New liveaboard, finally made it....

[SailSouth]

After a few years of contemplating a life afloat a change in my personal circumstances have resulted in me finally being able to move aboard my old centre-cockpit cruiser currently based in the Solent. I love waking up on the boat before heading into work, I’m sure the novelty will wear off but it’s great feeling.

It’s also a very significant step towards untying the lines and doing what my username suggests although there is quite a bit of prep needed on the boat before doing so in a couple of years.

I currently have an old but working SSB fitted that came with boat and I can’t decide if I should keep it or sell on. I already have a Iridium Satellite phone. Any idea what a used (probably 20 years old) Icom SSB would be worth?

Likewise the boat also has an old Watermaker that has not been used for many years so would need new filters as a minimum. I’m guessing that watermaker tech has moved on in this time so again I’m tempted to remove and sell on particularly as it takes up useful locker space.

All the best from a very content liveaboard

 

[KellysEye]

>I currently have an old but working SSB fitted that came with boat and I can’t decide if I should keep it or sell on.

Keep it its the lifeblood of long distance sailing, you get weather, ocean nets, marina nets, nets in bays and chat to boats you now aboutplaces to go etc.

>Likewise the boat also has an old Watermaker that has not been used for many years so would need new filters as a minimum.

I supect yu will need to replace the water maker but do keep one it is always best to have one, you will use every day to top the tanks up on a long passage. Runnning out water over a 1,00nms from land would not be fum. We had both of those. Be aware call time on an Irdium phone is not cheap.

Iridium Global Prepaid Service - 75 Minutes 1 mo. $159.00
Iridium Latin America Prepaid Service - 200 Minutes 6 mo. $225.00
Iridium Northern Lights Prepaid Service - 200 Minutes 6 mo. $249.00
Iridium Global Prepaid Service - 150 Minutes 2 mo. $299.00

 

[jonic]

Welcome to the best life in the world. :encouragement:

"Man's (or woman's) last great freedom."

Enjoy.


..... and don't worry. Whatever the age or budget we all spend most of our time fixing them or adding stuff!

 

[SailSouth]

Thanks guys, I need to have a play with the Watermaker to see if it will still work and what sort of power input to water output its capable of. The boat has pretty big tanks (450L +) and I'm used to being frugal. I don't need to make a decision on this for a while yet.

At the moment I only have a pair of 110ah batts and that seems very "light" for a 39' boat. They are old and in need of replacement so upgrading to 4 of the above seems like a sensible starting point as I have plenty of space for more.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Welcome to the forums.

We have a centre cockpit 39' boat too. Ours is a Westerly Sealord. Just wondered which yours was?

 

[25931]

Congratulations.

 

[Carmel2]

Take you time and have fun!

 

[dslittle]

I love waking up on the boat before heading into work, I’m sure the novelty will wear off but it’s great feeling.

It’s also a very significant step towards untying the lines and doing what my username suggests although there is quite a bit of prep needed on the boat before doing so in a couple of years

We had five years doing that and getting the boat ready. Two years ago we set off. The novelty hasn't worn off yet!!!

Good luck and enjoy.

 

[geem]

Thanks guys, I need to have a play with the Watermaker to see if it will still work and what sort of power input to water output its capable of. The boat has pretty big tanks (450L +) and I'm used to being frugal. I don't need to make a decision on this for a while yet.

At the moment I only have a pair of 110ah batts and that seems very "light" for a 39' boat. They are old and in need of replacement so upgrading to 4 of the above seems like a sensible starting point as I have plenty of space for more.

What pump do you have on the watermaker? If its a Cat pump you can probably resurect the watermaker for not too much money.

 

[Richard10002]

Water maker, generator, smart charger, and Richard or Manson Supreme anchor were the 4 things I wish I had had for my travels to Malta and back between 2006 and 2009.

 

[SailSouth]

Water maker, generator, smart charger, and Richard or Manson Supreme anchor were the 4 things I wish I had had for my travels to Malta and back between 2006 and 2009.

Well, I have the Watermaker, smart charger and a Bugel anchor (bit like a rocna) so 3 out of 4 is close

Watermaker is a Pur (now Katadyn) Survivor 35 so only a low output unit but parts appear to be available online so hopefully its will make a good backup source for water if needed. I can only see the manual version of my watermaker on the Katadyn site but mine is electric.

 

[Puggy]

Hi Sail South

I bought an Icom M710 with antenna tuner off ebay about 2 years ago and paid around £250 for it. It had come on a boat from Canada and the new owner was getting rid of it. I had it checked out by Icom (all ok) and fitted to the boat (which did cost a bit, as well as getting my Long Range Certificate). I think it is really useful to have an SBB and I also use the Airmail app to access selected emails using the SSB. So my vote is to definitely keep the SSB!

 

[SailSouth]

Hi Sail South

I bought an Icom M710 with antenna tuner off ebay about 2 years ago and paid around £250 for it. It had come on a boat from Canada and the new owner was getting rid of it. I had it checked out by Icom (all ok) and fitted to the boat (which did cost a bit, as well as getting my Long Range Certificate). I think it is really useful to have an SBB and I also use the Airmail app to access selected emails using the SSB. So my vote is to definitely keep the SSB!

Hi Puggy, yes on reflection I think I will keep it for now. Replacing it some time down the line is likley to be expensive.

No idea how to use it though - will have to do the course to get my Long Range Certificate.

 

[Puggy]

Hi Puggy, yes on reflection I think I will keep it for now. Replacing it some time down the line is likley to be expensive.

No idea how to use it though - will have to do the course to get my Long Range Certificate.

I did the course at Yachtcom http://www.yachtcom.co.uk/lrc/ - speak to Bob. thoroughly enjoyable few days.