John William 37VT68 Air Conditioning

From John Mackie
<jwmackie37@gmail.com>

New compressor on new shelf in lazaret. Tight space for a big guy but will
work out ok. Evaporator will go in the liquor cabinet with two outlets to
cool the salon. Copper tubing,Water lines and pump will be last and then
system will be charged and hopefully cooling before our 3 month cruise in
April.

More projects on John William 37VT68

From John Mackie <jwmackie37@gmail.com
	Just got the new mast back from welder and have temporarily in place. 4 foot shorter than the old one. Used the same tabernacle and have a piece of fiberglass pipe to insulate the stainless and aluminum. Will paint white and install LED lights.

Also placed the new air handler under liquor cabinet. Had to remove the fan assembly and condensate pan and reassemble in place but looks like it will work fine with one 3" air duct up thru top of liquor cabinet and one going to aft corner of salon. Should only loose one bottle hole.

Tug Spotting

Owner Fred Nusbickle is an original owner who bought Georgia J in 1987.   He keeps her in Coronado, California near his home.  

Cover survived the night!

From Peter Reich
Teddy Bear 37VT15

Max gust 59 mph! Neighbors dock under and 2 hours until high tide. Cover survived.  

Tug Spotting

Victorious 37VT26 spotted in the mooring field by the Las Olas Bridge in Ft. Lauderdale

Engine room hook

From Peter S. Reich

Teddy Bear 37VT15

Here's a great, yet simple and elegant way to secure the engine room door (aka Tommy Door)  open.

Pacific Northwest LNVT Mid Winter Brunch

Calling all LNVT Owners & Wannabee's: For this year's PNW Annual LNVT Brunch, our hosts will be Randy Miller and Yvonne Bates owers of Hiaqua37VT03. Randy and Yvonne live in Mt. Vernon, WA just north of Snohomish/Skagit county line. Their home is large with lots of seating to accommodate a good sized group of Tuggers and there is plenty of parking. This is a potluck brunch so asking all who can attend to bring a dish and/or drink to share. Coffee, Tea, Juices and Pastries will be provided - looking for attendees to bring entree OR side dish, and/or adult beverages, ???

Date: Saturday, March 4, 2017
Time: 11:30 to ? Food to be served around noon

Contact Barb Lawrence (vp@LNVT.org) for reservations or for more information

Improving the Slurpee

 From Dave Howell, Nellie D. 37VT63

Just successfully tested a design for a Slurpee electronic bilge switch.  It uses a GRI 2500 water sensor connected to a Beuler BU508TD 12 VDC automotive 4-Pin SPST time delay relay (with adjustable time delay).  The GRI 2500 can sense water that's as little as 1/16" deep.  As long as water is present the GRI 2500 triggers the Beuler relay.  The relay turns on the Shurflo 3.6 GPM pump.  The relay is set to continue running for one minute after the 2500 stops sensing water.  During this extra minute, both the last 1/16" of bilge water and the Slurpee's tubing are drained.  The two parts cost about $20/ea.   I'm now looking for less expensive alternatives.

John William 37VT68 Upgrades

John Mackie, John William 37VT68

jwmackie37@gmail.com

Repairs are done, rail is on except for 7 ft on transom. Had to order 20 ft to get 7 and will put it on in the water.  

Noticeable difference in steering with extra 1 1/2" on rudder. More responsive and even tracks better. Turn radius also improved. Now to get boat cleaned up from being in the yard for a month and then on to our New Years cruise on Friday.  

The rub rail is from Teco and is 2" in dia. It leaves about a 3/8 reveal on top and bottom. It does blend in well with the black teak insert. The screw heads are counter sunk enough they could be filled with caulk or painted black to be almost invisible.

Installing a composting toilet

From Heidi Maitland, Victorious 37VT26

heidimait@yahoo.com

We recently took out our standard marine toilet and reconfigured the platform in the head for a composting toilet. We are using an AirHead toilet.

The first few pictures show the carpentry involved, using starboard for the new platform. We still need to finish off the edges behind the toilet between the original platform and the new one. 

There are a few pictures with tape measures included to show dimensions on our boat. Not sure all heads in our LNVTs are the same size. The last three pictures show the clearance needed for the crank on the side of the toilet, the clamshell vent added on the outside of the cabin wall (there is a vent hose running up from the toilet inside the head to a vent, with a new opening cut out) and the capping off of the holding tank under the berth.

Tug Spotting

Just in from Keefer Irwin, Callisto 37VT19

This was just sent from my sister, Maureen Seivwright, moored in Sunset Bay marina at Stuart, Florida. Look who pulled and anchored right by them -- that's Victorious 37VT26