A New Journey Begins for OverEasy - 2023/2025

[Russ]

If you are doing plumbing and your bathroom is FAR from the water heater, now might be a good time to run a return line for a circ pump. We had our plumber do this for our far far bathroom. Hot water right away instead of waiting/running the hot until it starts flowing.

[Jimmyt]

Excellent suggestion Russ!

We have our pump on a timer so we aren’t keeping the loop hot 24/7. Even though my hot water piping is insulated, there are still heat losses, so I chose to reduce my pump run time. The master bath and bath 2 are right beside the water heater. Bath 3, (future bath 4), kitchen, and laundry are on the dark side of the moon, though. In those rooms, recirculating makes a huge difference!

If an instantaneous heater is used, things can be a bit tricky, but it can be worth it - depending on how far your heater is from various points of use.

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

Yeah HW circulators are nice for those far bath runs!
Even nicer if you can have a programmable circulator pump timer..some are even ‘smart’ enough to learn your patterns of use!

An upside advantage of recirculating systems is they keep the hot water tank stirred which avoids thermal stratification in the hot water tank which translates into more hot water for use.

I did that for my hydronic heating system design up in New Hampshire. It’s been working like a charm and actually lowers my propane consumption. I chose to have an always on circulation pump in combination with the tank recirculating. Minimizing the start/stop cycles increases the operational life of pumps as well.

Pulled in the 6/3 w/ ground wire for the cooktop. Was gonna do a 210 wall outlet but finally decided I’d rather do metal clad behind the peninsula base cabinets. While a plug cord would be acceptable I feel better about the physical protection the metal clad will offer.

Also pulled in the 20 amp 12/2 w/ ground for the peninsula work surface outlets and a hideaway outlet for phone/computer chargers to neaten things up some for the everyday uses.

Things are inching along….

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[Russ]

Excellent suggestion Russ!

We have our pump on a timer so we aren’t keeping the loop hot 24/7. Even though my hot water piping is insulated, there are still heat losses, so I chose to reduce my pump run time. The master bath and bath 2 are right beside the water heater. Bath 3, (future bath 4), kitchen, and laundry are on the dark side of the moon, though. In those rooms, recirculating makes a huge difference!

If an instantaneous heater is used, things can be a bit tricky, but it can be worth it - depending on how far your heater is from various points of use.

We have one bathroom on the far side of the moon. The circ pump the plumber installed "learns" your usage with a thermal sensor that detects usage and runs the pump only during those times.

What I found was my power bill went way up. A trip into the crawl space found it was "heating" that space nicely with the hot water runs to that side of the house. Installing foam pipe insulation solved that.

Another method is to use the COLD water as a return with a crossover at the far bathroom. This solves the latency for hot water, but then causes the cold water to be excessively warm with the reverse problem of waiting for cold to come to the tap.

[OverEasy]

This solves the latency for hot water, but then causes the cold water to be excessively warm with the reverse problem of waiting for cold to come to the tap.

[OverEasy]

Hi Russ!

One of the fanciest kitchens I ever saw on one of those builders McMansion tours had individual instant hot (almost scalding) and ice water (nearly frozen) taps at the kitchen sink and bar sink. The this house also had an in-counter self filling ice bucket for the dual chilled beer taps and dual in wall wine cellars to keep one’s reds and whites at the optimal temperatures and position.
Meanwhile the whole house was on a hot water recirculating system along with a five canister automatic self cleaning incoming water filtration assembly.

It was brilliantly and tastefully done…. I could get used to that!…

So back to reality… finally got all the electrical rough-in accomplished! Yippie!
(Yeah, I know I’ve been slower than molasses in winter ).

Now I start plastering back all the cutouts I made……





Boy time is flying by!!!
On the upcoming ICW cruise front we’ve been looking at Bob423 Tracks and some excepts on his ICW guidebook. This tracks thingy can overlay on Navionics and Aquamaps. (Note to self: Renew Navionics subscription!) I’ve heard that this tracks thingy is the thing to use when traveling the ICW as it apparently stays reasonably updated with current conditions and shoaling.

Now as far as a guidebook goes there seem to be several good ones out there… I’m wondering if anyone on the forum has any experience and recommendations on them.

Our planned route will be north bound out of the Beaufort SC area in late April into May of this year.
Again, if there are any suggestions/cautions/ things-to-see we’re all ears!

Inch by inch…..

