A Virtuous Circle

 Definition of the snowball effect

Last month I mentioned we were running a NMEA 2000 backbone and installing new instruments (click here).  All by itself this was a big endeavor but, like everything else I do, it has gotten out of hand, growing beyond it's physical and financial boundaries as we learned more about the capabilities of the system.

The first thing that became obvious was the need for more DC breakers.  Our main DC panel only had two unused breaker positions available before I started in on this path and we quickly used those up with the radar and auto pilot course computer.  As I contemplated adding AIS, sonar and the backbone itself I realized the only correct way to do this was to add a sub panel for DC power.  Of course this requires a breaker of it's own on the main panel.  I ended up removing all the breakers for instruments and moving them over to a new sub-panel panel mounted at the nav station.

Our nav station is divided into two sections.  The right side is entirely taken up by the main breaker panels for AC and DC voltage.  The left side is used for mounting radios, controls and instruments.  When we bought the boat this was almost completely taken up, very little room for new additions and what was there was installed in a haphazard fashion, wasting space.  There were instruments here that didn't need to be, that could have been mounted in other places.  A good fer-instance is the control for the solar panels.  The main control takes up some pretty good real estate, it's a large panel.  But there's also a remote panel that's 1/4 the size and they mounted them both right next to each other.  The larger panel can be mounted inside a cabinet, out of the way.  Then there's the AM/FM radio.  We only use this as a place to plug in our iPod and plan to install a better system soon.  My birthday IS coming up!  There were also a couple of 12VDC outlets, like the cigarette lighter in your car, that have never been used.

After looking around for a location for the DC sub panel I decided the best place for it was on the left side of the nav station.  All the wiring runs into here and it would save a lot of trouble if it was mounted right there.  All I'd have to do is make a new panel and re-mount only the stuff we really needed.  Simple!

I started out with relocating the VHF radio.  I decided to make a small cabinet for the top of the nav station cabinet and mount the radios up there.  We're planning to get a Single Side-Band (SSB) radio so we can communicate to and from anywhere in the world.  This cabinet will mount the two radios and a speaker and open up quite a bit of space on that instrument panel.  I drew up a design and asked The Dude to build it for me.  He finessed the design and made it so it blends in with the cabinetry of the boat.  He also made it easy to open up for wiring the radios.  Since we don't have the SSB yet he put in the cut-outs for it and made some nice plugs for the holes.  You can't even tell they're there.

Next I went through and completely dismantled the old panel.  With everything removed I laid out the new panel with the DC sub panel on one side.  This gives us eight additional breakers and I was able to leave the panel open below that in case we ever wanted to install a bigger panel.  I relocated all the breakers for the instruments here except for the auto pilot because that baby draws too much power.  By removing the AM/FM radio we now have 3 additional breakers on the main panel and 3 more on the sub panel.  Big improvement!  To the left of sub panel I installed an i70 display to monitor all our instruments, the control panel for the new inverter, the control panel for the genset, the control for the tri-anchor light and the remote displays for the solar panel and the holding tank monitor.  The control panel for the wind generator is mondo huge so I dismantled that and cut down the panel, making it four inches shorter and an inch narrower.  Now that fits here too.  I still had plenty of room so I added one of the 12 VDC outlets too, just in case we need to charge our phones or something.

We're adding two more solar panels and that required an additional control unit.  These Blue Sky controls can be daisy chained together and run by a single remote so I made a mounting panel for the two units inside the cabinet for the nav station.  Here I added terminal blocks to tie into 12VDC power for the outlets and the lights.  That'll come in handy later on for an easy connection to power things like LED lights inside storage areas around the boat.

I had originally planned to mount the course computer for the auto pilot and the control unit for the sonar beneath the floor in the galley.  The Hinckley electrician advised me to rethink this, saying that if we had flooding in the bilge these units would be the first to go.  I pulled all my wiring and relocated these to the cockpit lockers.  I had hesitated doing this at first because the auto pilot has a huge amperage draw, 30 amps, and wire length is critical.  If the wire run is less than 15 feet then I can use 8 gauge wire.  This stuff is expensive but going up to the next larger size is a major step requiring a short term bank loan.  When the galley work was being done and all the cabinets were removed it exposed a wire run along the starboard side that I hadn't used before because it was inaccessible.  I had been running all my wire under the floor to get it back to the cockpit.  By using this run down the side the length is much shorter and this is how I was able to mount the course computer in the starboard side cockpit locker, still using my 8 gauge wire.  The sonar control is going in the port side locker but wire size isn't as critical for that.

