My 7 Galley Must haves on the Boat

My favorite galley 'Must Haves' on the boat?

I enjoy cooking on the boat! Breakfast can be an easy Bowl of Cereal and some fruit with Toast PB&J and of course Coffee and a side of OJ. Or it could be a full blown English Breakfast of Eggs, Sausage, Toms, Beans, with Blood pudding ( Black pudding ) if I can find it. Eggs Scrambled or Benedict, Florentine, Royale or Eggs Neptune if there is Crab meat available. But my cooking is not limited to Breakfast, although it is my favorite meal on the boat, just gets the day off to a good start.

I also like to bake Bread - ok, I love to bake bread, two loaves at least every week.

Deserts - of course.

So I need tools on the boat. Mixing Bowls and tools for whisking, frothing, vacuum packing, Blender and that is where I start my 7 must haves for my Galley aboard S/V Eximius.

#1 Blender

 Need to make smoothies or blend up a delicious sauce? We have plenty of 110v power on the boat but do I really want to run the inverter just for a minute of using a blender? Nope! In fact I prefer Rechargeable USB powered tools both in the galley and in the tool chest(s) . 

This blender is one we gave out for cruising gifts a few years ago, it's great. We don't make margaritas for a lot of guests but it's big enough to cope with ourselves and a couple of guests.

It fits in a galley storage cupboard and does not need to stay out on the counter.

Link to the Blender

#2 Vacuum Sealer

We nearly always prepare some packed meals and Freeze them, vacuum sealing is best. This rechargeable USB Vacuum sealer is great, we use it at home and on the boat when we go out for a week or more.

Again, easy to store, USB rechargable, the bags are easy to get and it works. 

Like all vacuum sealers, it's best to freeze the contents before sealing as the juices can impair the seal. 

Link to the Vacuum Sealer

#3 Hand Mixer

I have a Kenmore Bowl mixer at home, honestly, I rarely use it, heavy, awkward and definitely not one of my favorite kitchen tools.

After purchasing this in August 2023, this beats my Kenmore hands down. OK, I do not use a Stand Mixer for my bread dough, I knead it the old fashioned way, but if I'm making a Pavlova Desert, you can bet I'll pull this hand mixer out and whip up some cream in just a couple of minutes. It has 7 speeds, the mixing wands are easily washed and it's USB rechargeable. Love it

Link to Hand Mixer

#4 Milk Frother - USB of course

When I'm up for a nice Frothed up Milk in my Coffee - I'm ready for this tool.

I'll boil some milk ( ok, not actually 'boil' the milk ), pour it into the Stainless Steel jug and Froth it perfectly to add to my coffee.

Because it's USB rechargeable, and it takes up so little space, this is a must have on the boat.

I'm careful not to bend the twizzle, that would probably ruin the workings. It's 2 years old already and used frequently.

Link to the Milk Frother

Ok, enough of the USB Rechargeable kitchen tools. Now

#5 Bowls

At home I have two sets of mixing bowls but these are my favorites.

The pic shows a set of 6, it was only a set of 4 when I purchased them.

They don't slip around on the countertop, the lids are very secure. I use the largest two when rising bread - with the lids fully closed.

These are particularly useful on the boat as the contents stay inside in the event of, you know, a bit of boat movement.

I use the smallest size to make the Hollandaise Sauce by simply holding it in a pan of boiling water for a few seconds between stirring.

Link to the bowls

#6 Induction Cooktop

We're working our way towards eliminating the Propane on the boat. ( see the blog post about that plan, just search for it on the blog page ).

This single burner Induction cooker is a good start. Very efficient, does not heat the cabin like the propane cooker does all to often.

Energy efficient, heats the pans quickly and is easily stowed out of the way ( I put it below the oven)

Check it out via the link below.

Link to the Induction cooker

#7 Induction Pans

We had a full set of Magma pans, great but not Induction pans, gave them to the club's flea market program.

Found these on Amazon, and they are amazing. I'm obviously impressed by the Induction cooking option and these pans fit the boat needs.

The Lid only fits the smallest pan, but I found additional lids ( see below ) so now we can cook in a skillet and not worry about splashing the area around the cooktop.  The bag probably won't last 4E4 but for now they fit in the bag and it stows with the Induction cooker below the oven in the Galley. Oh! The handle is really solid does not slip on the rim of the pans. Love it. 

