Abroad Reach Travel

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Boat DIY

DIY Watermaker

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Updated on September 21st, 2022

When we first started planning for our DIY watermaker our two biggest concerns were price and space. There were only a few requirements: it needed to be electric and run off 12 volts, it needed to fit on our Alberg 30 in a pretty small locker, and it needed to be built for around $1000. Being energy efficient, quiet, and pump out a lot of water would all be great but size and price were the biggest factors. So we built a DIY watermaker that is small, and ended up costing less than $1300!

This watermaker runs at 900psi, produces around 3 gallons per hour, and draws around 14 amps. It may not be the most productive, but we are really pleased with the gallons per amps and just how simple it turned out!

Check out the video for full details on how we made this DIY watermaker!

Disclaimer: In the interest of transparency, please be aware that the links below may contain affiliate links and any purchases made through such links may result in a small commission for us at no cost to you. We appreciate you shopping from these links!

DIY Watermaker Parts

The prices listed in the video were from September 2021. Some prices may have increased since then but unless there are any drastic changes this should still be less than $1500 in total.

Have questions and want one on one support, or looking for help in designing your own watermaker system? Consider becoming a patron where Andy makes himself available in a consultant capacity!

Installing Solar on a Boat

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When we first purchased Acadia, it only had 200 watts of solar panels installed. This was basically enough to run our refrigeration and freezers and not much else unless we were motoring and charging via our 120amp alternator. We knew this wasn’t going to work out well for us in the Bahamas, where we planned to spend months at anchor and motor as little as possible. This meant we needed to find a way to have between 400-600 watts of solar panels, and as usual, we didn’t want it to look ugly!

Just looking for a parts list you can skip ahead!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affilate links and any purchases made through such links may result in a small commission for us at no cost to you. We appreciate you shopping through this links!

Picking A Location for Installing Solar Panels on the Boat

On cruising boats, there are four main ways that sailors mount their solar panels. As with anything boating related you can find people who love or hate any of these options. All of the options are a compromise in one way or another, so you have to weigh the pros and cons of each with your needs.

1. Build an Arch

There are both pre-fab and custom-made arch options. Arches usually hang off the stern and are made of aluminum or stainless steel and panels are mounted to the top. On our Alberg 30, Ecola, we made a custom arch to hold 400W of solar on a slide system. If you’re interested in more info on this, check out this video!

Pros–Lots of horizontal space for solar, can double as dinghy davits and can be used to store other equipment.

Cons–Expensive, large, heavy, and depending on the boat it can detract from the aesthetics.

Solar panels installed on a custom solar arch on the stern of an Alberg 30.

2. Use existing cockpit structures

On a lot of cruising boats the cockpit canvas, i.e. bimini, and dodger, already take up a lot of the horizontal space that would be great for solar panels. That space can be used for both sun and weather protection and solar panels. The panels are mounted to the tubing that gives the canvas its shape.

Pros–One of the Least expensive options, blends in and is generally unobtrusive.

Cons–Space limited to the existing footprint, shadowing can be a problem, makes stowing canvas more difficult, and airflow to panels can be problematic.

Two Solar Panels mounted on top of a bimini on a sailboat.

3. Mount on cabin top or deck.

This is primarily used by multi-hulls with large coach roofs or a forward deck instead of trampolines. You will see this on some monohulls and it is usually on the area under the boom or just forward of the mast.

Pros–Easy installation, large area available on multi-hulls, shading typically not an issue.

Cons–Glue down panels make a big mess that is difficult to remove or you have to drill lots of holes in your boat.

Deck installed solar panel on a boat

4. Lifeline-mounted fold-out panels.

These are those “wing” type panels you may have seen that are folded down while underway and fold out at anchor.

Pros–Easy to install, and doesn’t take up a lot of space.

Cons–Easy to damage, shading can be a real problem, and cannot be used *easily* underway.

We chose a combination of using our existing cockpit structures and mounting on the cabin top. Acadia is a Tartan 37, and an IOR design, so the boom is relatively short for her overall length. That means that our bimini is not shaded by the boom. Our cockpit is also on the larger side, which means the square footage of our bimini was large enough to fit two 200-watt rigid panels. We used Gemini Marine products concave post rail mounts to attach the panels to our existing bimini tubing using aluminum bars and plates. This has given us a very sturdy 400 watts just on our bimini alone.