Can you say "snowball"?

But that's not the end.  Cheri and I were talking about this new backbone and how all the information was right there, available to be called up in several places around the boat.  She wanted to know if we could display it on our Mac mini computer and our iPads, especially the navigation stuff.  That'd be cool.  I started looking around and found that we could get a WiFi gadget that connects directly to the NMEA 2000 backbone and broadcasts all the info wirelessly.  Is that a word, wirelessly?  I guess it is now.  Anyway, Digital Yacht makes the WLN2net and this'll give us a wireless feed to the backbone.  Running apps like iSailor or Garmin's BlueChart we'll be able to monitor our navigational and AIS info from anywhere on the boat.  Picture this....we're sailing across the Pacific, the auto pilot is running and we're sitting up on the forward deck playing Parcheesi, or whatever.  By having our iPad nearby we can keep track of the boat and where we're going, what's around us (if anything).  Maybe even getting weather updates through our SSB radio and displaying the info through the backbone.  As time goes on there will be new developments for information sharing with the NMEA 2000 design and we'll be right on top of it.

While exploring the instrument installation and rewiring the power panel I found some interesting stuff.  There was a terminal strip inside the nav station cabinet that had seven wires going into one side and nothing coming out the other.  It wasn't connected to anything.  I've been pretty busy with other projects and didn't really have time to chase this down but I was curious.  I chose one wire, a nice purple one and traced it out.  It ran under the floor from the nav station into the galley and from there went into the engine compartment.  I followed it around the other side and found it connected to the engine battery.  Huh?  What was this used for?  What are the other six wires for?  It's a mystery right now but I do plan to get to the bottom of it eventually.  Apparently there's stuff like this all over the boat.  The guys installing the genset found a bundle of wire that wasn't connected to anything.  It was in the prop shaft trough just behind the engine, tied into a large cable run.  About five feet forward they found the other end of the cables, hanging out in the air, connected to nothing.  Great.  No wonder we sit so low in the water.  If I could eliminate all this unused wire we'd probably increase our speed over ground by 25%.  Our last boat, a 1979 Islander 28, was like this only worse.  It had been owned by an electrical engineer who loved putting in new gadgets.  Only problem was he didn't remove the old stuff so there were wires all over the place that didn't do anything.  Not only that but nothing was documented.  Oh no, that reminds me.  I really really need to document all the new stuff we just added to this boat.  Yikes!  I'm turning into that old dude I keep complaining about!

How 'Bout Some Good news?

I just got a note from Hinckley about the latest progress.  Things took a quantum leap forward over the last few days with the counter top going in and the genset installation being almost complete.  This will all probably come to a screeching halt tomorrow since the weatherman is calling for something between four and nine inches of snow.  If that actually happens then it's probably a good thing we went ahead and added two weeks to this project.

The counter top went in today.  I think I'll just post some pictures and make a few comments.

 This shot shows, left to right, the freezer and fridge lids.  The hinges and pulls will be flush mounted, completely recessed so you can slide a mixing bowl across and it won't hit on anything.  In this shot the pulls haven't been installed yet.  The two blocks in the middle are just temporary.  The Corian that Cheri picked out has the look of yellow quartz.  When she first showed it to me I said "yuck!".  Boy was I ever wrong.  I think it really looks good with the teak.

 To the right of the fridge is a raised part of the counter top with the knife slot.

The counter wraps around the companionway.  We're having a cabinet put in here that will open to this side, facing you.  It extends about 2/3 back and forms a second compartment that is accessed from the other side of the ladder.  We limited the depth of this cabinet to prevent it from becoming another bottomless pit.

 Fiddles are raised edges of a boat's counter tops to prevent stuff from flying off when you're underway.  The factory fiddles wrapped around every edge but we found them to be more in the way than of any real help.  Cheri selected areas where they would really serve a purpose and left them off from others.  The stove was repositioned so that the piece of Corian on top would be even with the rest of the counter.

