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Projects Completed! New Grill!

Our Scuba compressor installation is now completed. Mike and Derrick from Morehead Marine Services did a great job. The compressor is a 220V unit, and we wanted a dedicated 220V power source for the compressor. The compressor will run off power directly from our 13.5 Kw generator. The compressor will live in our cockpit locker, so Derrick (at our request) placed the 220V, GFCI-protected outlet and a 120V, GFCI-protected outlet deep in the locker. Even though GFCI-protected, we wanted the outlets in the driest, most “sheltered” part of the locker. We are on a boat and things do get wet.  We installed the 120V outlet for two reasons: 1) If we need more circulation and ventilation around the compressor, we can set up clip-on fans to move extra air, and 2) It’s always nice to have an extra outlet in the cockpit. To make it easier to access the 120V outlet we added a GFCI-protected, heavy-duty extension cord. We will secure the extension cord and dedicated 220V cord with cable ties to the wall of the cockpit locker to make things tidy and safe. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another electrical project Derrick did for us was running a dedicated 120V line and a 12V DC line to our cockpit fridge/freezer. We have a 120V outlet near our cockpit table but to get power to the fridge/freezer we had to run a drop cord. We wanted to get rid of the trip hazard. The unit can run off either 120V AC or 12V DC, so we brought both power sources up through the cockpit floor and waterproof glands. The fridge/freezer also doubles as a seat at the table. We had a factory-installed cockpit fridge, but we opted to remove it and create additional storage in that space, then add the cooler-style fridge/freezer. The unit has two independent compartments so we can have one set as a fridge and the other as a freezer or both set the same. It’s much more versatile than the original cockpit fridge, more energy efficient, and has more than triple the capacity. Again, this is an idea we stole from other long-time cruisers. The cooler-style fridge/freezers wouldn’t be user-friendly on a charter boat, but for anyone living onboard a boat, it makes more sense in most cases. We feel like this has been a major upgrade to Ocean Song.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all the great work Mike and Derrick performed, Mike did one more job for us. We had decided to replace our Magma grill with a Weber. Although Magmas are generally the grills of choice on boats, I was never fond of our Magma. It was rectangular and quite shallow; therefore, it flamed up constantly. Other boaters have shared similar experiences with that particular Magma design. More and more boaters are installing Weber grills and singing their praises. We’ve done so many upgrades lately that I told Linda I thought we should just keep the Magma for this cruising season – she said NO! Linda said every time I cooked on the old grill, I fussed (and cussed) about how much I disliked it, so, debate over – we got the new Weber. The Weber had to be mounted to the rail differently than the old grill. We bought a 24″ x 12″ polished aluminum plate to mount the Weber. It had sharp corners, sharp edges, and drilling smooth holes was going to be a challenge (but we’ve done similar projects ourselves before). We felt that getting rounded corners and smooth edges were important and asked Mike if he knew of any good local metal shops. Mike said he thought he could do it, and, WOW, did he! Mike did a fantastic job (much better than we could have done) and, helped us mount the new grill.