Upgrade of the C-Dory 22 in Kalkaska/ Michigan / USA
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
02.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Pick-up of the C-Dory 22 in Ohio, a lot of money changes hands...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The first time I see the boat in real...
03.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
After hundreds of kilometers drive, arrival in Kalkaska Michigan
It's snowing heavily, but that won't stop us from modifying the Dory 22...
The name of our boat:
" ORCA "
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
It's been snowing since I arrived in Michigan. Temperatures are between -10 and -25 degrees Celsius.
06.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Here is a LIVE weather satellite image of NOAA 18, taken with my SkyEye Pro weather satellite system and the Panasonic Toughbook CF-18 on 6 Feb. 2007 in Kalkaska/USA.
In the middle of the picture you can see the big lakes.
15.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
It's snowing again the last few days. This makes working on the boat a little more difficult. Getting electronics and other materials is not easy here, because everything has to be mail and it usually takes a week to deliver. Some parts are not available here at all but have to be sent from Germany...
16.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
On the way to Traverse City. Finally our ordered petrol tanks arrived...
17.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Snow, snow, snow....
This is pure chaos, it's snowing like crazy. Most of the things we need for the reconstruction we have together. On Monday we will start with the reconstruction of the c-dory. Hopefully the weather will get better soon...
18.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Finally, it has stopped snowing! So let's get out and clear the boat of the snow and set up the camper back...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Chaos in the boat, the steering system I have already removed it is replaced by a hydraulic one. The complete electronics is removed and will be replaced by a new one. As you can see there is still a lot to do. The interior of the boat will be rebuilt from the ground up to meet our needs.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The wiring in the boat is a horror! Here I have ordered some things, but it is still a mess ! There will be some changes when I install the new electronics. That's the big advantage if you do everything yourself ...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The new 20 gal. additional tank fits like a glove between the other two...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
At the rear cabin wall 6 additional tanks with 9 gal. are attached. With that we would have about 114 gallons or about 433 liters. In addition there is my foldable 20 gal. Rubber tank, with it we would have then altogether approx. 509 litres of gasoline on board.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The Olive-Jet-Kayak-Dinghy is still lying in the garage, but soon it will be on the roof of the Dory...
21.02.2007
Now the thaw has finally come in. The temperatures are around +1degree during the day and not much below -10 at night. Hopefully this will continue....
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Since we need every possible storage space, we have decided to use the storage space under the V-Berth. Unfortunately we lose our only buoyancy! Now we have to compensate this by even more careful driving and a strong bilge pump...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The whole boat is covered with a dust film of GRP, of course we look similar...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Sawing out the front traffic jam hatch.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The Steropor blocks can only be removed in small pieces with a knife and saw.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Finally, port hatch is ready....
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The front hatch then took a little longer due to the inclines...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Let's go last, starboard...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Hooray, with a lot of sweat and bloody hands, finally we are finished with the new storage space....
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Now the interior is painted with paint and two fans are installed for faster drying. Phew, I'm feel quite funny from working for hours in the GRP dust and paint smell....
As soon as the paint is dry, we will start with the assembly of the hatch covers...
24.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
We installed the FuelFlow system and the new hydraulic steering system.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The new control takes up much less space...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The Bay Star steering control on our 75 PS engine
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
It's a perfect fit.
25.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
On the way to the South Boardman RV Service Center, where our boat is standing in a hangar. It is snowing heavily again....
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Steve Kitter, the owner from South Boardman RV Service Center in Kalkaska,MI, USA
Thank's for your help Steve...
2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The Gel Coat in the V Berth is finally dry...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The new Lowrance NMEA-2000 Fuel Flow Display is now built-in...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
We had to remove the tanks to install the Trim Tabs...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
However, there is nothing with the installation, because the dealer had sent us the wrong hydraulic cylinders for the Trim Tabs, they are too long for our boat, ok, that will take some time again....
27.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
We have picked up our boat and today we are going to request prices for a radar bracket and the conversion of the camperback.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The camperback rolled up and off we go....
The conversion of the camperback will cost us a few hundred dollars! The main thing is that we are protected from all the bloodsuckers on the way...
For the coming weekend they have announced a severe winter storm here, let's hope that we can still work on the boat. Time is running out...
28.02.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The dealer has assured us that it was only oil that was missing ! Well we hope times that it is true....
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
According to the weather forecast in Michigan, there will be ice rain the next days and then heavy snow showers ! As a precaution we have covered our boat with a tarpaulin...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Dan on the phone with people in the NWT/Canada. We can use all the information we can get...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Since the adjustable underwater spotlight mount of our Sea&Sea underwater housing (for one of our HDV cameras) is completely overpriced, I made one myself out of a RAM mount and saved HUNDREDS of Euro....
03.03.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Still a lot of storm and a lots of snow....
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Today I installed the Bose-Sound-System (SUPER SOUND) and the GPS Plotter. Also the reception system for VHF and HF is almost finished...
2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The two GPS plotter systems complement each other perfectly !
