Late last night (Friday) we received an alert that all major cities in Turkey would be under a 48 hour Lockdown starting at midnight. The ministry said that “the lockdown did not affect basic necessities” and that “bakeries, pharmacies, emergency call centres, gas stations and postal delivery companies would remain operational enabling people to meet essential needs.”
Frankly, Christine and I had expected this to happen sooner and quite welcome this increased pro-active move. We just hope that this and all the other restrictions here will be enough to keep the growth rate of cases and deaths as slow and short lived as possible. However we remain concerned that as with many parts of the world these actions have been slow to happen and the cases and the confirmed cases and deaths continue to rise. As we understand it, the decision to have a 48 hour lockdown for the weekend was made to help increase the number of people staying home and isolated when many might be tempted to get out to enjoy the warm sunny weekend weather. Remains to be seen if this lockdown is extended further so we’ll just have to wait and see.
I find that there is always humour to be found in ever situation and this was no exception given that this would all be happening on whilst other parts of the world are observing Easter and Passover. But the best chuckle we got, if you didn’t catch it in the announcement above, is that the first “essential needs” item on the list is Bakeries! Everyone here LOVES their bread and most households send someone out to the local bakery first thing in the morning to bring home the daily bread supply. Hence there is usually a bakery within a few blocks of anywhere you are and they apparently remain open for the weekend. I’m just not sure is how anyone can go get the bread from the bakery if everyone is supposed to be staying home? Fortunately, most people seemed to stock up on bread and other “essentials” on Friday and we have not observed very many people out on their daily bread run this morning, which we take as a good sign that people are observing the lockdown and staying home.
As if the Corona Virus and limited bakery runs were not enough to deal with, it seems that we now also have to deal with Pirates like THIS guy who has showed up at Naval Yachts the past two weeks!
Amongst other policies for increased sanitation and distancing, Naval Yachts has wisely instituted a policy for all of us to wear protective masks whenever two or more people need to be working together.
Fortunately for me, Crafty Captain Christine fired up our onboard Sailrite sewing machine and quickly whipped up a good supply of these fashionably black face masks with removable filters inside which I have happily been wearing both while working with others at Naval and whenever I’ve been at the grocery store, where they are also mandatory.
While next week remains a bit questionable if the Lockdown is extended, this past week was another very productive one so let’s go get caught up on all the progress made getting XPM78-01 Möbius closer to her big splash.
PLUMBING:
For last week’s Progress Update, I started at the Bow and worked our way Aft so let’s reverse that for this week and start in the Aft Workshop and make our way forward.
Cihan, (standing) our Master Plumber and equipment mounting pro, was away all last week as his 3 year old son was very sick but fortunately just a temporary condition and not anything Corona related so it was great to have the always jovial and hard working Cihan back aboard Möbius this week.
Here, Cihan, Uğur (foreground) and our main man Yigit are conferring with me on best location for one of the New Arrivals you will see a bit later in this update.
But you may recall seeing this New Arrival from last week; our Kabola KB45 diesel boiler, and Cihan worked on getting that installed this week.
This 24kW / 82k BTU Kabola will be our primary water heating source as these Kabola boilers are extremely efficient converting about 94% of the energy in the diesel to heating our Domestic Hot Water DHW.
I have long wanted one of these Kabola boilers since first coming across them in other people’s boats I worked on many years ago and finding that you can hold your hand in front of the outgoing exhaust gas and barely feel any heat. You can also stretch a white rag over that exhaust and it stays white while running so these units were eXtremely efficient even then and even more so with this newest KB EcoLine series.
If you are interested in learning more about Kabola boilers, Steve D’Antonio, who writes excellent articles for likes of Professional BoatBuilder and other marine trade magazines, wrote a very interesting article “Blue Flame Afloat” which you can read via that link. It was written back in 2013 and Kabola boilers are now two generations newer and more efficient but his detailed reporting of his visit to the factory and discussions with the owners and workers there makes for very interesting reading if you are curious to know more about these super efficient and quiet boilers.
The back side is where all the action is for Cihan. Primary hot water supply outlet is the bronze fitting top Right corner with the Return copper pipe next below. This is a “Combi” model which means that it has a second independent water heating circuit which are the two lower pipes.
These will connect to our Webasto Chiller which in addition to being the source of the “chilled” fluid when it is functioning as our Air Conditioning, it also works to heat the air in each Cabin and the SuperSalon when supplied with hot water instead of chilled.
