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Hey you two!! Where are you now? Did you get your boat sold pretty quickly?

@ yes sold quickly. We are currently in FL. 😉

I hope you faired ok during the hurricanes this fall.

We think it’s because the drain from the coach roof dumps behind that panel at the corner of the window. We’re going to drill a hole at the back to let the water out. Hopefully that will fix the problem.

Thank you! We’re trying to do everything the “right” way. It does take longer, but in the end we’ll have what we want. Looking forward to that day for sure!

We’re pretty sure there isn’t anywhere for the water from the coach roof drain to go. We’ll put in a weep hole and see if that does the trick.

Funny you should ask that…we had a contract on a new build and were well down that path when we backed out of our contract. So many boat builders are having trouble with quality on the new boats. We decided to go this route so we could be certain of what we have and know we can count on the quality of our work. We didn’t anticipate having quite so much to do…our surveyor did a crappy job but was our only choice in Guatemala. Regardless, we’re in it now and when we’re done it will be exactly what we want. Just have to push through to the end!

@@SailingRoam I get that. Can't stop now. Shawn is so knowledgeable and you are a great support system and assistant. Hope it all works out and you are on your way soon!

@ Thanks! We’re trying hope so too!!

It's good to know those tools are still going strong! Such a clever tool!

Thanks for subscribing! That was such a fun experience. The looks we got from other boaters as we made our way back to ROAM were hilarious!

Never heard of screw grab so thanks for that! I've ordered a bottle and look forward to trying it out. As for specialty, and more importantly, crimpers - I have a few :) The most recent is a JRReady ACT-M202 - It's a small handled Deutsch HDT-48-00 crimper. I have big hands but, the standard sizer HDT-48-00 is so big even I need two hands to operate it. This smaller version let's me crimp with one hand so I can use the other hand to hold the wire in place.

@SailingRoam I have everything from TE connectivity. Years ago, when I bought my first Hdt-48-00, I bought it from Craigslist. When I met the seller I found out he worked at the factory in Hemet California. I would go buy whatever he had every couple of months. That ended when they closed the factory in 2019.

Have you seen the impact driver that fits in an air hammer? I purchased one about 6 months ago, it has saved me on many occasions. It works like the regular impact driver you used in this video except it's driven by an air hammer instead of a regular hammer. The high-speed blows make a major difference.

I haven't seen that but it sounds like a life saver! I haven't planned to have any air onboard (save a dive tank compressor) as we would have extremely limited use for it. Hopefully we won't need to use the manual impact much for a good long while either!

@SailingRoam They make an adapter regulator for scuba tanks just for running air tools or filling tires. It might not be a bad idea to keep one on the boat. You can get them for $60-$80. You can use air tools under water in an emergency. I previously owned a swimming pool repair business, and I was always changing out lights and drain grills. Oftentimes, the retaining screws would snap off in rings embedded in the plaster. I would drill them out under water using a $15 disposable air drill.

Thanks! It’s a big job for sure! We can’t wait to show y’all putting something back in to the boat!

Never heard of her 😆

Seriously! That impact driver saved us a lot of headache trying to free those screws. So glad you enjoyed the video!

Thanks for the suggestion! We’ll check it out.

@SailingRoam Line-X was also used on the Pentagon after 9-11 and on the Ministry of Defense in London. Coating the exterior of block walls makes them blast resistant. It was also used to coat the armor plates worn by troops in their ballistic vests.

That’s my concern as well. I plan to sand the hull all the way around and inspect for holes or cracks but, I think if there were any, the water would have leaked back out while we were on the hard as I didn’t get into this until we’d been high and dry for few months.

I have to admit I was VERY ready to do something else…anything else!

We try not to be religious about tool brands but keeping it all in the same family is necessary for battery powered. I’m not sure what we need to do around the sail drive collar. Don’t like having a place for water to collect that I can’t see or drain but I don’t think I can fill with foam without drilling quite a few more holes. I’ll have to do more digging and see if I can get a bore scope in there to see what I’m working with.

I like your thinking! I have two now and will likely get a third as we have two hulls with separate engine rooms and I’d hate to have to go searching just when I need one!

Thank you so much for watching! We tried hard to ensure this Annapolis Boat Show vid wasn’t the same as all the others. We’re glad you got value from it and Rich Borden is the bomb! The 542 is a bit of a unicorn with only 15 left in the world. We’d love it if it become known for the amazing vessel she is!

I can see how that could be a problem. Out of curiosity, what kind of boat do you have? We are in a boat with a uniquely huge amount of space.

