013 Sea Marie Pin Rails and Screens Attached
Great Loop Prologue, Cedar Point Marina, August 2016.
Pin rails lashed to the two stanchions one port and the other starboard. This will be used to store the several 5-gallon cans of gas needed for the longest portion of the Mississippi and up the Ohio River and Cumberland River where there are no fuel stops for 250 miles.
The screen covers the entire hatch and companionway aboard the Sea Marie. Velcro is sewn to tuff nylon screen door netting. Keeps all the bugs and spiders out and I have a cordless hand vac to collect the ones that get in.
Comments from 2016:
Mary Jo Cartledgehayes You're headed down the Mississippi River? Way cool!
Noel Gingerich got more balls than people with 5 times more boats, more money, and less sense. Sail on my friend...
Henry Krzemien RN Noel, thanks for the kudos but I'm not the first. Hey Pogo Bob, did you have any 90+ degree days on your loop? And what did you do for comfort?
Pogo Bob Henry: Most of the Loop wasn't too bad, as you're following the seasons. A few things I would recommend, though. 1) a wind scoop. If you're sleeping in the v-berth, this makes a huge difference, especially on the hook. 2) A 12vdc fan. We had an O2Â Cool that moved a fair amount of air. 3) At least one battery-powered fan. I highly recommend Calframo. It runs forever on 4-D cells and is a lifesaver. We've had ours for 20 years! 4) Finally, a bit of solar screen that you can hang from the sunny side of the Bimini in the late afternoon. It'll drop the temp in your cockpit 10-15 degrees, without killing the breeze.
Pogo Bob This is my Calframo fan…
WESTMARINE.COM
CAFRAMO Battery-Powered Crew Fans | West Marine
Pogo Bob Couldn't find my exact O2Cool fan, but it looks like this. This one uses 6 D's (9v). Mine used 8 D's (12vdc), so I wired it to accept a cigarette lighter plug. Your mileage may vary.
O2-COOL.COM
10-Inch Portable Fan | O2COOL
Henry Krzemien RN Excellent! This is what I was thinking about getting and converting to house battery power. On the other hand, I have 2 AC fans, one draws .8amp and can really move air and the other draws .2amp but is much quieter. Both will work on my 1000W inverter but what is drawn from the battery decreases the overall house battery capacity unless I attach the 100W solar panel which I have not done so yet. Waiting for those MC4 connectors to arrive from the internet order as they are not available in any box stores. What's helping now is an 8x10ft white tarp folded and sewn in half, placed on the sunnyside of the cockpit shading some of the cabin areas, and has stopped the solar heating. Still have 3 more lined curtains to sew that should help filter out the sun from the cabin windows and lined hoping to provide a little interior insulation. I have yet to try out my solar shower. That should be fun.
Pogo Bob If your Bimini is dark hang on to that white tarp. You can clip it OVER your Bimini and it will make the cockpit considerably cooler underway (hot day, no breeze). The solar screen is still the bomb on the hook, as it passes air. For a shower, we used to use a solar shower but found that it often cooled down by the time we thought it was dark enough for a cockpit shower (wrapping it in a beach towel when you anchor will help, though). We ended up with a 2-gallon weed sprayer mated to a Walmart dish sprayer nozzle. Makes a great shower. 1-1/2 gal. Room temp water + a percolator of hot water made it just right (with care, we could both shower from that).
Henry Krzemien RN Pogo Bob, Planning on getting a bimini but problematic. If having a spit backstay wasn't enough I have a traveler with a mainsheet bisecting the cockpit. It is 4 feet aft of the traveler and 3 feet to the companionway. At best find a small one forward of the traveler in conjunction with a sea spray skirt or dodger. At sunset, I take down the white tarp to allow more air to pass. I like Pardey's suggestion to have several smaller tarps instead of a large one. Speaking of Lin and Larry Pardy they also use a garden sprayer for a shower. I was playing with the solar shower yesterday and now see how cumbersome it really is on a boat. Walmart had a nice garden sprayer. Thanks for the suggestions.
Pogo Bob Henry: I had the same traveler issue. Mine was across the bridge deck at the companionway threshold. I fabricated another and mounted it on the cabin top near the forward limit of the aft edge of the sliding hatch. This allowed me to not only have a bimini but a complete enclosure. One of the smartest things I did. At the very least, you've GOT to have some sort of bimini. The sun down south is BRUTAL!
Henry Krzemien RN I totally agree, the sun here at Cedar Point Marina can be relentless. Since our boats are much alike can you send me some photos of the details of your bimini? This will have to be a priority for me. I plan to keep my mast up until Chicago then lower the mast on X frames about the height of the present boom height. I have seen photos of your boat and your mast was on the deck. Wasn't it in the way in the cockpit?
Pogo Bob Henry: If you'll PM me your email address, I'll dig out some pix.
Jeff Cochran Getting serious! When is ETD?
Henry Krzemien RN 4 weeks
Jeff Cochran Wow! We'll be following. Good luck!
Henry Krzemien RN Thanks, Jeff I enjoy watching your vacation adventures.
Ymaria Lekutis Gosh, Henry, I hope you're taking a 1st shipmate. remember Gilligan Island? it was only a three-mile tour.
Henry Krzemien RN Nope, me, myself, and I.
Ymaria Lekutis uh oh. check-in every couple of days...
and journal. k?
Henry Krzemien RN k!
Ymaria Lekutis I'll be watching you in all those unfamiliar places...I think that was a song.
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