Chris Fellows was back again and this time he went home is lovely welding tan.

We get a start on building the fifth wheel hitch for the bow of the boat, and explain many of the details of what we are doing to move the boat from my front yard the the Tulsa Port of Catoosa.

Yes! No Labels on anything obvious. I believe that if you can not look at a system with pumps, pipes, and valves and understand how it works, then you need to spend more time learning about pumps, pipes and valves. It’s right up there with knowing how to change a flat and check the oil level. Labels or written instructions are only going to give you enough false confidence to screw it up. Don’t! Just walk away and let someone how has played with pumps, pipes, and valves work it. And trust me. If you build it, you will know who to use it. So then comes the really bizarre manifestation of fear in the form of the hypothetical. “But what if you are the only one that knows how to use it and you are incapacitated?” Ok, so in this hypothetical hallucination you; the master water-maker operator, have been seriously injured on deck from snapped tow line. You have a compound fracture are arterial bleeding. Your not so crack crew, …by their own admission they can”t figure out two pumps some pipe and valves. …they are in a state of panic. To calm their nerves they decide on a cup of tea. But wait! The last gallon of fresh water just got poured out on deck in an effort to wash off the blood. No tea. You will most certainly die. And seven days later if there is no rain, so will they. Somehow that seems fitting.

Thanks to Chis, John, and Lorenzo for helping finish up the dual lane trunnions. Adding brakes is still up in the air. Our trucker viewers on Facebook are split on the issue, but they only advise adding brakes for an added measure of caution. The house movers don’t use brakes, and the regulations don’t call for them as long as you keep the speed down so you can stop in 40 feet. As we are only going 16 miles, there is no reason to do it any faster that 10 mph. We politely discuss these and other items on our FaceBook group SV Seeker: https://www.facebook.com/groups/svseeker Join us! And like me, you can ask questions and share photos of your project.

–Doug

So do you put the membranes in parallel or series. Hint: Seawater has a salinity of about 35,000 ppm. Or 35,000 / 1,000,000 = .035 or 3.5% of seawater is not water. So even after you take out a lot of water from seawater, it still has a lot of water in it.

DIY Reverse Osmosis Watermaker – Part 4 – Parallel vs Series and Connecting all the Parts

I’d light the boat with oil lamps and power the anchor winch by hand if that was the only option. But Chis Pilling donated a pile of tray cable and most importantly his experience wiring industrial facilities. So Seeker is far more capable than her predecessors such as the HMS Beagle launched in 1820. Perhaps the next Charles Darwin will sail on her.

I just don’t get it. I see people gluing plywood together, layering and sanding fiber glass, and worst of all, paying a welder to make a bracket or mount for something. The only people that will tell you that welding is difficult and expensive are the people who need you to pay them for welding. Go get a cheep Chinese stick weld, a grinder with some cut off disc and some stainless steel from the scrap yard. For a few hundred dollars and a weekend of practice you can be making your own brackets and more. When one of those old fart welders starts telling you how inferior you welds are, just do a bend break test on his head.

Peter, James, Perry and Eric dropped in to help, along with several visitors this week, so we’ll make it official that we are open for tours again. We appreciate visitors that can come on Saturday between 10 am and 1 pm so as to reduce the interruption to work. If you stay too long you get to buy tacos from the Mexican Corner. : )

Sure, you can buy a $3000 carport and bolt it together. Or you can but the welder and materials, Do-It-Yourself and end up with a better carport and some killer skills and a welder.

Do it Yourself. Aluminum welding is fun and easy. After just a couple of projects, you’ll have paid for the welding machine and be on your way.