For the hardcore cruisers who would like to know how Citla is outfitted, I'm including this page. Before you are too disappointed, be advised that the boat isn't overburdened with all the bells and whistles. There are things we'd like to have on board that we don't, but intend to upgrade as finances permit.
Ground tackle:
Our chain locker is split longitudinally into two compartments. We have a heavy, twin bow roller.
Our primary anchor is a 35# Delta plow with 30-feet of chain attached to 300-feet of 5/8" 12-plait nylon rode using a chain to rode splice. The splice is further protected from chafe with hand-sewn leather sections, closely spaced to prevent the splice from contacting the bottom yet allowing the splice to flex as it goes over the roller. The anchor is attached to the chain with a combination galvanized shackle to a Suncor stainless steel swivel. The shackle is secured with stainless steel seizing wire.
Our secondary anchor is a 25# Danforth with 30-feet of chain attached to 250-feet of three-strand 5/8" nylon rode, using a spliced stainless steel eye and shackle to attach the rode to the chain. The anchor is attached to the chain using a galvanized shackle, secured with stainless seizing wire.
Citla is not equipped with an anchor windless. Having a powered windless with a manual over-ride would be a useful upgrade to consider. Having a windless would allow for use of a longer section of chain (I'd consider 100' more than adequate). Contingencies for our current set-up would be to run the rode back to the primary winches should we need help raising the anchor.
We also have a 15# Danforth anchor on the stern pushput which serves as our stern anchor. We store the 20-feet of chain and 250-feet of 1/2" nylon three-strand rode in its own bucket in the lazarette.
Navigation Lights:
We have two sets of navigation lights. The original red-port, green-starboard and white stern light are all incandescent lights and are used while we're under power. We also have a mast-head tricolor LED which we use while we are under sail. The tricolor has also replaced our mast head anchor light with a white, all-around, LED light. The LED masthead light also has a white-light strobe function, which is not technically legal, but useful in an extreme emergency for calling attention to the boat.
There is also a combination steaming-deck light mid-way up the forward part of the mast. These lights are independently switched, with the steaming light being a requirement while we're under power at night.
The compass on the steering pedestal is lighted at night. The light is too bright for night navigation and we will be replacing the white light with a red bulb. The pedestal mounted Furuno model GP-31 GPS has adjustable green back-lighting at night, as does the Furuno 18-mile radar screen. We also make use of the Garmin model 76-CSx hand-held GPS chart plotter, fitted to the top of the steering pedestal with the associated wiring plug. It has adjustable back lighting. To the left on the port cabin bulkhead, the Windex indicator (red night light) is mounted just above the Signet Smart Pack depth, speed, log and water temperature instrument.
Other exterior lights include a bright cockpit light, mounted on the stern radar pole which is generally only used at dock to light up the cockpit for repair work at night. It's so bright it is not pleasing to use except for emergencies. We also have a hand held 10,000 lumen spot light which plugs in next to the helm station. We have a smaller, less powerful hand held spot light that plugs into the lighter socket just inside the companionway. There is a plug in cockpit LED, which also uses the socket plug and can be hung from various places on the dodger or bimini to provide soft light at anchor for dining or socializing in the cockpit. Of course night sailing also requires that each crew member carries their own flash light.
Interior Lighting and Air Circulation:
Interior lighting consists of three dome lights, two Alpinglow lights, seven swiveling brass reading lights, one chart table lamp and one hanging kerosene light. Two of the dome lights are dual lights and are mounted in the main salon. One is in the galley over the stove and the other is over the starboard settee. The white light is provided by an incandescent bulb and the red, night-light is an LED bulb. The third dome light is a rheostat operated, incandescent light in the quarter berth.
Of the two Alpenglow fluorescent lights, one is in the galley over the sink and it is a dual high-low red or white fluorescent light. The other is a high-low white light, only, located in the head.
The seven brass, swiveling reading lights are all halogen lights and are located in various areas. There are two in the quarter berth, two in the vee-berth, one at the nav-table and one each, port and starboard on the forward bulkheads in the main salon. In addition to the halogen reading lamp at the chart table, there is also a proper nav-light for night navigation. The brass kerosene lamp is located abaft the mast and over the salon dining table.
There are also a variety of battery operated press on and off LED lights in the boat. One is mounted on the top shelf in the head and provides indirect soft lighting in the head for night use. There is one mounted inside the liquor cabinet to provide overhead lighting there. There is one on the top shelf in the quarter berth for indirect soft lighting at night. There is also a multi-light LED mounted under the top step of the companionway ladder that serves to light the electrical panel on the bulkhead under the bridge deck. There are also mini-mag lights located throughout the cabin for easy access.
Ventilation is provided by two passive cowl openings to port and starboard; one over the stove and the other in the quarter berth. There are also two Nicro solar vents forward; one in the head, the other in the forward cabin. There is an aft opening Bomar hatch, on centerline over the main salon. There are eight opening port lights; one over the stove; one each forward in the salon, port and starboard; one in the head; one in the forward cabin; and, three in the quarter berth. In the quarter berth, one is located in the cabin side, one through the aft-cabin bulkhead and one at the foot of the berth, opening to the cockpit at deck level. There is also a large Bomar main hatch located in the forward cabin.
In addition to these openings, four electric fans have been permanently installed. There is one in each of the two cabins. The remaining two are installed in the main salon. One forward to starboard on the side top in front of the liquor cabinet, the other to port on the forward bulkhead of the quarter berth, above the nav-station. This adjustable mount can provide ventilation to the galley, the main salon or to the nav-station. In addition to these four installed fans, there are also two portable, battery operated fans that can be set up as needed anywhere in the boat.
