What Works & What Doesn't
When we started discussing the What Works and What Doesn't page for this website, David's first response to my question "What Works Well" was ME!!! And it's very true. My wonderful husband works far more than he'd prefer ... he's become something of an expert aboard Winterlude, although he'll tell you he's no good at fixing things. Luckily, we've usually cruised in company with friends who know a great deal more about our systems than we did and with a bit of coaching and some hands on help, we've managed to never had to return to the dock because something doesn't work during our six months out. Of course, it helped that when we outfitted Winterlude we deliberately thought through each system and what we'd do if it quit functioning ... most systems have backups and sometimes multiple backups. David's learned to change the alternator (we always have a spare), change out the salt water pump on the diesel, change the impeller, all the routine maintenance types of things we had no idea about before leaving Florida. In the photo above, David's dismantling our KISS wind generator which needed its bearings replaced after we weren't able to get it down quickly enough in the formative stages of Hurricane Ida. Kudos to my husband for being such a good sport when he'd rather be racing a Y Flyer!
WHAT DOESN'T WORK!
Oil Changes
Oil changes are the bane of our existance. Because there is no clearance below the drain plug, we're forced to try to suck the oil out the dipstick. We've tried every method available and none are ideal. Our original solution was the Topsider Blue Can vacuum pump which it seems alot of cruisers swear by. I don't know if ours was defective or what, but it never held a vacuum long enough to get the oil out. In the LaCeiba shipyard, the mechanics opted to simply hold 2 gallon baggies (double bagged) under the drain plug... you can see above the result when we tried it ourselves. We had a Stearns electric pump that worked well... for all of 2 oil changes and then died. After it died, we borrowed a cruiser across the dock's drill attachment. Unfortunately he didn't tell us we needed to hold it STILL and it flung oil all around the galley and nav station before we could get it stopped -- it did work though, once we figured out how to use it. Currently we use a Jabsco Little Pal Hand Pump which works fine, but is a messy clean up. We're hoping that during our "mini-refit" a diesel mechanic can recommend a permanent solution - some type of pump that attaches to the drain plug under the diesel - the pump will have to be located elsewhere, but maybe someone can be innovative!
Canvas
We have spent more money replacing our canvas than we care to think about ... it seems to continually disintegrate in the tropics. After getting the dodger restitched in Panama in October 2009 and treating the canvas with two coats of 303 Fabric Protectant by the time we got to Roatan, the canvas not only leaked but had waterfalls in the worst places! Out of desperation in Belize we coated it several times with Thompson's Water Seal -- the only thing we could get. We're quite sure it's not good for the canvas, but we needed the use of our family room to get back to the USA. We're using Cadet Grey Sunbrella, good stuff, but it disintegrates faster than darker colors, believe it or not. We treat the canvas with 303 Fabric Protectant twice a year, so that's not the solution. The bigger problem though is the white plastic zippers which last a season, maybe two before they disintegrate. I understand black zippers last twice as long so we'll try those next. And our thread disintegrates regularly as well -- the last go-round we requested gore-tex thread, but if they used it, it doesn't appear to be much more reliable -- of course, when getting things fixed in 3rd world countries, you're never quite sure what's used even though you were quite clear about using gore-tex thread and the vendor kept saying yes, yes.
We seem to be somewhat in the minority of cruisers - most cruisers have their canvas last far longer than on Winterlude. We're not sure why.
We had the cockpit enclosure made before adding the arch, which means that the isenglass panels and bug screens that roll down no longer fit across the back. We're getting our cockpit enclosure redone in Florida this winter - our major project - and we'll update a webpage on what we find.
We seem to be somewhat in the minority of cruisers - most cruisers have their canvas last far longer than on Winterlude. We're not sure why.
We had the cockpit enclosure made before adding the arch, which means that the isenglass panels and bug screens that roll down no longer fit across the back. We're getting our cockpit enclosure redone in Florida this winter - our major project - and we'll update a webpage on what we find.
Full Cover on the Hard
Actually, I can't say the full cover didn't work. It worked fabulously and that was the problem! The only time we used it was on the hard in Shelter Bay Marina, Panama. The problem was that when we returned the entire deck area and teak caprails were BLACK with mold -- UUUggghhh!!! We've never had a mold problem aboard Winterlude, except for the fall we left the boat like this all summer! The cover itself is not constructed of sunbrella to keep the weight and storage space down, but it is much less durable than sunbrella. In several places it either chafed through or is thin enough to see through just from the 5 months it was used. In retrospect, this was probably our biggest waste of money when we were outfitting the boat. :(
WHAT WORKS!
