Author Archives: Michael

Power Tool Fun Fest

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Early in our tenure as the caretakers of Galapagos I needed basic power tools that would be kept exclusively on the boat. A variable speed drill is probably the most heavily used power tool on our boat and so, after the requisite perseveration, I bought A Ryobi kit which included a drill, a small circular saw, a halogen flashlight, charger and one battery.

Ryobi, like many tool manufacturers, makes their tools so that you can use one battery style with any of a number of tools. They offer a few 18 volt, lithium ion batteries of varying sizes which all work with any of the Ryobi tools. While they are pretty common now, it is important to know that you do want lithium ion batteries for these kind of tools; not only are they lighter, they deliver a great deal more power right up until they quit and need to be recharged. While it is always frustrating to have a battery die right before finishing a critical task, it is far more frustrating to have the tool slowly peter out on you over a few minutes time.

All our Ryobi tools. So far. Also note the 12 volt charger mounted on the bulkhead.

All our Ryobi tools. So far. Also note the 12 volt charger mounted on the bulkhead.

After using the drill and flashlight during our engine repower and various other projects,  I felt that these tools would hold up reasonably well and could be trusted during our extended voyages.  The drill is powerful and well balanced;  The flashlight is bright, has a reticulating head and the bulb is easy to change.  Both of these tool have dedicated mounts  near the workbench and are used just about every time I venture into the shop. I should also mention that the Ryobi brand is not terribly expensive and they are carried by Home Depot.  I happen  to know that Home Depot has stores in Mexico, Canada, the Virgin Islands and Guam.  This means that if I need a new battery or lose a tool overboard in the Baja, I can probably replace it with little fuss.

One day as I was perusing the tool aisle at Home Depot, I noticed a DC charging station for sale.  With that purchase, I was able to eliminate the need for an inverter to charge my tools.  The old AC charger went into the garage at home and I hard wired the new 12 volt charger into the breaker panel.  You can see it in the photo above just to the right of the hardware bin.

With that purchase, I was well and truly committed.  I began to look for the perfect Ryobi tools to complete my collection.  I think the next purchase was the Spotlight.  It is a 35 watt spotlight and is adequate for most uses but I am sure there a better spotlights available.

After that, I think I bought the little handheld vacuum pictured in the foreground. Mine is the older, style but I think they are pretty much the same.  We really use this a lot even though it is loud as hell.  I had really hoped to find a cordless wet/dry vacuum by Ryobi, but no such luck.  Dewalt has one and I think Milwaukee makes a battery powered wet dry as well.

Remember the circular saw that came with the initial kit?  I never used it for two years. Never, until I needed to build a set of steps by the boat for the the dog.The saw worked well with two inch lumber and I have used it on plywood.  For most projects I just use a hand saw but it if I needed to make several cuts at a time or even make a series of  kerfs  in a piece of wood, this would be handy.

the Ryobi Multi-Tool has been incredibly useful.  I think I bought it initially because I needed to make some flush cuts in a difficult to reach spot.  this tool has a removable head so that you can pop a right angle drill, jig saw or a couple of other tools onto the body.  for us, the flush cut blades and the sanding head have been really useful.  Melissa has been sanding off the old cetol on our teak with this with great success.

Finally, as Melissa was cleaning up the exterior woodwork, we bought this little palm sander.  This takes the standard 5 inch hook and loop sanding disks and has worked very well.  I used it for about 90 minutes today and found it fairly comfortable to use.  With a tool that you will use and control for long periods of time, the weight of the battery becomes more important.  For these kinds of tools, I would recommend using the smaller batteries as a matter of comfort.

Speaking of batteries, we now have two of the compact lithium ion batteries and they have held up well.  With the palm sander, I got abut 25 minutes of run time.  I really couldn’t tell you how long they work with the more commonly used flashlight and drill since those tool are generally run for only a few seconds at a time.  My plan is to use the current batteries as long as they hold up but to buy fresh batteries just before our departure.

Has anyone used another manufacturer of cordless tools that they would recommend?  Is there a tool that you can’t live without?  Leave a comment below.

White Squirrels, Red Birds and the Man in Black

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Team Galapagos has been enjoying a few days in Martin, Tennessee, my ancestral home. We came to celebrate my mother’s birthday, see family and to visit my old stomping grounds.

As you probably already know, Martin is home to the Tennessee Soybean Festival. I don’t have to tell you how important the soybean is to West Tennessee.

soybean-logo-wide1Here’s a fun soybean fact: One acre of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons. There are probably some other interesting things about soybeans.

