Monday, September 10, 2012

Serenity is almost ready to go...and a radar unit for sale.

We are already over budget...that is the amount of money that has been spent on additions and upgrades has exceeded what was planned. Now I am replacing the starting battery on Serenity. The person who did the marine survey in June had said it needed to be replaced, after checking it with a conductivity tester. It has always started the engine easily so I thought that it was OK. The reason it started the engine so well is because I had the battery switch set so that the starting battery was draining the house bank, which was actually starting the engine...rookie mistake. I am glad we discovered this before we left. I wanted to have the solar panels charging the starting battery as well as the house bank....the reason for the setting. Now I will switch back and forth, alternating between them. I knew this would be a learning experience.

A lot has been accomplished in the last week...
1. Received the USCG documentation on Serenity... thank you Home Land Security!
2. Garmin Radar and AIS were installed...older unit for sale-see below
3. I received my MMSI number
4. The chart plotter software was updated
5. The VHF was programmed with my MMSI number.
6. The receipt for the registration for the EPIRB arrived.
7. I found and purchased the rechargeable LED spotlight...$20 cheaper than the local marine store
8. I received The Rogue Wave Pro I had ordered...(wifi) This will be the last item installed before we leave        in less than two weeks. The installation looks simple enough. I will let you know how simple as well as how it works. Hopefully The Rogue Wave will make it possible to update this blog on a regular basis.
9. Doctors appointments...physicals...flu shot...
10. Dental appointment for checkup and cleaning
11. Eye exam...new sun glasses...I hope to need them a lot.
There is still much to do in the next week. Our departure date is getting close!

I have a Furuno Radar system from 1996 that functions well. I would love to give it a good home.

 The mounting bracket and all wiring are included, as well as the dome. If you are interested please email me at blamebuffett@yahoo.com. The radar unit works well. I upgraded so that the radar would display at the helm on the chart plotter...easier and safer for a newbie. If I had more experience I doubt I would have upgraded the radar. I would like to sell this in the next week or so, before we leave. I also have the owners manual. Make an offer...the radar mast is not included. It is the home of our new radar dome.

We are still looking for a good used dinghy, and a 9.9 Yamaha Outboard, or any outboard that runs well and is 8-10 HP.  We may have to purchase one along the way if I can not find one in the next week..
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2 comments:

  1. Jesse On s/v SmittySeptember 12, 2012 at 5:50 AM

    You might want to consider adding an Automatic Charge Relay. The unit is about $80 from Defender (http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|328|51495|299265&id=750182). It will isolate the batteries from discharging while automatically combining while charging and can be set up to charge a specific bank first (i.e. the starting battery).

    Compass Marine has an excellent "how to" section that really helps you do projects like this yourself (http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects). I recommend that you read the ones on battery charger install and solar pannel install for a better discussion of ACRs. Also, the guy who owns Compass Marine posts as "Mainesail" on Sailnet.com and Sailboatowners.com. He is really helpful.

    Great to see all the progress being made.

    Jesse

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ted and ShirlSeptember 13, 2012 at 9:03 PM

    Jesse,
    I will check in to the automatic charge relay. Thanks for the information. Thanks for checking out the blog!

    ReplyDelete

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