I guess a good way to start this is with some background on where this page is coming from. 1) Everything mentioned here has probably been conceived of by someone else already at some time. So I take no credit for the originality or ingenuity. And where I can I will add links to sources. 2) Having owned S/R going on 2 years now, I'm becoming aware of some of the lifestyle challenges(?) of being "on the water." Limited space, water and electricity and the constant movement of the sea are some of the obvious. Mind you, I've never gone past the 3rd buoy in the channel - this is from my slip! 3) I'm cheap. Like skin-flint cheap. I like Goodwill, Kam swap meet (NOT Aloha stadium), pawn shops and auto junkyards. Explains the S/R eh? Although to be fair and politically correct, I'm a great recycler. 4) Boats and the sea is not my lifestyle. It is my current infatuation, the next shiny object, the low hanging fruit, another episode of an ADD afflicted. (http://www.vinsight.org/attention_deficit_disorder_symptoms.html) If you take a moment to overlay all this to whatever goes on with this page then it will make some sense.
So this has very little to do with boating, or actual sailing per se. This is about all the other stuff I'm getting into because of owning this boat - like refrigeration. Out on the blog entries I mentioned converting an apartment sized refrigerator from upright to chest/top loading type. Another boater lost his fridge and I gave it to him as a beta test. It's been several months and my mods are still working. The next iteration is an AC fridge that only draws power when the compressor comes on. Something else is electrical power. I currently have 4 PV panels; 5W, 10W, 30W and 60W. The 5W will barely keep a standard car battery at 12 volts. But no controller needed and it's mindless. The 10W is good for 12.6+ volts on a marine deep cycle with a charge controller. Both of these are strictly charge maintenance with virtually no power draw. The 60W & MPPT controller with a deep cycle could keep a small wine fridge cold all day. More than sufficient for my water.
Enough..., back to work.
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06/24/2013
Are you sure this is 6 yards?
With some friends at a service project at a preschool. Dig up a foot of old sand and replace with fresh. This was work!
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08/14/2013
For the past month or so, culminating during the week of tropical storm Flossy(up till then Hurricane Flossy), some of our gang was taking an emergency training course called CERT - Community Emergency Response Team. It's part of FEMA and is meant to train citizens in preparation for emergency and disaster situations. The primary focus is for immediate and personal care during overwhelming emergencies, like flooding and earthquakes where infrastructure is disrupted. Emphasis on the first few days of an emergency was stressed with scenarios of lack of water, food and sanitation. Rule #1 is, the government cannot save you in the first 48 hours! You must save yourself. Hurricane Katrina proved that in New Orleans. (NOTE: I don't mean it's dog-eat-dog so go out and shoot your neighbor for his food. It's about you and your family being prepared.)
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Search and rescue included recovery of survivors of a collapsed building.
Utilizing an old WWII bunker on the slopes of Diamond head.
I now have a fire escape plan for my residence and for my mothers home. Other things include, contact numbers for people here and on the mainland, food and water rations for a few days and cash money. Hawaii is notorious for shutting down electricity and ATMs don't run on batteries.
This link tells more about the program and I highly recommend it. http://www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-teams
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08/14/13
While I'm on the subject of power outages, here's more on running small refrigerators. Smaller refrigerators use compact compressors that have a round ball shape. On the side inside a plastic cover are two components that start up the motor and fused to keep the motor from overheating and burning out. They are PTC or start relay and overload relay. Many times if a motor just stopped running it's because of one or both of these. However if you noticed a slow decline of cooling and the motor still comes on then this wouldn't help.
Recently a neighbor left this wine chiller out for bulk trash, presumably because it wasn't working.
On the side of the compressor are 2 components that start and keep the motor running.
After removing these components and disassembly I found a damaged capacitor(the disc thing) and a blown overload relay(the other black and white thing.)
I cleaned the disc and reinstalled it. The overload relay is non-repairable so I just left it off and will swap it with a spare. These 2 items start at about $25 each to as much as $50-60.
The unit now works. Next time yours stops running take a look at these parts before anyone recommends replacing a $300 compressor, or buying a new appliance.
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