Sail Life - Dometic Breathe & underwater photo fun 

The one thing in life I have NO doubt about is Mads passing his exam.

That sounds like you are pretty active in searching for a new boat / project! Sanding 24/7 sounds like a dream but for sure we will be missing Athena. ;-)

The Dometic air purifier came with a drilling template! That’s a win in Mads’ book.

Calipers sitting on the table on a boat. A man after my own heart!

Since you are so prone to sea sickness from folly seas, even ar anchor, you should seriously consider a catamaran as your next boat. My husband sailed sloops for YEARS, then ONCE we joined some friends at the BVIs. They rented a cat from the Morings for a week, and we really liked it. While it’s a bit more expensive at marinas, it was so much easier to stay in a small cove. The added room was so nice. As a live aboard, it would have been perfect.

So entertaining ! “Rooting up a storm” and “great big bubble blowing voyeur” huge LOL Georgia is the delight of the ICW. South Carolina too. Nature at its best Skip Fl

My wife and I did the ICW and loved it! Interesting and different landscapes than we’re used to

You are a truly good guy

The ICW. WE took it from Cape Canaveral all the way to the Sassafrass River. What wonderful memories ! 6’ draft in murky water keeps the helmsman very alert every minute . I look forward to doing it again. If you budget a generous amount of time you will soak up that experience and have stories to tell. ⛵️

After decades living aboard, I can state that the very best hoses money can buy only fight sewage “odors” for a few years in cold climates, and two years max in the tropics. Sadly, our polyethylene holding tanks also become saturated with funk. Therefore All toilet plumbing (and tanks) requires replacement more frequently than we wish. I have tried adding layer upon layer of caulks and even smeared tubes of 5200 to existing sewage hoses hoping an additional thick “skin” might buy time…all to no avail. And we love ya Athena !

Please consider buying a dive flag float and display the traditional diver down flag and the international dive flag,then boaters will steer wide of your float,I doubt they would observe your flag in your rigging. Just a thought for safety,best of luck.

I always found that "Multiple choice" questions turned out to be "Multiple GUESS"!

Thanks for the update on your projects. Take care and have a wonderful week ahead

About hurricanes, after 30 years in Florida I can tell you that every year is going to be the most active year, or "above average" year.... It gets old.

Like a goldfish, Mads has grown into the dimensions of his home. Remember when he was living on Obelix and working on Athena? Athena seemed so gigantic then, and now she's bursting at the seams. Also, the poor gassy Dometic models. I always wondered what prompted people to smile and laugh and pose in a sweater for Herpes medication ads.

If you're looking for a project you may want to tackle reinforcing your boat for a possible knockdown in the Southern Ocean.

TG6 is a wonderful camera. I purchased it when it was released, and it went with us in many saling boat rental we had, works FLAWLESSLY. Incredible in salt water, not a single rust spot. I just rince it with fresh water each time.

Maas, consider getting a MUCH LARGER dive flag. If you don't already know about Matt & Jess who are building there own cat across the bay from Annapolis MD, then you need to touch base with them about know a place to build your dingy. Also you all need to MEET !!! ru-vid.comvideos Enjoy the ICW !!!

Good choice of camera Mads. I do like mine. You can use them without a housing down to 50ft. I also use the FD1 flash diffuser which can happily go underwater too. It is a bit directional though and spiders seem to want to jump on it for some reason. It is my first choice for quick macro photos.

When you get to the Chesapeake, come on up to the James River. You can anchor around Hog Island, which helps create a giant lake in the James. Come a-shore and visit Jamestown and Williamsburg.

RE: digging tool. You really should have a dive knife strapped to you for any line entanglements but more importantly for this activity, dive knives have a blunt tip made for prying/digging.

I am long-time uw photographer. That is a good system. Hint you always need to add light for color correction. Learn to aim and position your light correctly.

To get around the low-vis issue while digging, you can easily knock up an air lift system. Just a hose with an air bag to float one end and a tee close to the bottom. The air bag should be inflated just enough to float the end up, without pulling the hose out of your hands and you pass air into the tee. Rising bubbles draw water (and sediment) upwards and away from your excavation. With luck you’ll have a bit of tide to pull the air bag off downstream so the sediment doesn’t rain down on you, else you could always guy it off to one side. In a commercial environment there would be an air hose dropped from the DSV, but you could use a spare bottle for small works.

