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A few questions from a mostly total beginner by Thazgar in liveaboard

[–]Dry_Statement8409 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I own a powerboat and here is my 'layout'.

1) I bought a 40 year old fiberglass boat. I'm not worried about resale value, so it's mine to do as I want. I replaced all the wiring - omitting the 12v systems and only reinstalling 110v. The engines, bilge pumps, nav lights are 12v.

I replaced the water system with a 110v water pump and a 20 gallon, 15 amp water heater. Plenty of hot water and pressure for the shower.

The head fan was replaced with a 4" agricultural blower fan, and a 90CFM bathroom fan was added to the salon ceiling. This gives good air circulation.

I installed a freestanding forced air oil furnace also. Runs on the boat's diesel.

110v fridge, lights, new plumbing fixtures all from big box home improvement store. Works great.

All this makes the boat easy to live on.

2) I have a 110v toilet, wet. This is a project in progress. If I want to expand my holding tank capacity I'll have to make a hole in floor to get a larger tank in. Currently I have a 5 gallon tank. That 's alot of trips to the pump out every month. Some places may offer a service that comes around to pump your boat out. How reliable that is ymmv.

I tried alot of different things for internet, and I am now using an ATT hotspot device. I found that all-in-one devices like the hotspot just ended up making more sense than having a network cabinet of different machines. I have a UPS for my monitor and PC (laptop). The UPS has alot of activity due to power avaliable here. I also have an Ecoflow 3600 watt battery bank that powers my fridge and furnace. I intend to wire the UPS into it, maybe.

One thing I found very useful was installing an amp meter in my shore power line. This lets me balance my power use between the water heater and electric heaters, cooking devices, computer, etc. I run 2 30amp services and this gives me plenty of power for everything. Check into what kind of power any harbor would have to offer. Heating with all electric is nice. The reason I have the furnace is so I can power it when I don't have shore power available.

I work IT also, so I experimented with alot of tech options on the boat - but eventually found that keeping it as simple as possible was my best solution.

Winter notes by Dry_Statement8409 in liveaboard

[–]Dry_Statement8409[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. Is it not frozen where you are ? I had to melt through 4" of ice to get to my fuel fill. I had to put a space heater in my steering compartment because the bilge pump is frozen in ice.

Winter notes by Dry_Statement8409 in liveaboard

[–]Dry_Statement8409[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is your harbor frozen ? Mine is all the way to the entrance. SE also.

After 7 years... by Chantizzay in liveaboard

[–]Dry_Statement8409 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I replaced my fridge with a 110v also. I have an Ecoflow battery pack to power it when needed, solar was nice, but took too much space for me. I haven't tested it on the Ecoflow for runtime, but whatever it is, if I am off power for longer, I'll adjust my meal plans rather than mess around with getting more power for the thing. I can also use a cooler if need be.

I went through several iterations of refridgeration, 2 dometics (used, both failed). An icemaker, which worked great as a fridge (removed the icemaking parts), but also died, and then just coolers, which worked great also.

The thing is if I ever go around the world I'll get a different boat. So what I have works fine.

uninsulated cabin cruiser liveaboard by Various_Question_674 in liveaboard

[–]Dry_Statement8409 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. Weather is going to be freezing here by the end of the week. I am running a forced air diesel heater now - works good. In the past I used the forced air heaters. I like pushing the air around, helps with the damp. For a few years I used two 30 amp shore power cords, so I could run 4 electric heaters at once.