On this week's episode of Onboard Lifestyle we upgrade our solar array on our custom 435 catamaran SV basik. Unfortunately the weather is preventing us from ...

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welcome back to us we basic you know

what water on the hard we have all sorts

of projects going on one of them is this

our solar array that's only 220 watts up

there not enough to power our boat it's

a start but while we're here on the hard

we figured it's a good time we have a

welder right here he could weld up a

frame we're gonna put 500 Watts up there

and remove this Ray and save those

panels for our hardtop

that'll give us a total of 700 20 watts

is it it off I don't know

we'll get cruising on this boat for a

while and learn a lot about our energy

needs if we need more we'll add more but

it's a good starting point for us so

we'll get going on that Solar today but

the sun's out and these scoops are done

they're all prepped and ready to go you

know what that means take advantage of

the weather because it's been ugly let's

get a barrier coat on these real quick

before we get started here's what I'm

using this is the inter luxe inner

protect 2008 it's a multi-part epoxy

primer and yeah I've used it before on

the runners loved it so so we're gonna

do we're gonna put down a nice barrier

coat real quick gives it time to cure

and while this is curing I can start the

solar project

so let's get to work the bottom step

down on the sugar scoop and i'm glassed

multiple layers over this this is where

the cassette came through and this is

right you could kind of faintly see it

right here this is where the rudder post

comes up I'm glassed over this faired

over this whole area but time to cut

this out before barrier code and paint

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and easy

I'm already

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holy cow never thought that primer paint

could look so sexy

teal did such a good job

it smells right now but man this just

means that we're getting closer and

closer to new paint and out of the yard

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man that looks good I know it's always

fun putting that first coat of paint

down it kind of tells you how well

you've done well I think you did pretty

good I'm happy that everything's looking

pretty good

maybe a little blemish here and there

but you know what I think we're gonna no

blemishes I don't see any blemishes it

looks good look closely you can be my

friend I don't want to but you know what

I think we can live with it I could live

with it next hall out if it bugs me I'll

fix it then okay all right

it's fourth of July and the Coast Guard

brought in a big cutter and they're

giving tours here in the marina and a

barbecue bonus it's everybody's packing

up ever get ready to go get ready yeah

this will be fun are you excited for the

hot dogs Emma okay where do I start

okay let's go this we fun

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what in here

like the command area so the officer in

charge

petty officer engineering petty officer

then this is just our little miss

shower and

so where's your bunk down down below of

course right

pretty basic but it

how long you guys go on that anywhere

between like two to five days depending

with

and you guys do from Alaska all the way

down

yes yeah

so last summer they went

so you guys come in

no it's all

yeah we'll just it depends on how much

you feel we have how much potable water

we have

we're out there

Oh

we go down a vehicle fine

if we need water most go back in pillow

in field water

what he thinks the program

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there are NT used German company

we've got 1,400

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not on the phone

Wow but you're sucking the fuel is that

Oh a Tony sexy I tuned up

how many gallons an hour

you know we got a flow chart up on the

grapes okay

got a wife but they don't say that

was it ice little break huh wise I've

read about this in the paper kind of

nice the Coast Guard actually opened

this up as a thank you to the community

because during the shutdown everybody

kind of pooled their resources in and

help keep the Coast Guard going and by

bringing meals and coming over and just

kind of making sure that everything was

okay because they continued to work

during the whole time so this is a pay

it forward kept it back nice and I ate a

burger Wow I'm stopped can I went pretty

quick actually take a look at this I am

really happy at how these turned out

this was that damage right through here

where we got hit by the boat I even

threw an extra coat on the rudders while

there dropped out of the way it doesn't

hurt to have an extra coat barrier coat

on there let's take a look at the other

side

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this is where those cassettes

we're shaved out of there and it turned

out just ding you're perfect I'm happy

with that

okay now that that's on we'll let that

cure what we're working on this we

actually have Peter working on our frame

for the solar he's the guy that did our

helm seat and he's gonna attack together

a frame for us we're gonna go grab it

right now and make sure the panel set

before he permanently welds us yeah well

then you ready yeah I know let's go

I know paint and solar all in one day

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let's go

looks huge so much smaller when you drew

it up are you sure is the right size lot

so we're gonna go check right now Oh

make sure everything fits but if he

followed the dimensions this should be

spot-on let's go

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okay we had to fabricate or just tack