The vertical pipe on the Left is a cast Stainless Steel exhaust flue with a very nicely done drainable condensation pump in the bottom.
This is the SS flexible exhaust flue gas pipe and silencer which will connect that vertical SS pipe in the photo above to the double walled SS exhaust pipe which will be mounted to the exterior of the hull just below the Rub Rails.
On the Right side of the case, Kabola has this very nicely executed fuel filter setup complete with vacuum gauge which is the best way of checking the degree of fuel filtration and an early warning of when it is time to replace the filter as does its job of removing any small particles suspended in the diesel fuel that might manage to make it his far.
They supplied us with these longer SS braided fuel lines so we can mount this on the Alucobond wall behind the Kabola to keep it well out of the way.
In addition to being our Plumber par eXcellence, Cihan is also a master at building custom mounts for each piece of equipment onboard Möbius which is a very important factor in making maintenance easier, reducing noise and vibration and ensuring that all the equipment stays where it belongs even in the worst case scenario of a self righting full roll over.
This is the mount he built for the Kabola……
……. which mounts like this.
In addition to being a secure and vibration dampened mount, these mounts also keep each piece of equipment raised up about 50mm/2” above the workbench surface both for air circulation as well as keeping it away from any water or other spills which would be fully contained within the “pan” created by the edges of the workbench top.
The Starboard/Right side of the Workshop is now filling up nicely with all the equipment, plumbing hoses and wiring. Kabola KB45 on the far Left, Delfin 200L/hr watermaker in the middle and Webasto BlueCool V Series Chiller on the Right.
In the foreground is one of two Accu-Steer HPU400 hydraulic steering pumps which is sitting atop the center workbench. For orientation, the WT entry door into the Workshop from the Swim Platform is on the far Right and the Day Tank on the far Left.
With these three bits of kit now all mounted, Cihan turned his attention to connecting them up, starting with the Webasto Chiller on the far Right.
The Red tank is the accumulator tank and the two clear hoses with White/Blue/Red stripes are the Supply/Return lines of cooling sea water for the Chiller and the clear hose in the middle is for the low pressure sea water feed to the Delfin Watermaker.
Cihan soon has these all connected to their corresponding ball valves and manifolds which he installed previously.
Carbon filter for the Watermaker is on the back wall with the Blue head on the Left side. The smaller Blue plastic hose carries the “product water” coming out of the ceiling mounted membranes which will next be routed to the manifold which direct the water to one of our six water tanks which are integral to the hull.
In addition to providing us with plenty of pure potable/drinking H2O, we also use this water for ballast to maintain the trim and balance of the hull compensating for the reduced weight of diesel fuel as it is used on a passage.
Up at the front of the Stbd/Right side of the Workshop underneath the Day Tank we find more of Cihan’s handiwork putting in some of the water lines going in/out of the Engine Room wall seen here on the Left side. A close look reveals two hose penetration collars welded into the ER wall, one up high with the four clear water hoses going through and another larger one with six hoses that is partially hidden under the newly installed floor grating we will see later on.
Up on top of the Day Tank, Cihan now has the fuel hose lines connected up to their respective SS ball valves for fuel going into the Day Tank from both the fuel transfer pumps and the return lines from the Gardner engine and Alfa Laval fuel polishing centrifuge.
We are using these Blue & Red anodized aluminium aircraft hose fittings which are the best quality fittings I’ve ever used. They seal perfectly all the time and their special press on barb system enable me to build new hoses on the boat as needed with no special tools, no hose clamps and no leaks! Not cheap but such a great return on investment over the years of running and maintaining this boat. The two round AL bosses or flanges on the far Right are where the Maretron submersed tank sensors and the Hart Tank Tender fittings go to measure fuel level in the Day Tank. We use the same dual tank level indicating systems in ALL tanks aboard for fuel, potable, Gray and Black water.
Cihan also installed these two 40mm/1.6” hoses into the Engine Room where they are plumbed to the very bottom of the Bilge in the ER for the High Water Bilge system. These are found throughout the boat in all compartments and are one of those systems we hope to never use like many of our SWAN systems which help us Sleep Well At Night.
Having almost our entire hull be integral tanks means that we have almost no “bilges” and instead have these “gutters” where the Margin Plates of the tank tops bend down to intersect the hull plates perpendicularly. This also means that even were the hull to be breached/penetrated, it would only affect one relatively small tank area.
