SV Trinity34' Performance Cruising 105 MC 2003

Our cruising with TRINITY over the past 20 years has mainly been around South Florida, although we did make a trip up to the Chesapeake Bay early on. We spend a lot time on anchor or mooring balls and are rarely in marinas. The boat is stored on land during the summers. I designed the dual switchable fuel filter assembly to overcome the problem of filter plugging in rough conditions such as high speed wakes stirring up sediment in the fuel tanks. The fuel polishing device was designed to remove water and sediment from the fuel tanks. It’s electric fuel pump plugs into a cigarette lighter receptacle and has an on-off switch on the device. The semirigid wand is pushed down the fuel tank fill pipe. A bulb pump in line primes the fuel pump, fuel is returned to the tank after passing through a water separator. Bubbles of water are visible in the clear tubing allowing you to move the wand to the most productive location in the fuel tank. By the way, the fuel pump on the polisher can replace the engine lift pump in case of failure.

Anchoring improvements include the manual windlass with which I can maintain adjustable tension on the anchor chain as it is being deployed with the boat in reverse. To pull the anchor I usually pull the chain in by hand as Linda motors forward, until almost over the anchor. Then I use the windlass to tension the chain. Finally I attach the permanent chain hook which is attached to the anchor cleat, slack off the windlass, then Linda throttles up over the anchor breaking it out. Then the windlass pulls the anchor onto the bow roller and the chain hook is reattached to the chain and the anchor is securely tied down. The manual windlass is light weight without requiring bow mounted batteries or switches. 

While sleeping aboard at anchor I would be aware of small waves slapping the hull. Any change in the noise would wake me up. I modified the hulls to deflect the wavelets and quiet the boat. These features are labeled “Wave slap silencers” in the photos.

I replaced the original smallish bow cleats with large bow cleats to facilitate the bridle on the anchor rode. The bridle lessens the tendency of the catamaran to tack back and forth in a breeze. I use a large wood pin to attach the bridle to the nylon rode. This arrangement is much easier and quicker to detach than knotting the bridle to the rode. The original bow cleats were moved to the stern to attach dinghy lines which keep the dinghy stable in good sailing weather. 

The sail locker and the port and starboard lazarettos, as built, have plywood floors painted with gel coat. I bonded fiberglass over the gel coat to protect that floor from leaking into the living spaces. I have painted the insides of hatches and covers to make mold cleaning much easier. The cockpit floor is covered with Dri-Dek tiles which keep footing secure even when rain or seas are wetting the cockpit. They also keep leaves from plugging up the cockpit drains during lay-up. 

We carry extra diesel fuel in five, 5 gallon containers stored in the lazerettes. The containers allow us to transport fuel to the boat without having to move to a fuel dock. We also use the containers to filter the diesel into the main tanks through a Baja filter. We use a 4 part block and tackle off the boom to raise the container and fuel is siphoned into the filter. No fuel dock fuel goes into the tank without being Baja filtered. I use an aluminum bar as a fuel gage since the factory gages never worked. The bar Is painted for easy reading. The calibration is 1.66 gallons per inch of level. 10.5 inches is full. 

I have custom designed lower-able screens on the windows on each side of the cabin door. All the screens are no-seeum proof, a real necessity when anchoring in unpopulated areas like Little Shark River.

The original Dometic refrigerator failed and was replaced in Dec. 2007. In Dec. 2013 The fan over the cooling coils failed. I replaced the noisy cobbled up fan with two computer fans connected in series, which draw 0.19 amp. More air flow, less noise and power drain.

I have a port and a starboard steering cables as spare parts. There is a description how to maintain and lubricate steering cables. Special tools are included and described. 

The original 2 solar panels have been replaced with a single full width Kyocera 270 watt panel. A Blue Sky Solar Boost MPPT Charge Controller 1524iX efficiently charges the 4 AGM batteries. LED lights have replaced the original main salon lights. More light for less power. 

And on and on. 

Tom Jessop