When we bought Quality Time, she came equipped with a a single 120-HP Ford diesel engine, which of course Mark has tuned up and tweaked. The "engine room" sits below the main salon, which while convenient for accessing it, makes the cabin a bit noisy while underway. Please feel free to marvel at the engine's fresh paint job and the pristine condition of the bone-dry bilge area.
Quality Time also boasts a 6.5 KW diesel generator located in the aft deck compartment. She has twin fuel tanks which can store a total of 300 gallons of fuel, giving her an approximate range of 1000+ nautical miles at a maximum cruising speed of about 7 knots.
NERD ALERT: "A nautical mile is based on the circumference of the earth, and is equal to one minute of latitude. It is slightly more than a statute (land measured) mile (1 nautical mile = 1.1508 statute miles ).
To our great benefit, the previous owner ran his own HVAC company, and thus Quality Time has an awesome climate control system (heat and air conditioning). LED lighting is installed throughout, which puts much less drain on the batteries when the engine isn't running. Quality Time has an electric head with a shower, and we can carry about 120 gallons of fresh water to use for cooking and hygienic endeavors. When at a marina, we can use either two 30-amp connections or one 50-amp for full power capability. While at anchor, the recently replaced battery of batteries can provide power for everything except the climate controls - (but if we are miserable, we can run the generator to fix that). And to further create power self-sufficiency, Mark added two solar panels to the top of the boat (260 watts each) which will supplement the alternator in recharging the batteries each day.
The biggest (and most expensive) upgrade has definitely been in the electronics. For those salties out there, Mark installed dual Garmin 7608 chart plotters (located in both the main deck and upper deck steering stations). There is now an autopilot system (Garmin GHP 10), radar (Garmin 18-XHD) and an AIS 600(Automatic Identification System). I am not sure I will ever be able to independently use (let alone master) all the onboard electronics, but I made sure I know how to at least find our geographical location (in latitude and longitude) in case I ever need to call for help over the radio. I am reasonably sure this will be the limit of my functional knowledge of the electronic systems. And if you've never been around "real sailors" before, there is an entirely new language and detailed protocols for communicating over the radio, which I will also never master (it's all I can do now to just translate/understand what the other people are saying - let alone speak like that in real time).
Other recent upgrades include a new dinghy (QT II) and DMS (dinghy mounting system - work in progress). Of course a new electric trolling motor was needed as well to ensure the dinghy is adequately propelled (back up oars available if all else fails).
To more easily deploy and retrieve the anchor, Mark installed an anchor windlass (motor that pulls the anchor chain up and thus eliminates injuries to middle-aged sailors). It was then, of course, "necessary" to install a wash-down system (pump which allows the First Mate to hose the intracoastal bottom muck off of the anchor as it is pulled up).
To round out the operating specs, Quality Time has a length of 34 feet, a beam (width) of 12 feet, and a draft of 3.5 feet (means we will hit the bottom in depths less than this - learned the hard way LOL). There is a bow thruster as well that helps Mark with docking maneuvers, and the gross displacement of the boat is 17,000 lbs (before we load it with all of our stuff).
As I'm sure you're aware, Mark is in charge of all maintenance and operations, and I humbly follow orders (when underway only!) swiftly and to the best of my limited ability. I am "in charge" of the non-essential tasks such as helping watch for crab pots in the water, commenting on the wave height as it relates to our travel comfort, and all fender handling responsibilities. When pulling in to a dock, it'll be me that gets the fenders ready and has to figure out a safe way to get a line attached to the pier. Sometimes this occurs when a nice person offers to help us and I can throw them a line (I'm working on improving at this, too - it can get ugly if not done well). If no nice person is available, it gets a little dicier, but I somehow manage to get it done despite many awkward moments. I am thankful that Mark is usually topside steering while this occurs and is thus too busy to film me doing this. Here's a view of the topside steering station and upper deck lounge area:
In addition to being First Mate, my secondary responsibilities include being the Supply Officer (keeping stocked on necessities and keeping us fed) and Morale Officer (planning and facilitating onboard entertainment). I will add another blog before we leave to fill y'all in on what we're doing so that we don't starve or die of boredom during weather delays.
Thanks for tagging along - see you soon!
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