On the drive from Nashville to Martin, we stopped at a rest area just east of Bucksnort.  I mention this because the rest area had this photo above the water fountain.

The Man in Black

The Man in Black

I’ve been a Johnny Cash fan since I was a small child. This seems odd to me now and I think it worried my parents a bit but even then, I knew this was the music of my people. I don’t care for country music but I love me some Johnny Cash. Apparently, the folks that take care of the rest area are big fans as well.

I found another soybean fact: Elevators in the Statue of Liberty use a soybean-based hydraulic fluid.  That’s two interesting things about soybeans now.

Living in the Pacific Northwest,  we are surrounded by so much natural beauty that it is hard not to be a little stuck up about it.  Still, West Tennessee is not without its charm.  Even in winter, we are enjoying the crisp, sunny weather and the wide open fields. This is bottom country, with creeks and rivers cutting across the land and running towards the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers. The fields are bare for now, but this spring you can bet there will be soybeans as far as the eye can see!

Melissa and I have enjoyed seeing wildlife that we never see in Washington State.  As soon as we got to my mother’s house we spotted two beautiful cardinals

DSCN1522We have mockingbirds here as well but they seem to be laying low this time of year.

As we drove to Dyer for my mother’s birthday party, we got to see the fabled white squirrels of Kenton. For some reason, there is a fairly large population of albino squirrels in this community.  As we drove through, we were able to photograph a few.

The noble white squirrel

The noble white squirrel

It is an odd adaptation but I suppose the population thrives because their cuteness slightly outweighs the fact that they are incredibly easy prey for owls and hawks. Or perhaps they are the predators.  I took the photo below, barely escaping with my life after this guy charged me.

Lunging Squirrel with little sharp fangs!

Lunging Squirrel with little sharp fangs!

We will head to Nashville soon and spend some time with my sister there.  Then it is back to the rainy Pacific Northwest, where the birds are bald and the squirrels are gray.

Cheap Boat Tricks (but will they last?)

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During our Christmas break  I had a chance to undertake a few small projects around the boat.  One such project was to try out these nifty LED Strip lights.

Definitely not waterproof

Definitely not waterproof

Two places in particular called out for more lighting; the Nav station and the work shop.  While both locations have nice Alpenglow fluorescent fixtures, sometimes more light is needed for the fine detail on charts or when working with small parts in the shop.

At seven dollars for 300 LEDs on three meters of adhesive film, these lights are incredibly inexpensive. They are not particularly rugged and they certainly are not waterproof but did I mention they were only seven dollars?  For relatively protected interior lighting, I can hardly imagine a more cost effective solution.Cut lines every three LEDs provides great flexibility in installation

Cut lines every three LEDs provides great flexibility in installation

The lights come in a number of colors, red, blue, and both warm and cool white.  I ordered the warm white as it is closest to the incandescent lighting we are used to.  The kit comes with a few connectors for joining multiple strips and there are short leads soldered to both ends to make hookup very easy.  I had hoped that I could solder my own leads to the pads but I think I will need smaller wire and some sacrificial strips to practice with.  As you can see in the photo above, there are marks for cutting the strip every three inches or so. this makes creating the five foot lengths I used in the Nav station and shop easy.

NAV_Dark

Our NAV station without the lights

NAV_Light

And with light. I would have preferred to place the lights just behind the teak trim piece to hide the lights a bit better but the adhesive backing would not stick to the rubber liner. The adhesive sticks well to the teak trim though.

The before and after photos are a little misleading since the camera flash is filling in the unlit areas rather well. Shop_Ahead_Dark

The shop without the LED lighting

Shop Ahead Light

And with the lighting. The difference is less dramatic because of the camera flash.

The light strips come with a 3M adhesive backing which did not want to stick to our rubbery textured headliner.  It did stick well to the teak trim piece however and so that is where it went.  That means the lights are more exposed to damage and I don’t care for the look as much.  I would prefer that they be a bit more hidden, especially at the nav station.  Again some experimentation may be in order to see if I can attach them to the headliner securely.

for seven dollars and a few hours of time, this appears to be the perfect cheap boat trick.  Time will tell if they hold up to the abuse of being on a boat.  Corrosion may slowly do them in but I bet it will be a few years before that happens. In the shop, I am more concerned about physical damage  from my manly exertions with hammers, saws and vices.