That is NOT the case with WinchSpares.com.

All of Monomoy’s winches are Lewmar Wave Self Tailing. Lewmar has discontinued this line of winch, as most manufacturers tend to do with a product over time, and are now discontinuing parts. There are some various original parts still available, but supply is running short with many items no longer available.

That is where WinchSpares.com comes into play. WinchSpares can still produce nearly every part you need for servicing your winch.

Their website is very basic, they are located in England, and accept Paypal, so one might be hesitant about using such a company.

I’m here to tell you that Mike at WinchSpares.com is prompt about returning emails, easy to work with, and shipped the parts within a day. Overall it took around two weeks for the parts to arrive, since they had to run through customs and arrived via Air Mail. Be patient though and you will receive what you order.

We have no monetary or other type interest in the company of any sorts and are just very pleased customers.

All of WinchSpares prices are in UK Pounds (GBP – British Pounds Sterling), but it is easy to convert using Google’s currency converter. So for example, a part that is 57 GBP, you would multiply that by the current conversion rate (today it is 1.5456) and would arrive at the USD cost of the part (57 x 1.5456 = $88.10).

1) We painted all of our non-skid “Kingston Gray” with Interlux Brightside paint. A lot of taping, but it turned out really well.

Here is a pic at the beginning.

2) We replaced our aging/failed refrigerator with a new Alder Barber ColdMachine cu100, which we purchased from Defender.com during one of their boatshow sales.

It was an easy, but tedious job removing the old unit and installing the new. Disappointingly, the new units are supposed to come pre-charged with the proper amount of freon from the factory, but that just wasn’t the case with our experience. It turned out to not be a big deal though, because the warranty covered a technician (Bill at SeaAir in Pensacola) to come out, charge the system and check for leaks. If a leak is discovered due to installation, then the warranty doesn’t cover the tech, but if no leak is found, then the system is charged and it is covered under warranty. Our freezer was making ice that night after Bill worked his freon skills on the system.

We’ve used a Honda eu2000i up to this point to charge batteries in the evening (~2-3 hours), then run the air conditioner overnight (~10-12 hours), followed by charging batteries again in the morning (~2-3 hours). We typically burn ~3 gallons of gasoline in the 12-14 hours the generator runs on a stretch, so Ben put together an extended run 6 gallon fuel tank to keep from refueling in the middle of the night. We have two 20 amp 12 volt battery chargers, which translates to around a 2 amp draw each on the generator. Our air conditioner draws ~12 amps. Since the Honda eu2000i is rated at 13.3 amps continuous, then we can’t run the chargers and the A/C at the same time.

We planned to install a diesel Genset and reviewed this neat 3.5kW unit from Next-Gen available at: http://www.nextgenerationpower.com/3kwmarine.html.

The issue with installing a built in generator is having the required space to run hoses and wires to get it all setup. We’d also need to add a new thru-hull if we didn’t have a spare to feed off of for cooling the generator.

In the end, the cost and labor continued to climb, so we decided to put that idea on hold for a while and go with a new Honda eu3000iS purchased from WiseSales.com.

The Honda eu3000iS weighs considerably more than the eu2000i at ~135 pounds, but is electric start, rated to be more quiet than the super quiet eu2000i (personal observation is that the eu3000iS is indeed more quiet than the eu2000i), has a touch over a 3 gallon fuel tank (plenty to run all night) and is rated at 10 amps more than the eu2000i when run continuous, which means we can run the air conditioner and battery chargers at the same time!! This is a big deal for us. Running the eu2000i for a couple of hours in the evening and another couple of hours in the morning just wasn’t enough time to bring the batteries back up. Since we run the air conditioner for 10-12 hours overnight anyway, then it will be fantastic to recharge at the same time.

Honda makes a new eu3000i Handi generator, which only weighs about 20 pounds more and is slightly larger than the eu2000i, but it has about the same size fuel tank as the eu2000i, has a pull start and is rated to be slightly louder than the eu2000i. We have the space to handle the larger size/weight of the eu3000iS, so in the end, the larger fuel tank and quieter operation won.

For reference, here is a picture of the eu3000i Handi.

Future updates will include installing solar panels to reduce the requirement on the generator, especially during the fall when the generator is only used to charge batteries and cook. We will eventually install a diesel generator, but for now, we think the Honda eu3000iS will serve our needs perfectly.

