Norfolk, VA
To see as much of the world as we can,
Using the smallest carbon footprint we can,
Spending the least amount of money we can,
Making as many friends we can.
CA likes having countertop she can use directly. A loose cutting board on a moving boat is a liability.
The Whitby has a nice cutting board built in the top of the refrigerator.
This has consequences. Mostly it means having any ingredients that need chopping …
Two weeks ago, I broke the catch of Red Ranger's bar.
Thus lead to much swearing. And this clamp-and-webbing catch.
The clamp holds the webbing. The webbing holds the bar.
It's a shabby necessity. A "jury rig."
There are two choices. Replace …
The Whitby sleeps 6 (sometimes 7, depending on your saloon.) It seems like a lot of owners live in the aft cabin, and use the saloon and V-berth for guests.
The aft cabin is designed to have two widely-separated bunks.
A lot of couples sleep athwartship. One person is aft …
The two are unrelated.
Saturday, we packed ten guests onto Red Ranger, and sailed around Herring Bay. Pictures? Sorry. Too busy schmoozing to actually take any pictures. It was hot and sunny with wind that barely reached 8 knots. We drifted around pleasantly. Gybed once to avoid the fish traps …
When we lived aboard, we kept Red Ranger clean. It was easy. We were there. And we were otherwise unemployed. Except for sight-seeing. And writing.
The amount of small mildewy areas is legion. It's actually kind of insane.
We're starting from this ☞
The part is a vent fitting …
Maybe renovation is a bit too big for this. The Red Ranger has two long, fixed portlights that let in a lot of sun. And heat.
In the summer, these need to be covered to keep the interior livable. It's that or air conditioning.
And we ripped the AC out …
The Commodore Says: "I don't want to depend on pump-outs, since they're an America-only requirement; and I don't like the head flushing directly into a bay or creek."
Enter the Air Head and the Nature's Head composting toilets. These are very similar products that separate solid from liquid waste. Liquids …
Next up: radio replacement. The old radios both work nicely. However.
The radio that's accessible from the helm is inside the aft cabin. That means that the aft cabin hatch cover must be left open. What do you do when it rains? It also means that anyone off watch who's …
The Standard Horizon product line includes the CP300i chart plotter and the Matrix GX2150 AIS+ radio. We've had the CP300i chart plotter since 2010. The GX2150 radio is in a box in the V-Berth.
The point of these products is the integration. The chart plotter provides GPS data to the …
Most of Red Ranger's refit has been to replace out-of-date systems. Our logs include a lot of "Replace" activity. True, we've done some small adds: a bilge pump, a bilge pump cycle counter, two galley lights, a water filter, two solar panels and the stays'l tracks. But most of …
The Commodore Says "That's the way it's supposed to look."
The cushions are—officially—done.
We've rebuilt the old cushions to provide suitable access below the various berths and settees.
And we've got new, nice-looking fabric.
And everything is clean.
And.
Rebuilding …
The Commodore Says "The underberth storage needs to be accessible."
Red Ranger has a boat-load of storage [snerk]. But some of it is difficult to access without having three arms: one to lift the cushion and two to root around in the compartment.
The saloon settee (or "salon settle couch …
The Whitby interior design is pretty roomy with plenty of storage. There's a bonus: plenty of inaccessible space, too.
This is a photo of the space under the aft berth (port side, if you're keeping score.) You can clearly see three things. One the left (astern) is a lift-up panel …
Whitby's were designed to have almost 300 gallons of water aboard. Since our forward tank leaks, were down to only 200 or so gallons. Without any conservation effort, we think this might last us a month or more. We don't take long, lingering showers. We do our laundry in a …
The Big Day... Installing the cushions in the V-Berth to see if the sizing instructions actually made any sense at all. (They didn't.)
CA carefully bagged each piece so that they wouldn't get dirty in the truck. It took a bit of stuffing to get them down the companionway hatch …
Red Ranger's interior is about to start its overhaul.
The V-berth cushions. ☑th Done.
Almost.
The open issue is sizing. The SailRite cushion video is quite clear on measurements. Their advice is to measure the foam and then sew with a ½" seam allowance.
Does this compress the foam …
Red Ranger's interior was in need of an overhaul. The wood (and plastic) are in great condition. The fabric covering needs help. (Okay, there's a spot there the cabin sole doesn't fit perfectly, but that's not visible.)
CA's got a three-part color scheme in mind: each cabin gets a …
Red Ranger's interior was spotlessly clean, thanks to the wonderful care and maintenance by her previous owners. However. The fabrics were also a bit -- well -- "dated".
CA has the skills and the tools to completely rebuild all the interior cushions. One of the crucial decisions is whether or not …
Aboriginal Australians have a concept of dreamtime during which creation happens. It seems to make sense: we dream, we create a vision, we focus our actions around that vision. The hard part is keeping on course with your vision.
There's no end of management folderol about the essential importance of …
Early last summer it become clear to us that clear hatches and no breeze in Jackson Creek made Red Ranger into a fiberglass oven. We're not replacing the clear hatches with smoked polycarbonate any time soon. What to do?
We want a lot of airflow; this means we have to …
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