
we need to 2010 HD flush mount model. These models are easily accessible from inside the hull for maintenance and even offer color changing abilities depending on the type of water you are in! It's so cool!

So, tomorrow I will finally get the chance to make my rounds at the 2012 Miami International Boat Show and hope to make stops at these booths for more information and more drooling! See you there!