We also have enough space on our dodger to fit a 100-watt flexible panel. We mounted a second 100-watt flexible panel just forward of the dodger on the cabin top and we have a third 100-watt panel that can be attached to the sunshade that goes between our bimini and dodger that we can use when at anchor for extended periods. That gives us 600 watts of permanently installed panels, with the option to add an additional 100 watts, plenty for our needs including running our electric watermaker.

Flexible vs Rigid Solar Panels

Flexible panels are easy to install, conform to curve shapes, are low profile, and are lightweight. But they come with a few downsides including, higher cost per watt, a limited life spa; constant flexing can crack the electrical connections inside the panel, and the sun will eventually degrade the plastic. Broken electrical connections can cause high resistance, which can be a fire hazard, so it’s important to check these panels regularly and follow manufacturer specifications for installation.

flexible solar panel installed on a the dodger of a sailboat

Rigid Panels are less expensive per watt but they are more difficult to mount. They have a long life and are typically more power dense so you need less square footage. By design, they usually have built-in air flow under the panels, and cracking of electrical connections isn’t typically an issue. The downsides are they are heavy and breakable, and the frames can be flimsy.

Rigid solar panels mounted on top of a bimini on a a sailboat.

We’ve chosen to install a mix of both panel options because it helped us to optimize the space we have available. We have a love-hate relationship with our flexible panels. They are our lowest output and highest maintenance. We have also had two panels fail in just the two years we’ve been cruising.

Parts List

The following are the parts we used for our solar installation.

Links to all of these products, except the Gemini mounts can be found on our Amazon storefront.

Tips for a DIY Bottom Paint Job

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Updated on June 18th, 2021

Less than two weeks before we were due to sell our house, we decided to try and finish the biggest project that stood between us and launching the boat: our bottom paint job. At the end of April, the boatyard opened back up for the first time in two months! Hooray! But we weren’t allowed to launch (or live on) our boat yet. Boo!

Against basically everything we stand for and pride ourselves on, we called the boatyard and asked if they could quote the bottom paint job for us. We were getting desperate, after all, we were about to be homeless. I laughed, and then cried when they came back with the amount. It was equal to four months of cruising. We were going the DIY approach.

We had pie in the sky dreams of finishing all the sanding and fiberglassing before we had to pack up all our stuff and move to Maine. In three days (about 40ish people hours) we managed to scrape and sand all the old VC 17 bottom paint off. And then we had to leave for Maine. It took Andy another 3 days to fiberglass and paint. All of it was miserable. And we captured it all on video!

We’ve put together a list of tips for bottom paint, so you’re experience doesn’t have to be quite as bad as ours.

Pick Your Paint Based on Research Not Hearsay

The forums are full of anecdotes: this paint is horrible and this paint is the best, blah, blah, blah. We are big fans of science on this boat and always look for tests that tell you their criteria and methods. Practical sailors has a great article about the best bottom paints that has details about most of the major brands.

After taking a lot of advice with a grain of salt, and reading several articles we chose the TotalBoat Spartan ablative. It was in our price range, has good reviews and testing had shown it as effective.

Do Not Try to Do It All in One Day

This one was advice we didn’t take but should have. We are two desk chair sitting, computer typing, “knowledge” workers who are not used to the kind of manual labor required for a bottom paint project. We broke the boat in halves for the sanding and scraping and honestly we would have been much better off breaking it into quarters. Everything hurt. Pace yourself, and break up sitting vs standing vs over head work.

If You Are Not the First Owner, Be Prepared to Find “Projects”

Bottom paint can hide a variety of sins. In our case it hid a large grounding repair that was just straight filler. We also found what we thought was a crack in our rudder. This added a couple days to the project that we hadn’t accounted for. Give yourself some wiggle room when you budget time.

