Comfort Upgrades

Leave a reply

There were a few more upgrades that we wanted to do this year including adding “rain flashing” over our 4 large window hatches and adding a back rest in our cockpit.

These might seem like “small” upgrades but they add a lot of comfort value to the boat.

Quick Upgrade Summary:

  • Rain Flashing for windows
  • Back Rest in Cockpit
  • Inflatable Fenders
  • Forward Scan Transducer
  • VHF Microphone at the Helm

Rain Flashing

Sugar Shack has (4) large hatches and (3) small hatches on each side of the boat. The large hatches let in a lovely breeze and are open as often as possible.

However, when it rains, we have to run around closing all of the hatches to prevent water from getting inside the boat.  

As you can imagine, it gets very hot in the tropics.  When it rains and the large hatches are closed it becomes unbearable on the boat. 

The water drips into the cut out which then drops behind the hinge and into the boat.

We had to do something that would allow us to leave the windows open during the rain without soaking the interior.

Ian on Tavake (a Catana 431) had made rain flashing that inspired us to do something similar.  Unfortunately he no longer had the mold so we had to start from scratch.

Scott our fiberglass fabricator was able to make a pattern to build the mold.  

We were able to make 4 rain flashings for our large windows once the mold was completed.

Matt scratched the back of the carbon pieces, adhered 3M VHB tape and we were done!

Shortly after install we had our first rain and they worked perfectly.

Back Rest in Cockpit

A small yet irritating issue with the cockpit is the lack of back support. 

Many Catana owners added a back rest that sits between the salon main window and the cockpit main seating.

Our friend Eric, on El Gato (Catana 472) had drawn up these design specs.  We used this as a guideline and made our own modifications. 

However, we did not want it as tall so we made it shorter than the 10 3/8″ height. 

In addition, we wanted a round, not square mounting bracket.

Once the back rest was manufactured we had it electro-polished at Spiralweld in Auckland.  This will protect it and keep it shiny with minimal polishing effort on my part.

New Inflatable Fenders

Sugar Shack came with (4) A4 large, round fenders and (8) F4 pencil fenders.  We later added fender covers to protect the fenders and the boat.  These fenders have served us very well.  However, they do take up a lot of space in the forward bow peak.

So, we decided to purchase new inflatable fenders.  We went to Hauraki Fenders and purchased (8) Medium 350x1100mm (1’x3.6′) fenders and fender covers.

We are super excited to try out our new fenders!  For safety reasons, we kept the (4) A4 round fenders so that we always had fenders at the ready.

I did not want to unpack the tightly packed fenders for a photo op so you get a generic photo. 

Forward Scan Transducer

We decided it was time to purchase a forward scan transducer which will allow us to see the gradient ground levels in front of us.  

This forward-looking sonar provides a clear two-dimensional image of the bottom in front of us, allowing us to navigate shallow or poorly-charted waters with confidence. With real-time updates and a forward-looking view of up to eight times our current depth.

This will be a useful tool while anchoring.  We bought it from B&G for roughly $1200.

VHF Handheld at the Helm

We have our “big” VHF at the navigation station and (2) small hand held VHF units.  However, we have never had a VHF Microphone at the helm station.

A rather small inconvenience, but one that has irked us for awhile.  So, it was time to install one.  Matt ordered a white ICOM IC-HM 195S Command Mic IV from Amazon for $241.

Purchasing and Contact Info:

  • Scott Banks, Fabricator, Whangarei, NZ +64.22.380.3972.  Fabricated the helm pedestal extensions and the window rain flashing
  • Stainless Fabricator: Phil Waddell, hardout98@icloud.com, and his wife Joy Waddell, joyw2@icloud.com. +64.21.280.6356
  • Spiraweld, www.spiraweld.co.nz, +64.09.576.1199 

Be sure to check out our other upgrades on “Impactful Upgrades” blog post.

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events. 

We worked on these two projects for several months over November 2025 through January 2026.

Impactful Upgrades

Leave a reply

New Zealand means great friends, beautiful country, delicious food, amazing activities, and lots of boat work.  This third trip is no different – did a lot of little upgrades and lot of big upgrades that will have a huge impact to our daily lives.

This blog post will focus on the “little but powerful upgrades.”

Chart plotters at each Helm

Over the past 15 years we’ve sailed 70,000 nautical miles across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  We’ve visited over 35 countries and truly love our boat/home. 

However, we have never had a chart plotter at the helm.  We’ve had a handheld Garmin 73 (with satellite and tracks), but no chart plotter.  We’ve had to either zip into the salon to see the multitude of charts on the navigation station or rely on Navionics on the iPad.  Not ideal, but it worked for us.

Finally, it was time to upgrade the helms.  The first thing we did was fabricate a new pedestal extension at each helm.  Each helm station has a pedestal and an additional small extension where our Garmin holder, Raymarine gauge, stereo remote, (2) anchor controls, a small control panel, and the IridumGo antenna lived.

Matt disconnected all of the gauges and instruments first. Then with loads of patience he removed the 5200 holding the back extension.

We cleaned up the front and back and removed the 5200 excess.  

Our friend, Ian on Tavake (a Catana 431) told us to use fabricator Scott Banks.  Super nice guy! 

Scott came out, took a bunch of measurements, gave us a reasonable quote, collected the pedestal extensions, and told us he’d be back in 2 weeks. 

Unfortunately it took way longer than 2 weeks, but we are very pleased with the final product (see below).

Chart Plotters

We purchased (2) B&G Zeus 9 Chart plotters from Marine Deals.  It took 6 weeks to get delivered and cost approximately $1400 USD each.

The other controls (small control panel allows us to turn on/off 6 items, stereo remote control, and (2) anchor controls will go on the new pedestal extension.

