What is your best improvement on the boat and why?

[Yngmar]

Thanks Jeff!

[Atlantica]

I've sent notes on my fridge insulation to those asking. It's a bit long, so if anyone else is interested, let me know.
Chill

I would like to have your notes too. Thank's a lot in advance!
Cheers,
Juha
B38, 2003

[kavok]

I've sent notes on my fridge insulation to those asking. It's a bit long, so if anyone else is interested, let me know.
Chill

Yes Chill, I am very interested about insulation.
Angelo

[kavok]

Modified rudder top bearing plate.


Due to a banging noise from rudder on my Cruiser 40 2008 twin wheels. The  upper rudder bearing aluminium plate slip sideways due to the elongate holes. The two stop screws are not efficient when movements came from rudder (when load was reversed on the rudder.), I changed these two Parker little screws with through 6 mm bolts and nuts. Also I  add up an down two big aluminum custom washers  8 mm thickness, bolted whith six 6 mm bolts ad nut. All side movements are now impossible. I also changed the two bearings with new Jefa roller bearings and adjusted chains tension not too loose not too tight. Now sensibility and lightness windward are excellent.

[cegri]

Nice topic... As a new member, let me reactivate it:

- Thermostatic mixing valve for water heater. Avoids scalding. Also saves valuable hot water lost trying to adjust temperature.
- Sea water pump that feeds kitchen sink. Not the manual foot pump! A proper elecrical unit.
- 600 Watt solar panels
- Folding helm for the B39C, thanks to previous owner
- Daewoo wall-mounting washing machine
- Bigger cockpit table from Tischlerei Kurt Behn KG
- Remote controlled windlass

[J.B.]

Now the forum is is back up and running💪👍. I would like to thank the previous moderator for the great work, and the new moderator (and everyone who is involved) for their hard work in getting this forum back up and running. Thank you !

Let's check if there has been any tinkering done on those Bavarias in the past few years. 😎 Here are some of the upgrades / modifications that I find enjoyable on our cruiser 36 (farr).

- A bow thruster that is proportional! It's a great feature to have when manoeuvring through narrow marinas with stiff side winds.

- Coppercoat, no more sanding & painting every year.

- A diesel-fired heater. Having a warm and dry cabin during the off season is really enjoyable.

- Latches on the tables prevent the table from folding down if someone touches it with their knee (and spills your beer ).

- A Starlink mini, mounted flat. No more fumbling around with terrible wifi access in marinas. If you need information, it's there. We managed to obtain download speeds between 100-200MB, which is very nice. (p.s. You can pause your subscription if it is not being used. Tip: Use an DC-DC converter to ensure that the dishy receives 30V.

[MagicalArmchair]

Nice work there! Where did you mount the Starlink Mini? They have an offer on right now and I am very, very tempted to buy that little upgrade.

Have you been pleased with the Coppercoat? I presume it needs touching up every year around the keel where no matter how hard you work to encapsulate it, the iron will find a way to spot rust through?

Mine, is our full, cockpit enclosure from Wilkinson sails. Not only is it amazing when we are at anchor or in port, it can be used at sea with full 360 degree visibility. We were getting waves into the cockpit on the way back across the English Channel this year, and we had my youngest boy trying to recover (survive?) sea sickness in the cockpit. Put up the enclosure and, boom, all very safe feeling, snug, and no waves crashing in anymore.



It's a great place to sit at anchor even as it gets colder too, as it acts like a mini greenhouse

[J.B.]

Hello Magical Armchair,

After two years, I did not have to touch up the coppercoat. But I did the job the right way once. After drying for a few months, the keel was sandblasted and immediately (<30 minutes) coated with a good quality 2K paint. The next day, I applied 2K fairing compound and a new seal around the keel-hull joint. Stainless M12 treated rods were used to install a keel anode on each side of the foot of the keel, and they were also sealed. After that the keel got anoter 4 coats of 2K coating. After that the hull, rudder and keel got another 2 coats of 2K coating. Then the coppercoat was applied (we had to do 7 passes wet in wet to get the recommended quantety on the hull, keel and rudder. To prevent having to sand between coats (the coats chemically bond this way), it is crucial to adhere to the drying times and temperatures without error. It was a big job, but I would say it's now bombproof :-)

I will attach an image of our Starlink mini mount.

[Samoerai]

We only have our B34 / 2000 / 3 cabin for only half a year and already made the following fixes / upgrades:

- Magnets on the doors to keep them open
- Curtains on the portlights aft
- Privacy film on the hatch board in the companionway
- Elastic storage net under all bunks for shoes
- LiFePo4 battery
- Round board on the sink for extra space
- Filling the hole in the refrigerator where all wires and lines came through.