Spectra Catalina 300 Watermaker
OK, so it's crammed under the galley sink taking up valuable galley space and almost impossible to change the filters, but the Spectra Watermaker has allowed us so much freedom in exploring remote locations without concern about water. It does require a bit of maintenance now and again, but it just works. We're always very careful to fresh water flush it every few days if we don't need water. And we pickle it when we leave for the season. Our only advice would be to locate it where you can actually get to the parts to change filters, close seacocks, etc.
Dehumidifier
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We made the decision to invest in a stainless steel dehumidifier specifically for leaving the boat in very humid tropical locations over the summers. It was expensive. But it also had one critical feature that we didn't realize ... it turns on automatically after a power outage. Power in 3rd world marinas has a habit of blipping every few hours automatically kicking off every dehumidifier. Most dehumidifiers require human intervention to restart. Ours doesn't. Boats that had caretakers only checking every couple of weeks or less, ended up with moldy mildewy messes.
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Icom M802 SSB and the SSB Nets
Other than some user stupidity, our Icom M802 SSB has worked flawlessly until this past winter. The M802 has some type of problem with "clipping" which means you sound like an unintelligible Donald Duck when speaking. Not good since I have been a net controller for both the Panama Connection Net and the Northwest Caribbean Net since 2006! Icom repaired it under warranty even though we bought it in 2005 or something like that -- it was the first year the M802 came out. The system with the Pactor III modem functions perfectly and we get e-mail on both sailmail and winlink. We also update this website's Current Log/Blog from this radio. User stupidity referenced above refers to the fact that we disconnect the SSB, modem and most electronics when we leave the boat for the summer. Reinstalling it requires laying on your back as a contortionist, winding the connections into the back of the radio via the braille method. This past fall, we reinstalled the two main connections backward! Guess what, we could hear fine, just couldn't transmit. This gave me a WEEK of grief calling Icom Tech Support - they were telling me the radio died or some such nonsense - until I e-mailed Don Melcher at HF Radio On Board (should have thought to do this first) with the symptoms. Don e-mailed me right back with .... are you SURE the connections aren't reversed? Of COURSE we were SURE. But sure enough, when we swapped them, the radio continued working fine. OOPS!
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Adler Barber Super Cold Machine Refrigerator
Winterlude came with an Adler Barber Super Cold Machine installed as the refrigerator. It was not configured for a freezer. Taking the inexpensive approach, we added insulation - the blue stuff from Home Depot, and installed a partition blocking the cold air to the rest of the fridge. We were hoping to freeze ice cubes next to the cold plate and it worked like a charm! I can keep 2 vertical ice cube trays frozen along with a six month supply of chorizo, chicken and other meat (keep in mind we supplement our frozen meat supply regularly with fresh fish!). Unfortunately, it also still wants to freeze things in the "refrigerator" part of the partition. So we drilled holes in between the freezer wall and what was originally an ice box next door. Now the ice box section stays cool enough to keep veggies and drinks, the freezer section freezes and only rarely do I have something frozen in the refrigerator section.
One comment -- when we left the Northwest Caribbean after 4 years and journeyed to the Southwest Caribbean - Panama and Columbia, we were sure our trusty refrigerator had quit for good. Nope, the problem was I had overstocked it with stuff to cool combined with the fact that the water is SO much warmer in the SW Carib than the NW Carib and the sun is so much more intense that the Adler Barber was having trouble keeping up. Because we have a dark dark green hull and the refrigerator sits against the side, the afternoon sun heat was interfering with the ability to keep cool. We added yet another layer of blue insulation and also hung a tacky, Beverly Hillbillies type car windshield silver reflector on the outside of the hull in the intense afternoon sun. Worked great even if it did look ridiculous.
Oh, almost forgot -- the prior owner installed this refrigerator right next to the back wall for the engine room -- NOT a good idea, but after owning it for 9 years, we haven't had a problem... knock on wood!
We have never added freon or cleaned the compressor or done anything else to the essential workings of the unit, altho' during our 2010 "mini-refit" we plan to do some preventative maintenance.