 Coupla things here.  New sink.  Woohooo!  The old one was really two puny bar sinks next to each other.  This one is nice and deep.  The faucet will be at the left back corner where the hole is.  This gave us a little more room along the back to work with for the bigger sink.  The drain in the new sink is located directly over the drain line instead of being offset like the factory had it.  It just worked out that way but might help to prevent the drain from backing up as it sometimes did.

 The opening is for a storage area.  We changed the way the lid opens, towards the back-splash, so it won't block the cabinet to the right.  The back-splash is a Formica that Cheri picked out.  Looks really good with the colors in the teak and the new counter top.  Beyond the back-splash is the nav station.  I'm putting in a DC sub-panel and reorganizing the instrument panel here.  On top will be the new cabinet for the radios.

 We extended the counter top at this side of the sink to add some more work space.  This'll be really handy for cleaning veggies and washing dishes.  I think there's supposed to be an insert for one side of the sink too.  Man-oh man this is gonna be nice.

 Here we are in the aft cabin looking at the new genset.  The white framework gets closed in with panels to reduce the noise when it's running.  The whole thing is mounted on an extending shelf that pulls out over the bunk area.  We'll hafta pull up the mattress to slide it out but it'll be worth the effort to have access to all sides of this thing.  This is a Northern Lights 6KW, 3 cylinder, AC generator that runs at 1800 rpm's for quieter operation and longer life.  Snug fit but it's gonna be worthwhile.

Here's the same space with the cover in place.  Sweet!  The mattress will be notched to fit around the enclosure but there's still plenty of room for two adults to sleep comfortably in here.

So, things are moving ahead.  We're both really pleased with the quality of the work being done here and we're excited about our "new" boat.  Can't wait to try her out on the Wye River for a nice long weekend.  Maybe we can stop there for a few days on the way back to Herring Bay.

The Dude

Here it is February 28th already.  I've made some progress on my projects, instruments and a DC sub panel, but at this point I only have one weekend to finish up before the boat is scheduled to splash, March 15th.  I lose one weekend because we're heading out of town for a few days to visit with family.  I still need to paint the bottom which includes raising the water line and repainting the boot stripe.  The weather has not been cooperating and now I'm starting to stress out.  We looked into staying at the Inn for an extra two weeks and they can accommodate us for most of it but we'll hafta move around.  It's not easy being homeless.

I talked to the guy doing the cabinetry and he's relieved to have some extra time.  The business with the rudder really held things up so apparently the stress is universal.  It's nice to have company.

So far we've got the rudder repair completed and the auto pilot linear drive is in place.  I'm doing the wiring on that so it probably won't get completed for a while.  The genset is in place and the work on that is expected to be completed by the end of this week.  The unit for doing the oil change is mounted in the starboard cockpit locker.  That space is filling up.  That's where the linear drive is mounted as well as the controllers for the auto pilot and the depth sounder (what I've been calling the sonar).  This space also houses the two compressors for the fridge and freezer, the exhaust for the engine and the exhaust for the genset and the drain for the cockpit.  This locker is really deep and the floor is actually the inside of the hull so it angles down towards the centerline of the boat at about a 45 degree angle.  It's not too bad getting in but for an old geezer like me it's a challenge getting back out.  I need to run the return air duct for the diesel heater and I'm thinking of putting it through here.  As if there's room for that too.  I could build a step over top of it and then it'd be easier to climb in and out.  Another project for me to do in all my copious free time.  Or I could just keep filling it up with stuff.

The weather on Wednesday, 2-27-13, was supposed to be really nice, clear with mid 50's temperatures.  I decided to play hooky and try to get something done on the boat.  I could let everything else go except for painting the hull so I concentrated on that.  I got the new waterline taped off and started sanding the hull.  It took me four hours to do just one side and most of that was spent bent over, twisted around and kneeling in the mud while holding the sander over my head.  I had my mini shop vac hooked up to the sander but I forgot to wear a dust mask.  At the end of four hours I had to quit because every time I blew my nose it came out 70% copper.  What a dummy.

