Deliberations about new stuff.

As mentioned, Dorian needs new stuff. Our first discovery was that the Raritan hot water heating tank (engine & 110V heat) had a hole in it. Since the tank is very well hidden this discovery was made via empty water tanks and a full bilge. Our intent is to replace it in kind.

The NorCold 12V/110V fridge made the usual noises but did not cool whatsoever so was removed. Our intent here is to replace it with a NovaKool fridge of the same size & again go with 12V/110V.

The stove was an interesting item in that it was kerosene powered, using a pressurized tank stored on the upper deck. After messing around with it for a while we determined that from a safety perspective it had to go, so it did. Initially we thought that we'd install a propane system, since that was what the vessel originally had, but further thinking has us now contemplating going with an Origo or similar alchohol stove. (Dorian I has a microwave oven that we'll probably keep for times when we have shore power.) Our earlier Albin had an Origo 3000 (2 burners) that surprised us with its performance. The beauty of the Origo is that it is completely self contained, eliminating fuel lines and tank storage concerns.

There was an old charcoal BBQ on Dorian I, but since we didn't have an operating stove for the short period that we were cruising last summer, we replaced the BBQ with a Jackson Grills BBQ. Bad idea unfortunately. It did not fit solidly on the rail, seemed to use a lot of propane, and after an overnight cruise it was covered in surface rust. Perhaps the rust was my fault, because I didn't wipe the BBQ down after the trip, but it wasn't a wild and wooly ride so I never thought about it being covered in salt spray. I would have thought that stainless steel would have done better than that. In any event, although the manufacturer was a bit upset, the retail outlet (Quality Stoves in Campbell River) refunded the entire purchase fee. As their name suggests, they are a quality outfit. At some point we'll get a new BBQ, but no rush.

The Achilles dinghy is really old, but a new 10' version would suit our needs, or at least we thought so. Certainly research seems to suggest that if you want a non-RIB inflatable, Achilles makes a very good product. (Probably the same is true about their RIB, but we're not looking for one.) And then we came across the Portland Pudgy. It is the rotomoulded polyethylene 7'8" swiss army knife of dinghies! Not cheap, but holds four, can be used as a liferaft, can have a sail kit, and would handily deal with the rocks & barnacles of the BC coastline. Since we haven't actually seen one yet (They're made in Portland Maine and no local dealers to date.) we're still deliberating. Our Albin had a Walker Bay 8. Never again.

Electronics. The Icom VHF at the lower helm is an older but very serviceable unit; it has a loud hailer and in fact broadcasts all incoming calls through the hailer, which is great for when you're on the foredeck, but not so great when you're sneaking into an anchorage late at night. But there is nothing on the upper helm, so we had the brilliant idea of just getting a handheld for upstairs. If you need to talk, you just go below, where you have more power, right? Kinda forgot that you don't have the same receiving power either, so miss many calls. Back to the drawing board.

An old Coastal Navigator Integrator system was on board, which provides depth sounder and forward scanning sonar. I should say provided. So it is leaving. So far we have added a Lowrance system to the upper bridge that gives us GPS/chartplotting and depth sounding capability on a 5" screen, which sounds small but actually works very well. Nice system.

There is also a Furuno 1621 Mark 2 radar on board which is nice but we're thinking about adding a new Lowrance Broadband radar to our system, c/w a larger (8"? 10"?) display screen at the lower helm. Part of our deliberations here is waiting to hear how the broadband fares as it is still a whole new technology, at least for recreational marine use. The Furuno would be removed and installed on Douglas' boat.

There is no autopilot onboard, which currently is not a big issue, but probably at some point we'll add one. The steering is hydraulic so that shouldn't be too big of a deal.

The Espar furnace has a myriad of controls on it that we still need to sort out; we didn't use it in the summer but shortly will give it a test. It currently has a dedicated kerosene tank for fuel but our plan is to switch it over to diesel from the regular fuel tanks. The fewer the fuels on board, the simpler life will be. Plus the plastic kero tank is in the bilge next to the engine.

We do like our Ennos!!!