Re: Workshops for RVs and Sailboats

[cavelamb]

I came across that very question while writing the above.

Are you a machinist afloat? You'll need a Navy support vessel to carry a full machine shop.

Or are you a sailboat with some repair/make capability?

These are pretty much off the shelf items - at least at the local Northern Tools store. Keeping them separate gives the greater flexibility. The AC/DC den set can make power to run bumps and stuff, while an engine driven pump can go anywhere anytime - all by itself.

I like the hooka suggestion, Pete. My only beef with the oil-less compressors is NOISE (huh?). But a way to compress and store air would lend itself to a home brew hooka. The store-bought one is priced in Boat Units!

I noticed that. Their web specs.

I was thinking about running off of the house batteries - with an inverter. You couldn't dive without the genset running...

[cavelamb]

I built quite a bit of my first airplane that way... :)

[Gunner Asch]

Define 'heeled"

Water coming in the scuppers...is ...on its side.

Gunner

"Not so old as to need virgins to excite him, nor old enough to have the patience to teach one."

[Pete C.]

Yes, but I think a small lathe/mill combo for someone who builds miniature engines and the like is viable on a reasonable sized boat.

Yes, that was my other point, the Brownie's units are $$$. Since a hookah setup is pretty simple and you're dealing with shallow depths a homebrew unit isn't that difficult. Noise from the oil-less compressor isn't an issue when it's powered by a gas engine and you're 15' underwater working on patching the boat.

I'd suggest including a tether on the end of the hookah line if you're working out in open water so you can't easily get separated from the boat. Getting separated from the hookah at 15' isn't that big a deal (I presume you have a SCUBA cert?), but getting separated from the boat in the middle of nowhere certainly is.

You could always get a real HP SCUBA compressor, but those are $$$ as well. I actually just got one myself, but it's not exactly portable. It needs and overhaul and since it's currently 15hp electric drive I think I'll repower it with a surplus Kubota diesel to make it more convenient.

[J. Clarke]

The water supply on a warship is not limited by displacement, it is limited by the capacity of the main condenser.

[cavelamb]

Anybody still aboard would go deaf quickly and painfully!

When I was a kid. Haven't seen it in 40 years tho.

The tether is a given. We use them on deck too.

If you would like a good sailing adventure read, pick up Hank Searls "Overboard" form way back in the mid '70s.

Even the best tether won't help if you unclip it!

In my wildest dreams I can't imagine getting something like that up and down the companionway hatch!

I wish there were a way to add a compressor to the genset. It is water cooled, and very quiet, but it's pretty much a sealed up unit.

[B A R R Y]

I'm still plenty happy as an aircraft owner. I have a fantastic partner, so everything except fuel is 1/2 price! ;^)

With the _right_ folks, items like boats, airplanes, cabins, etc... can make lots more sense with more than one owner.

When I speadsheet compare all of my partnership ownership expenses over the last four years, with HONEST rental expenses, I'm still happy. Many renters fly either woefully underinsured, or without insurance at all. You really have to include an fairly valued renter's insurance policy in a cost comparison. Many people fail to do this.

I would have paid a tiny bit less as a renter, within a few bucks an hour, but some of my hourly costs build equity, and I have fantastic access to a very clean, safe, and available aircraft. I see it as a good value. Without the partner, it wouldn't have been close.

It's worked out so well, we purchased our second aircraft together last month.

[Pete C.]

The noise you are thinking of is not a function of an oil-less compressor, it is a function of cheap, small high speed oil-less compressors. An oil lubed compressor isn't quiet either when turned at those speeds. Either way, with it powered by a gas engine, most noise will be from the engine. At any rate a $5 pair of shooting muffs will take care of the problem.

Guess you also have to tether a scooter to you, or perhaps a waterproof remote control for the boat...

No, it it goes on a boat it will be going on a relatively large boat.

What brand / model? Link?

[J. Clarke]

Depends on how much freeboard it has.