One comment -- when we left the Northwest Caribbean after 4 years and journeyed to the Southwest Caribbean - Panama and Columbia, we were sure our trusty refrigerator had quit for good. Nope, the problem was I had overstocked it with stuff to cool combined with the fact that the water is SO much warmer in the SW Carib than the NW Carib and the sun is so much more intense that the Adler Barber was having trouble keeping up. Because we have a dark dark green hull and the refrigerator sits against the side, the afternoon sun heat was interfering with the ability to keep cool. We added yet another layer of blue insulation and also hung a tacky, Beverly Hillbillies type car windshield silver reflector on the outside of the hull in the intense afternoon sun. Worked great even if it did look ridiculous.
Oh, almost forgot -- the prior owner installed this refrigerator right next to the back wall for the engine room -- NOT a good idea, but after owning it for 9 years, we haven't had a problem... knock on wood!
We have never added freon or cleaned the compressor or done anything else to the essential workings of the unit, altho' during our 2010 "mini-refit" we plan to do some preventative maintenance.
Self Steering ... Monitor Windvane, Northstar Autopilot, Autohelm ST4000 Wheel Pilot
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 In addition to the autopilot, notice the Garmin GPSMap176 that is our primary at helm navigation. It hasn't let us down in all the years we've owned it. Likewise the depthsounder and wind gauge after we replaced the wiring before we left the US in 2004.
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The boat came with an undersized Autohelm ST4000 Wheel Pilot self steering. It would steer fine... in flat calm - no waves, no wind. But it had a reputation for unreliability. Initially we installed a Monitor Windvane and purchased a spare ST4000 in case ours went bad (which it did, we replaced it with the spare and now it functions perfectly). The Monitor Windvane steers us 90% of the time, no power consumption, simply a requirement to be able to set the sails correctly to keep it on course. David, being a one design racer, has no trouble balancing the helm and keeping "Bo" (he nicknamed the Monitor "Bo" because she steers a Perfect 10) on course. Bo even steers most of the time if we're motorsailing. There were times when Bo couldn't handle the challenge -- no wind and waves. So in Bocas Del Toro we brought a Northstar Explorer380 belowdecks autopilot with the hydraulic arm and all the fixin's back on the airplane - not an easy task! David and our friend Damon from s/v Bruadair installed it before we left to sail to Cartagena. It functioned perfectly once we figured out how to bleed the hydraulics. We do still have an ongoing issue that every once in a while it shuts off with an error message that states something about not enough amps to power the autopilot. We're hoping to troubleshoot that error this winter in Florida. Overall, we're pleased that our self steering investment has paid off in freeing us from manning the helm all the time -- particularly on the two weeklong passages we made last winter!
Our Boat Beds!
We made the decision in 2001 to replace the 1985 vintage mattresses aboard Winterlude. We used HandCraft Mattresses out of Ft Lauderdale. They custom built us two super comfortable mattresses - one for the pullman berth and one for the quarterberth. Both are worth their weight in gold when you're sleeping on them for 180 plus nights a year. We have a king sized bed at home, but the small pullman berth aboard Winterlude is equally as comfortable.
Shadetree Awnings
We've had to replace the front tent pole a few times on our Shadetree awnings, but overall they provide great shade and they always work. We also had them restitched after 8 years which I would consider a major success! Because we don't stay in one place very long, we usually don't use them at anchor, unless it's unbearably hot. But depending on where we are -- the Rio Dulce for example, they stay up the entire time we leave the boat for hurricane season. Unlike our other canvas, they have not disintegrated!
Toys R Us Headphones
We love our $19.95 Toys R Us headphones - unless the battery dies, they just work -- whether I'm up the mast spotting coral heads or David's on the bow for anchoring drill. These were originally designed as a kid toy and we bought them at Toys R Us in 2002. Now the exact same thing is packaged under Marriage Savers or some such name as a marine item and costs three times as much. Luckily for us, another cruiser had a spare pair for sale at a cruiser's flea market and we bought them for $25. The more expensive pair does come with a nifty canvas bag for the increase in cost! :) We haven't seen these at Toys R Us for years, despite looking annually. We've since developed hand signals in keeping in line with our "everything has a backup" theory that work almost as well and prevent us from screaming at each other during anchoring drills as well as tricky reef entry situations.
