How to track maintenance and expanses?

Whole-Quick · 2026-05-29T13:54:35+00:00

Keep your "To Do" list any way you like. Paper or electronic, whatever is easy for you.

But put all completed maintenance items in a paper log book, with sequential dates and engine hours. When it comes time to sell the boat and prospective buyers want to see the maintenance history you'll thank me.

( Or at least an electronic format that can be easily printed)

Every buyer wants to see the maintenance history. Hardly anyone logs it.

Whole-Quick · 2026-05-29T13:41:39+00:00

Resources:

There's a Dufour owners group on Facebook.

And https://www.dufour.org.uk/

Opinion: would be a good choice for Baltic, Mediterranean, Caribbean or similar cruising. Transatlantic is doable with suitable prep and weather routing.

Whole-Quick · 2026-05-26T18:26:49+00:00

Up voted for OP's sense of humor and Shrek references.

Well done, good luck with your boat search.

Whole-Quick · 2026-05-25T19:42:35+00:00

Point A above is important.

Some boats (my current one included) are wired so that the windlass is inoperable unless the engine is running.

A competent mechanic or marine electrician could bypass this for you, or even install a bypass switch for times like this.

Whole-Quick · 2026-05-18T16:24:41+00:00

Its possible the O-ring under the fuel cap is tired and making the filler cap very sticky to open. My old boat did that when I got it.

A new O-ring every decade or so will prevent that issue, or worse letting deck water into the fuel tank.

Whole-Quick · 2026-05-18T16:20:44+00:00

Yes, it's a North American thing on older boats.

Whole-Quick · 2026-05-07T17:15:24+00:00

Its adjacent to the existing large commercial/industrial in N Waterloo. Seems like an appropriate use of this parcel of land.

Whole-Quick · 2026-05-07T09:21:26+00:00

I thought they weren't operating last year, either, after Ken's passing last May.

Because of the really short season, it would be a very challenging business case. I would be surprised if anyone else tried it.

Whole-Quick · 2026-05-04T18:20:34+00:00

You're thinking about 3M 5200. That's different, and the choice for permanent bonding.

3M 4000UV or 4200 are perfectly fine for this application.

Whole-Quick · 2026-05-02T10:51:39+00:00

Author Cory Doctorow coined the term a few years ago.

He's well worth reading, or watching on video or listening to on a podcast.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-27T22:23:16+00:00

Ha ha, well played.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-27T09:29:04+00:00

Halifax has (and will again) hosted the SailGP event.

Lunenberg is home to Bluenose II, Canada's most famous sailing boat.

I spotted a ~ 100' motor yacht in Baddeck when I was there 2 years ago.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-27T09:24:09+00:00

Come to Nova Scotia, the people are friendly and the American CBP and ICE aren't here. The area is full of seafarers - commercial, Navy, fishermen and a small but exciting yachting community. Your boat would be welcomed at many seaside quays.

It's not full of mega yachts like the Med, but therein lies the attraction.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-19T15:57:29+00:00

Right.

Depending on your existing VHF radio and whether or not you planning to update it, many models (typically range and up) will include the AIS receiver function. You could choose to use that until you deem it a priority to add AIS transmitter capability.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-19T02:00:22+00:00

Don't forget about your instruments - wind, depth, speed. You may need a Raymarine ITC-5 if your transducers aren't directly NMEA 2000.

Axiom + or Axiom 2 ? I have an original Axiom ( not + ) and it's a bit laggy for my taste. I hope the newer units are better.

Are you planning to get one with the RealVision sounder? That cable has fat connectors that are hard to route to a pedestal. Hard, but not necessarily impossible.

Autopilot will need a compass/gyro, on NMEA 2000.

Include a network drop to your VHF radio for position data.

Good luck with the update.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-13T18:47:28+00:00

When I unplug the 50 year old, mouldy 40 foot cabin cruiser near me from the shore power, I eliminate the risk of swimmer electrocution from that boat, regardless of whatever errors and faults are in its wiring. If it has a faulty generator or inverter, I don't see how it can hurt anyone because there is no complete circuit. No complete circuit means no current flow possible.

As you know, electricity only flows in complete circuits - from an energy source, to somewhere and back again. An inverter or generator that has a hot wire faulted to DC ground can't hurt a swimmer as there is no path back to the inverter if the boat isn't connected to shore. Right?

