Prairie 36 Improvements

Rails look great - thanks for sharing the pics. Reminds me that i need to rebed my stanchions on the back, i'm getting rust stains from underneath.

We removed the rear canvas on our back deck. Easier access for the dog and we like it feeling more open when we are sitting in the back. Makes it easier to see when backing into slip too.

This also reminds me of a question / post I made and never got a response, can't believe I stumped the forum?? Anyone with the same side step on the cabin ever had to be replaced? Mine is severely cracked now, and i cannot find anything similar -may have to be custom fabricated? thx

If you want a step exactly the same and can’t find one, why not use the old one to make a mold and make a new one out of fiberglass? Not too hard to do if you have a bit of fiberglass experience.

KneeDeep said:

Rails look great - thanks for sharing the pics. Reminds me that i need to rebed my stanchions on the back, i'm getting rust stains from underneath.

We removed the rear canvas on our back deck. Easier access for the dog and we like it feeling more open when we are sitting in the back. Makes it easier to see when backing into slip too.

This also reminds me of a question / post I made and never got a response, can't believe I stumped the forum?? Anyone with the same side step on the cabin ever had to be replaced? Mine is severely cracked now, and i cannot find anything similar -may have to be custom fabricated? thx

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If it were me, I would reinforce it from the inside. Grind all the bad stuff away, then lay some new fiberglass down and redrill the holes.
I did something very similar to this with a fiberglass fender I had on my RV.
Of course if fiberglass repair is not something you want to deal with, you could always make some out of teak or other nice wood.

FOG said:

I agree with you on the windage issue. But not sure if I would like the look, especially in the corners.
If the canvas was only between the stanchions, the corners would be open. I think that would look strange.
To put the canvas in the corners around the radius you would need some attachment points on the deck with the same curve. That’s more work and expense. A better look, but not sure if it’s worth it.
Definitely something to think about.
Thanks for the suggestion. Now I’ve got another thing on my list.

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If you use grommets and lash the canvas to the rails, you can wrap it around the corner.

boathealer said:

You could epoxy them into the bases (in addition to the set screws). That should add considerable strength.

If you need to remove them in the future, just apply a heat gun to the base.

Just a thought. (OOPS! I see I'm too late.....)

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Just drill right size hole in tube and tap and machine screw-now have best of both worlds-------- strong and removable!!

FlyWright said:

If you use grommets and lash the canvas to the rails, you can wrap it around the corner.

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That looks great!
I need to rethink some of my priorities.

If you can have the canvas hemmed to spec, you could add the grommets and lash it with parachute cord yourself. If you need close-ups of the lashing knots, let me know.

Thx for fiberglass ideas- heading to local shop tomorrow!

KneeDeep said:

Thx for fiberglass ideas- heading to local shop tomorrow!

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You’re welcome. Fiberglass is an amazing product. I was just repairing my battery box today when my neighbor came over in need of some repair on a vintage gas station pump. It had been repaired over 30 years ago but was delaminating. So we took the old off and put on a couple of new layers. Should be good for another 30. Great stuff.

Overpowered Prairie 36

Isnt the Prairie 36 a little over-powered with 500HP??

geoleo said:

Isnt the Prairie 36 a little over-powered with 500HP??

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Mine has 400HP (twin 200HP Perkins turbo diesels) and I consider it over-powered for trawler speeds.

But it's actually a semi-planing hull, and rumor has it I could get 13-15 knots out of it if I wanted to pay the fuel bill.

geoleo said:

Isnt the Prairie 36 a little over-powered with 500HP??

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I’m at 270 Total HP with the same engines as Tom, but NA.

I believe there are some out there with 4 cylinder engines and even less horsepower.

My President has twin Lehman 225s in it. Also overpowered a bit. We hit 17 knots on the sea trial. Usually run at 9 knots.

Holding Tank Progress - More Pictures

A few more pictures on my holding tank progress. I know how all of you like pictures.

I had a sailboat that had some PVC piping to the heads. At a survey trying to sell it the buyers surveyor wrote that PVC below the waterline was a no-no according to ABYS Standards. This is because the hull can flex and crack the PVC piping and sink the boat. I had to change to all hose to sell the boat.

PVC below the waterline is bad for things like engine intake lines, but the head will not sink the boat unless the PVC is on a discharge below the waterline. The discharge hose should be hose. Otherwise the PVC in a holding system may only fill your boat with something that smells but it won’t sink the boat. My boat has a long run from the forward head to the holding tank that is PVC. Been in the boat for years, no problems. The nice thing about PVC in the holding system is that it does not permeate.

Is Schedule 40 sufficient for the pumpout run or is Schedule 80 the only suitable PVC? My tank-to-pumpout fitting hose is due for replacement and I'm considering using PVC.

FYI all of my connections to the hull, deck, and toilets are with hose. In the third picture with the double “Y” there are two hose runs that go to the right. The larger upper one from the “Y” goes to the deck pump out and the smaller lower one from the elbow goes to the vent thru the hull. See the second picture for the deck and hull connections.
The hose connection to the left “Y” is capped for now. If I decide to install a pump, it will be hose from there to a sea cock and thru hull fitting.
Both toilets will have a short length of hose with a loop before connecting to the PVC hose barb fitting.
I hope that answers the concerns and comments.
I appreciate all the feedback.

