I'm having Anthony at Kachemak Skiffs in Wasilla build a 28 Newport for me. No shop space, no desire to spend hundreds of hours glassing, etc. and a lot of desire to get on the water sooner than later, plus the fact that he's built some 10-15 Tolmans and repaired many others led me to that decision. That said, I'm anything but passive, and will likely do a lot of the outfitting once the hull and cabin are complete. With that introduction, here we go:
My small boat galley experience is limited to propane or alcohol stoves and propane cozy-cabin heaters. Alcohol is out, I absolutely detest using it. Propane requires constant diligence and care to stay on top of any leaks or CO, and you get reliable, field-serviceable, and convenient use. Diesel I have no experience with, and this is my biggest question - I've heard just a couple reports of excellent success with the new Wallas Nordic Dt diesel ceramic cooktop/heater. I love the relative safety of diesel, the cooking/heating from the same device, and the simplicity of the setup. However, I'm curious about the ~10 minute warmup period and people's experience here. I understand they're expensive, but I am fine with that for all the little problems it solves.
Second, I'm planning on a Norcold 2.7CF fridge, and otherwise relatively common electrical loads. I am very comfortable with the calculations and will do them shortly, but am curious about real-world experience. The engine will require a group 29 or so starting battery, and I'm likely to go with a proper deep cycle, heavy, house battery. I'm going to install some solar since our resource in AK is so amazing in that regard. Thanks in advance for any info, and thanks to Dave for posting his Pau Hana build a couple years back, that has been my main inspiration