The galley is coming along now that the genset is in place, now that the linear drive is installed, now that the rudder is repaired.  The upper cabinets are starting to take shape and we're getting a better feel for how things are going to look.  Even better, you can get a feel for the amount of storage space we're adding here.  I'm just talking about the cabinets above the counter top here.  The old cabinets used to go up about six inches and then had a shelf above them that was limited in height by the underside of the deck.  We pushed the front of the cabinets out about 1.5 inches and ran them all the way up so there's no wasted space.  The cabinet dude built these so all the walls of the cabinets are vertical so we can have an adjustable shelf inside.  He's concerned about these shelves rattling so he's making them semi-permanently installed.  If we want to change the height we can but they'll be screwed in place, not just resting there.  There'll be pre-drilled holes for other positions.  This guy has all kindsa good ideas like that.  The first two pictures show the galley right before work started and then where we are now.  Check out the old double sinks (muy pequeno!).  The second shot shows the cutout for the new sink (muy grande!).  The cool-man new faucet will be at the lower corner near the plastic container.  There will be a shallow cabinet behind the stove, maybe for spices, and back in the corner to the right will be a cabinet for the coffee maker with a dedicated AC outlet built in back there so we can just hit "go" and have our fix.  Woohooo!

Cheri wanted to have a slot in the counter where she could store her knives.  The cabinet dude suggested having the counter raised about a quarter inch in that area so water wouldn't go down the slot if something got spilled.  This knife slot has the knives hanging down into the aft cabin so he boxed it in and made the bottom removable for cleaning.  To open it you press on one of the pieces of trim and it pops open.  That's it above the 5 quart plastic bucket.

The drawer we added beneath the oven is built with the back panel following the contour of the inside of the hull so there's no wasted space.  The cabinet guy also added a lip across the back of it so nothing can spill out when we heel over to starboard.  He also built in a latch that prevents the drawer from sliding out all the way on it's own.  The top picture shows how the drawer will fit under the stove.  It's designed to match the factory drawers.  In fact, he did such a nice job you can't tell one from the other.  Even the color of the stain is identical.

I've also asked him (the cabinet dude) to build a small cabinet above the nav station to house the radios (VHF and single side-band).  I'm re-organizing the gear located here and adding a DC sub panel to give me eight additional, breakers.  Moving the radios to their own cabinet will give me the space I need and leave some spare for future additions.

This guy is very talented and above all, very nice.  He asked me not to use his name here so from now on he's "The Dude".  Like, Dude!  That's a compliment!

Yardwork Update - Mid February

Things are really starting to move ahead with the boat.  The cabinetry for the galley is being assembled in the wood shop while some of the other work on board is taking place.  The genset installation has been waiting for the rudder repair to be completed.  In the middle of all that I asked the guys at Hinckley to do some extra work and that had to be orchestrated into the works.

The rudder repair (click here) held up progress because the post is right in the middle of everything, located just inches aft of where the genset will go.  The completed repair is now sooooo much stronger than what the factory had done.  The first picture shows the area after it's been cleaned up.  The G10 tube is epoxied in place and the stuffing box / mounting plate / sleeve assembly is ready to be glassed into place.  The next picture shows the bolt heads have been epoxied in position and the first plate is glassed in.  The final picture shows everything glassed in up to the top of the tube.  This is incredibly overbuilt which is fine with me.  It's a proven weak spot on the boat.  Not anymore!  I'm really impressed with the work done by the Hinckley yard.

When the rudder work was completed they installed the linear drive for the auto pilot.  I figured it was better to get this done now before the genset went in while there was plenty of room down there.  The installation of the linear drive was done just like the repair on the rudder - extra beefy!  They reinforced the shelf in the starboard cockpit locker where the unit was going to be mounted.  The glassed in a "U" shaped fiberglass support beneath the shelf and added G10 blocks on top to raise the unit to the correct height.  This linear drive exerts some serious force and the job they did here should be more than enough to stand up to it.

With this job out of the way the genset can be installed.  I stopped by the yard yesterday afternoon and they were in the process of hoisting it onto the boat.  Cool!  We're going by tomorrow (Friday) to see the progress.  I'll post an update with more pictures this weekend.

We've Got True Grit

Courage, determination, fortitude, guts, resolve, spunk, tenacity.  These are all synonyms for "backbone".  I've just learned of a new one.

