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So I spent the past few days in the bilge, putting my new plumbing system together. I managed to fit the 12 Gal water heater, the expansion tank, thermostatic valve, pressure pump and filter all into one little corner. Got everything wired and plumbed -- so far so good! dvd

Thanks, that's pretty much what I did, although it was just a standard steel 2 gallon tank special ordered through Home Depot (I looked, but didn't see what the Groco tank was made of). Also plumbed in a thermostatic valve to prevent overheated water from entering the delivery system and a valve...

Many years ago when I was a commercial diver we used truck inner tubes as lifting floats. They were cheap, readily available and didn't bang around like 50 gal drums. A lot cheaper than lifting bags! If, for some reason, you needed to reduce the lift rate as your salvage was rising, you just...

I had a transom shower setup which had a broken hatch, cracked fiberglass casing and a faucet that constantly leaked. Since I *never have, and probably never will take a shower on my swim step, I ripped everything out. I am now left with a hole in my transom measuring about 16" square. I figure...

Used to have an expert in the family to check over my returns. My father-in-law was with the IRS for over 30 years, then prepared client tax returns every year for another 20 years. Unfortunately he died a couple of weeks ago (not unexpected - he lived a good, long life), otherwise I would have...

I have no problem paying my fair share of taxes - proud to do it and proud to be able to do it. But, if there's a legal deduction for taxes paid to a state where I am not a resident, it would be silly of me not to take advantage of it. dvd

rwidman wrote: A one time sales (or use) tax. It's not recurring like personal property taxes in some states. Don't want to sound picky, but I'm in the process of doing my taxes and trying to figure out how to handle the 5% excise tax I paid in MD last year. Everything I can find states that...

My generator has an emergency on-off switch on the engine. If that ever gets shut off inadvertently the start switch on the panel will not work. dvd

Actually, I did have a problem in the past. Every time I turned on the cold water tap, very hot water came out for quite a while. It made it difficult to bring the water temperature down to non-scalding levels because I didn't have cold water to dilute the hot water with. This meant a...

I have moved my hot water heater and am re-plumbing it. The old set-up had two problems: 1) a poorly-functioning check valve on the cold water side so when I turned on the cold water tap hot water came out for a while and 2) ultra-hot water came out of the taps after running the engine.*...

Here's a pictorial on rebuilding a Racor. * dvd

Going down Long Island Sound will give you much more protected water than a route south of the island and will also give you more options for anchorages. Besides, it's kind of fun going down the East River through NYC -- just time your passage through Hell Gate so you are running with the tide...

I recently re-wired my mast and made all the connections at the base with a short bus bar enclosed in a waterproof box from these*guys. * dvd

I've replaced all my keyed locks with combination locks -- even to the front door of my house. Used to forget keys fairly regularly -- haven't forgotten a combination yet. Makes life a lot easier if a friend/relative needs to get into your house or boat and you're not around, just give them the...

I had a similar problem on my water tank sight glass (plastic). When I replaced it I dropped in a little bright orange plastic fishing float so I could see the meniscus easily. Not sure if something like that is "diesel-proof," but it sure makes it easier to see. dvd

Would love to see a pic of that... Unfortunately I don't have a picture of it. It's on a friend's Nordhavn and he is currently cruising the Caribbean then taking off to the Med -- I probably won't see it for a while. dvd

One of the nicest swim steps I have seen used stainless tubing running side to side about 4-6" apart and starboard slats running fore and aft. With no significant span, the starboard was plenty strong. No wood -- a good thing!. dvd

One of my winter projects this year was to catalog every piece of equipment on board and track down the manual online. I copied everything in PDF and put it all on one CD which I keep onboard. This has allowed me to unload armfuls of paper manuals. I'm re-plumbing my freshwater system and my...

So I was merrily paddling my way down the Columbia river in my kayak early one morning when some LEO boat heading upstream flashed his lights and hit a short burst of his siren as he passed me. Thinking he was being cordial, I waved "hello" back to him. Then I heard the horn of the freighter...

In theory, the mixing valve is doing the same thing for you -- it doesn't change the temp of the hot water source, it just mixes some cold water with the hot water outflow based on the differential expansion of metals, therefore it is pressure-insensitive and does not depend on the temperature...

That's the current plan -- I just haven't seen these products recommended for marine installation anywhere. * dvd

Many Taiwanese-built boats were constructed with hollow keels - a number of owners have accessed them from the bilge and filled them with cement for added ballast.

I'm in the process of doing a total re-plumb of the boat, including relocating the hot water heater. As I'm setting up the hot water heater, I would like to put some type of control into the system so that when the water is heated via the engine coolant, tap hot water does not come out at 190...

Here on the Chesapeake soda blasting has become quite popular. They will arrive in the morning, tent the bottom, blast everything off the bottom of the boat leaving pristine gel coat (if that's what was under the paint!), clean up the mess and be gone by noon. Around $35 - 40/ft. I sanded the...

Thanks - another inmate on the forum offered what I need. dvd