You Cannot Cover Up Too Much

I wore a tyvek suit hood with a hat on the first day, and it still took 3 shampoos for the water to run clear. Here is a list of our must haves for sanding bottom paint:

  • Tyvek Suits–Ladies you may want to size up because these are built for men and don’t have a lot of room for the junk in your trunk. Trust me I blew out the butt in two pairs.
  • Respirator–a full face respirator would be ideal. We’ve never tried them but after this project, we would seriously consider them for the next time. Otherwise, a normal respirator would work.
  • Saftey Google—Not glasses, googles. Protect your eyes.
  • Hair Covering–You could use a scarf, a bandana, or I personally love these multipurpose headbands. I use them all the time!
  • Disposable nitrile gloves—layer two or three pairs, that way when one breaks (and it will) you can remove and keep going without getting your hands wrecked.
Gwen and Andy covered in dust from sanding the bottom paint.

When You Inevitably Get Covered in Dust Anyway…

It’s going to happen. No matter how well you use tip #2, you are still going to have the dust on you. Experience tells us that it’s going to be your hands that get it the worst, and unless you like walking around looking like you haven’t washed your hands for the last ten years, we recommend the following.

  • Gojo Hand Cleaner–This stuff is more than just soap. There is pumice built-in and it will really help. We always have some of this around, and for whatever reason, Andy prefers the cherry to the orange, but they work the same!
  • Nail Brush

Find Something To Listen To!

Hours of sanding and painting goes by much faster if you have something to keep your mind off the task at hand. We found that upbeat music and audiobooks were the way to go.

Andy listened to this Ska Essentials playlist on Spotify, while I listened to The Henna Artist and The Only Women in the Room on Audible. If you try audible using this link you get two free audiobooks to listen to during your project!

Work In Vertical Sections

This is key for both sanding and painting. It will keep you changing positions which is easier on your back and arms, and also help you keep track of where you’ve been and haven’t been with paint.

Andy sanding the old bottom paint off

Buy the Plastic Sheets Slightly Longer than Your Boat

Our shop vac was already on its last leg before this project so we decided to go the tenting route instead which is allowed in our state. You may want to check local regulations and boat yard restrictions on this before starting or there could be a hefty fine.

It may sound like common sense to buy sheets longer than your boat but the first day of sanding I had bought 25′ heavy plastic sheets and then made up the difference with the flimsier 10′ ones. This was a BAD idea.

We spent the whole day fighting the plastic. Buy the slightly heavier and longer and you will get more use out of it. And waste less plastic.

Try a Few Different Grit Sand Papers

You would think that 60 grit would work better for taking off a lot of layers than 80 grit but that wasn’t the case for us. We’d recommend trying a few different grits and then buying a big package (or two) of what ever seems to be taking off the most bottom paint.

Swap Your Sanding Disks Regularly

When your googles are covered in dust and it starts to get hard to tell how well your sanding disk is still working until it rips. No bueno. We eventually figured out about how many sq ft we could do per disk and started swapping sooner. Things went much faster.

If You’re Laughing You Can’t be Crying

At this point in your bottom paint job you are probably close to tears. Find something to laugh about! Do a silly dance, make stupid jokes, listen to a comedy podcast, anything that keeps you from crying!

Make Sure to Plan Your Painting

Timing is everything once you start painting. Time your coats so that you do not exceed the maximum dry time between coats. We found that writing up a schedule and setting some alarms on our phones to be really helpful to keep us on track. But monitor how things are drying because, as with any paint or epoxy, cure times are heavily based on ambient temperature.

Work During the Coolest Parts of the Day

Again, common sense but sometimes you get so caught up in the project that you forget about taking care of yourself. It was 94 degrees the day Andy painted, and because he had made a schedule based on when the yard could move to get under our trailer pads, he ended up painting two coats in the worst of the heat. If you have to work mid day, take breaks, hydrate, and try to stay in the shade as much as possible.

The Fingerprint Test

This was some of the best advice we got on this whole project. The maintenance manager at our boat yard imparted the following wisdom “ignore the dry time instructions on the barrier coat. Start painting when you can stick your thumb in it, and it leaves a print but no paint on your hand.” This saved us several hours.

Almost completed gray barrier coat on the bottom of an Alberg 30

Interlux Solvent Wash 202 is Worth Its Weight in Gold

It is super pricey but worth it. Do not skimp on the solvent, if you run out, buy more. This is not the place to be cheap! Any imperfection could be a big headache down the road!