Part of the work we're doing this winter involves laying in a NMEA 2000 networking cable ("backbone") and new instruments.  The "backbone" requires a bit of an explanation.  A while back the National Marine Electronics Association decided it would be in their best interest if they standardized communications between electronic components that are used on boats.  Good idea!  With everything using the same one's and zero's we can mix and match our electronics, using a Furuno chart plotter with a Raymarine radar.  For the consumer this was a really great thing as far as having a wider selection of gear goes but it was also great in that it simplified installation in a huge way.  Instead of having to run multiple wires for each piece of gear you can now run everything to a backbone cable that provides power and two way communication.  Some instruments will still need a separate power line but stuff like instruments can have one simple connection.  Not only that but our multi function display can interface with everything and control the radar, sonar and auto pilot from the same display.  It can also show information about other systems on the boat such as the engine, genset and battery bank providing information about oil pressure, temperature, rpm's, engine hours and power use.  And more.

Because of the backbone concept I decided to replace our Raymarine ST60 instruments (wind, speed and depth) which are probably original equipment from 2001.  The new instruments will all be Raymarine too.  Wind will be covered by the i60.  Functionally it's very similar to the ST60 but it will be able to communicate with the other instruments over the backbone.  A P70 will interface with the autopilot and share information with the multi function display.  We're also adding an i70 which is actually a small multi function display and can be programmed to display up to ten different functions.  We'll be using it for depth and speed but also to show rudder angle, genset and engine info as well as a number of other things.  This little display is so useful we decided to put a second one down below at the nav station which'll provide access to all the information on the system.  Right now if we want to know how hard the wind is blowing we have to go up into the cockpit to find out.  The basic controls, on/off, for the genset will be at the nav station but the gauges will be mounted in the cockpit.  With the i70 we'll be able to monitor the genset voltage, current, hours of operation, oil pressure, temperature and more from down below also.  A good example of these instruments talking back and forth to each other is their ability to change from day mode to night mode.  For night mode they have a red display that won't kill your night vision.  When you set up one of these instruments to display night mode they all instantly change over.

Another thing we're adding is an auto pilot.  This has a number of components including a linear drive which drives the rudder, a rudder position indicator which indicates the rudder angle, a digital compass and a course computer.  There's also the P70 controller up in the cockpit.  With the auto pilot we'll be able to set a course and it'll hold the boat to that compass setting.  We'll be able to go off and take care of other things while the boats sails itself.  Of course we'll hafta monitor it on a regular basis and keep an eye out for obstacles but it'll relieve us from the strain of having to man the helm constantly.  We'll have the freedom to fish, fly kites, take pictures, whatever, while the boat sails on.  Now that's pretty cool!  And another example of talking back and forth.....the rudder position indicator can send info to the i70 which will display the angle of the rudder.  This can be very helpful, especially when backing, which requires thinking in double-reverse-negative.  Or maybe that's just me and explains why I always run into things.

We're also adding an automatic identification system (AIS) , described like this:  "operating in the VHF maritime band, the AIS system enables the wireless exchange of navigation status between vessels and shore-side traffic monitoring centers. Commercial ships, ocean-going vessels and recreational boats equipped with AIS transceivers broadcast AIS messages that include the vessel's name, course, speed and current navigation status".  Nice!  It takes a lot of the guesswork out of navigating around other vessels and makes our boat more visible to others.  Bobbing around on the ocean waves we may not be seen visually or even show up on a radar screen but with AIS our location and name will be displayed and they'll know we're there.  If they're awake.

One other thing we're putting on this winter is sonar. It's actually a very nice fish finder that will give us a good indication of bottom features as well as fish locations, water temperature and depth.  We originally wanted a forward looking sonar but found that this is wayyyyyy out of our league price-wise.  I think this'll help to keep us out of trouble though.

Using the NMEA 2000 backbone will give us something else.  Our VHF radio has a feature called DSC which stands for "digital selective calling".  This is a semi-automatic way of placing calls on the radio.  You have to register with the FCC and be assigned an MMSI # which is specific to your boat.  This registration gives emergency contact information plus information about the boat and it's owner.  The VHF radio is connected to GPS using the NMEA backbone and in an emergency you can hit one button on the radio and it'll broadcast your information and location.  The Coast Guard monitors DSC as well as groups around the world.  With the GPS information you stand a much better chance of rescue than if you were just broadcasting a MAYDAY call.  In addition this DSC can be set up for personal use too.  You can do individual and group calls using MMSI #'s that have been pre-programmed into the radio.  If you're traveling with a group of boats (as we will be when we go to Bermuda) then you can keep in touch with each other using each of the boats MMSI #'s.

