Wow...great hearing from you and thanks for your kind comments! If you haven't already, join our Orion27 group: [email protected]. Sounds like you too enjoy the diversity of sailing with that nice fleet you have.

Will do, thanks for the info

Thanks for your comments! I think you're on to something regarding the cause for slowing down. I'm experiencing the same! Darn diversions. Best of luck to you on your projects.

I forgot to say, I am a Colorado Sailor also.

We've been to the Apostles now twice in August and our first time was in 1984 on our Catalina 22. My wife misses it since we could launch it by ourselves but even nicer was that very shallow draft, letting us get up close to the islands. Last year we were frustrated by shallow water docks such as Michigan island's due to silting from nearby bluffs but you should find that very approachable with your boat.

@@trailsandsails2722 Well my 22 is in a slip at Chatfield if you never need a fix on a 22 you welcome to come out with me.

Thanks for the invite. I'll keep you in mind. We sailed our other boats on Chatfield: Catalina 25, Hobbie 16, & O'Day Widgeon. Haven't been on the lake since they upped the lake level. Are you a CYSC member? @@SinglehandedSailing

@@trailsandsails2722@trailsandsails2722 I am a member of CYSC, but I don't race anymore, so just for social connections. I try to at Chatfield about 3 days a week - but have 3 multi-day trips planned for this year. So spending a little time upgrading my boat for mini-extended cruising.

Thanks very much- great comments! I did attach an overflow bottle to the overflow fitting on the metering valve and I'll be showing that in the follow up video to this. I am wondering how you got so much overflow oil. Is it just from the metering valve itself or from upstream of that too? I agree about the gravity tank. I have not had the boat out on the water since I've hooked up fuel to the heater. I do not have it vented....yet. Not sure what I'll do. Maybe I'll extend an 1/8" line up to the exhaust hose for my composting head.

When the boat is sailing and heeled over some diesel spills over as the top of the metering valve has space...in other words there a space where the diesel will shosh out of the metering valve and either go into your boat or into the overflow tank if you have it properly plumbed .You also have to have both your supply tank and overflow tank properly vented to the outside otherwise you will get diesel smell in the boat.@@trailsandsails2722

Go to Dickinson Diesel Heater best install ever...I think you will see how and where I put in heavy duty black venting hose specifically for diesel...any other type of hosing may render your insurance null and void.@@trailsandsails2722

Thanks very much for your comments and condolences! She is a beautiful boat-we get a lot of complements about her whether its water side at a dock, an air show, or even a truck stop. We hope to get on Lake Michigan next year and I hope to get some ideas where to go from sailors like you. Looking forward to staying in touch with you.

@@trailsandsails2722 Yes, she is gorgeous! Pacific Seacraft has long been on my shortlist of bluewater boats. We’ve had the very good fortune to own two others from that list. I’m a dismal guide but you really can’t go wrong as we’ve thoroughly enjoyed nearly all ports of call on Lake Michigan. One spot I’d suggest, however, is Fayette State Historic Park on the Garden Peninsula/Big Bay de Noc. The nights are delightfully eerie and lonely if your itinerary lands you there in the less visited shoulder season. Perhaps our wakes will cross as we migrate from the lakes we leave to the greener grass of other lakes? 😄

I'm not an electrician. So I followed the instructions from Blue Seas on that. I know it also depends on your bonding system or method for the boat's electrical and grounding. Nigel Calder's book 'Mechanical & Electrical Manual' is a good source of info too.

Did you fuse the wires for you dc panel at the battery?

Thanks for mentioning that. I have the little cube shaped Blue Seas battery terminal fuses on 2 of 3 batteries but didn't have room in the battery box for the 3rd at that time. I hadn't figured out what I was going to do so didn't shoot that part of the video.

Thanks much for your comments. I agree with much of what you have mentioned- particularly that the main bilge pump can not be turned off by mistake. Mine is on a separate branch to a small panel with a fuse. The small panel (from Rule) has a manual/auto position switch (there is no off position) with which I can easily check that the pump is working. I check that on my departures checklist and also check it if I am leaving the boat for more than a day or two. I have my backup bilge pump wired to the panel with a breaker. I also have a high water alarm in the bilge. It has a red indicator light to let me know it has power.

