Better oven, better pizza

Boat ovens are not known for their even heat distribution. Paul on s/v Solace shows us a way to make an improvement on that:

Most boat ovens are heated by propane and don't give an even distribution of heat.  An idea heard from others was to place a pizza stone in the oven, which heats up and gives a more uniform form of heat distribution.  We used a surplus pizza stone we had at home, and cut it to size so that there is about one inch of air space around the stone to allow for heat convection.  The stone was cut using a masonry cutting wheel on an angle grinder and smoothed along the edges.  The stone was then secured to the oven tray by four bulldog clips at each corner.

This prevents the stone sliding around while stored in the oven. 
A ceramic tile can also be used for the same purpose, but we like the added bonus of having a pizza stone to do our pizzas on.  Yum.

Don't bug me

Paul on s/v Solace shows off his carpentry skills with a nicely made permanently-mounted screen for his hatch:

We had soft mesh covers, with bug mesh screen, made for the out side of our hatches.  The problem with these was that when it started to rain we had to rush out side to remove them so we could close the hatches; otherwise the mesh would get stuck in the hatches as we closed them.  So, having seen this idea on another boat, I copied the design to suit my boat.  In essense, we could use the bug screens from inside the boat and close the hatches when it rains without stepping outside.

 First, I made my wooden frame to match each hatch surround inside the boat.  On the back side of the frame, I  routed a 5mm groove in a square pattern.  I used a glazing rubber which is 5.5mm in diameter with a hole through the middle.  It also had a row of longitudinal ridges on the outside for gripping.  This allowed the rubber to be compressed down from 5.5mm to about 4.5 mm.  A polyurethane was applied to the frame, front and back.

I placed the mesh over the frame with about an inch extra on the dimensions for each side of the routed groove.  Starting at one side, I pushed the glazing rubber into the groove with the mesh.  Once done, I went to the other side and as I pushed it in, the mesh starts to tighten up.  With the remaining mesh still exposed out of the groove, I ran a sharp blade along the edge, of the outside of the groove, to trim off the mesh.

Finished product. Note rain on hatch!

Hinges were applied to the side of the frame, opposite the levers for the hatch.  In the corners, to secure the bug screen up, a couple of aluminum triangular plates were secured with one screw and allowed to pivot to allow the fame to swing down on the hinges.  Just above the closed frame, a strip of half inch x half inch foam strip was applied to the inside of the hatch surrond.  This seals against the closed frame to prevent any small bugs getting down the side of the frame and prevents the pushing inwards of the frame.

Music in Margaritaville

Steve and Lulu on s/v Siempre Sabado find a way around the "marine tax" on "marine" speakers:

Been trying to come up with some kind of speakers for out in the cockpit. Something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg (so Bose weatherproof speakers are out) but still sounds pretty good. Speakers have big herkin' magnets in them so a permanent installation anywhere near the compass was out. I've seen very nice installations under the dodger as well as mounted under the boom gallows. But, for one reason or another, none of these really appealed to me. Mostly it was probably because the weather-proof speakers they used are expensive and probably unobtainable in La Paz. I finally came up with a dirt-simple solution.

I bought a pair of 4-way, 250 watt car stereo speakers for the equivalent of about $20 US in one of the many stores in La Paz that carry such things. I cut a couple of holes in a spare lower drop board and mounted the speakers. Ran some wires to a stereo plug near the companionway. Now, when we want music in the cockpit, we just drop the board in place and plug them in. And, since they are pretty much a match for the speakers down below, I didn't have to make a bunch of adjustment to the fader on the stereo to keep one or the other set of speakers from being too loud.

Wasted away again in Margaritaville.....

Phew!

Over at Sail Delmarva, Drew has put up a post covering the installation of a home made carbon filter on his holding tank vent.  I'd copy it here, but it is pretty long (Drew is nothing if not thorough!).

I highly recommend it to you.

Battling Earth's most prolific residents

Single-celled life was here long before us, and will be here long after we no longer grace the surface of the planet.  That said, we still want to reserve some small areas for our exclusive use.  s/v Letitgo decides that their water tank is one such area:

Our second major undertake was to regain control of the fauna in our water tanks. Do you remember few weeks back our water filter under the kitchen sink? in this post http://svletitgo.com/2011/03/racor-filter-500ma-and-fuel-fixer-r2d2/. Well, during our trip this became a routine; we had to remove black then white, then translucent fungus! Luckily we were prepared and had gallons of fresh water for internal consumption! That being said when we arrived back at the marina we took drastic measures! Bleach was the solution, a real shock treatment, we are now happy to report success we drunk the water at lunch today and still able to write this post tonight.

Ingredients for the cleaning of water tank:

• 1 gallon of bleach in each tank with ¼ left in them. Run all outlets don’t forget the deck shower until a nice clean smell of Clorox is present. Let it sit for 48 hours no hot water tank during that time.
• Go out for a sail in 18 knots wind with some nice waves and allow the boat to get a good shake. Then empty the tank put the valves on both at the same time, and why not empty the shower in the toilet and clean the holding tank at the same time. Listen for the water pump, clean filter accordingly.
• Get back to the dock, and start filling the tank with fresh water. Use my filtering devices (a beauty by the way) and start the same process to clear the taste.
• Clean your filter again and again, empty tank, refill with fresh filtered water and you are in business.
• Nice drinkable water on your boat. I told you it’s that simple, we have plastic water tank so this help, if you have aluminum be careful the bleach eat them alive apparently.

Unfortunately, this is temporary, unless you are filling your tanks from chlorinated city mains.

Shop envy

Sure wish I had a shop with a TIG welder and a bunch of stainless scrap like Paul on s/v Solace...

Those pesky dive tanks are never easily stowed on a sailing vessel and so I decided to have a suitable bracket made up. This one clamps to the lower railing near the stern and secures both bottles with velcro. I used a couple of Bimini clamps and had them welded to the  stainless bracket made from scraps of ss left over in the workshop. All welding done with a TIG welder and I did my best to polish the stainless. I'm still learning on that aspect. Neat and tidy.  Cost $0.00 but 8hrs of labor. Many thanks to Tim for his help

Nice!