Potential fire avoided!

It's been a little bit since I updated the blog and I know you are terribly curious what we are up to so.....

Last weekend we had a fun time on the boat. However, I noticed when I went to unplug our shore power chord from the boat that it was pretty darn hot to the touch. As soon as I unplugged I noticed the smell of burning rubber...NOT good! I looked at the end that plugs into the boat and I found it was turning black and beginning to melt:

Definitely not good! We have reworked most all the systems at this point but the shore power connection was area I had not really looked at. Originally, Living Light did not have air conditioning and nor did she have an electric cooktop (she was equipped with a propane galley). The previous owner had installed the 2 new HVAC units and as outlined earlier in my blog, we added the new cooktop when we redid the galley this winter. Add all of that to the electric hot water heater and you have a lot of power usage. Most boats the size of Living Light would be equipped with twin 30 amp shore power or possibly single 50 amp shore power. We simply were running too much off of a single 30 amp service. Not only that but we discovered that our main breaker on the boat was a 50 amp, not 30 amp, which it seems that is why we were never tripping breakers! Basically...a fire waiting to happen which is scary to say the least. As we looked through those issues it was also discovered that the wiring between the 8 KW generator and the panel was undersized so we had an issue there as well. Luckily none of these issues are something money can't fix, right? :)

This week the marina converted Living Light from single 30 amp shore power to a single 50 amp service. This will give us plenty of capacity and will eliminate the fire hazard. As well, we re-wired the service between the generator and the panel from 8 gauge to 6 gauge wire so that we can use the generator without concern. I am very grateful we discovered the issues before they were a real problem and Living Light is better for it. Bit by bit, she really is more like a new boat than old!

Here is a picture of what my Friday night looked like....running the wiring for the generator connection:

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Speaking of last weekend earlier, we finally got our teak/holly patterned carpet installed on the swim platform. The real teak platform has gaps between the boards that the kids and dog both kept getting their feet caught in. So to make it safer/easier for them we had Eddie Bell, "The Rug Pilot" make us up a custom carpet for the platform. It came out pretty nice I think:

I also could not resist taking some "glamor shots" of Living Light anchored out last weekend:

And last weekend was capped off with a beautiful sunset:

The big news for this week, beyond the major electrical work and changes, is that we moved our trawler to a new dock. We really liked our slip on Freedom Dock at Island Cove Marina but the roof was too low for our mast to fit under it by about 3 inches! Thus, every time we wanted to go out we had to lower and raise the mast...irritating and at times unsafe (i.e. if coming in at night I had to lower our light which is on the mast!). Our new slip is one dock over, has a great view out towards the main channel, and best of all...the roof is 2 feet taller so no more having to lower the mast! Our new dock neighbors are super nice (I've got a couple of boats listed for sale on the dock so I know some of them already). One slip has been partially filled in and tables and chairs set out for socializing. One of the liveaboards had just come back from a river cruise through Germany and the Czech Republic so they did a great slideshow of their trip so it made for a very fun evening talking about traveling with some new friends over a glass of wine.

ALSO!!! Since we converted Living Light to 50 amp shore power service, we now need to buy a 50 amp shore power chord! As my boating friends know, brand new ones are amazingly expensive (like $600-700!!) so if you have a used one laying around you don't need or know someone who does, email me via Anthony (at) BoatsAreFun (dot) com. The marina is loaning me one until I find one of my own so I need to get one in the next couple of weeks!!!

A letter to our trawler, Living Light

This week, Thursday actually, will be our 12 month anniversary from when we purchased our Monk 36. I have learned a lot, she has taught us a lot, and she has made me a profoundly better boater. On top of that, she has been a true blessing to our family in more ways than I could count. She has taught me more about piloting a boat than any other boat before (even though she is smaller than our most recent previous boat), taught me more about boat systems, and has proven to be an instrument of change for the good in our lives on multiple levels.

So...I decided to write her a letter. I thought

you all might appreciate it and perhaps identify with some of it. I will probably edit it some more this week as I refine my thoughts, etc. but here is the first draft:

Dear Living Light,

We "knew" you for several years before you really came into our lives. We admired you from afar but never got to really spend time with you except that one chance afternoon with your previous owner where he gave me the tour of your cabin and staterooms well before we were ever looking to bring you to our family. I thought you were pretty back then but as you know, you were in a bit of disarray.

And so it came to be that a year ago you officially came into our lives. I know the few weeks prior to your previous keeper signing you over to us I poked and prodded you all over and crawled all around on you but I think you know it was only to see where you might be sick and need

ing attention and help. It was all with the best intent though. Over the past year you have grown into a proud, happy, and wonderful trawler...the trawler you were meant to be. You are a strong and kind vessel and have brought us much joy. It has been an honor to work on you and help reveal your inner self that lay hidden for quite some time. I fear had we not met that you would have suffered more years in a state of confusion, incompleteness, and general neglect. Instead, you are now much loved, much appreciated, and a focal point in our family. I know our children tend to bounce around on you here and there but you take it without complaining and keep them safe and sound in their newly configured stateroom with bunk beds all their own and you help weave dreams of far away places, of hope, adventure, of time together and connection to the natural world as they lay peacefully in their berth after a long and active day with you on the water in the hot summer sun, safe in your protective arms and mom and dad near. As well, yo

u provide my wife and I with a gentle place to sit around our little kerosene lamp at the teak table on the aft flybridge deck...a place we can sit, regroup, connect, laugh, share our lives, and grow close together under the stars on a quiet night. You do this for us every weekend it seems and more.

We hope to have many trips with you ahead and have several planned in the coming weeks and months already but I will never forget the first trip we took with you down the river with just dad and my son....3 generations of men together on your longest trip in probably 15 years as we went to get you looking pretty and to have the new topside paint applied to your exterior. It was a magical time for us all. My slight apprehension as to how you would perform quickly faded as I saw you run solid and true the entire 250 mile round trip

journey. I know that my son, my dad, and myself will always cherish that first trip together...running through our first locks with you, cruising new waters, talking, keeping watch as we slowly and efficiently cruised the river...you gave to us a priceless and irreplaceable memory. I know that you will do this and more for us in the future.

It has been an honor to be the steward of your care these last 12 months. Overseeing your new fiberglass decks, your painting, testing all your mechanicals, working on your electrical and plumbing systems and making improvements where needed to assure your long term health and functionality...doing all of this was an honor. I have appreciated your patience as I learned what was needed for each step along the way and to make sure each part of you was of the highest quality and best workmanship. One of the unforeseen gifts of you coming into our lives as well was the time my son and I spent together over the winter working on your refit and make over. Such glorious times we had together, he at 8 years old, the perfect age to help dad with big important tasks, learning how to use tools, and able to fit into spac

es that I literally cannot. As you know, he, like all of us in our family, are very close, yet you drew us all closer together and for that I am so very grateful. Had you been a brand new boat we would have missed out on those opportunities.

We truly appreciate and love you like no other boat before you. When we were looking the other way you came to us and beckoned to our heart and we are so very glad. You are not the fastest boat, nor are you the youngest, yet you receive more compliments and praises than just about any other vessel in the entire marina and I hope you know that. Even the boaters that do not know what or who you are, tell us you are their favorite boat to see on the water. You, my lovely trawler, in my book, are a class act, a wonderful friend, a trusted part of our family, and if nothing else, you have honestly taught me what it truly means to love a boat, to have the lines of a vessel call to you, to pull at your heart, capture your imagina

tion, cause you to dream big dreams, and to feel a resonance within your spirit. May every boater learn what it is like to feel such connection with their home on the water.

With much thanks,

The Eyl's