Thanks for kind words. I'll have details in an up coming video: "DIY upgrades: What worked and what didn't!" but- in brief- we were really happy with this. Two of us using for 2 months. No worse odors than a household toilet, stir 2x a day, dumped/refilled 2x or every 2 weeks, and avoid putting toilet paper in there- jams the stirrer and reduces time between changing coconut coir.

Thnaks for the feedback! Good to know it has worked well. @@trailsandsails2722

Thanks! Its a remarkable sturdy and comfortable boat of just 27' LOD. Hope one finds you!

Thanks very much for your comments and tip. I very much appreciate that helpful feedback.

Yep...but that effort pays great dividends! Loved that panel and upgrade cruising this summer! Good luck & watch for sharp screw ends hiding around corners you can't see!

Thanks much for your reply! I bought the bucket, cataloged as a tank, from US Plastics...a bit pricey but it has a thicker wall (about 2x thicker) than a typical 5 gal bucket -allowing a better build when adding hardware attachments and it's about 1" wider too for better volume. For "welding rods" or filler I cut thin long pieces off of the tank I bought since it was taller than what I could use. Plastics vary a lot in composition so it's usually better to use filler that is the same as what you are trying to weld together. There are two of us living aboard using it for the past 2-3 weeks. Time to change the coconut coir. Make sure you get some practice in with the welder before taking on your project. Thickness and type of plastic dictate what your heat setting should be and speed of welding. Work in a well ventilated area. Best of luck to you on your projects!

You're right- it sure does. Hope to be sharing our first trip on her this summer and I'll be commenting on how it goes. KZbin channel 'Captain Q' did a boat tour on one about 1-2 yrs ago. I'll be doing one too this summer.

I should have gone into detail on that and thanks for bringing it up. My intent was to mount that panel on a hinge mount so it can open like a door as you see on many larger boat panels but I need to design and build a frame. There's little space available elsewhere near the panel so where they are is a safe and dry place for the block- just not convenient at this time. BTW- that fuse block is not critical, its solely for the meters. Most small panels don't have meters.

Thanks for pointing that out. The 4 way fuse block contains sockets for four 1 amp fuses that are required when installing the Blue Seas 8068 DC panel to protect wiring and the panel voltmeter and ammeter. Since the aim is to measure battery use, wires to the meters go directly to batteries and these fuses protect electronics & wiring in case there is a short somewhere in the panel or downstream wires. I bought the block on Amazon (Fuse Block,12-24V Car 4 Way Circuit Standard Blade Fuse Box Block Holder) as it does not come with the Blue Seas panel. I hope this addresses your question and if not, please get back in touch.

If you are referring to the old Pacific Seacraft panels, they are still here. You can have them at the price of shipping.

That's a great question, I should have mentioned that. The Yanmar service manual for the 2GM20F shows the temperature switch normally off at 187F and comes on above 193-202F and the thermostat fully open at 185F. So based on that I was looking at 180 as a max temp since I was looking at the surface of the engine.

@@trailsandsails2722 "The Yanmar service manual for the 2GM20F shows..." Or as I was told in high school: "If all else fails, read the instructions." Thanks for humoring a lazy sailor 😊 And thanks for the succinct video!

Thanks very much for your thoughtful comments! I have looked into alternatives regarding the galley stove and its on the list after higher needs like a self steering wind vane and frig. The propane stove works fine but, like you, I'm no fan of propane on a boat. I like your mention of the Wallas diesel stove and since I already have diesel for the engine and heater I'll be installing, it makes sense to go that way. I also considered alcohol and appreciated using an Origo 6000 on my son's boat but they aren't made anymore and it requires another fuel. All of these fuels do release copious amounts of water vapor at various levels (alcohol is worst) due to the breaking of organic carbon compounds largely composed of carbon and hydrogen- even burning dry wood releases water vapor.

You bet !!

Thank you very much for your very helpful comments. I have included some information about the batteries in the movie description addressing some of your questions. These AGMs are typically used in solar power systems. If I could do it over, I'd go with Lithium batteries as they have gotten much cheaper (but still 2-3x the cost) and have more safety built in now. So many advantages- charge much faster, can be drawn down more, and much lighter.