Best Regards
Over Easy

[Russ]

Kitchens can get pretty crazy. Then again, people spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

I installed a R/O filter for drinking water. Also plumbed it to the fridge so the ice maker gets clean water. I read the biggest reason for ice makers failures is minerals in the water.

Then, because I love gadgets, we installed a motion detected sink faucet. Love that thing. Never have to touch the handle and get it dirty. Spendy yes, but I enjoy it every day. Had a friend so impressed they bought one too.

[OverEasy]

‘The most tiring thing about being an adult in retirement is how constant it is. There’s always some SNAFU to sort out. You “chilling” means you’re probably just ignoring the million things on your To-Do List.’

Hi All!
Bet you all never have days like that!
The progress is lethargic lately… April is right around the corner and I still have yet to do the Spring Cleaning and Annual Maintenance for Over Easy! Sheeze! I know where the time goes … it gets piddled away with all the “other stuff” that wanders in and sucks up all the prime time!

Finally the electrical rough-in is finished and the electrical drywall patches are drying. Today was whiled away with a trip to Home Depot for half the plumbing supplies needed, groceries and finally pulling in the hot & cold water for the kitchen sink … … not much of an accomplishment compared to where I need to be on the project plan.

Monday was taken up with having a huge damaged 60 foot Loblolly pine tree taken down. Lightning appears to have struck it several years ago and made a split in the 36” trunk all the way to the core. It’s been twisting and flexing ever since … too big for me to handle even in my prime never mind me nowadays! So t the tree company kindly came out to take it down in a controlled fashion before it made a new skylight in the bedroom. A day and several transferred boat bucks later the tree is finally down and cut up in a nice pile to be hauled off later this week. Whew! Glad that unplanned SNAFU is out of the way and didn’t become a FUBAR! (Unlike some of the things that have been going on the past 64 days since we’ve gotten down to SC!!!)

The slow project progress it all on me though. I just gotta get more productive with the time I have.

Currently I’m hoping to have the water supplies to the kitchen sink and dishwasher finished and the drywall patches set by this Thursday. Friday should be sanding down and leveling the patches and priming. That should leave the weekend free to clean the boat and take on the annual engine maintenance. Our marina slip becomes available the 1st of April and it would be nice to get Over Easy in as soon as possible.

Still need to rebed the cabin windows before launching as that’s a project best done in the driveway rather than while afloat!

Hope everyone is doing well and are further along on their To-Do-Lists than I am currently!

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

Started the boat cleanup process this week in preparations to get Over Easy launched for the season!
Yippie!

At the same time there are STORM WARNINGS on multiple levels to contend with!
First is the actual weather of late with repetions of severe major storm fronts tearing across the country with more predicted.
Currently the storm systems are running across the northern Midwest headed East but last couple of systems rand as big sweeps across the Central & Southern states out to the EastCoast. The recent forecasts are for continuing more energetic weather systems this season.

REALLY glad we had that massive tree taken down before those storms and winds hit our region. Here’s a photo of just how tall that tree was:




Worth every penny to get that taken care of before it fell on its own!
Neighbor down the street from us had a HUGE 50 foot oak tree break mid way up and fall in his front yard narrowly missing their home this past week! What a mess! Hung up trunk sections looking like a giant mouse trap!

“Timing is everything” And so is keeping an eye on the weather (and finances) when planning to get out on the water… or plan a multi week cruise along the ICW……. Fribble!… Just like with any outdoor activity one generally wants a good weather window as no sane person sets sail into a potential hurricane for fun, it seems there are gathering headwinds and darkening skies ahead for us all….weather wise and economically. (Given that, we’re finding ourselves being a little more cautious with our upcoming ICW Cruise plans… possibly scaling back a bit from 4 weeks to possibly just 2 weeks (or less).

Oh well back to the boat cleaning and seasonal maintenance’To-Do-List’

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

Recently it seems that some folks may be confusing actual objective facts with opinion which is kinda sad to be honest.

Meanwhile the exterior of boat has been washed and cleaned up.
The gelcoat is thinning in several places unfortunately.
Not really unexpected after 24+ years of constant exposure to the elements.
The thinnest sections seem to be the anchor, fwd & companionway hatches as others have mentioned similar observations on the forum.
While good enough for this year’s season a new paint job sure would be nice.
(It’s not something that we can see doing (or having-done) this year given time and the current budget considerations.)
Gonna have to keep it on next year’s To-Do-List……

Tomorrow (if the weather holds) is empty the boat and give the interior a good through vacuum & wipe down.
It gonna be a good dexterity exercise drill ..