Link to the Induction Pans

Ok, that does it. Are their more things I really like in our Galley, of course! I'll post those later.

Meanwhile, I hope to see you on the water.

Paul

Rough day on the Ocean

Rough day on the Ocean off of Hillsboro Inlet

Lots of water under the bridge already this year, work is stacking up - need to get it done - boat projects are taking up space inside the boat, but the boat is back together and able to get away from the dock.

Our new dock is much closer to the Ocean, only 3 bridges and none of them are Railroad bridges. We have left the dock once before, last year, and then life got in the way. So we decided to just take the boat out to shake off the cobwebs. Could have chosen a better day!

Sun shining, balmy 70º (F), Sunday - not a day we would have left our old dock due to the crazy boat traffic on the New River. Forecast was for 10-15knts of wind from the N-NE, should be a nice sail up and down the coast, put in a few practices of heaving too, and make sure all of the lines that have been reconnected after the deck refinishing work. 

We have figured out the best time to head North from our dock is 55 and 25 mins off the hour. That puts us easily at the first bridge in time for either the 00 or 30 minute openings. We didn't leave the dock until 9:40 but we pushed the engine up to 3,200 rpm and surged towards the Atlantic Blvd Bridge. Using the Auto Guidance feature on our chart plotter, we determined we would arrive at the bridge at 10:02am, cool! The bridges normally don't start their opening procedure until the set time, so we should get there just as the bridge opens. I called the bridge on #09 and confirmed that we would be there on time. We continued our hustle along and frequently checking our arrival time.

As we approached the bridge, not yet ready to open, we slowed so that we could stay outside of the fenders, those big wooden fences that protect the structure of the bridges, and when within about 200 feet of the bridge, the bridge tender called on the radio telling us we were too late! Frustrated, I foolishly bantered back and forth but the bridge was not going to open on the hour!

That meant we had to practice doing donuts for nearly half an hour, during which time I relaxed a bit and completed some of the preparation for when we hoisted the sails: Unzippered the Sailbag, Released the dog-bone restraint on the Genoa Furler, checked all the lines were ready to hoist the sails and that the boat was prepared for Sea.

10:25am I called the bridge just to make sure they knew that we wanted the bridge to open - if no boat calls for an opening, they don't. The tender replied and just before 10:30am, the broadcast that the bridge was about to open.

It did! at 10:32am -- hold it in Paul! worse things happen at sea.

As we passed the bridge, I gave the usual 'Thanks for the Opening' call to the tender and we pushed our way towards 14th street bridge, due to open at 10:45am. We made it easily and waited for the bridge to open.  Now we're just bridge away from the Ocean.

The Auto guidance reported we would arrive at the Hillsboro Inlet Bridge at 10:55am, 5 minutes before the 11:00am opening. HI bridge opens every 15 minutes if boats request it.

We hung around well away from the bridge and could see several large vessels waiting to come through the bridge from the Ocean side. The tide was heading in towards the ICW, so it's curtesy to allow the downstream vessels to come through first as the tide is pushing those boats towards the bridge, it's not a huge wide bridge so there's not room for two boats at the same time, certainly when the tide flow is heavy, it gets a bit washy then.

Once the incoming boats were through, those of us waiting to go out started our maneuvers, it's a bit of a mad rush as some of the outgoing vessels were commercial charter fishing boats and they want to get out to the fishing spots.

Easily past the bridge, we headed for the inlet. Our plan was to stay to over to the South side of the inlet as we always review the latest Soundings before heading out.  We kept about 20yds off of the Green Markers off to our right and headed out to the HI Buoy. A couple of those charter boats pushed hard on their throttle just before they passed us and hammered us with their wakes. Worse was the belching of black smoke from their exhaust a true sign of rapid throttle movements causing excess fuel flow to the engine and not getting burnt efficiently. Either that or they had upcoming engine issues.

It's nearly always roughest at the inlet just as we pass the jetty on the South side, but today it was really rough. Our bow ploughed into the oncoming short period 3-4' waves probably on a few seconds apart. Not to worry, once we get out of the inlet it will calm down, hold on.

Seems I did not do a really good job of securing for Sea! I went down to the cabin to tidy up the boxes that had fallen to the cabin sole, it took a few minutes. We had just turned North to see if being off the wind would help cope with the grumpy waves.  We had been in much bigger waves several times, but the frequency of the waves were just right to make it a really uncomfortable 'fund day sailing'.  I asked Peggy if she was ok if we turned back if the waves did not easy up. They didn't, Peggy was ok with it.