With the tops of the tanks at about the same height as the waterline, there would be very little water able to flood the boat. However, we still need to allow for such catastrophic events and hence this very high capacity “bilge” water pumping system. And of course we have a small volume bilge pumping system with smaller diaphragm pumps throughout each compartments gutters which can keep these gutters dry and gathering nothing but dust.
ALUMINIUM TEAM:
Cihan wasn’t the only one busy in the Workshop this past week as out Dynamic Duo of our Aluminium Team Uğur and Nihat, got busy cutting the very cool composite flooring grid material you first saw last week.
With Yiğit’s help using his model nesting software, they have laid out a series of these 1 x 4 meter sheets of this special composite grid material and laid out all the wood templates …..
…… they created in place in the Workshop to easily replicate the exact size of each floor grid piece the need.
This composite grid material which Yigit and Buse stumbled over in their research, is working out to be another Goldilocks just right find. It is impervious to pretty much everything from wear to chemicals being an epoxy like material fiber reinforced throughout. Super stiff so when you stand on wide spans only supported on the edge it doesn’t flex at all even if you jump on it with all your might.
Easy to cut and work with just regular woodworking tools. This all makes for an ideal floor material in places such as the Workshop, Engine Room and Forepeak we want to have the space below be open for visual checks and air circulation. As some of you noted in your comments, there is the chance that 
if you drop small items, each grid square is about 30mm/1” square, they can fall through but the panels are very easy to remove and in places where I’m more active I will put down some of those spongy foam floor mats made to be more comfy for your feet and reduce my “dropsies” a bit that way.
Nihat and Uğur had previously welded lengths of L-bar to frame the outer edges and provide support which finished them off nicely. This is the Port/Left side of the long workbench in the Workshop with the WT door into the Guest Cabin at my back and ER wall on the Left.
A few steps forward and you can see how well the flooring grids fit together and butt up against the ER walls, Aft frame and the inside edges of the Prop Tunnel framing. 
It worked out just right to keep the floor all on the same level and just have those thick AL frames above the Prop Tunnel exposed but not in the way with the center workbench located around it which will later be filled with tool and storage drawers.
Prior to Cihan mounting the Webasto Chiller, Uğur and Nihat had been busy installing the Alucobond panels they had cut and bent to size a few weeks ago. Alucobond is another fabulous just right material that we are using to cover all the walls and ceilings in the Workshop over the EPDM foam insulation. 
Alucobond is made from two thin sheets of power coated aluminium on the outsides sandwiching a composite core in between which makes for a just right surface in these areas that is easy to clean, makes the areas very easy to light and adds to the fire rating. It is also creates eXcellent surfaces for mounting brackets and holders as it readily holds rivets and threaded inserts. The printed surfaces are there to protect the finished surface underneath and peel off easily when we’re finished.
The crowing touch which makes these panels easy to remove is this clever hardware Naval is using with a SS self taping screw which are installed through these threaded brass washers and then have the round silver caps threaded on for a super neat finish look.
These might sound like minutia to some but these “little” things” and attention to detail make ALL the difference when this is your full time home and you are the guy who has to maintain and live with this every day!
One other job they got to this past week was cutting these two holes for the powerful extraction fans in the Aft wall of the Pilot House. The camera is inside the SuperSalon here pointing Aft through the upper corner wall into where the two pipes of the Arch come through the upper Wing Box.
On the outside of that wall you can see the slotted plate in the bottom of the Wing Box where the air being extracted from the SuperSalon exits outside.
Back inside and looking Aft along the Port/Left side windows you can see where these eXtraction fans are located. 
And on the opposite side you can see how this fan in the Upper Aft corner is above the Galley and will work so well to keep fresh air flowing through. We have designed these Aft Wing boxes to work both passively when the fans are off so turning the fans on will only increase the natural convection and flow of fresh air coming in up front and flowing Aft.
ELECTRICAL WORK:
Hilmi, our resident Sparkie or Electrician, also had a very productive week spending most of his days wiring up this Aft Electrical Panel where most of our 120 and 240 Volt circuit breakers will be installed.
This shot is looking forward along the Corridor outside the Guest Cabin on the Port/Left side of the hull. The WT Door from the Workshop is at my back, Ship’s Office (aka mine) on the Left, Guest Shower on the lower Right, Guest Head/Bathroom across from it and Hilmi is sitting on the steps leading up to the SuperSalon.
