Hallo All,
I've been neglecting my blog for a little while!
However, I'm back! And now I would like to up-date you on a few additions on
COOL CHANGE.
The first one and part of this blog is the addition of a new cockpit table with integrated fridge and adjustable Plotter Pod.
As you can see to the left it sure was worth the effort.
I've added a few pictures below in order to see what was involved in the project and to show that it's never as simple as one thought.

Every so often we think that we finally have our boat completely dry, we encounter some water in an area of the bilge that is not easily being picked up by the automatic bilge pump, especially when the boat is heeling.

Either a leak on deck which needs resealing or an internally leaking hose, you name it! It is a constant battle to maintain a sailing vessel. And it usually happens while we under way.

For this very reason, as well as for any unforeseen emergencies, we’ve decided to add a “roving bilge pump” to Cool Change.

The new “roving bilge pump” is installed in the locker below the cockpit and accessible through the engine room. It features an 8 meter hose, so it can be used almost anywhere on the boat.

It already has proven its worth when one of the aircon overboard hoses came loose and pumped some 50 plus litres of seawater into our bilge. It only took a couple of minutes to pump it all over board thanks to this powerful pump.

Let us know via the comments button of what your solutions are for having a dry boat!

Considering the concerns raised by English sailors, I have been worried for some time about the integrity of my seacocks on Cool Change. Surely, a quality boat yard like the Moody/Hanse boat yard in Germany would use proper bronze seacocks!?
Wrong!!!

Worried that my pride and joy suddenly could glide below the waterline and aggravated by the fact that I had already a seeping seacock in the engine bay, I've instructed the shipwrigth at Bayview to replace all seacocks that seem to be of inferior quality (e.g. brass). As it happens, they all needed replacing. All 15 of them!
And just as well as you can see from the pictures. One fitting on the picture below just broke off when trying to move the threat by hand only!
Windcraft the Australian dealership of Moody has to be commended for actually offering to all Australian owners to have the toilet fittings replaced with solid bronze seacocks (since the toilet one's are the one's of major concern).
However, if you have a boat, and especially a production boat, make sure you have your seacocks replaced with bronze seacocks if they are of sub-standard quality.
And if you are just about to buy a new boat, make sure you specify that all seacocks are bronze! No  IF's or BUT's! This should not only give you an enhanced confidence level in your new vessel, it will also send a "clear and loud" message to production boat yards that they cannot skip on quality! Especially when it means the difference of staying afloat or sinking!

For further information on that topic, please have a look at www.paulstevenssurveys.com/upload/Seacocks.pdf

On Cool Change  our Moody 45DSe we are lucky to have a Dual Fresh Water System on board that presents one of the best fresh water systems available.
What is a Dual Fresh Water System?
A… Dual Fresh Water System… …provides two completely independent fresh water supply systems.
Each system has its own tank, fill, vent and pick up leading to a dual filter system. If there is ever any contamination or delivery problem in one system, then a turn of valves puts the second system on line quickly.

With the dual fresh water system one can:
* Turn both tanks on,
*  Isolate either one tank from the other, or
* Turn both tanks off!