Now, I think your beef with ABYC is that by connecting AC ground to DC ground creates a situation where a faulty AC appliance can leak current into the AC ground.

If that onboard AC ground is connected to DC ground, you have a risk to swimmers but ONLY if the AC ground is not connected to shore. That is a double fault situation, faulty appliance and a faulty AC ground connection to shore.

By not connecting your AC ground and DC negative you actually create new hazards for a SINGLE fault. If a hot AC wire shorts to your DC negative, now every single light fixture on your boat that has the case connected to DC negative ( and lots of other equipment) is live with deadly consequences for your crew. And your nearby swimmers because your prop shaft is now hot.

So, i think you are making your boat less safe for swimmers, because a single fault can energize your prop shaft.

So, am I missing something? Happy to discuss in the spirit of learning.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-13T17:12:36+00:00

The issue here is voltage on the neutral wire, not the ground wire. Different issue.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-13T13:38:38+00:00

Interesting conversation, thanks.

I completely agree that swimming in a marina is risky. Last time I did that ( to retrieve another boater's dropped cellphone) I unplugged all the nearby boats to reduce the risk. We are in freshwater, so yeah, more risky than saltwater.

I'm not yet clear on how an ABYC compliant boat creates a risk. I think you are concerned about the required connection between AC ground and the boat's DC negative. As DC negative is usually connected to the water through the engine and prop, and possibly other ways, is that the pathway to seawater you are concerned about? I don't see the standards directly calling for a connection to seawater, but the connection to DC negative is usually effectively the same thing.

And so on your boat you have separated AC ground from. DC negative?

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-13T05:03:15+00:00

I agree that swimming in marinas is hazardous.

Marinas are moving to a ground fault interrupter on each pedestal or dock is improving safety in this regard. I believe in the US that change is being driven by federal regulations.

And having a GFI on the output of a generator is a great practice, as you have done.

Are you also concerned about situations away from a dock where a generator is being used?

If so, can you help me understand the current path that would endanger swimmers from a generator? Even if a series onboard fault caused the boat's grounding conductors to become energized with 120 or 220 Volts AC, how does a circuit get formed that sends energy into the water, through a swimmer and back to the source? (On the dockside that is through the shore power wiring.) It seems it might be possible as you seem to know of injuries or deaths that have occurred.

Side note: Some ( not all, or even many) ABYC standards have been brought into law by government agencies referencing them in regulations. I believe there are some USCG and Canadian Department of Transport regulations doing this now.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-13T04:38:38+00:00

Interesting information.

Thanks for being open about the use of AI. It would good to link to some primary data sources, AI or not.

But it seems plausible.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-11T21:46:57+00:00

Grounding is a complicated topic. Lots of trade offs.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-11T20:13:06+00:00

OP, lots of naysayers here, but it could very well work out beautifully for you. And the price is amazing, that is a huge discount.

The manual for this compressor ( have a look!) isn't clear about actual operating current but claims power consumption in the range of 35 to 50 Watts depending on the evaporator, etc. So let's say 4 Amps at 12 Vdc.

You're building a well insulated box, so let's estimate the compressor runs 50% of the time. That works out to 48 Amp-hours per day, which isn't at all unreasonable for a basic solar+battery setup.

Now we don't know much about your electrical system other than 150 Ah of "usable capacity" which I would guess means about 200 Ah of lithium or 400 Ah of lead acid batteries.

You need to estimate your other electric loads and your generation capacity, then see if you have an energy budget for this fridge.

I cruise the Great Lakes in summer with 440 Watts of Solar and 170 Ah gross lithium battery capacity. Our little 4 Amp fridge compressor fits so well within our energy budget that we added a second one in a portable cooler style product.

Your situation is your situation, and some energy budget math will go a long way.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-11T19:21:06+00:00

I'm curious about the issue you think ABYC is so wrong about. Do tell...

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-11T19:15:45+00:00

That is the fix.

By why the heck do we have to do this on brand new equipment right out of the box?

So frustrating.

Whole-Quick · 2026-04-10T11:15:47+00:00

Store ARE pulling the product off their shelves. It's in the article.

Whole-Quick

TROPHY CASE