Regarding your new Air Purifier, are you able to operate the Fan (only) without engaging the compressor? That would help circulate the in-cabin air using less amperage and providing ongoing "purification" in the process. We use the same technique with our residential system, and the reduction in house dust (caught by the filters) is noticeable. Hope that can work for you.

That air purifier seems more like a CDI and two spark plugs...hope, they don't rip you off with that kind of snake oil... Great shots from underwater for the first try! 👍👍👍

Hi Mads, I've been following your fantastic sailing, rebuilding and oh glorious sanding journey for some time now. I currently own a Dufour Arpege which I love, but hate the standing headroom (or lack thereof!!) and the lack of a v berth. I know you're quite a tall chap and wondered how you found Obelix headroom wise? I'm just on 6'1" and find myself looking at Albin Ballads, they're my type of boat. Cheers, Andy

this year is also very good for seeing/watching Nothern Lights. You could even see then in the middle of Norway, so strong they were😃

We absolutely love the ICW. There is so much to see and explore that even after going up and down it for 6-7 years now there are still a lot of things we have yet to see and places we have not yet visited. Plus there are places we always want to come back to and see again every trip. Right now we are in Oriental, NC which is a really neat place with neat people and is one of our favorites. You shouldn't skip it. It is the sailboat capital of North Carolina and many of the residents are cruisers themselves or retired cruisers. There are many other neat towns like this all up and down the US East Coast too. Don't skip Beaufort, SC either. Be sure to see both Cumberland and Jekyll Islands in Georgia as well. There are dozens of other must-visit places and I could go on for hours. Do brave the Great Dismal Swamp too. It's breathtaking IMHO if you aren't in a hurry. For boat funk we have found that the product we use in our septic holding tank is also super effective when spritzed into anywhere wet like the sinks, bilge or anywhere there might be standing water such as the cockpit scuppers. The product is called Unique Digest-it Marine and it is a green environmentaly friendly enzyme treatment similar to Raritan KO but we have in the past year or two completely changed from KO to Unique since it is so much more effective even at half the concentration and it is cheaper than KO as well. We put a small amount of Unique in a small spritz bottle and pump a spritz into the sinks whenever they start to get the slightest smell, especially the galley sink since we use seawater for rinsing thints -and even spritz the head after each flush which makes it even less orderless than a well-cleaned land flush toilet and we use seawater for flushing. I have thought of finding a way to automatically squirt a few drops into the head every time the head is flushed but it isn't a big deal to spritz it every time from the little mister spritzer bottle. While we stopped buying KO we still use their CP "cleans potties" product which we also use in a small spritz bottle so it lasts practically forever and still makes cleaning skid marks in the head a breeze with just one spritz. The "Head Mistress" who invented these products even says that most people use too much of the CP cleaner and a tiny bit is enough for most cleaning tasks. CP also works really well for cleaning bilges and making them absolutely smell-free. It also works great in marine sinks too. Between the CP and the Unique we have found that sink drain clogs practically disappear and since my wife's thick long hair gets everywhere that is nothing short of miraculous. The Unique Digest-it actually will break down the hair in the sinks if the seacock is closed and a bit more is poured down the drain.

Deltaville, VA is where you guys need to head! It's just above Norfolk where the ICW starts and is the largest cruiser destination for boat work on the lower Chesapeake. This gets you just above where you need to be for insurance purposes. My boat is at Deltaville Yachting Center, and I highly recommend it.

I find it easier to don the dive gear once I'm in the water, the ol' flip and roll works well for me. I do always put out a recovery line too, something to both hold on, and tie things, to.

Carbon fiber oars project? Pre dingy practice?

Find a bag of cheap charcoal just plain old charcoal nothing with lighter fluid. That will definitely take out the smell just cut the bag open put it somewhere out of the way. Try it cheap and easy. Good episode

The ICW in Florida has a lot of draw bridges that open on request or on a schedule. If the weather is nice and the wind is right it will be much faster to sail north in the Gulf Stream. Also, Georgia doesn't really take care of it's section of the ICW, so between St. Mary's Georgia and Savanah you are better off in the ocean.

"I need to put a little more weight on so I can have some digging ability." Lots of sugar and pastries are the best way to gain weight. With Ava's return, maybe she can help with pastry prep.

Hi , well when AVA is away ? The Mads has time to play , after sorting out a smelly problem ? Have fun Mads and keep the videos coming .😉👍

I’m planning on signing up for the June abyc electrical course so hopefully i’ll be following in your footsteps

MJ sailing are up on the Chesapeake bay

You should get a hydrophone for night-time activity below, make concentrating on watch far more poignant! Obviously combined with inside speaker & waterproof speaker for outside seating. You could intergrate a Zoom H4N recorder or H4nPro.