So we turned around back towards the HI Buoy and just got beat up some more, but at least we were headed for the calmer waters inside the inlet.

We pretty much kept on top of our track from our departure and, as luck would have it, the bridge was open when we passed the inside end of the jetty on the South side. I recently learned that the jetty is named after one of club's past commodores - Jack Holland. I hailed the bridge asking if he could stay open for us. There were a couple of big yachts ahead of us and so the bridge had no issues holding for us. We followed the big boat but paused long enough for a couple of bigger fishing boats to come out. 

Once inside on the ICW I set the Chart plotter to Auto Guidance back to our dock - I need to document that process until I get used to it. The Auto guidance reported that we would get back at the dock at 12:22pm.    Think about that for a few seconds.

We left the dock at 9:20 am and should be back at the dock at 12:22pm  Three hours!

Due to usual delays getting past the two bridges our actual ETA changed to 12:33pm, it was an uneventful trip back to the dock. 

As we turned into the canal where our dock is located, I asked Peggy if she felt up to turning the boat as we keep the boat Starboard side to the dock. Pegs was fine if we donned our Eartec headsets so that I could give her directions.

Peggy's first time doing a 180º turn in a narrow canal was absolutely pefect! She moved over the South side of the canal, turned the wheel for a fast turn to Port, put the engine in reverse until we were turning quickly and just started to go astern. Then with the wheel still over hard, she put the engine in forward gear and gained steerage to complete the turn. Impressive, shame there was nobody near the dock to see her maneuver. Kudos Pegs!

Steering the boat towards the far end of our dock, Peggy got us so that I could reach the lines from on the dock using our boat hook. Then Peggy's headset fell off! She didn't hear my request to go astern  and we overran the line that goes from the dolphin pole to one of the dock poles and I'm struggling to stop the keel going over that line. We made the boat secure using another line and peggy grabbing the nearest dock pole. I'll have to adjust that line between the dock pole and the dolphin pole. so that it's more of a barrier.

Safely along side, we agree that we need to figure the lines out so that they are better positioned for when we come alongside. Either that or have the boat facing West at the dock. That's not the most comfortable position as we do get some rocking wave action from the end of the Canal anytime a boat creates a wake on that part of the ICW.

Time for a break, we had our Subway Sandwiches before the boat was ready to leave at the dock. We followed our usual process of preparing the boat before leaving. 

• Remove the electronics from the Helm.
• Remove the starter key and store in it's regular location in the cabin.
• Install the helm cover.
• Secure the Genoa Furler with the canvas dog bone.
• Close the Mainsail Cradle Cover zipper and secure the mainsheet to prevent mast slapping.
• Remove the Depth/Speed/Temperature transducer and install the blank plug
• Close all of the thru hulls
• Turn off all electrical devices except the Victron system.
• Pack up everything that needs to go home.
• Close up the cabin openings.
• Lock up the Cabin companionway. 
• Look around the boat to see if anything else needs tending to.
• Step ashore, adjust the lines to allow the boat to move off of the dock.

The boat needs a washdown, we had plenty of salt water spray over the bow and there's still bird poop on deck despite the light rain during our trip back to the dock.

Good day????

Yep, any day that we can get the boat out and back is a good day.  There's a lot more coming.

Oh, this was my birthday trip - made it even better.

We'll be out on the water soon! Hope to take some crew out for a day sail.

See you out there.

Keep the stick up and the keel down.

• Last loo
• Secure the boom amid ships

Cost of upgrading the LiFePo4 battery bank

All of the materials are in now to figure the total cost.

I visited the Pacer Group in Fort Lauderdale this morning, it was a grotty day, windy, rainy and expensive! Actually cheaper than Amazon, but still it's a lump of money.

The new batteries from Chins cost a total of $420, including shipping and tax. 

I paid $525 for the 18' of 4/0 AWG Red, 18' 4/0 AWG Yellow, 6' of 1/0 AWG Red, 6' of 1/0 AWG Yellow and a Blues Seas 4 Position Switch ( Continuous rating of 300Amps ). That worked out about $80 less than Amazon.

