Downeaster Yachts.com

I was needing an upgrade for my office computer for work and needed a replacement computer that was super power efficient due to the nature of limited electric power on a boat when using an inverter to power stuff.

Here are the components I used to build a system that uses 15 to 17 watts of power sitting at the desktop browsing the internet. The 24 inch monitor uses another 21 watts of power.

Nothing special about the case other than the USB3 ports on the front and the space size constraints of where I planned on mounting it in the boat.. Any Matx compatible case would work. This memory is listed by model number by the manufacture of the motherboard as compatable. I spent a few extra dollars over the cheap memory but it is worth it to know it works. I had a hard time picking a motherboard. There were several good choices but this one had more sata 3 and usb 3 connectors and was a bit cheaper than other comparable motherboards. So far I am pleased with it. Here is where we get pricey. This power supply is one of the best of the best. It is rated platinum level which means it is 94 or 95 % efficient. It is fanless and even so after running for a month or two solid you can touch the power supply and it feels cool to the touch. I already had a pcie ssd card in my old computer with ubuntu linux installed on it and I just moved it over to this computer. The same with 2 3tb data drives. I purchased this to hold a database that needed the fast access and larger size. I went to order the i7-3770T processor but found the Xeon version [...]

David Gill of Tondelayo sent in some pictures of his current projects. I have to say they look nice. Below are a short description by him and pictures of each project.  If you have questions I’m sure you could get him to talking about it on the forums

Hi Scott,

I thought I’d send you an email with a few photos rather than trying to upload them into the forum. These shots show how to make a “steam box”to steam bend timber. It’s really easy. All you need is a heat source eg gas burner,a pot joined to some Stormwater pipe and away you go. Note that I used standard PVC pipe which loses it’s integrity above 60 degrees Celsius and it still worked however I believe it’s possible to get better quality pipe that will handle the steams elevated temp. Also,make sure you have a hole at each end to allow the release of the pressure that builds up. The trick is to get your timber finished to the desired profile before bending. I was working with hardwood and trying to bend it along it’s width which is probably the hardest possible technique but I still got results. (I went through a few prototypes prior to succeeding.) Happy to discuss further if anyone’s interested. Here’s some shots of Tondy’s floor. It took a lot of elbow grease to sand it back to bare timber before applying 1 coat of a mould inhibitor then  3 coats of Feast Watson Floor Clear Polyurethane. The good thing about this product is that if I want to tidy it up in a few years it just needs a clean and a light sand then you just put a fresh coat straight on. A word for the wise,If [...]