@ custom built 60ft sloop 25 years old. Limited amount of room in a lot of places. I think it’s a great tool and certainly has its place in every tool box but I can’t see it replacing all hose clamps, definitely not on our boat. I do however have a bag of about 100 assorted stainless steel hose clamps at the ready!!!

@ As we start reinstalling everything during our refit, we’ll certainly show where it works and where it doesn’t.

Saving money on hose clamps is really the smallest part of this. In the grand scheme of things, we'd likely use ~$1k worth of hose clamps and, while that's a lot of money, it's not a lot in the grand scheme of this refit. I don't know what' ABYCs stance is on wire hose clamps but I do know they have requirements around the width of the hose clamp band based on the diameter of the hose. Given that I can make this as wide as I like and a solid band by wrapping multiple times, I think they'd have to have a specific call out against using this type of hose clamp. As for corrosion, we're using 316 SS wire which is the same grade stainless as the best hose clamps and better than most that are 304. I think we'll see how they hold up over time and you can count on us reporting back on the experience as we go!

After a little research, I've found that ABYC H-33 Diesel Fuel Systems, specifically, 33.11.9.2 - Hose clamps shall be reusable. In context, this only applies to diesel fuel systems. All other references to hose clamps indicate specific width, location in relation to the fitting the hose is attached to, or the material being at least 300 series stainless steel. Based on this, wire clamps attached with a Clamptite tool should pass survey for everything except fuel systems and only because they're not reusable.

And it is time for a glow up!

@ What I find most interesting is that with so much evolution and innovation, people are looking for things that were used 40 to 50 years ago. There are a lot of things that were the best that existed, but they were discarded for other things that could go faster and sell more

You’re so right! It seems like the world of marine “stuff” is so antiquated.

@@SailingRoam The only thing on boats that should have already changed is the system voltage from 12v/24v DC to 48v DC. the rest is simply enjoying the boat you have.

Haha, and that change is one we’re doing!

It was great hanging out with you guys! We think the smart 100 is going to be a good fit for us when we get to that stage of putting things back together. We had a great conversation with the folks at Forespar (Marelon) and learned a lot. Our boat came with Truedesign valves and I haven’t been impressed with them. Multiple valves had had failed and others had loose(failed) threads at the thru-hull and even though the design says it can be serviced, I don’t have confidence in the materials. Marelon though has an excellent reputation for extremely long life - over 20-years and still working like new in some cases and their Pro-Series allows us to configure the design we want to make it most efficient. Wait until you see what I’m doing with the raw water I takes for the aircon! I love my messenger bag! Ugo hit it out of the park on that one!

Thanks! We have a playlist with the first 5 videos of our refit already up on TH-cam. Many more to follow!! th-cam.com/play/PLVjtcYwEjn_wzmEeGB2wocsT-nQQAONbp.html&si=M0in5Sq0caFUNfDY

You’re not wrong! Hopefully we’ll be reinstalling the replacement hoses by the dead of winter 😂

Lucky! If we were going to replace our tank, the rhino lining is a great idea. Fortunately the tank itself is still good. One of very few things we’re not replacing!

ALL the fun! 😂

Much better than poo! Any thoughts on how to avoid the calcium buildup in the new hoses?

@@SailingRoam Well an old method without too much chemicals is simple vinegar . It breaks down the calcium crystals and is not harmful (if used in moderate amounts) to the environment . However to do this on a boat I have no experience . You may can pump some vinegar into the system and let it sit for a while and then flush it out .

Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like I have a bit of research in my future!

Anything to make the job less messy. Thanks for watching!

You’re not wrong. Next time…

It was seriously so gross! At this point we’re done with the really dirty stuff. Phew!

So gross! A job like that makes sanding so much more tolerable!

Thank you! We’re so glad you enjoyed it! Next episode is fun stuff, then definitely back to the hard work.

You are so right! It was a bad call to be bare-handed. Fortunately the worst of the dirty work is behind us now.

We love this boat. The 542 is really special. Ours is hull #6, 2013. We were just at the Annapolis Boat Show and saw the new Nautitech 48. It’s fantastic!

That’s a great idea and one we hadn’t considered. Now it’s on the list. I’m (Geri) super sensitive to molds, so whatever we can do to reduce exposure is aces in my eyes. Thanks for the suggestion!

🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤣

It will be so good to know it’s done right, not just good enough.

Omg, thank you!

Woohoo! Can’t wait to see y’all!

I (Geri) definitely threw around some very foul language! 🤣

Outside of wiring weight, we're able to increase the density of our energy storage while reducing the cost of wire and inverters. Overall the cost savings will be a few thousand dollars. Increasing the voltage reduces the current and the amount of heat produced by a load - it's safer from a potential melted/burnt wire perspective. There are some additional life safety concerns with 48v though so, like everything, there are trade-offs.