For those interested in such details, this is what these shielded cables have inside when you remove the outer insulation sheath. The individual Brown/Blue/Yellow-Green wires have are wrapped inside a braided copper sheath which acts as a kind of Faraday Cage to reduce electrical “noise” and external magnetic radiation from nearby wires.
Each wire is tinned multi strand copper.
Let’s follow along with Hilmi’s progress as the week progressed …………..
Here is what it looked like when Hilmi started on Monday with all the cables pulled through ready to be stripped of their outer insulation, labelled and then fastened to the plywood backs with the zip tie strain relief each wire is required to have.
In the lower Right corner (click to enlarge any photo) you can see how Hilmi has begun the process of stripping the outer insulation off to expose the individual Blue/Brown/Yellow/Green wires and finished off that spot with a length of heat shrink adhesive line tubing where he zip ties each cable to the Beech plywood back support.
Most of these lower cables now stripped and attached. The Black tube on the wires in the middle here is the heat shrink tube before Hilmi slides it down to cover the end of the insulating outer layer below and then a heat gun is applied to melt the adhesive lining in the tube as it shrinks and fully seals this joint.
As is common practice, we will use these very handy slotted Gray PVC wire raceways to help hold and organise all the individual wires and cables inside our electric distribution panels. The sold top piece snaps in place and when you have all the wires laid out and is easy to remove for future additions or maintenance.
Here is an example, not ours, of how these slotted raceways are typically laid out around to frame the outer edges with the electrical components such as circuit breakers clustered on the inside. Makes for a very neat and tidy panel that is easy to work on in the future.
Here is how that all starts as Hilmi attaches the first slotted raceway horizontally just above where he had zip tied the individual cables.
This is a close up of a short length of the copper grounding bus bars what we are going to use to attach the common grounding Yellow-Green wires to.
Which Hilmi fastens just above the PVC raceway using nylon spacers to ensure this grounding bus bar is fully isolated electrically.
The galvanised DIN Rail goes in next and will hold the individual DIN Rail connectors such as the ones Hilmi has snapped in place on the Right end of the DIN Rail
DIN Rail systems are the “Bees Knees” to me as they make it so quick and easy to install and connect wires, circuit breakers, switches, timers, relays and more in a this well organised and easy to maintain setup so we will use them throughout the boat.
The Yellow-Green safety grounding wires are first up to be connected to the Grounding Bus Bar and you can start to see how these slotted raceways help to organise this spaghetti like mass of wires through each slot.
Labeled tubes are just loose for now until the individual wires are connected to their respective connectors, circuit breakers and switches when they will be more permanently labelled. 
Here is what this Aft Electrical Panel looked like by Friday and you can compare this to the first photos up above at the beginning of the week to see how the work progressed.
I wasn’t able to catch many of the other spots Hilmi worked on this past week but did get this shot of the LED work lights he has installed on the ceiling of the Basement. They sit up out of the way and really flood this cavernous space with lots of light as it reflects off all the aluminium foil lined ceiling and wall covering.
GUEST CABIN:
Our Guest Cabin team of Omer and Muhammed never cease to awemaze me with the work they do and how much they get done each week so let’s go check in with them.
A lot of their focus this past week was in the Guest Head and where we find Omer is using the super handy laser level to lay out the exact location of the lower wall panel behind where the VacuFlush toilet will mount.
Here is a better shot of this area and you can see how they have the Rosewood side walls, sink cabinet and Blue Horizon Line handhold installed now.
The wall on the right separates the Guest Bathroom from the Cabin and now has the finished White laminate surface in place.
These Red PEX tubes in the other side wall where the Corridor runs, carry the DHW Domestic Hot Water to the Towel Warming rack that will be mounted to the finished wall here and they now have their SS threaded elbows attached to their ends and are ready for the wall panels to be put in place.
Christine can’t wait to live with these towel racks not only for their stated purpose of giving you warm towels to use but they also heat up the Bathrooms and Showers that extra bit that will be SO wonderful on those mornings when we are in the Polar regions of the world, or in my old stomping grounds of the Pacific North West.
Omer has this wall panel all ready to be installed. These are made by laminating a thin fiberglass sheet they make in house to 10mm/ 3/8” marine plywood. Creates a smooth waterproof surface that is easy to clean and holds up well in the long term.