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
f.l.t.r : Refcom preselector, stereo system, Yaesu VR-5000 and NIR- DSP
We still couldn't install the Trim-Tab system because one of the newly delivered hydraulic cylinders is defective, oh man, that will take time again until we have a new one....
04.03.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Cleaned the boat today and worked on the electronics.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
In the picture above you can see the GPS and the Bohlken barometer below is the big STANDARD HORIZON CP-1000C GPS.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The two Panasonic Toughbook's are for the weather satellite receiver, the weather station, the digital maps, email, digital photos etc....
06.03.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Tonight we had - 21 degrees....
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The fear-threshold is overcome ( drilling under the waterline...) Starboard Trim-Tab is mounted...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Port trim tab with indicator cable.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Both Trim-Tabs are ready mounted. Tomorrow we will fill them with oil.
07.03.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Still very cold, but at least the sun is shining...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
My Mokai jet dinghy is on the roof of the Dory...
08.03.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The Hatches under the N-Berth are ready! With this we have gained a lot of waterproof storage space...
09.03.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The video cable for the GPS plotter has finally arrived. Now I can watch video signals on the 10" monitor of the GPS plotter. I will attach a camera to the boat next to the Honda engine to show me if the cooling water is running, this is the best insurance to detect an overheating of the engine early and thus prevent engine damage. It is also great that I can now connect my mini DVD player and the HDV cameras to the plotter and thus have a great 10" monitor.
10.03.2007
I connected the VHF/DSC radio with the standard CP1000C plotter. Now we also have DSC on board. Now I only have to apply for a US-VHF-License and a MMSI No. at the FCC.
I have connected an external loudspeaker to the DSC radio, so that we have the possibility to send out automatic fog signals. The radio automatically detects if we are in motion or at anchor by the connection to the GPS and automatically outputs the correct fog signals. The external loudspeaker can also be used for communication outside the boat due to its excellent function.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The graphic 48 St barometer is now also permanently installed and wired behind the small GPS. It is possible to store all data of the barometer on one of the Panasonik Toughbooks.
The sonar module FF-520 for our standard Horizon CP1000C GPS colour plotter is built in and the transducer is permanently mounted. The whole system is wired to the GPS plotter and functional. Now we have an extremely high-resolution 10" color sonar at our fingertips, it also shows us the speed through the water and the water temperature.
22.03.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
To install the battery monitor I had to remove the control system again. I never thought that the modification of the boat would take so long...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
I've installed a new 1500-gallon bilge pump.
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The new battery monitor, the LED dimmers and the new control panel are now fully installed.
25.03.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Even on my birthday I was not lazy and continued to work on the boat. I cleaned the boat once again from the inside and screwed on the Prop-Saver and now the propeller is relatively safe protected against ground contact. That will help during the expedition to protect the Prop against unpleasant contact with wood, sand, stones etc. !
27.03.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Today I passed the exam for the US Sail & Power Boat Driving License. This means that I can now legally drive boats in North America!
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
That's not all....
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Our radar arch for our various antennas is in production, despite a severe cold, it is built by Dave Blower of Patton Welding in Kalkaska, Michigan, and completely adapted to our needs!
01.04.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The snow has finally melted and the temperatures are bearable. The Arch is completely made of stainless steel....
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
There are enough mounting points for my various antennas...
04.04.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Hard to believe but it's snowing again in Kalkaska. All over northern Michigan is Blizzard warning.... -6.6 degrees "without wind chill..."
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
We have again housed the boat in the hall of South Boardman RV Service Center. It would be no fun to work at the Blizzard on the boat...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The construction of the antenna system is going well...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
All four solar fans are mounted! This should improve the room climate in the boat considerably...
05.04.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
It's been snowing all night...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The external antenna for the Iridium Sat-Phone is mounted.
The antenna system is finished, all antennas are connected, the cables are laid and everything works perfectly !
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Our food for 2 persons, for the whole expedition...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
90% of our food is organic !
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
I repacked almost everything to produce as little garbage as possible on the expedition...
06.04.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Still heavy snowfall with strong wind in Kalkaska, hard to believe that three days ago we had springlike temperatures and no snow !
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Tomorrow we will get the boat out of the hangar and test the weather station and the weather satellite system. In the next days I will clean the boat again thoroughly and let the whole electronics run for several days...
08.04.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
These watertight barrels are filled with food and are now lying in the new storage space under the V-Berth. Nevertheless, we still have plenty of space there. The bins also act as a buoyancy at the same time....
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
The water separator for the gasolin pipe I have mounted in a place where it is easily accessible...
14.04.2007
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Dan Pahman, Ralf Breier, Chris Breier, Doug Spencer & Jerry Miller from IonEarth / USA
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
ORCA is finally ready to go...
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun and the value of the boat is almost doubled !
© 2007 Copyright by Ch. Breier
Continue with: On the way to Canda
Only those who risk going too far, will discover how far they can go!
Expedition in USA, Alaska & Canada, Scandinavia with folding boat, motorboat, catamaran, motorcycle, off-road vehicle, bicycle ...
