Closet Puzzle, Engine Rooms, and OTA Antenna

Now that we've had the antenna in use for over a week, I thought I'd give a small update in that regards.  The over-the-air antenna was mounted on the mast because I wanted a reliable way to get the best reception without hanging rabbit ears outside my window.  It is a small powered HD antenna that I've also seen installed on other boats.....


....But it was a real test in "delayed gratification" because while we sat here at night without television, the antenna was mounted on the mast that laid next to our boat.  We'd keep ourselves busy watching DVD movies and surfing the net.  But now that its up and running, we at least have some local television.  Now that is not saying much at all - it has to be the worst selection of local programming I've ever seen.  There is a retro channel that has some stand-up comedy, old movies, and local attractions.  The other station plays the same local programs over and over mostly about the local restaurants and bars.  The last English speaking channel does have some MMA and old Dog the Bounty Hunter shows and I'm thankful to have it, if nothing else, its just background noise to pass the time at night while surfing and playing Xbox. 

Wow, real local programming from Key West

Over the air HD antenna mounted under the radar

With only a week before we leave, we continue to keep ourselves busy with other projects.  The other thing that we've worked on this week is cleaning up the clutter in the engine rooms.  The way this boat is set up (and one of the "must-haves" we wanted in a boat) is that the engines are not located under the aft berths.  They have their own entry hatches that are accessed from the outside of the boat on the walkway that runs between the hulls.  You step down to a platform above the engines - in that area is the pulley system for the rudders, the engine batteries, and the electrical channels for everything between 110 volt, 12 volt, and anything in between.  But this above-the-engines area is also a catch-all for a lot of junk too, not to mention that all the covers for the electric channels were off and just laying around - just makes it look incomplete and messy.

The channel covers in place - under this area is the port engine

But before we tackle the bilge system in the starboard hull, I got caught up in a little OCD today as the closet in the work cabin has been dismantled since the purchase.  And from the looks of it, it has never been put back together since the installation of the air conditioning system.  We know this because I had to modify the panels to accommodate the vent and hoses.  Makes me think the a/c system isn't very old or that the previous owner was very lazy and couldn't be bothered to put the closet back together.

We sorted through numerous panels there were stacked inside the closet and pieced it all back together again and then cut and trimmed where needed.  But to be honest, having this area dismantled to begin with made it much easier for us to run our new wiring - so hopefully I'm done accessing the area behind these panels, at least for awhile - I just can't leave things in a disassembled state forever.

  

The "before" picture

Notched for the saloon vent

A tad more civilized (yes, this is actually the size of a boat's closet)