Walking and shoes

You walk everywhere when you are on a boat vs driving when you are living on land.  To get groceries you walk, to get parts you walk, to do laundry you walk, most everyday you are walking somewhere to get something done.  Having good shoes that are able to be used for walking in sand, mud, gravel, or pavement is needed because you don't have space for option.  You probably have a good pair of flip flops or water shoes but for your heavy duty walking nothing beats a good pair of sneakers.

On land having several pairs of tennis shoes; old ones for working out side, ones that are good for walking, ones that are good for colder weather, ones for going to work in and basketball shoes isn't as big of a deal because you have the space.  As a side note if you want some really really good sandal go look at OOFOs, https://www.oofos.com.  I have a pair that I have worn for several years and have promoted them to friends and they have not been disappointed. Just recently I walked my good walking shoes out of their soles and it was time for a change.  The old ones went into the trash and the new ones are being broken in, lots of walking to do ahead.

Old ones on top, new on bottom

Brighten up the boat

At the time our boat was built, 15 years ago, the latest and best lighting was cold cathode fluorescent lights.  They had low power draw and gave off more light than any other at the time.  When you turn the lights on now they are somewhat dim but after a minute or two they warm up and put out decent light.  If you are just using the light for a few seconds then they really never give off enough light to make the area very bright.  

We have been looking for new lights that are brighter and use less power but finding ones that cover the old fixture marks has been daunting.  So we came up with the idea of gutting the old internal equipment and rewiring the fixtures with new LED light strips.  Wala you have fixtures that cover the old marks yet give a lot more light, right away.  Using a downloaded app for LUX measurements it showed the old lights at 0 when just turned on then after a minute had warmed up to 30.  The new LED lights turned on at 60.  The energy used by the LED is 1/2 the amps of the old lights as well.

Old dim light

Some projects you do because there is an issue that needs to be fixed, this time uncovered an issue prior to it being a major problem.

our boom vang

Boom vang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A boom vang is a line or piston system on a sailboat used to exert downward force on the boom and thus control the shape of the sail. The vang typically runs from the base of the mast to a point about a third of the way out the boom.