Category Archives: boats

It’s in the small details

boats,

Conserving energy is a way to help cut carbon emissions and save money but on a boat it takes on an overriding importance; and that is because energy is finite. You are either bringing it with you, stored in the form of Diesel Fuel to be converted, or harvesting energy from the Sun and Wind as you may.

Alternative Energy will be pursued but at this moment part of the big picture is to reduce reliance upon it by not wasting. Observe that the boat has a dozen or more light bulb consumers. These are 12v single filament bayonet mount style which are relatively cheap and serve well but at they are hungry. The old school bulb on the left squanders 15 watts. The new solution pictured right is an LED using only 1.5 watts for an equivalent light output.  There are even red LEDs (vision preserving for night ops) and .8 watts with reduced lumens.

More minutia: It only took the better part of a day to properly source this retro-fit. There are quite a few styles, sizes, and types from which to select. The Sea Dog dome lights utilize a double contact base for + and – not to be confused with the automotive setup which uses the base itself for a negative ground and the double contacts for dual filaments. The challenge was to procure a globe that fit the lense fixture and a socket that fit into the ba15d base as designed.

It all adds up, but this small effort will reduce the need for additional capacity. I suppose this brass wick oil lamp might be the outstanding supreme fix.

 

Belt dust and shredded rubber

boats,

The simple engine driven charging system onboard Talmid was designed to serve a lead acid starting battery. With rated output of 12v and 30 AMPS, and as the sole source of energy, the Hitachi alternator is also called upon to recharge a 300 Ah capacity house battery bank. When the house bank is depleted, discharged after a day under sail for example, the little alternator is overtaxed which manifests in long charging times and a heavy strain load on its 3/8″ drive belt.  Spares are carried because at some point the belt will inevitably perish, possibly at a critical! moment. Monitoring its condition and becoming  mechanically adept at adjusting proper tension is crucial. Belt tensioning is achieved via adjustment bolts on the alternator mounting brackets. All other pulleys are fixed in their positions. Measuring belt slack while flexing the belt with a finger means the procedure is rather subjective. Too loose results in slippage which translates to premature wear. Adjusted too tightly and the added stresses will accelerate [water pump] bearing wear. The image shows the original belt drive system on the old Yanmar 3QM30. It is driven by a 6″ crankshaft pulley [lower]. The pulley for the water pump cooling system [upper] and the alternator completes the triangle.

There must be a better way. Indeed. On order is a higher output 100 AMP alternator, which is better sized to match existing battery capacity. Even more load for the feeble V belt you say? No. Central to this upgrade is a new serpentine  drive belt system. Serpentine is a descriptor derived from modern automotive application as the belt snakes to and from numerous driven accessories in one continuous loop. This is a simplification from early days when an engine had several belts. A serpentine belt has ribs and grooves that track precisely in machined pulleys and significantly increased width will enhance grip surface area.

Another modification, to complete this installation, will be the addition of an updated voltage regulator. The original Hitachi has an internal regulator which supplies a constant output of approximately 14volts. This is suitable for lead acid batteries but harmful to Absorbent Glass Mat batteries over the long term. AGM batteries require extra care and feeding in order to insure longevity. A 3 step charge algorithm calls for 14 v during the bulk charging phase but also includes an absorption and float stage. These included stages scale back the voltage and allow the AGM to be restored to full capacity. Long life preserved.

This is the first step toward a robust energy system because as the sole source, it is a single failure point. Alternative energy will provide redundancy. Available and useful are Wind and or Solar. In any event, I believe that outfitting with the new alternator scheme will go along way toward solving previous weakness while eliminating the belt dust nuisance and shredded rubber breakdown.

leave less to chance

boats,

What can go wrong WILL go wrong. sorry keyI only had the one key and it was really looking past it. Not visible by thumbnail image is a hairline crack across the blade; a victim of too many bendings from body bumps and slams (the engine control panel and ignition switch is located in the companionway and the key protrudes) It might eventually break off (in the switch!) or go missing. Either way, SOL.new switch

I took the original to a locksmith or two to see about cutting a new one. Out of the zillion types onhand, none could procure a suitable blank. Yanmar no longer provides for replacement keys. Solution: Order the entire switch. Comes with an extra to boot.

Countryside Discovery

boats,

I really expected to be chasing down this repair job from vendor to vendor trying to track down the right outfit for the job. I got lucky and scored first try.  I knew that I was ill equipped tool wise and vague on metallurgy. My Sheet Block, built back in the day, sheet blockwas non-replaceable.  The fixture was warped; bent by the powerful loading of the jib sheet when a pivot pin partially backed out.  A massive bench vice or a hammer, or a heating torch or all of the above would be needed. Finding a metal fabricator with a Google search led me, not to an enterprise in a business park, but a guy named Johnny at a leanto shed in a rural setting on a dirt road.  He went right to work (how rare is that? but halfway through the job I realized that my credit card would be of no use out here and I began to search pockets to see if they had Cash!).

hammer persuasion

Johnny persuaded the heavy piece back into shape and the pin was straightened with several strategic blows and aligned.