[steamer]

--IIRC J. Baldwin, from the old Zine Whole Earth Review, wrote a book on small shops; he had one in a van he used to travel around.

[cavelamb]

Fischer Panda® 4.0-kW

get you a brochure and engineering drawings

you can see, it might be possible to add another pulley to the front end, but there just isn't much room around the pack in the boat.

It's mounted in the starboard quarter under the cockpit seat. To starboard it the hull, and to port is the aft cabin side wall.

[Pete C.]

Nice little unit. If you have about a foot of clearance in the front, which it seems you would since that's where the connections are, I think you could pull it off. small offset and an electric clutch on the compressor. Need to of course plumb in the fresh air intake from topside too.

[Larry Blanchard]

You might want to take a look at Proxxon tools, also sold relabeled by Micro-Mart, and others of that ilk. If those are too small, you can do a lot of woodworking with a small scroll saw.

Other than that, you're probably going to have to use a lot of hand tools.

[Leon]

Full blown dedicated RV's, Full standing up room through out the living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and laundry and cab area.

[Leon]

Than is good for both if both use it equally. My friend co-owned an airplane in the early to late mid 80's. His partner flew the plane much more than he did. Seemed my friend was spending a lot of money and not flying so much although he was going out for 3 or 4 hours weekly at a minimum. He ended up selling his half and purchasing another all by himself.

[Pete C.]

FYI, a truck camper is a full blown dedicated RV, but due to the lack of running gear it has a lot less maintenance issues. My truck camper has a bathroom with shower, kitchen with stove / oven, microwave, double basin sink, A/C, furnace, refrigerator, etc. All it lacks is standup headroom in the bed area.

[B A R R Y]

That can happen if the partership isn't set up well. My partner does fly about 60-80 hours a year more than I do, as he's 5 minutes from the airport, and he does 2-3 Connecticut to Texas trips each year. Part of our agreement includes him paying for the storage, as I drive farther.

We bill EVERYTHING hourly, so I don't care.

This includes an engine rebuild and major maintenance reserve, insurance, taxes, etc... Also, the longer the trip, the better the fuel mileage, as the airplane spends a lot more time fully leaned out at altitude. About the worst consumer of fuel per hour is touch and recurrent check rides.

We knew each other before the plane, and both of us have been in business partnerships. We sat down and pre-determined every possible way we could part ways, and set the resolutions to paper in a legal document. Lots of people don't want to do this, but it's really important. If you can't deal with bad endings up front, they'll be worse down the road. Our agreement covers everything from one of us destroying the aircraft, and dying in the process, to one of us not being able to make a payment, to divorce, to forced relocation.

My plane partner is also a partner in a very successful bicycle shop, and he owns a boat in a partnership with another guy.

The bottom line are the people involved and the willingness to get by all the possible negative outcomes up front.

[cavelamb]

>>> As you can see, it might be possible to add another pulley to the front end,

Maybe - I'll take a peek first chance I get. I haven't had the cover off of it. It would need to have a now cover made for it to include any additions. and it has to come out through the cockpit seat hatch. That's the only way in or out. It would be real nice to have compressed air available.

BTW, what is the minimum pressure required for a single hose SCUBA regulator. I seem to recall that a minimum pressure was required.

[cavelamb]

For me the bottom line is simply this...

When we are out sailing, I'm a sailor - full time.

At anchor, if I need something to keep my hands busy I'll build a ship in a bottle.

[Pete C.]

>>

I think you could just make the compressor mounting plate replace a section of the cover in front so with a cutout the existing cover could drop in place. The pic on their custom generator page looks like it has a hydraulic pump hanging off the front outside the sound enclosure. I'd think the same type of setup with the mounting plate having the compressor on the outside and the electric clutch pulley on the inside.

140 PSI is the normal pressure feeding the second stage for normal diving. You can get away with less if you aren't going very deep. One of the little 5 or 10 gal portable air tanks would make a good receiver that you could fit wherever it's convenient. With an oil-less compressor, low pressure and fresh air intake from a good location you won't need anything exotic for filtering, just the basics.