We had to move the existing Raymarine P70 gauge to a new Marine Pod mount which will sit to the side of each helm. 

Marine Pods for Raymarine Gauge

We could have made the pedestal extension large enough to accommodate all of our equipment.  However that would block the view from the helm seat. 

In order to keep the view we went with a smaller pedestal extension and a marine pod mount for the gauge.

We purchased (2) marine pod mounts to move the Raymarine Autopilot (ST60) gauges to the sides of the pedestals. 

The pods are called Seaview SP1BOX Marine Pod Kit . We bought them on ebay for $95 USD each

LC Hydraulics (Phillip) fabricated two mounting holders for the new PODs.  It took about 2 days and cost $855NZD.

The white square is the pod and the two holders are for each helm.

The new upgraded helm stations are amazing! 

With the new helm extension holding our chart plotters and our new pod’s holding our gauge!  

Purchasing and Contact Info:

  • Scott Banks, Fabricator, Whangarei, NZ +64.22.380.3972.  Fabricated the helm pedestal extensions and the window rain flashing
  • Chart plotters purchased from Marine Deals, www.marine-deals.co.nz
  • Raymarine gauge mount : Seaview SP1BOX Marine Pod Kit New Open Box Accessory Mount for GPS VHF Display purchased from eBay
  • Marine Deals +64 09 281 3150, www.marine-deals.co.nz, Auckland, NZ
  • LC Hydraulics, www.lchydraulics.co.nz/, +64.21.0285.5072

Design specs of the chart plotter that we used as a base for the helm pedestal extension.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual events.  

We started working on these little upgrades as soon as we arrived in New Zealand (Oct.2025-Jan.2026).

These are just a few of the massive projects we completed. 

See our full list on our “Hauling out at Norsand Boatyard” blog post.

Brrr….The Air Con is On

Leave a reply

We have “managed” through the hot tropics of French Polynesia, Fiji, and Tonga.  However, we really struggled through the intense heat in the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Kiribati.  So, we decided it was time for air con (air conditioning).

Our friend, Dan on Sel Citron told us about some very reasonable aircon units made in China.  These units are the same units provided to Mabru sold by Hopewell.

We were originally going to order the units direct from Hopewell (via Fanny Zhu). 

However, in talking with our electrician Matthew Duckett at Cleigh Ltd. we discovered we could order the same (2) units, (3) pumps, vents, and ducting through him for the same price.  

We ordered (2) 12V DC Air Conditioners from Matthew at Cleigh who then ordered them from Hopewell in China (Mabru). 

One unit is 12,000BTU and will cool the main salon.  The other unit is 7,000BTU and will cool the starboard master cabin.

We also ordered a variety of grills and ducting (which we heard were hard to source in NZ)

I will break down the two units by location:

12k Unit (Salon)

125mm:  2 outlet vents at corners of the settee (where existing fans are).  The main unit will live under the settee and the return air will be at feet level. 

Grills: wood square outlets. However, we ordered a white round and black round as a backup (f the ‘squares’ don’t fit).  

Matt and Matthew putting the salon AC in place under the settee.

AC Pedestal (stand)

Matt built a pedestal for the salon AC unit.  The floor was a little uneven and we needed the unit to be stable.  So, he used his carpentry skills to make the bench, then he sealed it, painted it, and secured it to the floor and sides of the settee.  This unit will not move!

7k Unit (master bedroom)

100mm: 2 outlets over the bed.  Need 100mm splitter to 100 vents (most likely ABS, but also ordered wood just in case install location has to change).

The return air most likely ABS (but ordered wood and aluminum). 

The actual unit will need to be mounted behind the ceiling false panels.  This requires a holding bracket.  

Holding Bracket in the Master Cabin

Matt created a mock up of the smaller aircon unit, true to size, to help design the holding bracket. 

We brought in Premik (from Norsand) to create the brackets out of fiberglass.

Everything was removed from the cabin so it could be properly protected.

Premik now has full access to sanding and fiber glassing in a contained space. 

We were kicked out of our bedroom for over a month as we finished this project.

Accessories for the Aircon

Matt spent the better part of the holiday break running hoses and cables for both units. 

Matt drilled three thru holes (holes in the boat)  for each unit for water intake, outtake, and exhaust.

Matthew Duckett helped Matt add a new “bus”, move our existing “bus” and run a lot of wires and cables. 

He did some excellent boat yoga to get into these very tight places.

Final Installation

Once the brackets were made the units were installed. 

Then we ran the wires and hoses and made the thru hulls.  The last part was connecting it all and adding freon. 

We had to wait until we splashed and were in the water to add the freon.

We hired Jock from Big Fridge to help us with the freon.  Jock added freon while we were berthed at Port Nikau. And we are up and running.

Now we are ready for the heat and humidity of Indonesia and Malaysia. 

Contacts:

  • Cleigh Ltd: Matthew Duckett, matthew.duckett@cleagh.com
  • Hopewell: http://hopewellchina.en.alibaba.com/, Fanny Zhu: hehebiz@163.com
  • Lusty Blundell: https://www.lusty-blundell.co.nz/ 

Pricing

As of November 2025 the pricing was as follows (USD):

  • 12V DC 12K BTU (Z12DC12) $1,380
  • Pump $95
  • 12V DC 7K BTU  (Z07DC12) $1,280
  • Pump $95
  • Various Grills/Vents in wood, metal, black, white ranges from $5-$20 each
  • 7m of air ducting ranges from $10.50-$12
  • Various hoses, connectors, clamps, elbows were purchased from Cleigh Ltd (Lusty Blundell)
  • Shipping for 2 units $895

Our blogs run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events.  We worked on the Air Con from Nov. 2025-Jan.2026.

We will power our air con units with our new solar panels – check out the blog post.