Next, Silver Solder was applied to hold the pin in place. If this proves an area of weakness, I may peen the housing bracket or secure the pin with a set screw. Turns out that the entire mass of metal is cast Brass with a Copper plated finish. This explains the malleability and the  blue green oxidation. Old school. I don’t think they make ’em like this any more.

I mentally noted a placard sign affixed to the wall that proclaimed the shop rate at $65/hr. with a minimum job amount of 30. I had all of 26 dollars in 3 Fives and the rest Ones. Uh oh…  I asked what I owed. A delayed response gave pause and I interjected that I had only 26 bucks on me. Johnny said I’ll take 25 of those.

https://youtu.be/zZKvTingf1Y

new halyard Victory

boats,

The easier method is to whip the two ends together – new to old, and haul away on the old halyard until the new rope takes its place. mast

The existing halyard was AWOL however, sheared due to chafe when the mainsail failed and flogged, so a raw procedure was required using gravity. Climbing 50′ above deck to the masthead with the new cordage takes some preparation for planning. Have the necessary items with you as you arrive at the top because it does involve physical effort to ascend and descend. It would be good to only have to make one  safe roundtrip.

The 1/2″ (12mm) X 150′ Braided Rope replacement, while quite flexible, is a bit unwieldy so a much smaller lead line was attached to a spliced end to guide the big rope over the sheave at the knot to splice lead weights masthead and down through the hollow interior of the mast itself and then out the shield plate exit at its base. This lead line is light  in weight so to keep it straight and true for its descent, a length of nylon fishing line with small lead weights was fashioned. This was probably overkill. 50′ of fishing line might have done the job ( but I imagined that I would arrive at mast peak with a snarled mess of knots to sort). The biggest challenge as it turns out was passing the lead weights over the sheave within the confines of the mast head. There was scarce wiggle room for line , mass of weights, and one finger to poke, prod, cajole,  through the narrow passage. The weights tended to rear up straight falling backwards over the top of themselves. I needed them to fold over the arch of the sheave and head downward. Finally, after many failed tries and with the insertion of a second finger to manually spin the sheave I was able to finesse the lot inward and onward.

The next task was to temporarily secure the lead line at the top. masthead heightOur friend Gravity, while assisting the placement of the feeder line would be just as happy to pull it all back down again once I turned loose of it. There was an elegant idea to use lightweight masking tape. It would have torn away freeing the line after a moderate tug.  An excellent solution but I lost my roll of tape to the silty bottom of the Marina when it got away from my tool belt. Not wanting to tie a knot, which would necessitate a revisit, I wrapped the exposed free end of the line around the backstay knowing that I could unwrap from below. The friction was enough to stabilize and hold in place as I commenced descent.

Finally a slim hook was used to probe the hollow spaces and the leader fished out of the mast at deck level.  The Ahhhh moment was  grasping the spliced end of the new halyard and knowing in the  success of the moment. probe

what could possibly go wrong?

boats

The wind came from West by 21:00 hours but at 20-25 knots through the night and next day and night and all day after that. When I arrived on deck for my day watch I wasn’t mentally prepared for the temperature drop. I’d been enjoying  60-70 degree weather for the last several weeks which persisted well north along my route — until the wind had shifted.

Still driving North toward Carolina I was close hauled going to weather with triple reefed main and headsail furled to its reef mark. The wind now NW. These conditions result in wear and tear on the sheets and sails. Literally.  I know I was pushing the boat hard.plastic sail slide I was only 70 miles from home but I spied two of the mainsail slides (these are ~1″ length plastic cars that slide into the mast track allowing the sail to be raised or lowered) had perished. They had broken out and the portion of sail to which they were affixed allowed sail to billow wayward of the mast. I knew this was bad news. They work well in unison but on their own… One quits means extra strain on the next in line. I was still confident that the sail would see me through. By end of day, I had lost one more slide.

It was time to change course and tack sail (or motor) west. I was fairly close in now and it was necessary to maintain sea room. The shoals would soon be off to starboard.  Not wanting to abuse the rig further I decided to Motorsail. I furled the headsail and then started the auxiliary. Starting my maneuver I pushed the throttle full on to bring her about. An engine alarm sounded followed by premature engine shutdown.