He’s completely incapable of scrambling an egg and having a conversation at the same time 🤣

The ABYC standards drive me nuts! A standard that doesn't have to be adhered to except to get a factory certification once is hardly a standard... I hadn’t thought about a pull back ram and that’s a way better way than a cable winch! Oh well, now I’ll keep it in my list if I ever have to do anything like that again… hopefully not!

@@SailingRoam What is the main purpose of completely rewiring the boat?

Most boats built in Europe are wired with high-quality copper wire rather than tinned marine grade wire. Ours is no exception. One of the major issues with non-marine grade wire is the lack of corrosion resistance from the bare copper strands and the lack of waterproof insulation. Unfortunately, all the wire had significant oxidation well beyond the crimped connectors. We had planned to do a major battery upgrade (lots of details to come on that in the future!) and I didn't want to increase the current potential without knowing all the wiring was good. You know the saying that every boat is a collection of compromises? Our electrical system isn't one of the compromises :)

@@SailingRoam Are you adding a bunch of solar and a large battery bank? I have lived off grid in the Mojave Desert area of Southern California for the past 20 years and I have built many off grid power systems and I hate Victron equipment and it's crazy how many people in the sailing world use Victron equipment. The funny thing is there are so many videos of people replacing failed Victron components. The best thing you can do with any off grid power system is run the highest voltage battery bank possible, I laugh at all these people running 12v systems needing gigantic power cabling. They have never heard the saying as voltage increases amp draw decreases. I use outback power systems for all of my off grid equipment. They are made in the USA and I have never had a single piece of their equipment fail in the 20 years I have been using it. If you haven't seen outback power systems equipment check it out.

Talk about the perfect place for pv! I think Outback makes exceptional power equipment. Unfortunately, their largest mobile certified (UL 458) inverter is 3600va and I'd need 4 of them to cover our needs and the combined weight and space required would be a problem. 12v for a new build makes no sense but, just doing an upgrade on a boat is very difficult and expensive to switch away from 12v. Either every DC device on the boat has to be changed or you have to install a huge stepdown converter to handle things like the windlass or electric winches which, on our boat, would draw ~150amps each at 12v! Even converting to 48v, I'll be running 2 pairs of 4/0AWG wire from the main distribution ~45' back to the port engine room. It's an improvement over the original as there were 4 pairs of 750mcm! I think a lot of sailors use Victron is because they're doing a great job marketing to the marine market and making higher capacity units in smaller packages. I haven't yet had any failures with Victron but I'm also careful about designing the system to 120% of the actual loads and not pushing beyond 80% continuous load for any duration.

I have many skills. This is way harder than finding veins, though admittedly not as much fun!

We are changing from a 12v to 48v system. Also moving from European to American AC system. Shawn is doing essentially all the work. Sure with Lorne was on this coast!

@@SailingRoam wow! That is a huge job to take on! I wish Lorne was there to help as well!

@@SailingRoam How much weight can you save by switching from 12v to 48v?

I think overall we're going to come out around 800lbs - 1000lbs (360kg - 450kg) lighter on just power and wire but that's only part of the equation. On the power system we'll have around ~5000 watts of solar (up from 1200 watts) and 55Kwh of energy storage (up from 12Kwh). The weight savings is great but the increase in available power is the real benefit! We'll do a full video and write up on our website once the power system is complete.

COMPLETE overhaul!

I can't tell you how many hours I spent thinking about this! I'd really like to get the dinghy higher and have just one frame. Our dinghy is pretty big/heavy so we couldn't use the same design we have now for the solar arch supports. In the end, we couldn't find a way to do it that didn't result in putting stainless posts on the bottom swim step and that's a look we couldn't live with.

@@SailingRoam okay, makes sense, good luck with the refit 👍

Thanks Ross, I'll definitely keep an eye on this. I've found the SD60 creates a lot of internal pressure due to heat expansion and on cooling, it's common for a slightly worn lower seal to allow seawater ingress from vacuum. The header tanks create a very small amount of positive pressure but also expansion to take place with minimal increase in overall pressure. Time will tell and I'll definitely follow up once we're back in the water an cruising!

A vented header tank won't cause a leak.

We agree completely! Shaft drive would be much better. Alas, this one isn’t designed for it and we’re not going quite that deep!😂

Haha, Shawn is fine with all of this. I think we’ve definitely bit off more than we can chew. I don’t want to be doing this for toooo long.

Thanks! Looking forward to seeing y’all in Annapolis!