Just a quick upload of pics so you can see the difference.....I love the way it came out. More to follow........http://www.grizzlygrip.com



You can see how I did the trim with a brush, first.  Then rolled over the deck.



I painted the sides white before I started on the teak deck.



You can see how far I went up on both sides to prevent water from getting in.















Here is a close up with the dollar to give some scale.  I decided to put on 3 coats, but two would have been fine.  I love the way it feels and looks.  Plus no more leak in the closet.........more to follow.

We will be in Charleston, SC for Cinco De Mayo and should start heading north on Sunday.  The cruise up has been better than last year. Not all the rain, but a lot of wind! We are cruising at an average speed of 6 mph this year to conserve fuel.  I hope to be getting less than 2 gph......If anyone will be close, drop us a line.  Maybe we can get together.

Knot Tide Down

     After years of pre-flights on helicopters, I am now going to due a "phase" inspection once every six months.  I found a water line dripping after inspecting and filling my batteries.  Would not have sunk the boat, but 250 gallons of water in the bilge spraying every where would have been a mess!  Just luck.  I inspect my batteries every 2 months and heard a drip.  It took a while to run it down but I am glad I did.....all it would have taken is a little more pressure and POP, there goes all the water.  Of coarse it was in between my batteries and very difficult to get to, but that's boating....LOL.

Here is the picture of the pressure fitting.  You can see the crack all around the fitting.



Shown below, broken.  It just fell apart when I took it apart.



Always have spares on board the boat!!!!

Heading to Disappearing Island at Ponce Inlet for the weekend.  There is a street party in New Smyrna Beach on Thursday we will hit with the Womack's too.....we should be underway again come Sunday or Monday.  Its been windy, but no rain. 

Knot Tide Down

I will be leaving for Fort Monroe, VA on the 18th of
April, 2011 and should be in Ft Monroe, VA in about
4 weeks.....plus or minus...LOL

Met some GREAT freinds over the winter......boating is so AWESOME!



Spent Saturday night at one of the islands here in Florida.....with great friends



Raven, T and Dave......(Mom and Dad)....I miss you already!....See ya in Pax River



No don't we all look cozy!  Free Spirit, Knot Tide Down and Pagan Lady...

This morning I get a radio call from JUSTIFICATION, they were with Lifes 2 Short in Jacksonville.....boy do I love the boating life.  It is like just one big happy family......

Miss everyone, hope to see you on the way up to the Chesapeake Bay.  I will be going via the outer banks and Dismal Swamp.  Keep your eye out, if you want to have a LONG night.....LOL

Knot Tide Down
Bill

So here I go.....gunna try and explain what we have done in order to extend our time at anchor.  As we sit on the water we use, on average, 15 amps and hour.  That includes our new addition, the freezer on board.  With this in mind I wanted four 120 watt solar panel which should put out around 6-7 amps an hour.  I found the Sun 120 for $204.00 ea and a 60 amp charger controller for $140 bucks. The rest is for everyone to see how we put them up.

Here we are the night before drilling the bolt holes and test fitting all the panels before we put them up.  We built an external frame to hold the solar panels so we have the ability to remove the canvas to clean when needed.



The next day we built the frame.



Once the frame was up we began to fit the solar panels to the frame.  At the same time we bolted, screwed and fit all the hardware together.  It was a very dynamic undertaking.....



The combiner box I made out of a Homeline breaker panel from Lowe's.  It only cost $22, including the double pole breakers.  Each breaker (one for each panel) shuts down a panel, so I can isolate them, if needed.
Sorry for the blurry pic....



Each panel had to be spiced with 10 awg wire using waterproof splices and then heat shrink over the splice.  10 Gauge wire was used from each panel to the combining box.



Each panel was wired to there individual circuit breaker and then the combiner box is wired to the charge controller via 6 gauge wire.  6 gauge wire was then run to the batteries via an on-off switch I placed on the electric panel below.



Here is the combiner box on the right and the solar charge controller on the left, installed.



Here is the specs on the solar panel.  I bought them from a company out of Florida, Sunelect.com.  Great prices......



With the sun DIRECTLY overhead and no load, this is what I had coming in from the solar panels......this upgrade is well worth the cost.  I figure we spent 3 days and $1200, including the stainless for the frame, to install.  This is the second to last step in becoming self-sufficient.  I finally have all the parts needed to build our water maker......that is the next project.......



Ana decided to clean and waterproof the canvas also, so here is a good pic of the solar panels...



We are currently at Patrick AFB, FL and hope to start heading south after the 8th of Feb. 

Knot Tide Down

Running offshore lets us see many different things.  Today we ran across multiple Sea Turtles like these two
laying out taking in the sun, just as we did all day.



Who can ever get tired of Sunsets?  What a great day to be on the water....2 more hours 'till Fernandina Beach, FL!  Yahooooo, FLORIDA!!!!

This is our first video on our blog, we are currently 10-15 miles off shore.  We left the Savannah, GA area and will be in Fernandina Beach, FL tonight. around 9:30 pm.  Saw 3 LARGE sea turtles already...hope you all like the vid....ktd

First Video Blog

Here is the valve I installed on my FL120 Injector Pump.  It makes draining the pump very easy.



Here is another view...



I then place a funnel and tube below the valve which drains directly into a holding bottle that I
have pre-marked at .9 pt (this is how much the injector pump holds). Yes, I mark all my hoses with the date I
changed them.



As you can see, this is a very specially designed bottle.  I have it marked, so when the
Injector Pump has drained all the oil out I can see if the seals have begun to leak.  If I have
more fluid than I put in, it tells me the seals are starting to leak.  I am currently changing
my oil every 200 hrs now since I have no leakage.  After I pour the oil out of the bottle, I
then fill the bottle with new oil to the line and pour into the Injector Pump.  All Done.



Once I am complete with the oil change in the Injector Pump, I place a small part of an absorbant pad below the
valve and the back, bottom of the Injector Pump to monitor any oil leakage.

There is always one way to get anyone to act like a kid, just add Dolphins.  I don't care how many times we see them, it always makes our day.  These Dolphins played in our bow wake for almost an hour yesterday as we made our way down to Beaufort, SC.  Hope you like the show.....Deoge goes nuts.....now she stands guard on the bow looking for them.

Dolphins on the Bow