The signal reports low oil pressure or excessive coolant temperature. I investigated and found nothing amiss but each time I attempted a re-start the engine ran for brief seconds and then sputtered to a halt never achieving idle RPM.  Disgusted and cloudy with fatigue I declared the machine broken and called it a day. Hove to I was in a safe place. My drift set was southward keeping me clear of land hazards.

I rested. Meanwhile… topside in the night the mainsail had had it. The remaining slides had popped  and the main halyard had severed from forces for which it wasn’t intended. The mainsail still attached to the boom was blown over and floated in the drink. I gathered it in and secured it wet and useless to the boom with ties. At this point here are options:

  1. Divert to West to the ICW at Myrtle Beach sailing with headsail
  2. Divert SW to Charleston under headsail
  3. Drift South back down to the Bahamas 😉

Not enjoying the defeated feeling but with clear mind I decided to tackle the engine problem. Diesel engines are simple in that there is no ignition system to fail or troubleshoot. This leaves the fuel system. I switched to a different supply tank but this had no effect. The assumption was clogged filtration.RACOR The remedy is to remove and replace filters and this is a terrible oily messy toxic stinky job if you know about diesel fuel. (Many people can’t handle it, especially on a platform that is rocking and rolling in a seaway) I pulled the lid off of the Primary (Racor 500FG) and extracted the used paper filter element. I noted that its container bay was only half full with fuel. That shouldn’t be. Hmmmm. I replaced the element with a fresh spare. Before resecuring I topped off the container level. For good measure I removed and replaced the secondary filter just to finish the job properly.  Next step was to bleed the fuel line at the engine. This purges air that entered the system during the disassembly.

The moment of truth. Tweet outloud! The engine started and ran perfectly. Sorted.

Epilogue: Inspecting (while properly disposing of the used filters) once back ashore, I found no contamination debris. My thinking now is that the air cavity discovered in the filter housing was the actual problem. In the future I will periodically monitor for recurrence and adjust maintenance routine accordingly. Best tend to these things dockside.

The plastic sail slides? My Sailmaker has sourced stainless steel replacements.

 

 

blow me down!

adventure, boats

I’m no longer in my comfort zone. I won’t say that I was uncomfortable, but rather exhilarated, enlivened. Wind speed steadily had freshened to an average 30 knots. There were gusts. In fact having been hand steering in them since breakfast time, I got so that I could anticipate those gusts and the wave sequences too. They came in cycles. During the lull when the wind seemed to moderate, the feeling became one of relative calm. But that wind always returned and blew with certainty.wind

This storm wasn’t part of the picture in Marsh Harbor Sunday, 17 January when I sailed for home.  An upper atmospheric disturbance came ashore over the Pacific Northwest the trough strengthening as it moved southeastward and on the 21st a weak low-pressure over central Texas had spawned. The next day a new low-pressure area began to develop over the coast of the Carolinas as the former storm tracked North and East to become a 2016 named Winter Blizzard Storm — Jonas. The worst aspects of the manifestation was from Hatteras, NC and way North along the Mid-Atlantic all well documented by CNN breaking news for those tuned in. This main assault: missed it by that much.

The biggest eye-opener for me was the confirmation that you can’t fight mother nature. Which is to say, that it is easier to go with the flow! It would have been impossible to sail to windward. The boat just wouldn’t have gone. She would have just layed down and taken a beating. With daylong wind from the South and anticipating the westerly wind shift, it was my advance desire to make my way slightly North-Westward and avoid close hauled sailing later on.  Good idea which I tried, but was poor to execute. Running with the wind was happiness. Maneuvering left or right was a tight confine. The one direction killed boatspeed bringing waves and wind to bear and the other was certainty of a crash jybe. Just ride with it and experience the spectacle. The wave swells were high enough that it seemed like the boat (mast and all) disappeared in the bottom of the troughs. When riding back up the crest you were on top of the world. Those wave crests looked like they wanted to fall over and break like surf but they never did. They boiled up and collapsed upon themselves. The froth was whipped and picked up by wind to become driven spray. The best view was aft. Large waves form a train as they roll toward, under, and past the bow. But it was hard to turn ’round and watch in slow motion. Brief side glances were possible, into the stinging windborne drops.

There was very little rain and the clouds were not ominous or threatening. The reader absorbing this over short span of time raises feelings of fear but the main brunt stretched for 6 hours; plenty of time for this sailor to accept, settle in, and cope for the duration.

By dusk, the gale had abated. The angry seas diminished after frontal passage and the winds would soon shift to a western flow. Hungry for some supper and needing rest I hove to and went below.

sunset

Typical view at days end… however to be transparent: This was my sunset on 21 January — the night before the blow. Red Sky at Night; Sailors’ Delight. Right??

Revenge of the Conch

boats

No creatures were harmed in the making of this post…

shell

 

The Conch was only empty shell remains by the time my CQR found it.

