It's been about a month or more since I last visited BIANKA. The weather has been cold and the winds blowing off Long Island Sound make it feel colder. But, since the fourth Nor' Easter is about to arrive tomorrow I figured I should make the trip. I needed to make some measurements and check on space availability for some various projects I have planned once the weather warms up.
I arrived at the boatyard a few minutes before Spring or the Vernal Equinox happened. Though it sure still felt like winter. I did the usual checkout of the deck and charged up the batteries. I then moved the piles of cushions, boxes of parts and tools so I could check the space where I planned to relocate the new
Jabsco Macerator Pump. It looked very doable and should be a pretty easy job:
Which was a relief. However. the location where I planed to install a new
Standard Horizon 2200 VHF radio was not going to go as smoothly. Behind the bulkhead where I wanted to install the unit was hose and fitting for BIANKA's anchor wash down outlet.
It may require that move the outlet. But, perhaps not I'll know better once I get the unit and see how it fits. But, at least I'll be prepared to do the work.
Not much else to do in the cold temperatures on board once the batteries were topped up except to check the bilge. There was some water there. Not surprising since the boat has weather three Nor' asters and some heavy rains since I last visited. I took out the
Micro Wet/Dry Shop Vac and sucked the water out of BIANKA's deep bilge. The small shop vac makes the job so much easier, faster and cleaner.
I empty the Shop Vac into a five gallon bucket . One that I had labeled to show one gallon for deck washing solutions. It showed I had only about a gallon in the bilge.
Having accomplished all I had planned to do. I buttoned the boat up disconnected the power cord and went home to await the storm. Hopefully warmer Spring temperatures will soon be on the way.
The new model increased the power output by 200 watts. Which is an impressive 10% improvement in power output. With the same size generator case. In the case of BIANKA this would mean the ability to have a constant 37.5 amps to push my boat along at about 4 knots without draining the battery bank. A nice speed for a 48 pound generator. It would also mean faster charging times when at anchor. Plus there are a few more physical improvements to the generator. Like a bigger oil filler opening and oil drain gutter making oil changes easier and cleaner. There is also a fuel shut off valve so you can run the generator until the carburetor is drained of fuel. It's very tempting on my part to upgrade to this Honda generator. But, my frugal side is telling me "If it ain't broke don't fix it". Since my ten year old Honda 2000i is not broke I'm able to resist upgrading to the Honda EU220i. But it's nice to know it will be available to me should I need it on want to.
Here is an overview:
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