Thanks much for commenting! My Hobart 140 does not have a Teflon liner. You can get those liners on many welders. It would probably make the feed go a bit smoother. I also heard that 5300 series is a bit more rigid but figured I'd start out with 4043 which was a lot easier to find such as at Harbor Freight. I'm sorry but I don't know any more about Al wire than that. You are right about wire size and tip. Less friction with the .035 tip but not a great deal. On one of my projects I had to clean up tips and the gun a few times and somewhere along the way I put a 0.030 tip on and didn't notice the difference. That said, I'd still go with the 0.035 tip. I would love to have a spool gun so if you have a bit more money go that way and a multi-process welder might be worth considering if you have an interest in TIG too. When I got started with welding I didn't think I'd be doing much AL but have enjoyed the challenge of working with it. Not sure what to suggest on cheap mig welders. Make sure they handle thicknesses you'll be working with and read the reviews. Watch too for user experiences with shield gas diffusion since some guns are prone to problems. Welding Tips and Tricks had a good video on that topic and other AL welding tips. I learned most of what I know from his channel. Good luck with your search, have fun with welding and thanks again for commenting!

@@trailsandsails2722 .... you bet sir. And I'll look into your suggestions. The more perspectives I get the higher the level of wisdom. I am a huge believer in WISDOM !! Thanks for your time and consideration, Sincerely ......................

Thanks for your kind words!

Thanks for your comment and my apologies for not making this more clear. I was using distilled water to flush out old antifreeze/coolant. It took several flushes with running the engine each time for several minutes to clear most of the old coolant. Perhaps there is a more aggressive flush than distilled water but I could not find anyone to recommend one. After the last flush, I filled the engine with a diesel engine coolant.

Thanks for your comment and sharing your experience. I think we both agree this type of toilet is a great alternative to the traditional head which with tubing and holding tank uses a great deal of space on a small boat. Many people like you don't mix and that's ok. I thinking mixing breaks up solids and promotes drying which reduces odors. But good ventilation might take care of that. I might try running a week long experiment this summer and test mixing vs no-mixing to see myself.

The system I have uses a standard through the deck solar powered vent with a battery in it to run 24/7, above the head. The previous owner also installed an in line 12V fan in that ducting. He was pretty clever and removed a blade to make that fan be unbalanced and make some noise, which is a good thing in a small space. I have had the boat for three seasons and it has been odor free. My guess is the number of folks using it might be a limiting factor. The beauty of it is just closing up the heavy duty bag and dumping it. My girlfriend was not sure, but she has come around. I am sure she still prefers the Purosan system I had in my Chris-Craft, that was a great solution too, but not legal in all waters. I had one boat with a holding tank and never again.

Well I am again at a crossroads. I kicked the project down the way a few months ago but now am rebuilding seacocks on my Orion 27. Would love to go composting.. The challenge is not having a shop with all the necessary equipment to do such a nice job given the Orion complexities.

Good question. So far I have applied it just to my cabin entry stairs (will be doing the cabin sole too) but have not had a wet day experience. No slips yet but the wet day experience will tell far more. Will update here as we go along.

Thanks for kind words!

Here's the invoice entry from US Plastics for the bucket (they call it a tank): Item No. 4150 5 GAL CYL POLY-E TANK 11DIA X 14HI I just checked their web page and its still available but-wow- have they gone up in price! This is the thicker wall tank (1/4"). Thanks much for your kind words and best of luck to you on your project!

@@trailsandsails2722 thank you!

Nice going given all the angles. I am about to create a composting system in my Orion 27, from 1981. In retrospect what are the pro and cons of your system? Is it easy to keep clean?

@@SailingwithMaury I'm assuming you mean the interior of the bucket and tumbler. Its much a function of how dry the solids are. I don't know how soft stools would do. I coated the tumbler with epoxy since the anodized AL would likely be more prone to holding onto stuff so polished SS would probably be better and that's what AirHead, I think, uses. Key thing is moisture- drier the solids, amount of deposits, mixing couple times a day or more, warm dry environment, and air flow with the ventilation system allows wet stuff to dry and break into small pieces. That's a reminder that this type of toilet is a actually desiccator. I do add Nilodor in a dilution but its just one pump of fine mist. I use coconut chor but Practical Sailor says wood ash is better at desiccating but my guess is that would be pretty messy and hard to dry out.

Thanks for your kind words!

Thanks very much for your kindness. Good luck to you on your projects!

Glad you appreciated it, "Missy".

@@trailsandsails2722 also nice video

Thanks for noticing that. Ideally you want to match wire and tip dia. In this case, the AL wire tended to get stuck more often with the 0.030 tip bird nesting the wire at the feed end.

You’re wrong beech.. you have to use a bigger tip with aluminum because it expands. Know your shit before you open your mouth little fella.