Make Sure You Have All Your Paint Supplies Before Starting

Running to the hardware or marine store mid-project is always a pain, but trust us when we say you do not want to do it at any point during this very messy project. Also, you don’t really want to leave your paint unattended between coats, especially if it’s hot. Our barrier coat cured about an hour faster than the can said it would. Have plenty of the following on hand before you start painting:

  • Paint Tray Liners
  • Solvent Safe Rollers
  • Shop Rags
  • Gloves
  • Brushes

Use Solvent Safe Rollers

The barrier coat is epoxy-based, so if you don’t use solvent-safe rollers for the barrier coat and paint, the roller will start to fall apart. Then you have little flecks of crud in your paint! After all that sanding!!!

We hope these tips will make a project that is easily the least fun you can have with a boat just a little bit more bearable.

Take a Few Minutes to Admire Your Work

You’ll only get to enjoy how pretty your new bottom paint looks for a few minutes before you have to launch your boat! Take pictures, crack a beer, ooooh and aaaaah at how awesome you are.

Alberg 30 with finished black bottom paint

Looking for more Boat DIY? Check out our latest projects.

Making New Chainplates

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Updated on October 13th, 2020

The chainplates on our Alberg 30 were original.  They were covered in 55 years of paint and sealant and were leaking like crazy.  They were also starting to show enough signs of wear that it was making us uncomfortable.  Since we are getting all new standing rigging this year we decided it was also a good idea to replace the chainplates.

Fabricating your own chainplates can be a bit of a pain but worth it when you look at the cost of paying someone to make them versus doing it yourself.  To have a shop make them for you and you are probably looking at $100 per plate. Andy made all seven chainplates for about $120.

[Read more…] about Making New Chainplates

Winterizing a Boat

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Updated on September 29th, 2020

I hate winterizing the boat. Boat haul day may just be the most depressing day of the year. It means the days are getting shorter, colder, and decidedly more boring. It also means that unless we dole out large amounts of cash to a charter company, or magically find friends in warmer climates who also sail, there will be no more sailing for the next 6 months. Anyone in Florida, the Caribbean or California want to be our friends?

As depressing as winterizing the boat is, it is a necessary evil. No one wants to go to the boat in the spring and find that winter has left you with a boat that smells bad, doesn’t start or has a few new furry occupants. We have been using the same steps to winterize our boat for years, and have very good results.

Step 1 Pack Up

Trust us, you do not want to leave any of your soft goods on the boat. Towels, Sheets, even cushions should go home and to your attic or a closet. This is especially true if you live in an area where they sand roads and your storage location is close to a road. It kicks up a lot of dust that gets into everything and you end up having to bring it home to wash in the spring anyway.

Gwen cleaning out the boats cabinets while winterizing the boat.

Winterizing is a great opportunity to empty out any of those “junk drawers”, check expiration dates (don’t forget your flares!), and generally declutter. This year I figured out that we had put 8 beach towels on board. We did not have any guests this year. Why??

The only things we leave on the boat over the winter are:

  • Water–Because we forgot it on our first sail every year. You only need to spend one 8 hour day without water on board to realize it’s probably a good idea to leave a little onboard.
  • Toilet Paper–Ditto.
  • Quarters–Yard work is dirty work. Typically marinas leave their showers open for at least the first month or two after haul out and the first month before haul out. Showers are important, especially if you have any fiberglassing to do.

Step 2 Take Sails and Canvas Off

Critters love canvas and will nest in and chew on your dodger, bimini or sunshade. And by “nest in”, I really mean pee on. That stink does not go away. Also, if the plastic panels of your dodger or enclosure sit in water or even worse get oil on them, they will warp and discolor. Bring them home!

Andy removing the main sail from the boat.

It’s also a good opportunity to send sails for cleaning.

Step 3 Pump Out

I think this one should go without saying but get a good pump out at the end of the season. Tip the attendant a little extra and ask if you can pump and rinse a couple of times. If like us you have a really small holding tank they won’t care. If it’s bigger they may charge you twice, it is worth it.

Step 4 Water System Winterization

When winterizing a boat it’s important to properly take care of your water systems. The results of improperly winterized water systems can be messy and expensive. Pipes don’t just burst at your house if they get too cold!

The first step is to drain all of the water from your tanks. You will need a few jugs of anti-freeze, every boat is a little different but our boat takes two gallons, a bigger boat could take much more than that. Turn your water pump on and pump the antifreeze through the system (including your hot water heater), until it comes out foamy at the faucet. The antifreeze will protect the system from potentially freezing during the winter.