So we decided to purchase a new Tohatsu 9.8hp 4-stroke. The main advantages of the 4-stroke is that we don’t have to mix gas and oil as is needed with the 2-stroke, plus it only burns 1 gallon/hour at wide open throttle.

The main advantage of a 2-stroke is they are much lighter, typically, than similar size 4-strokes.

Our Evinrude 9.5 weighs approximately 66 pounds and the new Tohatsu (lightest in its class) weighs in at 81 pounds. Weight is a concern on our davits (the device on the stern of Monomoy that is used to hoist the dinghy out of the water), so we really didn’t want to add much weight if we could help it. We previously used a 6 gallon fuel tank and decided to use the new 3 gallon fuel tank that came with the new Tohatsu. Our fuel range should be basically the same since the Tohatsu uses less than half the fuel amount, but we loose the weight of the additional fuel, which nearly equals the weight difference between the outboards. In the end we have a new 4-stroke 9.8hp engine without the weight increase.

Here’s a stock photo of the Tohatsu 9.8hp 4-stroke:

A marine head has a special toilet, which is designed to maintain sanitation. A marine toilet is typically kept dry with water being pumped in before use; if a toilet kept water in it, then it would be subject to spilling out over the sides in rough weather.

A marine toilet pump can either be electrical or manual by hand, but both achieve the same function. The pump has two different hoses with one being the raw water inlet (some boats use water from their freshwater system) and the other hose being used to discharge the waste into a proper holding tank. It is legal in some waters to discharge untreated waste overboard, but typically only cruisers who are away for weeks or months at a time need to do that; those who are only away from dock a week at a time utilize a holding tank that is properly pumped out dockside.

The water intake is used to pump water into the toilet. Water is sucked into the boat through a valve on the boat’s underside, known as a seacock (unless the freshwater system is being used as a water source). This water fills the bowl in preparation for the toilet’s use. After being used, continued pumping on the water setting will circulate the water and eliminate the waste.

Once the toilet has been used and water has been circulated until the bowl is clean, the user flips a switch to stop the water entering and begins pumping again, which will empty the toilet bowl of water and will allow it to remain dry.

Waste is typically pumped into a holding tank as previously mentioned.

Here is a YouTube video produced by another sailor, which demonstrates how a pump toilet works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE4z2NajqMM

The toilet we were using is a Groco HF as pictured here:

Here’s a short video of how our new Jabsco Lite Flush functions, though ours has the 4 selection control pad, which offers ‘Quick Flush’, ‘Flush’, ‘Fill Only’, and ‘Empty Only’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV5UaTmX6Lo

So with the new toilet we simply press a button and are done! It fills, flushes, and evacuates the bowl all with that one little press/release of a button.

What we mean is we decided on a new marine air conditioning and heating system for Monomoy.

Our previous built-in unit was a 20 year old Marine Airrr (yep, that’s how they spell Air on the unit) 16k btu reverse cycle (means it cools in the summer and acts like a heat pump to warm the air in the winter) unit with a Passport IO thermostat. The unit was a workhorse and got us through the hot/humid summer at the dock, but wouldn’t run on our generator due to the amperage requirement to get the compressor running; we even tried the Supco Boost Capacitor with only a 5 amp reduction in draw (not enough).

Away from the dock we used a different configuration. Running off our Honda eu2000i generator, we started with a 5,000 btu window unit which we placed in the companionway; it just wasn’t large enough to even take the edge off of our entire cabin, so we moved it to the forward hatch and all tried to cram into Blake’s v-berth on those really hot nights, since the window unit cooled that space just fine.

We didn’t make it long on the window unit before we upgraded to a 9,000 btu portable unit. The portable unit was bulky, so we had to find a place to store it when not in use. When in use, we would put it in the salon and vent it out of the hatch above the dining table. That unit actually did well to take the edge off the heat, but it certainly didn’t cool it down to dock comfort levels. The other downside is that we had to run our generator with eco throttle off in order for it to kick over the compressor on the a/c; this was bothersome because of the increased noise level and fuel consumption.