[Happysailor]

After buying our Bavaria 41 Cruiser, I made many modifications:
1. Fit Vetus Bowpro 110 proportional bowthruster (what a great thruster!)
2. Install the original Nauti Sattler bimini (during hot days neighbours where jealous of the perfect shade and easiness of it
3. Install the step in of the searailing. (At the right position Bavaria already laminated steel plates to mount the stanchion feet)
4. As already mentioned before, the fixed shower in the aft head

What is next?
1. Replace the original saloontable base with a frame like the table in the cockpit, made from polished stainless.. Nice job for the winter..

[J.B.]

We recently also added a sanitary expansion vessel behind the water pump. The job is small, but it's nice that the water pump no cycles correctly, so there's no more brrrt brrrt brrrt... 😎

Our choice was to use a 2L version, smaller versions do not make much sense in my opinion.
N.b. Make sure to set the correct pressure, most models are set to high for a boat.

[symphony2]

JB
With reference to your post#57 on applying Coppercoat, I would be interested in hearing your reasons for attaching anodes to the cast iron keel and then sealing them. What do you hope to achieve by doing this?

[MagicalArmchair]

JB
With reference to your post#57 on applying Coppercoat, I would be interested in hearing your reasons for attaching anodes to the cast iron keel and then sealing them. What do you hope to achieve by doing this?

I was interested in the same thing. We are planning on going to the Southampton Boatshow this year and I was going to ask the Coppercoat guys there as we are planning on doing this (tentatively!) this year... Hood seeing you Symphony2!! Hope you are well!

[symphony2]

Now nearly 4 years since I sold my Bavaria - and still not finished my project Golden Hind, but it keeps me off the streets and reduces my potential inheritance tax liability, just like charitable gifts.

On Coppercoat, JB is right about preparation. I had mine done first straight from the factory, literally a week after it was finished building. However the contractor ground off the non compatible factory coating from the keel and after 3 years it started to fail. I patched it, but just like patching normal AF on iron more needed doing the next time. so I had it blasted and immediately coated with Hempel Hempadur, then a further 5 coats before applying Coppercoat. Fortunately I did it in a nice warm period just like this summer. It looked fine when I sold her 18 months later.

There does not seem to be any reason to fit anodes to cast iron keels as the corrosion is simple rust not Galvanic action. If you do fit them they tend to waste because there are impurities in the casting that can set up a galvanic circuit by introducing zinc into the mix. Without the zinc the impurities are usually benign!

Using stainless to attach them and then sealing over does seem odd but hopefully they will never get exposed to the seawater (electrolyte) and cause any problems. But no benefit either

[J.B.]

Hello Magical armchair & Symphony2,

To my understanding, in an ideal world a keel should be completely coated. The difficulty I faced, and probably others too, was the fact that it is almost impossible to achieve this. The underside is a nightmare to do properly, and even if you manage to do it properly, there is always the risk of damaging the coating on the underside. Another problem that I had is that Bavaria seems to pour all kinds of metals into their keels (my keel even had grafite in it). Long story short, in my experience, salt water will creep into such a keel. There you have it: two metals and an electrolyte. My humble solution/test was to mount one zinc on each side of my keel, as I explained in the post. I have done quite some research on the topic and have spoken to multiple people who have mounted similar zincs. But to be honest, opinions differ on this matter, but I made the choice to mount them, and until now, after 2 years, I am satisfied. But maybe we have an expert in this matter on the forum.

Cheers JB

[symphony2]

You are right about the impurities in the casting, but they are mostly benign and have no effect on the rust process. As I suggested you may well find the anodes waste - partly because you how have a mix of zinc iron and stainless and partly because you have now potentially set up a new galvanic circuit. This will not stop rust on the exposed base of the keel but it seems that rust does not creep under the Coppercoat if the epoxy has adhered properly. Rust forms when the adhesion of the epoxy to the iron fails as it did in my case because of poor preparation. However the failure was not along the line of the uncoated keel base but mostly in the concave areas of the bulb where the grinding away of the factory coating was difficult. Blasting of course should not have this problem. You may well over time find that the Coppercoat breaks down around the anode - or it may not.

Photos show after 4 years and repairs before blasting and recoated

[jeffatoms2]

The list is endless, but I'd say we have a tie, the Torrid Marine 18 gallon a/c and d/c water heater and independent engine and hydronic coolant-based heat capture (full disclosure we designed it as a concept water heater just for the B38 Ocean and now market it in our product line) and the new 4 season Espar diesel hydronic cabin heater.

We have focused on year- round, off dock luxury comfort.  The fully enclosure cockpit canvas was already fitted when we purchased the boat.