Omer soon has the panel affixed to the wall with the SS fittings all ready for the Towel Warming rack.
In addition to all their functional and pragmatic benefits, you can already see how these White upper panels create a stunning contrast with the deep dark hues of the grain in the Rosewood lower panels.
More of these laminated panels going in. Omer is very creative with the stick based clamps he carefully wedges in place to press each panel tight against its backing.
Last large panel to go into the Guest Bathroom is this angled surface that is the underside of the stairs at the entrance into the SuperSalon up above from the Aft Deck. The small horizontal ceiling panel up above will be put in using FastMounts so it can be easily removed to access lights and wiring.
A few more creative wedges and Omer has that last panel set in place.
Et Voila! All the upper White walls are now installed in the Guest Head. The final touch will be to put a nice radius on all the corner panel joints using a paste created by mixing gel coat, resin and micro balloons.
Mounting flange has been installed for the VacuFlush toilet and last bit of work for Omer is the Rosewood Aft wall behind. The aluminium pipe above is the drain from the sink going to the Grey Water tank or Sea Chest.
VacuFlush toilet with its BioBidet all ready to be installed once the walls panels are finished.
Looking straight up, this is the ceiling panel in the Guest Head which has the louvered vent for the extraction fan. The finished ceiling panel will snap in place using FastMount connectors. 
Moving inside the Guest Cabin, Omer has the BHL Blue Horizon Line glued in place and now has the bottom half of the Rosewood handhold glued in place.
Opposite the Bathroom this wall with the Shower on the other side has the upper half of the handrail and BHL all installed now.
More BHL and Handholds being installed on the other wall of the Guest Shower out in the Corridor from the Workshop.
And see that hockey stick shaped line covered in Blue painters tape running along the outside of the Bathroom wall on the right in the background?
That is where these beautiful Zig Zag handrails will soon be mounted for added safety and beauty as you go up/down the stairs.
Taking a look back inside the Guest Cabin you can see how things are coming along in there. Christine’s desk on the Right with bookshelves above and cubbies above and below the Left end of the desk. Pullman Berth ready to have it’s removable back installed once all the wiring has filled up those white cable trays.
Water manifolds all installed behind the seatback of the pull out couch in the middle. Slotted Rosewood panel above the Pullman is for the AirCon/Heating air which is fed by that large black duct coming up from ….
….. the Air Handler tucked away below the removable Rosewood box. The top of that box also provides the support for the Right end of the Pullman Berth when it is folded down.
Completing our brief tour of the Guest Cabin with this shot of the forward end of the fold down couch/bed with these bookshelves above. Surface above these will have Green/Gray leather covered panels snapped in place similar to how the White leather covered Ceiling Panels mount above.
SUPERSALON:
The other Dynamic Duo of Omur and Selim continued their relentless application of their cabinetmaking craftsmanship up in the SuperSalon so let’s check in on their progress.
Selim continues to install the epoxied wood foundations on the floor, fill them with rigid foam insulation and fit the 10mm marine plywood floors.
He has already finished this work on the floors in the Galley area.
Omur has been busy with fitting all the corner L-boxes which run around the entire circumference of the 360 degree plate glass windows and make the transition from the upper window mullions to the ceiling panels. 
This gets a bit tricky, though no problem for Omur, up here around the front windows around the Main Helm where he also needed to maintain access to the bolt in plate with these five air ducts bringing fresh air in through those slots where there is a bit of a high pressure zone in the underside of the Pilot House roof overhang.
Aft of that front set of air vents is this second larger plenum lined with AL foil faced cloth which brings in even greater volumes of fresh air when we are at anchor. 
This plenum has its own dedicated supply of fresh air that is captured by the large “wind tunnel” created by the hinged set of three solar panes on the roof above. All that air supply passes through a large Mist Eliminator vent up above and is then directed down into the plenum box. An AL plate with five more vent ducts like the forward one, bolts in place here.
The ceiling directly above the Main Helm will be dropped down a bit to accommodate that front set of air vents and then rise back up as you can see with this transition piece Omur is fitting here.
Omur has put in this large radius corner to make a smooth transition between the two ceiling levels. All the ceiling panels on either side of this transition overtop the Main Helm will be covered in Black leather to reduce reflections on night passages. T
The rest of the snap in Ceiling Panels in the SuperSalon will be covered in White leather.
