Tacoma Blue Refit for Cruising 2013

Rich and Takae Watters are doing what lots of us dream about: Dress up your Islander, head out the Gate, and turn left. It's taken a good year to get Tacoma Blue ready for the cruising life at sea, but the results are impressive. Rich & Takae spent countless hours on projects, and Rich is the type of guy that wants to get it right. Just about every system on the boat was enhanced from engine work, through water system replacement, all LED lighting, headliner replacement, and a new head and holding tank system. Saving the original "ice box" for that use or dry storage, a gleaming electrical refrigerator box takes up a chunk of cabin space.

Their idea of cruising is to be on the hook more than dockside, so a new windlass, anchor and chain makes that easier. Add a dinghy cover for protection when passage making. Back aft a new polished aluminum arch supports radar and solar panels, plus a handy gantry with block and tackle for lifting the outboard on and off the dinghy.

Then it was time to replace the instruments with a complete Raymarine set of speed, wind, depth, autopilot, AIS and chartplotter. There's even a wireless link to an iPad so you can navigate from below. (It was great fun testing when the person at the chartplotter would move the cursor one place and the iPad operator moved it somewhere else!)

They moved aboard, did a short "shakedown" cruise to Clipper Cove on August 1st, then made the big left turn on Saturday the 3rd. They're working out the last of the kinks at Half Moon Bay before venturing on south. Stay tuned for some more details and occasional updates.


Email Rich: rwsplace@gmail.com

New anchor Rochna 15 kg 300' 5/16" High test Ancor 2 Windline bow rollers	New Windlass 1/2" G10 base Maxwell 1500 vertical 100 amp circuit breaker Maxwell chain stopper Chain hook & 40' 5/8" nylon	New Dinghy Cover	New Headliner 3/4" Ply, 2" x 4'furring 1/4" Reflectex R3.5 insulation (loose above panel) FRP - Home Depot 1/8" $32/ 4'x8' Panels screwed to furring Trimmed with 1 1/2" strips.
Master Suite	New Fridge ... Dometic (Swedish) Fridge/Freezer 110 Qt.	Takae approves!	fits under table
New Head Airhead Compostable Two 2 Gallon tanks; for liquids, solids Empty liguids alternate days Solids 1/2 full after 6 wks.	New Manual Pump Fynspray fresh water pump	New dimmable LED Lighting Domes from Sea Dog 3" flush mount dimmable Luna Sea Wall floods for V Berth Luna Sea	Track LED Nav & Galley 24" warm white Luna Sea
Upper bunk storage & net cloth Net cloth clips up like a lee cloth	Tool & flares in port cubbies	New shelf storage in quarter berth	EPIRB
Stovetop	More Insulation	New Inverter Freedom 25 Inverter/Charger 4 6 volt AGM batteries Lifeline 220 AmpHr ea. + 220 AmpHr Starting battery	New Battery management Xantrex battery management Blue Sea circuit panel
Windless circuit breaker Maxwell 100 amps	New Arch & Solar Atlantic Towers (NJ) Aluminum, for sailors $1,600 Garhauer Lifting DAvit 2 Kyocera 140 wt solar panels TriStar charge controller	New Lifting Davit Garhauer - 26" arm	Dinghy set up
New Cleats	New Instruments Raymarine ST60 series	New Chartplotter & Autopilot Raymarine c127 plotter/fishfinder Raymarine p70 Autopilot Raymarine Course Computer Raymarine AIS 650 transceiver Raydome HD Digital radar	Entering waypoints
Great new chartbook	Takae is happy!	Off Half Moon Bay YC	Tacoma Blue