I have previously purchased a 300Amp Fuse block, 100Amp and 300Amp fuses, a 300Amp Terminal Block, appropriate Heat Shrink Tubing. All in all, the cost of the project so far is just over a $1000. It had better be worth it.

The next challenge is to get the old cables out of the conduit tubes that run from the stbd side of the bilge to the port side adjacent to the holding tank. Then !!! pulling the new 4/0 cables through the conduits. Lots of lubricant will be involved. The 4/0 cable is Tinned Fine Strand, so it does bend nicely, it came on a spool with an internal pin of about 4" and the conduit smallest radius is about 6" so bending is not an issue. 

The folks at Pacer Marine Group were really helpful, they cut and rolled the wire in less than 10 minutes. There Store has lots of good stuff - I purchased the Blue Seas 4 way switch as it is much smaller than the one ordered from Amazon which just won't fit where I hoped. Pacer has probably every item you could want from Lugs to Switches, all sizes of Heat Shrink, Terminal blocks and every type of wire.  Impressive. The front desk team were really helpful and had a great attitude.  I'll probably go back again for some future project. 

Meanwhile, I need to get down to getting this job done and I do have a ton of work keeping me busy, and We Want To Go Sailing.   Our next opportunity is to celebrate my Birthday, following that is the Fellowship Race on February 15th, that should be a great sail! Saturday Race to Lake Worth, Sundary, Race back, Sunday evening it's Chilli Cookoff.   Hmmm, going to be a challenge to cook chilli while racing South on the Ocean from Lake Worth to Hillsboro Inlet.   Will the new batteries be installed by then???? I'm trying!

See you on the water.

Installing the new LiFePo4 batteries.

Installing the final (?) two LiFePo4 Batteries. 

January 12th. 2025

Between Work, Home and Family, I keep squeezing time for the boat. In the works is the last part of the upper deck refinishing of the non-skid areas - The Coach Roof which extends from forward of the mast to the sides of the companionway hatch. It's all masked off, I have the painting materials and the weather is looking good to get it done.

Meanwhile the final pieces for the addition of the 4th & 5th batteries are arriving despite one package getting damaged before it was even delivered. Waiting on the Switch, Terminal Block, additional Fuses and the Terminal ends.  I have to go to Fort Lauderdale to get the 4/0 AWG cables ( Red & Yellow ). The Batteries are on the boat but I need to make the hold down straps and secure them with the Stainless Steel Footman Loops. 

Of course theirs Work too! That helps pay for the upgrades & maintenance on Eximius. And I have a Family too! Peggy & I have a life and a Granddaughter whom is really a major part of our lives. She loves Ice Skating and we get to see her skate nearly every week. As she skates several times a week, it's easy for us to fit in a couple of hours to go see her. Love that kid.

Ok, it's time to do some work, Sewing, Taxes, and Home maintenance. 

Wednesday Jan 15th.

Taxes are done, 4th and Final coat on the Cabin top non-skid. Got some sewing done. 

Most of the Parts for the new Battery install have arrived and I checked with Pacer Group in Fort Lauderdale and they have the cable in stock. I should get them this week, 14' of each 4/0 AWG Red and 4/0 AWG Yellow.

I have figured out where the components will be located. The new +ve Fuse Block and the -ve Terminal Block will be located on the inside of the storage area with the two new batteries, the -ve Terminal post will be located on the base of the main battery compartment and the new 1/2/Both/Off switch will take up the space of the old switch, may need to move the existing -ve Terminal Block near the old swtich as the new switch is much larger.

Now to get some sewing done. I have to pay for all of this stuff.

See you on the water.

Adding Chins Batteries

The additional Batteries Arrived.

The new Batteries arrived on Jan 3rd, about the time I expected them anticipating delays due to the holidays.

I was initially concerned that they were not the 'Smart' / 'Bluetooth' models as the EE-BMS did not find them. There is no indication on the outside of the batteries that suggests they are the 'Smart' type. The three existing batteries on the boat are all Chins Smart 100Ah 12.8v LiFePo4 batteries, the same as I ordered.

Reaching out to Chins customer service and sending them an image of the battery labels, I asked if they could confirm the batteries are 'Smart'. Overnight, Peggy asked if they show up on the Phones list of nearby Bluetooth devices. DUH! So I checked, and they did show up. Well that's annoying. 

