Sandpiper gets a facelift

Sandpiper is a 2006 Ocean Alexander 42 Sedan powered by twin 6LY2A-STP Yanmars. (440 hp) Although the boat was in pretty good condition when I bought her, I have been trying to get her to like new condition for the last year. I'm almost done as we have decided to change out the carpeting on the fly bridge and throughout the salon & Staterooms. She also is sporting a new suite of electronics. Plotters, AP, fish finders with "down vision", radar & much more. I'll never recoup the money I've spent but this is the boat my wife & I want.


I recently had the cockpit teak cleaned for the first time in the boat's life. I can't believe the difference!

you must be neater than I, that teak that close to my grill would look like the BP Deep Water Horizon spill in no time...

Looks great!

I'd say well done Walt but we've come to expect perfection with your boats. Maintained with an open checkbook is a phrase thrown around far to easily. It does however describe you and Mark Pierce's maintenance programs to a T.

Sandpiper is one pampered princess!

Capt Walt getting it done! Looks great

I love your boat!

Maybe a dumb question but is there a special boat carpet? Different than residential carpet?

psneeld said:

you must be neater than I, that teak that close to my grill would look like the BP Deep Water Horizon spill in no time...

Click to expand...

psneeld, It's all for looks....we never use it! Seriously, the new Magma grilles are great! Everything is directed to the drip pan and we use aluminum foil in the areas of possible drips. The "angle" of the barbecue housing does 99% of the work, however.

Walt,
Whadda try'in ta do fill up the hole in the water w money?

Nomad Willy said:

Walt,
Whadda try'in ta do fill up the hole in the water w money?

Click to expand...

Eric,

I'm fast approaching my 76th year and I've never had a new electronic suite. My kids have been informed that my plan is to spend my last $100 30 minutes before my death. I realize that someday someone is going to get a great boat when they BUY Sandpiper and that the money I'm spending will never be recouped. Besides, the direction that the country is going in will provide everything they need for free!

Tunajoe said:

Maybe a dumb question but is there a special boat carpet? Different than residential carpet?

Click to expand...

Not that I know of but a good commercial grade for the interior and bridge is what others in my marina are doing. Now, if I could only get Larry to photoshop some darker carpet in the photo, I would be ecstatic!

That leather/leatherette looks fantastic! Great contemporary look there!

Ch

Codger2 said:

Eric,I'm fast approaching my 76th year and I've never had a new electronic suite. My kids have been informed that my plan is to spend my last $100 30 minutes before my death.

Click to expand...

What better place to spend the kids inheritance but on the boat.

Nomad Willy said:

Walt,
Whadda try'in ta do fill up the hole in the water w money?

Click to expand...

No, just trying to update a 13 year old boat for one hell of s lot less than buying new.

My latest, just days ago, was replacing 12 year old TVs with new smart TVs and a Glomex antenna.

I now have HD on the boat and no more Direct TV monthly bills.

Looking good Walt. Keep spending those boat bucks. Every time we look at how our offspring spend money, we feel we better get rid of ours first.

Isn't that Lefty putting? Does your Glomex work offshore? What channel package do you receive?

sunchaser said:

Looking good Walt. Keep spending those boat bucks. Every time we look at how our offspring spend money, we feel we better get rid of ours first.

Isn't that Lefty putting? Does your Glomex work offshore? What channel package do you receive?

Click to expand...

The flag would support a right hander putting...

There is no package (to my knowledge) with the Glomex antennas. They pick up the cities you are within 40 miles of and with no mountains in your way. (Example) When I'm on Catalina Island, I get all the LA channels. (26 miles away and all water in-between.)

In my slip I get 63 channels, many of which are in Spanish. (Tijuana?) I have 23 (English) that are in my "favorites." Very impressive for an "over the air" antenna and in HD too! If you Google Glomex, you'll see all the different models....mine is a 14incher and was $105+ installation. $325 total. if you have Direct TV or Dish on your boat, you can disconnect the antenna and re-attach it to the Glomex. (Or Shakespeare!) It should be noted here that old TVs probably won't work as their tuners aren't up to snuff like the newer LEDs & smart TVs are.