this frame together we wanted to

physically get it here double check all

the measurements make sure the panel's

fit before it's all welded up so that's

the next step

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I can't quite get the last ones in we

have these temporary braces holding the

panel square and it's gonna work this is

amazing look at all this this is power

this is power okay I love it let's uh

get this back to him so he could get

this buttoned up I wanna get this

installed

okay so first off I'm super excited that

the solar panels are being worked on and

we're gonna get that up and installed in

the next week the other thing is is I

absolutely hate being in the yard I hate

it I hate the work it's dirty it's grimy

is dusty and our boat does it move it's

unnatural

so as much as I would love to take a

break and just relax we're pushing

through and getting these projects done

so that we can get back in the water

because I am barely holding on

literally so teal is building another

a-frame so that we can access the old

panels get those off installed a new

frame in solar panels will have a lot of

solar definitely is a must on a boat so

super excited what's going on over here

we're taking a break and then getting

back to work okay I'm still on the hunt

I got to find an a-frame I think there's

one over here how far did you have to

walk with that thing holy crap the yard

is like a

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and here we go

had to build some temporary scaffolding

to get up to the top of this solar array

up here have to reach a half a dozen

fittings on the outer edge so this will

do the job

Franck it up there I had quite a few

people comment about this product so I

ordered some I do have quite a bit of

stainless fasteners through aluminium

part so hopefully this will help break

those free so let's get up there and

apply this before I start breaking it

all apart okay see how this stuff works

let that soak in for a few minutes while

I'm getting my tools out now's the time

we'll see if these 20 year old fittings

come on here maybe more who knows how

old these are

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you know I gotta say I know it's no fun

living on the heart and it may look like

we're having a blast but I know it's

it's tough stuff on land it's the no

water and the dust and the dirt so we're

doing everything we can to get out of

here we're getting there

don't look naked up here yeah my dad's

making a lot of noise outside so I'm

gonna go check out and see what he's up

to

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and he doing this in the rain it started

raining already great

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don't break it now we're taking this

over to Peter this morning he says that

he has some time he can get this all

welded and permanently affixed so then

we can finish this solar project very

exciting

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bigger than your bench

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that's good Peter says he'll have it

done in a couple hours

so quickest we get this back today

maybe we'll get this solved later today

or first thing in the morning we'll see

yeah we'll see we'll see what he's how

long it takes him I guess

while our cue me it's not too bad to a

couple hundred yards honey then hundred

yards actually look at this this is our

boat right here and there's a project

going on in this boat yet here

it's a pretty famous boat I'm not gonna

say what it is leave a comment if you

know

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a complete restoration of this

beautiful all about it

so we'll see those gasses

headin over checking out to see if our

solar panel trade is done hopefully

so that's it

put it together and install it you do

that I'll keep sanding

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okay that's it I think we're ready we're

gonna lift this new frame up into place

you ready

hopefully everything just goes lines

right up we'll see hey you grab this

right here

straight up

to balance it right there you got it yes

let's take a look at that looks huge up

there it's strong that's for sure next

step now that the frame is in place

I've got a clamped exactly where I

wanted it's get the hardware in make

sure this is secure

okay just getting those first couple

bolts in really made this feel strong

I'm gonna feel good about this we have

six different bolts that hold this new

frame down

unfortunately this frame is much larger

than our last solar the navigation light

the stern light was over here this new

frame will actually block some of that

so had the welder

well the plate here will be moving the

navigation light to this position here

so it has a nice open feel

okay let's get the rest this Hardware in

and then start dropping panels in okay

that's it you got it perfect

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the friends in now we get to start

letting these panels in

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check this out let's get started

yeah that's a lot of solar we have here

our spacers optical stick spacers you'll

wanted to have them spaced evenly so

water runs through them and not catch in

between the solar panels

now he's mapping out where he's gonna

bolt everything through I can't put in

half of the hardware now those are

quarter-inch through bolts with locking

nuts on the backside about ten bolts in

and tend to go

where you guys off to

okay what do you think it's all done now

it's awesome

almost yeah I still have the electrical

but the panels are in it does

yeah I'm just back here staring at it I

love it

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