In the morning Chins replied that I should use the BAT-BMS not the EE-BMS - Duh#2. I really should RTFM. So I downloaded the BAT-BMS and it found the one battery but not the second.  Another email to Chins. They responded in a couple of hours advising that I should charge them and then discharge and recharge them. "some batteries require a simple charge and discharge before they can be linked.".

Ok, that worked.

I put one battery on charge using a LiFePo4 4Amp Charger. It was only 50% charged according to the charger.

After charging it overnight I disconnected the charger and attached a bilge pump that was sitting in a bucket of water. Discharged for 5 hours but still could not see the battery on the BAT-BMS app. 

Charged it for another few hours and then it showed on the App.

Left it charging until it showed 100% on the App.

Then I repeated that process on the second battery and the same outcome. Now both batteries show on the BAT-BMS app and both are charged 100%

With the batteries ready, I placed the order for the additional Fused Terminal Block, Fuses and Switch. They should arrive next week. I'll head down to the boat tomorrow and confirm if I need to upgrade the wiring from the battery box to the Victron Multiplus Inverter Charger.

I'm busy working this week, so not going to get much on this project done plus, I'm expecting the order from Jamestown Distributors so that I  can complete the refinishing of the top deck. That should take 4 days with two trips to the boat each day.  So a busy week.

We're getting there.

Update - Thursday Jan 9th. 2025

As per the plan ( and Chins advice ) I wired the two new batteries in parallel and left them connected for 24 hours.

Result: Both battery packs are within 0.01 volts of each other, the highest and lowest cells are similarly within 0.01v 

Before you jump on me for the thin cables --- I checked the current flow and it was initially a max of 1.2amps and quickly dropped to 0.9.

Just for my records. 

Here's screenshots of the two batteries displayed in the BAT-BMS after the 24hours of Parallel connection.

I like that the App allows for switching between each of the connected ( connected to the App ) batteries rather than have to back out and select another battery in the EE-BMS

The rest of the equipment is on it's way and should arrive this week. I'll go down to the boat today and check if I need to upgrade the cables from the batteries to the Victron Multiplus.

Should be able to get to finish this upgrade next week.

Target date is January 23rd - hope to get the boat out with some buddy boats.

See you on the water.

Short Update Friday January 10th.

Amazon has lost part of my order for the components of the upgrade. Just a delay of a few days I hope.

I was able to take the batteries down to the boat and physically put them in their new home. I had to relocate some consumables - Oil, Coolant, Greases etc. I found some were duplicated so I brought them home. The bag containing the extras actually felt heavier than the two LiFePo4 batteries. 

I updated the wiring diagram as I'm going to have to relocate some of the cabling between the Selector switch and the Shunt & Victron Multiplus.  

Again, see you on the water.

Adding a Forth & Fifth LiFePo4 Battery

Adding a LiFePo4 Battery

We have a 300Ah of 12.8v LiFePo4 Battery Bank consisting of 3 100Ah 12.8 Batteries in Parallel.

Because we have the power, we're converting our Propane Gas Cooker to an Induction Cooktop and an Air Fryer Combo Oven. That's a bit much for 300Ah, even adding one more battery would make a substantial difference.

Our 3 batteries can be charged at 50Ah each, or 150Ah and that is less than the output of our 100Amp Alternator. Although, when we had the alternator tested a couple of years ago, the shop ran it up to 150Amps and we have it tuned down to 75% by our Balmar 618 external regulator.

Ok, so what do I need to change in order to add a 4th or even a 5th battery.

First all of the batteries have to be similar. The original are all Chins 100Ah 12.8v Smart LiFePo4 Batteries and they only have around 30 cycles out of 2000+. I have just purchased 2 identical batteries. When they arrive I'm going to disconnect the existing 3 batteries, charge the new battery with an standalone charger and then put all of the batteries in parallel for 24 hours. They should balance out within a few millivolts of each other. Then I'll reconnect the batteries.

The fuses in the Positive lines are to protect the wiring, so they will limit the Amps below the Ampacity of the existing wires.

Adding the additional batteries should not be an issue. We're not looking to get higher ampage, but more Amper hours. ie. The ability to run our Inverter to power our Air Conditioner or our Electric Induction cooktop or the Air Fryer combo for a longer time.

Where to locate the new batteries?

This is a challenge, the existing battery box is not large enough to add any more batteries, so they will have to be located elsewhere. There is a storage area immediately forward of the battery box, it's currently used for fluid storage ( Oils and Greases ) and a few miscellaneous things, easily moved to a new location.