The interior is nice and dry from over wintering with the dehumidifier we chose to leave running.
The dual batteries are both seeming to be in good shape too! That’s always a relief!

Started getting the boat pantry baskets cleaned, sorted and restocked earlier this month.
(Found several items that were close to being expired by this summer.
So along with several items from the house pantry in similar condition we’ve made up several bags to take to the food pantry.
Good stuff but better to give it to those who need it now.)
Going with the baskets theme when we remodeled the galley really makes it easy to get setup for the season and trips.
Very happy that we did this mod.

My neighbor buddy who is a retired Navy Chief wants to help with the annual engine maintenance.
Given his specialty was small boats and engine maintenance this is really appreciated.
Extra hands are always appreciated! Especially when dropping the lower unit to change the water pump impeller!

Once these are all checked off we’ll check the tides to see when we can launch next week!

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

The kitchen remodeling is taking a back seat this week as we prep Over Easy to get launched.
The marina slip contract is in place and available to use as soon as we can get there!
There seems to be a couple of good weather days and high tidal opportunities ahead too!

Making progress… inch by incremental inch….

So I got the boat exterior washed!
A pre-wash spray of 10-to-15% bleach solution helped a lot!
All the off season gunk, grime and pine pollen came off nicely.
(Really want to try and get at least the topside deck above the rub rail painted next year!)

Next was the empty out of all the removable interior stuff so I could give every interior a good cleanup & wipe down with the 10-to-15% bleach solution. Remarkably there was no mildew anywhere (as there had been at least some in prior years).
I think leaving the dehumidifier running had something to do with that. It performed like a champ! Happy about that one!
Then had to get everything back inside where it all belongs. Whew! Glad we had a nice couple of cooler days to accomplish this!

Still have to at least remove/Re-caulk the starboard cabin side windows before we launch.
Easier to do now than later.

Next is the engine annual maintenance.
Still need to get a couple of things from the marine supply store tomorrow.
Hoping my neighbor is free to lend a hand……

Given the current economic climate we’ve opted to start postponing some of the things we’d been considering doing this season.
Big ticket items (at least for us ) like new cabin windows, a drum winch, top deck painting or a trolling motor for the inflatable are getting pushed off for a while at least until economic things sort themselves out and hopefully recover somewhat. Hope springs eternal….
Now just doesn’t seem to be a great time to expend more than we really need to for a while. That’s just us being pragmatic is all.
Being as we can’t do much about it we’re just gonna have to roll with it for the time being. Fribble!
Doin’ what we can with what we can….

Best Regards,
Over Easy

[OverEasy]

Hi All!

Hope everyone is doing well as the new season begins!

Me? I’m been a bit frustrated as I scour the possible places I may have “reorganized” my boat engine annual service supplies from last year.


I KNOW I had gotten enough spares together to do the full annual service including the water pump impeller kit bu darned if it’s not where I thought I would have left it last year before heading north. Must have gotten moved “to a good spot” as I cleared space in the garage in preparation for the kitchen remodel…. (Bet this never happens to anyone else on the forum ). Oh well I gave up and made some phone calls to local boat shops that service Suzuki’s and was able to get all that I needed except the water pump kit. I did change it at the beginning of last and all three of the Suzuki shops I contacted all said that I should be ok leaving the existing one in place this season as they don’t change them on the boats they service until the end of the second or third year…. Unless the engine has been run through the muck which is something we studiously avoid.

As our season this year is only April through the end of June we should be ok.
(While they won’t get here this week in time to launch Over Easy Lo Gonna order a pair of water pump kits anyway but LABLE THE BOX IN BOLD LETTERS ON ALL SIDES this time…. Might even spray paint it International Orange

Best Regards to All,
Over Easy

[Be Free]

You should be fine.

Unless I know I've abused it I don't worry about a 2 year old impeller.

[kmclemore]

Yeah, I think the whole water pump impeller changing is overdone. I watch the pump stream… if it still has a good flow, there’s no reason to service it. I’ve had them last 5 years or more. That being said, I use my boat only in clear lake water, so it doesn’t suffer corrosion or rubbish.

[Be Free]

It sort of depends on how far you are from civilization when the impeller gives up the ghost.

When I was doing mostly fresh water on inland lakes and lightly traveled rivers I'd run until it stopped working. I had an old Evinrude Ski Twin that I had for close to 20 years and never changed the impeller. Now that I'm almost always offshore in salt water and out of sight of land I tend to be more proactive.