Sea Chest
You know that place at home where you put your wallet and keys and loose change and other small but important stuff? This beautiful sea chest is perfect for that and also makes for a very interesting conversation piece.
Trash Bins
The space around the toilets in each of the heads in our boat does not lend itself to a typical home sized bathroom trash bin. What we needed was a “skinny” enough bin to fit in the small space between the toilet and the wall, but tall enough to overcome the lack of volume from […]
Toilets, Hoses, Smells
When we took possession of our boat, it was equipped with two manual toilets with which you pumped the waste into either an on-board holding tank, which periodically had to be pumped out, or overboard. The overboard option for untreated sewage is only legal if you are far enough offshore (3 miles). Both toilets functioned […]
Decorative Plaque
When we bought the boat, there was a hole cut out of the base of the starboard settee that appeared to once house a stereo speaker. We needed something to cover the hole, and asked Paula’s dad to be imaginative. The result is a lovely little plaque with both a compass rose theme as well […]
Sillery Bay
The weather forecast showed two nice days in a row in the middle of the week so we decided to take a short trip out to Dobbins Island to stay overnight and do a little swimming. The wind was light that day so we decided to go past Dobbins Island and out of the Magothy […]
Storing and using a vise on-board
I’ve always found a bench vise to be a very useful tool. Its uses on a sailboat are every bit as great as in a home workshop. For a long time however, I couldn’t get past a couple nagging problems when using a bench vise on our boat. First, it’s big and awkwardly shaped making […]
Adding a Fireplace
I apologize in advance for the length of this post. I wanted to include enough details and pictures for other Island Packet owners who may be considering a similar upgrade. There were two main reasons we wanted a “Fireplace” onboard the boat. The first was practical – to be able to heat and dry the […]
Fuel Polisher
Here is how I installed the Filter Boss “Commander” Fuel Polishing system from KTI Systems, Inc. in an IP420. The first decision was to evaluate mounting locations in the IP420 engine compartment and then choose which version of the Commander series would best suit the available space. I chose the 60GPH version, the smallest. You […]
Additional 12VDC Beaker Panel
I had a need to add an additional 12V breaker panel to our Island Packet 420 C Ghost. In searching for a perfect place to put the panel, it appeared that the forward side of the inside of the original breaker panel enclosure might just fit. I measured carefully and determined that the Blue Sea […]