Tankage:
Citla has fuel capacity of 45 gallons of diesel in a galvanized tank just abaft the propeller shaft. The fuel goes through a 0.5 micro Racor filter before being introduced to the in-line fuel filter and then onto the high pressure injector pump. In addition, we have dedicated weather boards capable of safely securing an additional 40 gallons of diesel (20 gallons per side). This gives us decent cruising range under motor.
Under each settee in the main salon are 75-gallon galvanized water tanks. These are plumbed so we can switch between port and starboard using a three way valve under the galley sink. We also usually carry another 10-gallons of bottled drinking water. We use the tank water for cooking and cleaning and the bottled water purely for drinking.
Our holding tank capacity is on the small side. We have a 15-gallon polypropylene tank installed under the port forward berth to contain our black water waste. The plumbing arrangement allows to pump directly overboard from the head or to divert to the holding tank (at all times except when we are well offshore). On the down-stream side of the holding tank, we can choose either to pump out using the deck fitting or directly overboard using a maceration pump. All black water hoses and the holding tank were replaced in 2006.
Navigation & Communication:
As already mentioned, at the helm, in addition to the compass, there is the Furuno GP-31 GPS unit along with the Furuno 1622 RDP125 18-mile radar. Installed on the aft starboard coach roof is the Signet wind speed and wind direction indicator. Mounted just below is the Signet Smart Pack, combination depth sounder, speed indicator, trip log and water temperature indicator. The hand-held Garmin 76-CSx color GPS plotter has a removable mount on the stainless steel arch at the helm, complete with a permanent power plug-in. The Garmin unit is loaded with Blue Chart data which covers from British Columbia to Patagonia.
An HP laptop is used for navigational purposes as well. The Blue Chart data also resides in the hard drive, along with a sight reduction program and a GRIB conversion program to capture weather data from the on board Sitex SSB receiver [given technical and reception problems by myself and others with this unit, I would rate this receiver as slightly better than junk].
Other navigation aides include several guide books to our cruising areas, along with a complete set of paper charts. A Davis Mark 15 sextant and the appropriate reduction tables are also on board along with a stop watch. A hand-bearing compass and two sets of binoculars round out our navigation equipment.
Three VHF radios are aboard. Permanently mounted is an ICOM-M422 with a Standard Horizons 6X1250S as a back-up. An ICOM-M32 hand-held VHF is the third radio. An Iridium 9505A satellite phone is carried for long range emergency communications while off-shore.
The boat is equipped with a Raymarine SPX-5 wheel (Oct. '10)controlled auto-pilot. The original equipment when we purchased the boat was a Raymarine ST4000 Plus wheel autopilot. It's since been upgraded to the SPX-5 unit. A more appropriate upgrade would be an under-deck auto-pilot. The Raymarine units are undersized for our boat and don't perform well in an irregular following sea. The decision to stick to the Raymarine unit was simply one of economics and not performance.
Electrical:
House power is provided by two 4D Lifeline AGM deep cycle batteries (new Oct. '10). There is also a group 27 AGM starter battery (new Oct. '10). These are kept charged with the Heart inverter and charger while plugged into shore power or by the 100 amp alternator when underway. The alternator is connected to the battery banks through a Heart Smart regulator set specifically for charging AGM type batteries. A Honda 2000ei generator was added (2012) to our electrical equipment.
For cruising, having a set of 80 watt solar panels would be high on our upgrade list. These would allow us enough power while cruising to save having to run our engine at anchor to recharge our batteries.
Safety:
At minimum, we care the requisite safety gear required by USCG standards. Hand held and 12 gauge rocket flares are carried, with the out-of-date flares relegated to our ditch bag. On board are both a bell and an air horn as our sound devices. There are three Halon extinguishers and one dry chemical extinguisher installed throughout the cabin space. Six type II adult life vests and one child type II life vest are on board.
We also carry four inflatable vests, three automatically inflatable with built in harness and one manually inflatable without the built in harness. There are two harnesses aboard along with four tethers. Nylon webbing jack-lines are part of the cruising equipment, as are two permanently mounted Wichard folding pad-eyes mounted in the cockpit. A suitably sized nylon web drogue is kept on the boat.
We have an Achilles inflatable dingy and a Mercury 6-hp, 4 stroke outboard engine that can double as a life raft in a pinch. However, the Winslow 4-person 40 SLSO life raft is carried for that single purpose.
In addition to the expired flares packed into the ditch bag, there is a registered 406 mHZ GPS personal locating beacon and our ships medical kit. Extra water and non-perishable food also finds a home there. Our SPOT transmitter and Iridium Sat-phone are also part of our long-range emergency communication devices.
We have three bilge pumps and an assortment of buckets to move water from where it doesn't belong to where it does. There is a Rule 500 gpm with automatic float switch installed in the bilge. At the helm station, there is a high capacity Whale manual pump installed on the starboard cockpit bulkhead. The third pump is a long stroke manual pump with a long discharge hose.
For emergency steering, there is the emergency tiller stored under the vee-berth. There is also a 5-gallon bucket with a nylon line bridal and reinforced bale attachments designed for use as a drogue rudder in the event the rudder is lost.
Sails:
Our sail inventory consists of our Quantum cruising mainsail (Oct.'08) with two deep reefing points and a 130% roller furling genoa (Oct. '08). Our head sail furling unit is a performance Harken design that is now 2-years old (new Oct. '08). We also have our old mainsail, which is in good condition; an ATN storm jib; a 110% jib; a 150% genoa; and, a 3/4 ounce symmetrical spinnaker with dousing sock. All running rigging, save for the main sheet were replaced with new in 2008.