The new electronics available these days have really changed the boating world.  It used to be that if you wanted to go out in a boat you really had to know what you were doing.  You had to know how to read a chart, plot a course using celestial navigation, communicate with other boats using visual and audible signals, understand weather and more,   Now just about any idiot can go out on the water and drive a boat.  And they do.  There's a lot of these skills that I don't have yet but I'm learning.  I really like the huge amount of information you get with the new electronics.  What I don't like is the amount of learning required to use this stuff.  It's gonna take months to figure all this out.

Never, Ever, Never, Never Buy a Charter Boat. Ever.

01/08/13 - "Up until this past year we've been doing mostly repairs to all the stuff she had wrong with her when we bought her.  Let me tell ya, it is really rewarding to be making improvements instead of repairs".

I actually had to go and say that, didn't I?  Nothing like tempting fate.

I got a call yesterday from Hinckley.  They pulled the rudder to repair the blisters and found that the stuffing box had some damage.  Apparently Island Packet used stainless steel studs to bolt down the bronze stuffing box.  Two of the studs were badly corroded due to dissimilar metals.  One of them was just a shell with threads and was completely eaten away inside.  But there's more.  Once the rudder post was out of the way they also found that the sleeve, the metal tube the shaft runs through where it enters the hull, was cracked.  They removed the stuffing box, which includes the sleeve and a mounting plate combined, and found the area underneath the plate was leveled with several inches of epoxy and the epoxy was cracked in a number of places.  The fiberglass underneath that was totally soaked from seawater leaking in.  It was so soft you could press a nail into it.  The repair requires taking out the old epoxy and removing the mushy fiberglass, then building it back up again after it's all dried out.  Once the fiberglass is repaired we'll glass in a G10 tube that'll hold the new sleeve ("G-10/FR-4 is a thermosetting industrial laminate consisting of a continuous filament glass cloth material with an epoxy resin binder. It has characteristics of high strength, excellent electrical properties and chemical/water resistance not only at room temperature but also under humid or moist conditions.")  The epoxy will be replaced to give the plate a flat surface to bolt up to and new studs will be embedded in the epoxy but this time they'll be silicon bronze, not stainless steel.  We can build it stronger, better.

The Hinckley dudes believe that this was damage done years ago while the boat was in charter.  I'm absolutely positive it didn't happen since we've owned the boat.  It appears that when the rudder was hit it kicked the shoe, the support at the bottom of the rudder, off to the side.  This would have put quite a bit of pressure inside the sleeve from the angle of the rudder post.  The sleeve cracked, as did the epoxy.  The shoe must not have been off-center by much.  I didn't see it before it was removed but I did spend quite a bit of time around the rudder when I was inspecting the blisters.  It also wasn't noticed during the survey when we bought the boat, September '09, and I didn't see it during all the work we did that winter, January '10.  The survey did comment on a slight binding in the steering and also on the corroded condition of the stuffing box bolts.

This is a major repair and it falls right in line with the other damage (holding tank, engine heat exchanger) that wasn't noted in the survey.  We may still not be done repairing problems from this boat's life in charter.  It occurred to me that if we had bumped the rudder with the fiberglass in this condition it probably would have punched a pretty big hole in the bottom of the boat.  I think I've reached the point here where I can honestly say that buying a boat that was previously chartered is not worth it.  These boats get abused because the people who use them don't own them.  They don't care about the boat or what happens to it.  I don't think the charter boats get the care and feeding they should from the charter companies either.  Can you imagine buying a boat as an investment and putting it in charter?  After some years of service you decide it's time for your family to enjoy and you find it totally trashed.  This is how this boat was when we bought it.  All the interior teak was water stained from leaving the ports and hatches open.  The holding tank was blown out.  The heat exchanger on the engine was unserviceable, ruined from neglect.  The hanging lockers in the forward stateroom wreaked of effluent.  When we bought the boat we had a cushion in value of about $100k to make repairs, based on the selling price of other 420's versus what we paid for her.  At the time we thought we were doing OK, well within that cushion.  I can honestly say now that it wasn't worth the money, time and effort we've put into it.  What?  Me frustrated?  Nooooooo!