As you know, eXcellent Ventilation is a top priority on the XPM’s and more of this is evidenced by these channels running underneath the window sills which which are being prepped for the runs of ducting that will soon go inside with a series of adjustable round air diffusers set into the top sill covers.
These diffusers spread out along all the window sills will be similar to those in the dash of a car and can adjust both the volume of air coming in and its direction. This allows the vents to serve double duty to keep the window class clear of condensation as well as bringing either chilled AirCon or heated air into the room from the pair of Air Handlers on either side of the SuperSalon.
Selim has the all the beautifully finished Ro$ewood in the Main Helm all covered in protective layers of cardboard while they work on finishing off this cabinetry and the installation of all the electronics, navigation and steering gear begins.
But I dashed down the stairs into the Master Cabin and took this shot looking back up the staircase before he could cover up this bit of Rosewood glory which makes the transition from the opening for the 43” monitor to the window sills above.
Here’s what that area looks like seen when standing at the top of the stairs just before it too received its protective covers and ……
…… now looks like this.
One half of the L shaped Dinette Settee on the Right, staircase down to the Master Cabin in the middle and Main Helm on the Left.
They have also started to finish off the interior surfaces of the two triangular cupboards on either side of the Main Helm with Beech covered marine ply.
Back at the Aft end of the SuperSalon the Galley base cabinetry is now in place and Hilmi has started to install the wiring for light switches and AC outlets.
Blue Horizon Line handholds are now all in place and the Galley Garages are now being fitted to the tops of the base Galley cabinets. You can see the first of four lengths of Garages in the upper Right corner here.
All of this leading up to one of the next exciting stages; installing the Turquoise marble counter tops so do stay tuned for that.
Mr. Gee: Gardner 6LXB
Spending almost all my time at the shipyard self isolated in my Workshop/Office, has helped me give more time and attention to Mr. Gee, our Gardner 6LXB main engine.
Over two years ago, when I first acquired Mr. Gee from a tugboat in the River Thames in the UK, I had shipped him to where we were living at the time in Portugal and began his full restoration by completely disassembling him. I found a very good machine shop there and started his full restoration by having the heads resurfaced to get them perfectly flat, installed all new valve guides and new valves.
I had put him all back together again to ship here to Antalya and gave the whole engine a very thorough sand blasting down to the raw aluminium and cast iron so as you can see he now needed and even more thorough washing, flushing and cleaning to be ready to paint and then install.
I covered up all the openings with aluminium plate ……
…… and masking tape and primed all the cast iron surfaces with Gray 600C/1112F degree rated silicone paint.
The cast iron Cylinder Block received the same treatment and priming.
These Gardner engines, like many large diesel engines, have dry cylinder liners which enables them to have an almost infinite lifespan by allowing me to press out the old liners and press in brand new ones that create as new cylinders again. Before taping this up I finished honing each cylinder so once painted it is all ready to bolt to the massive all cast AL Crankcase I painted last week.
I finished up the week by putting on the first colour coat of Red 300C silicone based paint. 
I’ve settled on a colour scheme for Mr. Gee of keeping all the cast aluminium parts with their bright silver aluminium finish and then dark Red for all the cast iron parts.
It was getting dark by the time I finished on Friday night so I’ll have to look at it again in daylight tomorrow (Monday) but the colour is not quite what I wanted so I might need to adjust it a bit for the next coat.
I wanted a deeper darker Red, more Burgundy so I will see what it looks like on Monday and adjust the paint a bit on the next coat and you can see what you think.
In any case I think the contrast between this dark Red for all the cast iron and the bright silver of all the cast aluminium parts like the Crankcase I painted last week will be something Mr. Gee and his admirers will appreciate.
For a preview of what Mr. Gee will soon look like, here is a photo of a fellow Gardner enthusiast’s 6LXB so stay tuned here to watch as I get Mr. Gee all ready for his new live powering our new adventures around the world.
NEW ARRIVALS:
A big box on a pallet arrived from FEIT Pumpe (Pumps) in Italy with this tiny little diaphragm pump inside. This will power our High Bilge Water system.
These are 24V pumps to allow for the possibility that in an emergency situation you might not have AC power available
I will only use diaphragm pumps for both our low and high Bilge Water systems, 15 pumps in all, is for two primary reasons;
1. No submersion of the pumps as they all mount well above the water line with pick up hoses going down into the bottom of the area to be pumped out. This protects the pump itself and eliminates the all too common possibility of bilge pump wiring breaking down and leaking current into the water.