But it was no match. The 75 pound metal mass was defeated. The pointed end of the plough pierced the shell and compromised, was unable to burrow itself into the soft sandy seabed, instead lying ineffectively on top. I blissfully unsuspected. The combined weight of anchor and attached chain was enough to hold the boat in place at the time. 

It wasn’t until later by force of breeze that I became aware that she wasn’t set and was dragging. I jumped forward to retrieve and reset the anchor and then understood WHY!

I noted that the sailboat in harbor just behind me, fendered up. I guess he no longer felt comfy after the episode…

 

sorely missed

adventure, boats

I’d quipped during verbal narratives on my travels that Talmid’s self steering control affectionately nicknamed Otto Pirate,  was indispensable and that it would be hard luck as a solo sailor to be without it. Well, that happened.

As it turned out it wasn’t my worst nightmare after all. Never having actually hand steered this boat while sailing before, the autohelm is used most [all] of the time, it wasn’t too bad.

The actual 7/16″ SS Pin  — that crystallized and snapped in two and disabled Otto.

24634033409_0b7f797451_z24374688773_cf4890b53b_m

Pin fastens the Raymarine M81132 type 2 (long) linear drive rod end to the tiller arm. There can be some tremendous forces exerted. The image depicts a [intact] typical setup. I never would have suspected the beggar would fail.  I will order a spare and while at it, preemptively replace the other adjustment bolts that hold cable tension.

So, there were long hours behind the wheel but Talmid tracks straight and true. I got into the swing of it and found it enjoyable. There were many mile to go however and when you have eating or sleep needs for instance the only way is to heave to. I had to do this a lot; although I had some very long stints at the helm.

I cut a piece of twisted nylon rope and fashioned a short line knotted at both ends to serve as replacement for the pin which worked until my knots failed or the rope chafed through. I re-did and decided that I was asking too much. I reserved usage for calm and smooth sea such as when motoring.  Unfortunately, the only such conditions occurred during the last 12 hours of the voyage but still I was grateful to have Otto.

Power Loss

adventure, boats
  • Keep the water out of the boat
  • Keep the people in the boat
  • Keep the boat moving

These are basic adages, useful for staying out of trouble, but modern boaters desire many of the comforts that technologies offer. A boat’s electrical system and its management is integral. Consider what items might become unavailable without it. I have a list in my head because one learns to play “what if” scenarios and plan for contingencies and prepare backups.

Without electricity, for example, you lose the ability to heat/cook food. This is because the CNG fueled galley stove has an electric solenoid valve at the supply tank that is safety mandated to help prevent accidental gas leakage from becoming deadly. This valve is powered to the open position which means that without — it’s shut. Cooking fuel not accessible.

The boat does have storage batteries and these are isolated so that if one goes the other is backup. The engine, when running, has a generator.  So, imagine my shock (no pun intended) when all went dark. Not literally; it happened to be the middle of the afternoon. But it also happened to be the middle of the big wide open ocean miles and miles from land. There was a thump noise and my first observation was that the steering autopilot was offline. Further investigation revealed that the navigation chart plotter and associated electronic aids were down. Going below I discovered that lights, radios, pumps all via the panel could not be switched on. The diesel auxiliary could not be started. There was no power whatsoever. Total loss!

I began a futile search for some sort of Main Circuit Breaker… knowing that there wasn’t one. I opened the master electrical panel to see what I could see. I felt like the driver disabled roadside opening the hood of his car looking in thinking he’d see something obviously wrong but only staring into unknown complexity. I crawled over the diesel into a small space under cockpit deck to go hands on with the batteries. Nothing obvious there either until I stumbled upon the culprit.

Checking security of the battery cable connections I found one awry. Not apparent by eye, a cable was loose and the problem obscured by black electricians tape. Terminal LugThis wiring, a crucial common ground, had separated from its terminal lug. The original solder joint had failed. The black tape held the cable near but the detachment prevented the circuit. I removed the tape and with Leatherman stripped insulation to reveal more  copper. This bare wire was inserted at terminal junction under the other lugs and the whole shebang secured. This was a bandaid fix but I was back in business and on my way in short order. Upon arrival at my island destination I endeavoredBonding Cable Clamp to replace the offending terminal lug. I didn’t trust the bandaid to get me back to home port. After learning at the auto parts supply that these items were available only on prefabricated [short] cables I visited a hardware store and found a grounding cable clamp that gave me the idea for a MAcGyver fix. I stripped insulation from another cable and siamesed the two so as to share a good terminal lug. This was still ugly but secure. Happily restored, the electrical system held together on return voyage and meals were served hot — and the electronics worked, lights, and toilet. Yep. It’s electric too!