Codger2 said:

No, just trying to update a 13 year old boat for one hell of s lot less than buying new.

My latest, just days ago, was replacing 12 year old TVs with new smart TVs and a Glomex antenna.

I now have HD on the boat and no more Direct TV monthly bills.

Click to expand...

Walt, have you tried streaming TV content into your Smart TV with a phone wifi hotspot? I recently added a Roku stick to my non-smart TV and link to my cellphone 4G for data when I'm away from my marina wifi source.

I watch our favorite channels with a YouTubeTV subscription of $45/mo. I'm impressed with how well it works. Sometimes, when I'm at the edge of coverage in some of my remote fishing spots, the content will buffer but usually it's just great!

FlyWright said:

Walt, have you tried streaming TV content into your Smart TV with a phone wifi hotspot?

Click to expand...

I haven't got that far yet......Still finishing off the little TV in the Master stateroom. I can't believe the resolution for an OTA antenna though.

One of the best things I've ever added to the dinghy!

You'll never again have to say, "Hold my beer and watch this!"

Codger2 said:

I can't believe the resolution for an OTA antenna though.

Click to expand...

FWIW, resolution isn't a function of the antenna. If the antenna receives, signal strength "good enough" for your TV tuner... the combination of new digital broadcast (from the sender) and your TV tuner is what gets you whatever resolution.

IOW, given a decent over-the-air (OTA) HD digital signal, the tuner does all the resolution work. The picture quality would be the same if you used a coat hanger -- assuming you're close enough to a decent broadcaster for the coat hanger to work.

-Chris

ranger42c said:

FWIW, resolution isn't a function of the antenna.......

IOW, given a decent over-the-air (OTA) HD digital signal, the tuner does all the resolution work.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Chris! AllI can say is that a new TV with a modern tuner makes all the difference!

FlyWright said:

Walt, have you tried streaming TV content into your Smart TV with a phone wifi hotspot?

Click to expand...

All I know how to do is turn the hot spot on my phone on. After that, what do I do?

On FW, I turn on my phone's hotspot and power up my Roku stick in my TV HDMI port. I select the phone hotspot as the Wifi source on Roku settings then watch streaming TV on YouTubeTV via Roku. It works like a champ in my area. If I can receive cell data, I can watch streaming news/entertainment content.

How much data do you use watching TV? We don’t really use much data so we have a rather small plan now. Thinking about upgrading the data plan but have no idea how much data gets used just streaming.

Comodave said:

How much data do you use watching TV? We don’t really use much data so we have a rather small plan now. Thinking about upgrading the data plan but have no idea how much data gets used just streaming.

Click to expand...

I have an unlimited data T-Mobile plan so I don't pay attention to the data used.

FlyWright said:

On FW, I turn on my phone's hotspot and power up my Roku stick in my TV HDMI port.

Click to expand...

I activated my iPhone's hot spot and went directly to "Prime Movies" on my Smart TV. Since I'm a Prime member, now I don't just get free shipping, I also get tons of free movies! (BTW, no monthly bills.)

Horn Problems on Sandpiper

Continuing the facelift of Sandpiper, I decided to replace the entire electric horn system. The horns were corroded, leaking air and the compressor was running intermittently.

I had the entire system replaced ( horns, solenoid. pressure switch & accumulator) with the same brand (Grover) and now the compressor runs even after a 1 second blast! The time the compressor runs is 25 seconds to several minutes depending on how long the horn is used. Once it shuts off, it doesn't run again until the horn is activated again. Numerous contacts with the company have resulted in "that's the way the system was designed to work" answers. The old system, when it was working, never ran after each horn activation. ????????????