How to connect the new batteries.

The cables from the Bus Bars must all be the same length to each battery. So I'll make up 2 sets of Positive cables and negative cables to match the length of the existing cables. 

In order to keep the wires all the same length, I'll update the wiring to the following diagram.

The Battery +ve cables will all be the same length and so too the -ve cables. I may have to make all new cables if the existing cables are too short to reach the new battery terminals. 

The Battery On/Off switch will be replaced by a 1,2,Both,Off switch. The new Busbar will have similar 100A MRBF fuses just like the existing +ve Busbar. This will allow isolation of either of the battery banks.

The new Switch should fit inside of the hole for the existing switch and it can be flush mounted, should be an easy swap out.

The terminal block fuses are 100Amp MRBF fuses

However, the Alternator has a max output of 100Amps and the Victron Multiplus has a max charging current of 120Amps. The Multiplus has a max output of 3KW but we'll never normally reach the max, the Multiplus would draw 250Amps at Max inverter output.

Using the BoatHowTo website wiring calculator, it confirms that 4/0 AWG cable size.

I need to check the cables to the Inverter. The Ampacity of 4/0 AWG is 300amps. So that wire size would be good. The connections on the Multiplus are M8 Bolts. I have a hydraulic crimper that has M8 crimp dies ( for lugs that have a 8mm diameter).  

Expensive! 4/0 Cable is required to go from the Connection to the System all the way from the Battery Selector Switch. That's about 10' or 20' round trip. Checking online, 20' is about $180 but have to get 30' ( 15' +15' ) just to ensure there is enough cable and that's $270 ( 15' of 4/0 Red & 15' of 4/0 Black, I could not find Yellow on Amazon, but did on the Pacer Group website, and it is available by the foot and is local in Fort Lauderdale. Win Win. 

So the switch and the fuse terminal blocks will be from Amazon and the cable will be from Pacer Group.

This is coming together nicely.  I contacted Chins about the 5 batteries in Parallel and they advised that I follow the procedure I had described above.

Now I just have to wait for the arrival of the Chins. They are shipping from California and it is Holiday week ( Christmas ) so I don't expect them for at least 7 days. Of course, then it will be New Years mid week, so that might delay them a few more days. So it looks like they will arrive in January, I'll order the other items then and should be able to put this all together by the end of January.  Then it will be time to remove the Propane system. I'm actually getting excited to be making this upgrade.

I'll add a link here to the next post on this project.

See you on the water!

Paul

New Dock - New Fenders

Our new dock needs a big fender

The old dock height was a bit lower than the new dock ( hey, this is South Florida and just about every dock rebuild results in raising the height of the dock to maintain the structural integrity of the Sea wall), and the tidal range is also slightly higher ( closer to the coast ).

So I purchased an Inflatable Fender from Amazon. A friend had purchased something similar for his 44' Tollycraft before starting in the Great American Loop and by all accounts is still going strong.

I chose the long cylindrical version and must admit it's pretty good for $100.

The fender seems really well made, welded seams, strong attachment points ( SS D-Rings ), however!!!

The inflation valve is not the same as on our Zar Dinghy and I have an adapter for the Zar on our Electric Inflator pump, it does not fit the valve of the Fender! Grrr. The nearest I could find was on Amazon.

It does not fit with that Orange seal, but I replaced that with an 'O' ring and that works just fine, the leakage from the valve during inflation is not enough to be any issue at all.

I'll have to figure out an easy method of switching the adapters over from the Fender Adapter to the Dinghy Adapter, right now I'm using Gorilla Tape It's not that we use the inflator pump that often.

My only concern is that the material (PVC) may decay due to UV in the South Florida Sun, so time to upgrade the fender before it's first use.

Using Sailrite Boat Blanket material, I made a cover that includes most of each end.

It's a simple cover, darts at the ends to wrap it around the curved ends and 2" Velcro Hook material to close the cover around the fender.

The plan is to hang the fender over the edge of the dock between two pilings.

We'll only take the fender with us if we are planning to raft up with another boat, that's typically about once a month.

All of our other fenders are covered in the same material. It has lasted without any deterioration since 2016 = 8 years. So the new fender should last.

The result is impressive enough that we'll buy a second fender, I have plenty of the material to work with.

See you on the water.