With ionisers it's not so much dust but PM10's and smaller electrostatically stuck to the surfaces adjacent to the outlets, can be a bugger to clean off.

Don’t miss Delaville, Virginia,. Just inside the Chesapeake Bay and North of all the mayhem around Norfolk Virginia and the naval vessels. Fishing Bay is a lovely spot and very inexpensive. Probably a good place to base your operations going forward. Lots of attractive neglected vessels that might prove to be your next home.

You don't need to put more weight in the belt; it's unsafe. The issue comes for 2-3 reasons: 1) the buoyancy of the metal detector is negative and when you leave you increase your buoyancy 2) when you dig (or in general when you do an extra effort), you hold your breath and you fill your long -> increase buoyancy 3) because you are under 10m, and in every point you are in a "unstable equilibrium point" a deviation of just 1m means a distance of 10% in the forces than you loose the equilibrium point. My recommendation is: a) invite me for a private course of peak performance buoyancy :) or b) continue to practice c) make "neutral" the buoyancy of the metal detector (for the depth that you will work)

why don't you make a digging tool on your 3d printer instead of buying one?

Best of luck on the test Mads! I am sure it will be a breeze for you!

Hey Mads make sure you stop in Oriental NC!! The sailing capitol of the state, you'll probably get a celebrities welcome lol.

Wow! Can't believe I caught this so early. Great video Mads.

Great video2 x👍

You’ll love the TG-6. And Backscatter is awesome. I have a very similar setup. And here’s the REALLY good news: the TG-6 was a big upgrade over the -5, but the new -7 is totally not worth the extra $. 😊

You got this you will pass test with flying colors

Si en lugar de un flash utilizas una luz incandescente tendrás que enfriar la temperatura de color porque las luces inncandescentes tienden a virar hacia el rojo y te saldrán fotos muy saturadas.

Mads, I hate you, and here is why. A friend asked me if I knew how to do fiberglass work. I thought to myself that I have seen every video Mads has done. I told him yes, piece of cake. Well, this went south fast. When you cut little shapes out of the glass, how do you keep the weave from falling apart, then keeping the strands from getting stuck all over everything, what a mess! You make everything look so easy! I love watching your videos, I always learn something, and I always get a laugh. oh, and of course I don't really hate you, be safe.

I am really interested in the possibilities should you and Ava decide to do “The Great Loop”, I would love to see that! I can only imagine what the Great Lakes sailing experience would be like. ❤

Great video

Multiple Choice questions are usually easy. There is almost always one obvious "wrong" answer. Sometimes two. So you are usually choosing between two main answers. So if worst comes to worst, you have a 50/50 chance at the correct answer. Whenever a question states "all are correct" or incorrect. Pay attention to verify if any of them would disqualify that response. (This is of course a generalization)

That sunken boat would be a good project boat for you

tooting up a storm! haha loved it. my eyes are watering I laughed so hard.

Couple of hints. Heavier plastic tripod for macro and non surge if possible. The TG cameras have manual white balance setting (I use my palm) Use a mermaid / floating line to tie your gear to, throw in the water and put in the water etc.

ICW - Intracoastal Waterway vice Intercoastal Waterway such as Okeechobee waterway.

I have always wanted to treasure hunt. I hope y'all have a blast this season.

Great video, best of luck for your exam and need to buy a small white board for messages underwater and to practice your "white balance" while underwater, it does make a big difference. Stay happy

Consider getting a Coast Pilot and Light List before you get in the ICW. You can also download those if needed. And if you don't know the Nav Rules, consider getting a copy of Rules of the Road. If you have any questions, please ask.

Read more about the adapter wet lens optics

Mads, you should have ended that video laying on your belly in the v-birth!🤣

Eyeing on an Irwin. We do get some hints from time to time.

Nobel Prize nomination to the stern sugar scoop.

Ionizer are effectively just a spark gap with a low wattage arc. It converts oxygen molecules in the air to ozone. It does eliminate smells, but it's not good to breathe, especially if you have asthma.

You could have checked the air purifier using a Funky Air Release Test.

Pinpointer. Definitely. 😎❤️

In regards to your metal detection search techniques. Try an "X" pattern once you have located a signal through random searching. Basically using the X/Y grid technique. I am not familiar with the detector models you are using, but some also use a fine tuner for different types of metals. Good Luck! its always a blast to locate something which has been lost.