The new unit we chose is a Mermaid Marine Air 16,500 btu reverse cycle air conditioner/heater with an FX-1 thermostat. The FX-1 is a digital thermostat designed to stagger the fan, pump and compressor start times, so that the start surge doesn’t hit all at once. While we were at it, we ordered/installed a Dometic SmartStart advertised to reduce compressor start surge by 65%. The SmartStart takes 5 to 10 starts (according to Dometic literature) for it to learn the requirements of the particular unit it is installed and to fully optimize. We optimized on shore power before the moment of truth… Our new configuration runs on our Honda eu2000i with eco throttle on!!! We’re so ready for this summer!

For those who may be reading this post and are they themselves interested in our setup (lots of forum posts of boaters trying to achieve what we finally have), then feel free to email us with any questions.

The wiring diagram’s noted wire colors for our new FX-1 control box didn’t match the actual wires used in the control box, so we had to trace the wires to determine which was which when installing the SmartStart. Dometic makes the SmartStart and FX-1 controller. A phone call to Dometic’s 800 number tech support for a little guidance was useless. After 10 minutes waiting for the next available tech support, the tech who answered said they don’t have a marine tech division, but if we had an RV they could help us all day long. They did ask what we were trying to do to see if their personal knowledge could help, but when explained, they responded that they had never even heard of the SmartStart; remember, this is Dometic’s tech support responding about a Dometic device. The tech did provide another 800 number, which we were told was to their marine sales division, but only received a fax tone when dialing that number and gave up. Had we not already purchased/received the SmartStart before calling Dometic directly, I think we would have been put off by the experience and had a change of mind on the purchase; though we are now pleased that we did make the purchase. In the end it just required a little studying of the wires and wasn’t a big deal to install the SmartStart.

We purchased our SmartStart from Mid-Atlantic Marine; their website is at www.mamtstore.com. They were prompt with processing our order and shipping the device, plus had the best price we could find anywhere online or local.

Our new unit with FX-1 shipped directly from Mermaid after being ordered through a retailer. Prior to purchase, we contacted Mermaid via email to discuss their discharge vent location, since they offer it in left, right, and top. Mermaid was prompt to reply with the exact info we needed. Mermaid also has the best warranty in the business from the research we performed prior to purchase. The retailer www.marinewholesales.com was the best price we could find after lots of Internet research; don’t expect a tracking number from them, but do expect a lead time in the 10-14 day range and to be charged straight away for the purchase.

There is very little information on the Internet regarding the SmartStart, so anyone emailing us with questions, we’ll be happy to reply with our personal experience.

Here is the view off the bow while still up in the air.

Backing away from the sling.

Heading under the Bayou Chico Bridge and on our way back to our slip at the marina!

Ben spent today putting the final touches on the paint and DA’d the hull with a polish to bring out a mirror finish. Monomoy’s all done and will spend overnight letting the paint dry for the manufacturer’s specified time.

The Gemini isn’t quite complete and have been bumped on the splash schedule, so we now have their time. We will splash at 8am in the morning; it will be a rush since Carol isn’t available till about 8:30am. Ben will do his best stall tactic in order to buy the extra 30 minutes till Carol arrives. We’ll then take Monomoy back to her slip and dinghy back over for vehicles.

She’s done though and just in time for a predicted beautiful weekend! Almost Corona Time!

Ben did manage to get a coat of paint on this morning before the bottom fell out of the sky for the entire day. He also picked up our prop from Accu-Prop on Pace Blvd, where they did a fantastic job of polishing and balancing it.

The blocks are being moved tomorrow morning, so Ben can paint where they have been; he also plans to polish the hull, install the prop, and will then be done with nothing to do except let the paint dry overnight.

We currently are scheduled to splash at 2:30pm CST on Friday. There is a Gemini 105Mc in the yard scheduled to splash Friday morning, but they were put behind on work today due to the weather, so if they change times, then we’ll get their slot and will splash around 9am Friday morning.

Can’t wait to get her back in the water. We’ll post pics tomorrow night after the final paint and polish has been applied.

We are applying Pettit Ultima SR60, which is available at West Marine for ~$250/gallon, but Ben ordered it from WholesaleMarine.com for ~$190/gallon with free shipping.

Here is Ben painting.

Ken and Jody stopped by to see the progress.

Ben finished sanding this morning and applied a coat of paint; he returned in the afternoon to apply a second coat.

We hope to apply a third coat tomorrow morning, weather pending, then have the blocks moved in order to apply three coats where they have been in place.

The goal is to splash by Friday; so far so good!