Andy winterizing the boat water system.

You’ll also want to put another gallon or so of antifreeze into your head and pump it until you can see pink in the tank.

Step 5 Winterizing the Engine

Your engine is likely one of the most expensive pieces of equipment on your boat. It deserves some serious TLC after the work it did for you all summer! The first thing we do is perform an oil change while the boat is still in the water. If your engine is a diesel you can follow these steps:

  • Drain all the oil out of the engine. This can take a couple of hours, so you may want to start this before you work on any of the other projects.
  • Change the oil filter.
  • Refill the engine with oil.
  • Run it for a little while to circulate the new oil.

One the boat is hauled you have a few more things to take care of before you can say you’ve winterized your boat:

  • Pull the glow plug out.
  • Put oil down the glow plug holes. This helps coat the cylinders and leaves the pistons sitting in a nice pool of oil all winter.
  • Replace the glow plugs.
  • Fog the engine. Spray fogging oil into the air intake as the engine turns over a couple of times. Do this with a cold engine. The oil is enough to make the engine run away if the engine is warm.
  • Disconnect the exhaust system.
  • Cover the air intake and exhaust exit with plastic bags to help keep moisture and critters out.

Step 6 Power Wash

There are two schools of thought on when to power wash and do bottom paint. We typically do those things in the spring, when 50 degrees feels like 75 to our winter ravaged bodies. The same temps in October or November feel significantly colder. If you don’t like the idea of your boat looking dirty in the yard all winter go-ahead power wash now, but for heaven’s sake paint at the same time. Ain’t nobody got time to power wash a boat twice in one offseason.

Step 7 Pull the Plug

You’ll want to remove the plug when winterizing your boat for two reasons. The first is that you don’t want bilge water to freeze and cause damage. The second is that if you live in a place it snows you want a way for the snowmelt to exit the boat. Your bilge pump will likely not be working onshore so this is your easiest point of exit.

Step 8 Cover the Boat

A good cover is like a nice winter blanket for your boat. Keeping it warm, cozy, and clean. Free of ice build-up and snow weight. There are three main choices for covering your boat:

  1. Shrinkwrap: Shrinkwrapping while winterizing a boat should be left to the professionals. It involves a heat gun and a lot of melting plastic. The boatyard will usually build you a timber shell that they then cover with plastic. Advantages: pretty near air-tight and someone else deals with it. Disadvantages: Hard to access your boat once in place and expensive.
  2. Custom Made Cover: The upfront cost of a custom made cover deters most people but Andy and I figured out the ROI (return on investment) between that and shrinkwrap. It would only take two winters with our custom cover to pay for a single winter of shrinkwrap. Needless to say we bought one and love it. Advantages: Easy to put up, don’t normally require a frame, durable, and easier access to your boat. Disadvantages: High upfront cost, need to store it when it’s not in use.
  3. Tarps: This is the least expensive but also usually the least effective way to cover your boat. We used some sort of tarp homemade contraption for years. Finally, after Andy dug out our 3rd or 4th collapse he finally relented that we needed a different solution. If you live somewhere were a 10-12 inch snowstorm is once a century, lucky you, and tarps are probably all you need. Advantages: Cheap, easy access to the boat because it probably has blown off in the last storm. Disadvantages: prone to blowing away, collapsing, and building the wood frame is a pain.

This year because our mast is down for the winter we won’t be able to use our custom cover. We are back to good old tarps and wood frame. We had a “bomb cyclone” last week. There is a 100% chance our boat is not covered anymore. We are just way too cheap to pay for shrinkwrap.

Step 9 Laundry and Dishes

When winterizing the boat I like to do laundry before putting the sheets, towels and other soft goods away. It just makes life easier in the spring. If you use fabric softener and store everything with a few dryer sheets it will still be fresh in the spring.

I also like to run all of the dishes through the dishwasher before storing for the winter. This is probably overkill but I just don’t have to think about it in the spring!

Step 10 Wallow

We will just be over here pouting for the foreseeable future. Just kidding, sort of. Andy will be jumping into our refit projects (read grinding and fiberglass) over the next few weeks until the first snow forces us to start work on cushions and canvas! So many exciting projects coming over the next few months! Stay tuned!