2. Diaphragm pumps can as the saying goes “suck a golf ball through a garden hose” so they are immune to clogging with debris which is a very common point of failure for other pumps as bilge water usually has a lot of debris in it which quickly renders filters or centrifugal pumps useless.
This single high volume diaphragm pump connects to a manifold system of 50mm/2” hoses going to each side of each of the five WT compartments and either side of the keel bar separating the central bilge in the Engine Room. Each line has has a ball valve that is normally closed and then should a compartment need to be pumped out, that ball valve is opened and the FEIT pump starts pumping it out. We have a third higher volume “crash pump” that is independent of all this and I will cover that later.
These five large axial air fans were also in the box from FEIT and these will be used for extraction fans. Two of these will mount in the Upper Wing Vent Boxes you saw earlier in this post, two will go into the Lower Wing Vent Boxes to extract air from the Guest Cabin, Shower, Head and Corridor, and the large one will mount in the extraction Vent Box for the Engine Room.
We’ve been waiting almost four months for this pallet to arrive and it finally showed up this week as well. This is 100 sheets of TreadMaster which will soon cover most of our deck surfaces and provide extremely durable non skid surfaces. 
This is one of the more critical bits of kit on a boat as our lives can often depend upon having eXtremely grippy surfaces for our feet when we are working on the decks in rough weather. Even in calm conditions, having truly NON slip decks a huge safety factor so the choice of deck material is an eXtremely important decision.
In addition to the non skid feature, we spend a lot of time in the tropics and places with extremely strong sunlight which quickly makes even white surfaces far too hot to walk on. 
Treadmaster has been covering boat decks for over 50 years and I have been on two boat’s that had their decks covered wtih Treadmaster for more than 25 years and were still working well.
Each Treadmaster sheet is 1200 x 900mm / 47.2 x 35.4” and they will be cut to fit the layout pattern we have come up with and there will be about a 15mm space where two sheets meet or come up to an edge or corner of the aluminium deck plates. For maximum lifespan and durability, we will glue the Treadmaster to well cleaned aluminium deck plates using an adhesive specifically formulated for this application.
You will see that as it happens so more to stay tuned for.
Not yet out of their boxes but no less exciting is the arrival of most of the appliances for the Galley.
This is the Bosch 80cm induction cooktop that Christine has picked out and can’t wait to start using. We decided to go for this model with the additional extraction vent in the middle which will help keep smells, smoke and water vapour out of the Galley.
This is the equally impressive Bosch “Smart Oven” she is equally anxious to try out.
It combines microwave, convection and broiler into one compact unit and so many “smarts” built in that it has its own “AutoPilot”!
More Italian goodness arrived in four boxes like this one containing our two 130 Liter front loading 24V Fridges.
These will be installed side by side in their own Rosewood cabinets on the Port side of the Galley with doors opening from the center. In addition to Vitrifrigo’ s latest and greatest insulation panels we are adding an additional 100mm/4” of foam insulation around all four sides and the back for maximum thermal efficiency.
Two of these 70 Litre Vitrifrigo Drawer Freezers will go in their own matching and equally well insulated Rosewood cabinets beside the two Fridges.
I always build our fridges and freezers with remote air cooled Secop/Danfoss compressors that can be installed in compartments that are well ventilated, cool and away from living spaces.
In the case of Möbius, all four compressors will be mounted directly below each Fridge/Freezer in the Basement. This keeps all the noise and heat out of the SuperSalon and makes working on them a breeze. I’ve been building refrigeration units in boats this way for over 15 years with excellent results and am upping my game even further with this latest installation. I will cover this in much more detail as we get to installing these units.
Vitrifrigo recently won the prestigious DAME award this year for their “all in one” units which can operate as either a Fridge or a Freezer simply by setting the digital thermostat for whatever temperature you want it to maintain.
This give us great flexibility to change one or more of these units from Fridge to Freezer as our needs change such as when we land a big tuna!
OK. This pirate is pooped and if you’ve made it this far you must be too and time for both of us to get a brief rest before Monday morning rolls around in a few hours
I sincerely hope that each of you are finding ways to stay safe, healthy, happy and positive. We all need all the energy we can muster these days and nothing helps more than a positive attitude. As I oft like to repeat, the only difference between adversity and adventure is attitude so please stay strong mentally and physically.
-Wayne
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