About the Ocean Angel
Plumbing
Safety
Plumbing equipment on the Angel is reasonably simple. She is equipped with all Stainless steel tanks - a 37.5 gallon fuel tank, and two SS water tanks with a total capacity of 135 gallons. I installed a Shurflo 12 volt fresh water pump, a Jabsco pressure accumulator, and a Culligan charcoal/bacteria water filter system. I replaced the original 12 gallon Raritan water heater when it failed with a 6 gallon Raritan water heater. The new unit barely holds hot water overnight; the original kept water hot for 2 to 3 days. Raritan says that shouldn't be, but it is, and oh well, there you go. I do not recommend the Raritan hot water heater.
When the original heads failed to pump any more, I replaced them with Raritan PH-II manual heads (2) of them, not cheap. But I really like these heads, although they are prone to leaks from the seals; easily repaired, but a nuisance. They flush well; they pump easily, and they are simple. I have never had one fail to do its job.
I replaced all the sanitation hoses, valves, couplings, and holding tanks with Sea Land equipment. I added diverter valves for overboard or shoreside pump outs. These valves seem to get used in about equal proportion, but the diverter valves can jam in one position or the other, and if you force them, they break, so I've learned to clean and lube them often. I'm looking for a better solution. The sanitation system generally works well and is odor free.
One plumbing / safety item many new cruisers neglect is the bilge pumping system. One pump is not enough. We have 4 pumps, a 3000 gph 12 volt pump, an 1100 gph 12 volt pump, a 30 gallon per minute dual action manual pump, and a small portable pump for clean up and for the dinghy. The big pumps use large smooth bore hose, and really move a lot of water. We also have a high water alarm just in case. Don't neglect your pumps.
All of the navigation lights are Aquasignal Series 41 fixtures. I installed LED bulbs that use very little electricity and are cool to the touch. Each bulb uses point 2 amps per hour; that's about 2 amps on a 10 hour night compared to 20 amps with the original Aqua Signal 25 watt bulbs that cost almost as much as the LED's. I installed Alpenglow cabin lamps, and these have been worth the money. They give out a lot of light; they are attractive, and they are efficient. We also added (8) Hella Turbo fans, four in the main cabin, one in each head, and one apiece in the forward and aft cabins. When our AC died in Guatemala and the cabin temperature climbed to 90 degrees, these fans were a lifesaver.
Safety equipment is something we spend an exorbitant amount of money on and never seem to use. Ours now includes a Zodiac 4 man offshore liferaft, a MOM 8A overboard recovery system, a 406 GPS EPIRB, an inflatable Lifesling, an ORC Class 1 deep water offshore flare kit with 6 of those big SOLAS parachute flares among other things, and of much importance to us, a Bose Stereo, but No television. We use the stereo regularly but have never used any of the safety equipment except in practice sessions. Below you can see the Lifesling, a throw rope pack, and a Mustang inflatable PFD with harness. Our liferaft is tethered to the boat ready to launch. We replaced our 120 pound racing liferaft with a smaller, 45 lb. unit. Hate to say it, but I'm getting older.
We always wear inflatable PFD's/harnesses tethered to the boat when offshore, at night, or whenever conditions dictate.
The MOM8 below is mounted right at the stern; a quick pull of the T handle launches a horseshoe buoy, pylon with strobe, and drogue. We hope to never use this gear.
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