Here is a before and after picture of the toilet installation. It shows the PVC hose barb connection to the hose to the toilet. Since PVC does not permeate, I used it in areas where there was any chance of standing sewage in the lines.
I hope that and the other pictures gives a better understanding of how I used PVC for this project.

FlyWright said:

Is Schedule 40 sufficient for the pumpout run or is Schedule 80 the only suitable PVC? My tank-to-pumpout fitting hose is due for replacement and I'm considering using PVC.

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Sorry I missed your question. But IMHO the answer is, yes.
I’m not a plumbing expert, but did some pvc research before I started my project. The difference between schedule 40 & 80 is the wall thickness. So schedule 80 will handle more pressure than schedule 40. From my notes schedule 40 is around 200 psi operating and about 5 times that for bursting pressure. Schedule 80 is about twice that. I also asked a coupe of plumbers and they said that schedule 80 was way over kill.
Since I was dealing with sewage and drains I wanted seep fittings. Sweep fittings are not for pressure, so I thought drain flow was more important than pressure.
I’m not sure how much vacuum a pump out creates, but I would bet that a hose would collapse before schedule 40 pvc.

Finished up the inverter installation. I took the easy route and wired the inverter to the starboard outlets. The outlet for the coffee maker, microwave, and aft head outlets (curling iron, etc.) are on the starboard outlet circuit.

Just had to move the buss bar down a couple of places, run a jumper to the circuit breaker above (port outlets), connect the inverter AC input to the buss bar, and the inverter AC output to the starboard outlet circuit breaker.

I like when things go according to plan. Not always the case when working on an older boat.

Just curious....did you install a large DC fuse holder between the battery and the buss bar?

There should be a class “T” fuse inline with the inverter.

I have a 300 amp fuse (2ea.) on order at Westmarine. It will go on the positive battery cable between the battery and the inverter.
The inverter is connected to a seperate battery, not my house batteries, so there is no buss bar.

Nice! Once I started using my inverter I wondered how I ever lived without it.

Mine was wired through a switch so I could take the inverter out of the circuit and feed the affected breakers directly from shore power. It wasn't really rated for the load, so I updated that.

Another switch I added allowed me to power the water heater from either "side" of the breaker panel. This allowed me to balance the loads better, and it's turned out to be very useful.


[Funny story; note how I'd inadvertently flipped off the bilge pump switch when I installed the new panel, just before I took this picture? This lead to an unplanned high-water bilge alarm test some weeks later.]

CaptTom said:

Funny story; note how I'd inadvertently flipped off the bilge pump switch when I installed the new panel, just before I took this picture? This lead to an unplanned high-water bilge alarm test some weeks later.

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I have a set if similar bilge pump switches at the end of my settee near the fwd steps. I'm constantly double checking them against unintentional bumps that move them to OFF. MANUAL on my switches is Momentary ON/Springloaded to OFF. I'm considering switch guards to prevent this.

FlyWright said:

I have a set if similar bilge pump switches at the end of my settee near the fwd steps. I'm constantly double checking them against unintentional bumps that move them to OFF. MANUAL on my switches is Momentary ON/Springloaded to OFF. I'm considering switch guards to prevent this.

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The whole panel on the Prairie is recessed, with a Plexiglas door, so no worries about accidentally hitting a switch just walking by. Only when you're installing a new mini-panel right next to it.

It did teach me to always check the bilge pump switches, and while I'm at it, test them. So it was a good lesson, albeit a bit of a heart-stopper when that high water alarm went off at a very inconvenient time.

CaptTom said:

[Funny story; note how I'd inadvertently flipped off the bilge pump switch when I installed the new panel, just before I took this picture? This lead to an unplanned high-water bilge alarm test some weeks later.]

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Interesting how Prairie 36’s were configured differently. I have no high-water bilge alarm. I do have two bilge pumps. Each with their own discharge hose and separate circuit breaker on the DC panel. However, when I got the boat only one bilge pump was installed and the hose to the other one was just laying in the bilge, no pump attached.

So I decided to install a second bilge pump next to the first one but put the float switch about a foot higher up on the post. Now after reading your post I think I might add a high-water alarm to that circuit.

FlyWright said:

I have a set if similar bilge pump switches at the end of my settee near the fwd steps. I'm constantly double checking them against unintentional bumps that move them to OFF. MANUAL on my switches is Momentary ON/Springloaded to OFF. I'm considering switch guards to prevent this.

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One of my bilge pump switches is like the one pictured in Tom’s photo. It works the same way as you have stated; Momentary ON/Springloaded to OFF. I wish there was a bilge pump switch that was; Momentary ON/Springloaded to AUTO. This makes more sense to me.

I installed the high-water alarm. I think the boat originally had 2 bilge pumps, each with its own breaker, and the on-off-auto switch looked like an afterthought. I added a 2nd similar switch for the other pump. There is also a forward bilge pump which I suspect was an add-on, too. It's wired to the windlass circuit directly off the starting bank, so it's "always on" even if the breaker panel is totally powered down. Not a bad backup.

I've toyed with the idea of a 4th, larger pump in the lazarette. Normally there's not much water there, except what weeps in around the rudder shaft logs, but if we took some sort of running gear damage it could fill fast. The other option would be mounting the larger pump a little higher than the mid pump, which is where the water normally ends up anyway.