You got your wife with "this youtube videos" so I guess you achieved the highest goal possible

What about bring a big magnet on the metal detector expeditions?

Been following you for years god bless xx

I love doing snorkelling with my install 360 one inch 4k. it is very basic but for the time that I get in a year that is good for me. I got the floating handle for it too. I wish I could get more time but my job is kind of very bad for time off.

Tie a leash on the digging implement, saves dropping or looking for it.

Remember your metal detector isn’t going to find your plastic digger when you drop it 😂

Mads, you have the perfect platform already. Lower your dive gear into your dinghy, then throw everything on and roll over the side. Same on the way back. Much reduced chance of losing anything to Poseidon...

Liked. You may want to add a diffuser to your light. It looked like you had a hot spot on the anchor when filming.

You should consider dummy cording that stuff to your dive gear. Some simple carabiner will be helpful to connect and disconnect it when you need to.

I don’t know about that air purifier, but some of them create ozone to purify the air. Ozone is really bad for plastic. The plastic just crumbles down in contact with ozone.

The only weight you could add to reduce your buoyancy would be muscle mass. But isn't it easier to just let a little air out of your BC? Now THAT was a DIY project even I could do! A swim platform is nice but in the interim you could DIY a float from either "pool noodles" or boat fenders from which you could suspend a net or board on which you could float your gear behind the boat. Maybe for a DIY "practice project", you could refloat that sunken sailboat and donate it to a local someone in need.

The digging tool could easily be a plastic garden trowel,I've had plastic fiskers for years,save some money on treasure hunting tools. Your photos are wonderful, nothing like patience and lots of practice with new photography equipment to get the best results.

Perhaps a strong magnet to help you pull metal objects out of the sand when the water clouds up?

Does the AC have a 'Fan Only' function? If so you could run just the fan and use way less energy to purify the 'Boat Funk'. That's presuming the electrostatic device is tied to the fan and not the compressor motor, which would be odd...

All those wonderful images and videos that you can see from Natgeo and other publications are in fact take by night because most reef inhabitants have night habits so they’re more active at that hours, and most important thing with the absence of sunlight the only light sources are the ones from the camera gear (white or black lights) and points directly to the sea life revealing they true and all those beautiful colors. On daylight the sunlight comes from all directions and when the rays gets diffracted on the water they loose intensity according its wave length, predominating a bluish color than can be annoying on submarine photography and it increases exponentially with the depth, so in order to avoid this effect the camera needs a red filter to help filter all those blue light and increase saturation and sharpness on each image.

In one video you sail the Atlantic with the help of two hands, yet in another you said you and Ava crossed. I'm confused.

Last year they also said it was going to be one of the most active hurricane seasons ever. It turned out to be a far below average hurricane year. Remember, Hurricane hype is televisions version of clickbait. You'll notice every year they predict it will be one of the worst years in history.

Have you gone further with the plan for the dinghy? Me and at least one other friend could be interested to very similar setup for a dinghy. This could be some sort of co-operation…? 🇩🇰🇫🇮 😊

We live in Murrells Inlet SC, it is on the ICW, so if you see this and would like to make a local stop, great food here.....let us know...John and Sue.

FYI I have friend who is a surface supplied salvage diver, before going in the water he secures his tools with line to his weight belt to keep from loosing them

The usual culprit for odours on a boat is toilet hoses becoming degraded or holding tank seals not doing what seals should do. Fitting an air purifier seems like it would just mask the symptoms of various maintenance issues over time

This kind of „air purifier“ will just produce ozone- it will eliminate annoying odors but will replace them with harmful ozone - which is „okish“ in a flat or a house, but i would be concerned about the confined space in a boat. Otherwise - still love your videos and following along - keep up the good work 😊 Also the very best of luck with your exams. 👍🏻👍🏻🤨

Need a Float or a lanyard, or both on the scrapping/digging implements.

yay!

Love your videos. Been watching for years. I have a beard and mustache and always have trouble with my masks sealing when diving. How do you manage it?

As an ex diver I've never understood why the Americans don't use the correct flag (letter A) to indicate divers.

Great vid as always. Thanks.

Mads - please also fly the Alpa flag along with the red and white-

"See you!" Had to add that for Ava... :)

Another great vid, good luck on your exam🤞

I begive the boat On the reef was in a better state than Athens was before you made her pretty😂

When Mads was talking about putting weight on I picture him eating cake batter with a funnel, but I think he's talking about dive weights...