Janice aboard Seaweed,
living the good life afloat...

• 8awg Selector Switch Needed. In the beginning, aka the 50 Amp 125/250 Volt Power Plug Wiring How-To (4-wires) article, the dockside fellows and I were attempting to track down why one leg of a yacht's power was not functioning. The critical side is of course the one that is not working. The switch powering the air-conditioners functions perfectly. The one supplying power to the battery chargers for both 12-volt and 32-volt battery banks, along with the refrigerator, staterooms, and main salon has zero voltage. Isolating what part needed replacement is the next step in the troubleshooting process.
  Categories: Boats, Characters, Gear, In the Bilges,
   

• Waters of Idalia. At the end of August Hurricane Idalia was heading north off the west coast of Florida. I was once again in a Mandatory Evacuation Zone. That means that the dock I am at is on a beach side versus the mainland. The storm was tracking northward and fortunately for me, she was offshore. Of course locals were all closely monitoring the storm.
  Categories:  Boat Talk, Boats, Books (in the comments), Characters, Gear, Locations, Pets, Wild Things,
   

• 50A Power Cord Option to Save Money. As mentioned in the previous article Troubleshooting a 50A Power Leg Problem, there are multiple ways to wire power into a boat. Most larger boats utilize 50A power. Today I will touch on one way to save money on wiring the inlets for power in your vessel. Aboard the yacht with the problem described in the Troubleshooting article, Sparky, the *ABYC certified wiring guy, installed multiple 50A 125/250V power cord inlets. This was both brilliant and dumb. Here is why.
  Categories: Boat Talk, Characters, Gear, In the Bilges, Money,
   

• Troubleshooting a 50A Power Leg Problem. This article concerns 50 amp 125/250 volt power. During the troubleshooting phase of this project first we ascertained that full power reaches the boat via the power cord. That involved testing power at the breaker, power pole, and finally at the plug which connects to the vessel. I described the plug testing/wiring done in the 50 Amp 125/250 Volt Power Plug Wiring How-To (4-wires) article. We now have 125/250 volts to the boat.
  Categories:  Boat Talk, Characters, Gear, In the Bilges,
   

• 50 Amp 125/250 Volt Power Plug Wiring How-To (4-wires) This all started aboard a neighbor's large motor yacht. The boat is a beauty. She requires a 50amp dock power plug, which is split into two legs for the boat's circuits. A problem has been isolated to one of those 125 volt circuits. First though I had to understand how the power in that plug worked. These are my observations along with the testing procedure I utilized.
  Categories:  Boat Talk, Gear, In the Bilges,
   

• Manatee Mob (aka Aggregate) I had great intentions of writing a 240/125/ volt AC receptacle article plus the whole explanation about how all that works on the larger yachts. That flew out the proverbial portlight when I crossed the boats and heard a bunch of manatees playing in the canal. First I took pictures, then videos. And now I am popping up a slice of my life...
  Categories: Memory Lane, Wild Things, YouTube Channel,
   

• Bait Bucket Blues. Yesterday afternoon I saved a life. Though there is some hyperbole in the previous statement, there is a level of truth too. One small creature is free at last. That is due to yours truly. The tale follows.
  Categories: Fishing, Gear, Vignettes, Wild Things,
   

• Leaving the Nest (green herons grow up) One of the best parts of living on the water is having a front row seat to the natural world surrounding my Seaweed. Watching the green heron protect her nest has been fascinating. I had never heard the mournful cry of a green heron until Isis seemed to be too interested in those eggs in one small nest. I was able to encourage Isis the snowy egret to leave by shooting water at her with a giant syringe. I wrote about that in the I'm an Auntie (green heron nest) article. The cry of the green heron was silenced until one night at Oh-dark-thirty.
  Category:  Wild Things,
   

• I'm an Auntie (green heron nest) It all started with me at my desk in air conditioned comfort fixing a boatload of Amazon links. I was sitting at the dinette when the neighbors upstairs came outside. They were looking down towards the mangroves. As I am backed up into the mangrove trees I came outside to see what what so interesting. Immediately I heard a bird crying. And yes, green herons in distress sound much like a crying infant.
  Categories:  Books, Wild Things,
   

• Fixing Amazon Links. Well, I have goofed up. As you know at the upper left corner of every page on my website I have a link to Amazon that *used* to link to my account. That meant the nice folks who utilized that link for the past few years would actually be helping me out financially via the Amazon Affiliate program. It is a small percentage, however this does make a real difference in my life.
  Categories: Gear, Money, Vignettes,
   

• Gratitude for Gary. Five years ago I received a gift that made a large difference in my life. Back then I had my Seaweed, an older Toshiba netbook, a phone and a Kindle PaperWhite. What more did a girl need? Nothing, or so I thought. That was until Captain Gary entered the picture.
  Categories: Characters, Entertainment, 
   

• Rules for Life. I believe the majority of folks have accumulated great stories. Many of the most interesting can be attributed to graduating from the School of Hard Knocks. Evening dockside chats often turn to reminiscing. Over the years I have accumulated a list I refer to as my Rules for Life. Today I will take you on a trip into the past. Welcome aboard.
  Categories:  Boats, Channel Markers of Life, Characters, Humor, In the Bilges, Locations, Memory Lane, Pets, Security, Wild Things,
   

• Brokenhearted on 27 February 2023. Though this is dated 27 February, I am actually posting this tribute in April. Similarly, the Hurricane Irma Saga (parts 1-4) summary article was dated 11 September because that is the date the hurricane hit here.  Unfortunately I have bad news regarding my First Mate extraordinaire.
  Categories: Boats, Characters, Locations, Money, Pets, Security,
   

• Expensive Tomatoes. As 2023 began I made a fresh start with my microgreens. Being able to have my own Victory Garden provides me with a feeling of self-sufficiency in this sometimes chaotic world. In the meantime I want to become successful at growing tomatoes aboard Seaweed. Previous attempts can best be described as abject failures. For proof see the Upside Down Tomato Plant How-To and Tomato Rocket (Dollar Tree item) articles.
  Categories: Characters, Galley, Memory Lane (comments), Money, Pets,
   

• Struggling with Stuff. I am an expert at acquiring items for Seaweed. The issue I struggle with is not immediately utilizing these things. More than one time I have had a warranty expire before installing a piece of equipment. ARGH. That needs to change. Today I will share some of my struggles. I do ask for your guidance in how to do better. Suggestions welcome!!!
  Categories: Characters, Gear, Locations, Organizing,
   

(this is the Archive for year 2023)