SALTY DOG ADVENTURES

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SALTY DOG ADVENTURES

Welcome Aboard!

About Salty Dog…

Salty Dog is a Pearson 365 ketch-rigged sailboat, built in Rhode Island in 1979 by Pearson Yachts and launched in 1979. Purchased by her current owners in 2003, her home port is now Long Beach, California.

About the name…

We chose the vessel name Salty Dog in “honor” of our oldest dog, Fletcher. When he was younger, Fletcher, the cross-eyed Weimaraner, had a habit of falling off the dock, the boat, and the dingy, and into the water. Because we always seemed to have a wet and salty dog aboard the boat, the name was an easy choice.

About life aboard Salty Dog…

Accommodations: The main sleeping accommodations aboard Salty Dog are in the v-berth. Additionally, there is a pilot berth in the main salon and two settees that can be used in a pinch as single berths. The cockpit is extremely large for a boat this size, and can easily sleep two people outside under the stars in nice weather. The head has a manual-flush toilet, sink, medicine cabinet, lots of storage, and a large stall shower.

Galley: Salty Dog’s galley boasts a propane two-burner stove/oven, a deep sink, a large deep locker for dry storage, a fairly large freezer, and a large refrigerator. We carry two propane tanks, mouned i na rear lazaret, to avoid ever running out of propane in a remote location where we can't easily get more. While the rail-mount propane BBQ isn’t actually in the galley, it is nonetheless a very important piece of galley equipment and gets used regularly. Bryan has done a significant amount of customization to the galley to make it more user-friendly… a new Technautics cold-plate refrigeration system replaced the old AdlerBarbour unit, and at the same time he modified the existing icebox design so that we could have a dedicated freezer. A spice rack has been added to the countertop behind the stove to free up space in the cupboard. Extra shelving has been added under the sink, as well as a custom-designed knife rack mounted on the inside of one of the cabinet doors.

Engine: The engine, a Westerbeke 40, is original to the boat. (The engine was rebuilt in 2009 after our bash up the Baja). The heat exchanger was rebuilt in 2004 when it became clogged, and the alternator was replaced in August 2005.

Sails: Salty Dog is a ketch and therefore has more sail area than a traditional sloop rigged sailboat. We purchased a new main sail, mizzen sail, and slide track system in 2004 from Quantam sails and are very happy with them. They are made of heavy sail cloth for heavy weather, and the main boasts three reef points while the mizzen boasts one. Additionally, we have a roller-furling jib and a beautiful hand-me-down spinnaker (from TC and Charley Caldwell) in a pattern reminiscent of the American flag.

Power/electricity: The old set of two house batteries was removed the summer before we departed, and a new set of four golf cart house batteries and one dedicated starter battery was installed, as well. A Xantrex 1800 inverter/charger was also installed, and allows us to operate small appliances like a coffee pot and a toaster. A Xantrex Link 1000 monitoring system now tells us how many amp hours we’ve used as well as how many we have in reserve, and lets us monitor how well the batteries are charging. While most everything except the hot water heater can be run off 12-volt, Salty Dog also has 110 volt capabilities when plugged into shore power at a marina or to our Honda 2000 generator.

Tankage: We hold 50 gallons of diesel fuel and 100 gallons of water. (A new aluminum fuel tank was installed in April 2009). Additionally, we ripped out our old 15 gallon holding tank and converted a larger, unused water tank in the bow to our current holding tank.

Communications: Salty Dog has a newly installed ICOM M422 VHF radio with remote mike at the helm, an ICOM M32 handheld, waterproof VHF radio, and a Single Side Band radio.

Electronics: All electronics aboard Salty Dog were new for this trip. Furuno 1623 Radar. Garmin 192C Chartplotter. Raymarine depth sounder and knot meter. Raymarine ST6001 linear drive autopilot. Electronics aboard which are not new but still come in handy are a Garmin handheld GPSMap 76 and a Garmin stationary-mount GPS 75 at the chart table. For entertainment, we have an AM/FM stereo with CD player and indoor/outdoor speakers, an IPOD with all of our favorite music, and an IBM T42 laptop computer for watching our collection of DVDs and keeping our website current, as well as communicating with friends and loved ones via email.

Watermaker: A “Little Wonder” watermaker was installed by Village Marine in August. Totally modular, it fits in the bilge and takes up hardly any room. One of our biggest purchases, this amazing piece of equipment converts salt water into drinking water more pure than the bottled water we buy at the grocery store. Producing 8 gallons an hour, our watermaker guarantees that we will always have safe water for drinking, cooking, and showering.

Safety: Salty Dog is equipped an EPIRB, flares, harnesses, life jackets, a life ring, a Zodiac 6-person life raft, and a MOB (man overboard pole).

Ground Tackle: Salty Dog carries a 45 pound CQR and a 22 pound Danforth, as well as 100 feet of chain and 150 feet of rode. On our trip we never once used the Danforth, relying solely on the CQR and it never let us down. Often times, in the same conditions in which other boats would drag anchor, we tended to stay put. We also carry 30 feet of chain and 140 feet of rode for the rare occasion in which we set a stern anchor.

Dinghy/Outboard: Another big but very important purchase was a new Caribe 9-foot RIB dinghy and a Tohatsu 6hp outboard engine. While cruising and living aboard, a dingy is like your SUV, and you need one that is reliable. A heavy-duty set of dinghy wheels is advisable, also.

Miscellaneous: Some of the equipment that is hard to categorize but that has nonetheless made our lives more comfortable are 12-volt fans in the vee-berth, head, and galley; custom cockpit cushions from C-Cushions that are tough enough to withstand the dogs nails; stainless steel MarTek dingy davits; custon stainless steel cockpit railings (which replaced the original life lines).