Put on the Carpenter's hat for a while

Now that I know we're settling in for the long haul, I've spent the last couple of days building what the local guys have dubbed, "the stairway to heaven".

Firstly, I can't believe how cheap the lumber is out here, compared to the crappy spruce we get back in Ontario, guess it makes a difference when they cut it down a few miles away.

I built these stairs out of Douglass fir, beautiful stuff, seems a shame to think that when we're done and out of here, I'll be cutting it all up and stocking up firewood for our on-board wood stove. Guess I can think of it as recycling. More importantly, the stairs will make it safe and comfortable getting on and off the boat, especially for Jack, our Furkid.

Now, on a technical note for those of you that are interested. I finally selected and ordered a water heater. And you think, "so?", one might assume that it should be fairly straight forward, well it's not. Hot water, lots of it, is a very important thing, something we all take pretty much for granted in our homes. Having it on a boat is another story. Most hot water heaters need to be plugged into electricity. The same is true for on board heaters, problem is, unless one has the power generation capacity, (a lot of it) matters get a little complicated when you pull away from the dock and unplug the cord. On our vessel, I want to have the ability to heat water using waste heat generated by the engine while it is running to charge the battery bank, as well as use the heat generated by the diesel fired boiler that will heat water for the heating radiators dispersed through out the boat. In order to accomplish this, manufacturers install heat exchangers built in to their hot water heaters so that engine coolant can be routed through the heater thereby capturing heat that would otherwise have been lost. Seems simple enough, not really, no two heaters are constructed the same way, resulting in vast differences in efficiency. After going through the specs, (most companies don't even publish theirs), I finally settled on a 20 gal unit made by Heat Transfer Products. Wasn't cheap, almost twice the price of the lowest priced units, however the heat capture capabilities were quite impressive, as well as the heat loss numbers. Built entirely of stainless steel, with super insulation, and an unheard of cuprous/nickle finned heat exchanger, (versus a couple of loops of copper tubing in the cheaper units) this vital piece of equipment should be good for many many years of trouble free service. I hope?