May 14, 2015

We’re finally getting some badly needed rain as I post this week’s blog.  A nice change.  After returning from a tiring trip down to the San Diego area to pick up the watermaker kit and do a 13-mile outrigger race, I got back to a couple of ongoing projects.  When I found out that the high pressure pump for the watermaker weighed more than eight pounds, I decided to use up the last of the steel I had bought to strengthen the 18-inch-long arms that connect the pump mount to the engine mounts.  That entailed some additional cutting and grinding, but I’m glad I did it.  My welder friend has come up with some 220, but hasn’t had a time window yet, so no welding this week.  In the meantime, I finished up steps down into the engine room using the folding step I got last week, the new battery box and the new tool box.  It will make getting up and down a bit easier, no small matter given how many times I’ll be doing that to install the watermaker and finish upgrading the batteries and charging system.

April 23, 2015

Despite spending quite a bit of time going back and forth with vendors and modifying plans as a consequence, it was a pretty productive week.  The new bilge pump and float switch arrived, I ordered the watermaker kit, and bought and cut the steel for the mounting bracket for the watermaker’s high-pressure pump.  I also picked up and mounted a couple of new bus bars and a fuse bar for improving and modifying the engine room wiring.

Over the weekend Carol and I went to a Rancho Ventavo Cellars winetasting event and did a little hike through the hills that are gradually becoming Ventura’s new botanical garden.

 

April 16, 2015

It was a taxing week.  I spent much of it in the engine room doing “boat yoga” to finish assessing the feasibility of the watermaker installation and prepare for the new battery system.  The rest was spent researching and ordering the new stuff, and referring to Nigel Calder’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual to make sure I do it right.  Since no good deed goes unpunished, the scope is not just creeping, but loping right along!  The good news:  the engine-driven watermaker will work and I’ve coerced a friend to help me with the necessary welding and metalwork.

The new battery system will have a house bank consisting of two Rolls S605 (L 16 size) batteries.  These will supply 468 amp hours (20 hour rating) at 12 volts and should last many years if properly maintained.   They weigh almost 130 lbs each, so getting them into place will be a challenge.  Fortunately, another friend, the dock gym rat, has agreed to heft them around.  The other “bank” will be a high capacity starting battery.  The best way to manage and charge such a system is with series charging regulation using something like the Xantrex Echo charger.  The present charging system using an isolator (diodes) will have to do initially until I can refill the cruising kitty.  If I find it can fully charge the batteries, however, it can stay.  I’m doubtful, but it’s possible.

Regardless, the wiring will have to be sorted out and re-configured, and I’ve taken the first steps in doing that.  I’m also preparing the engine room for the new battery configuration, which will be totally different:  much cleaner, more powerful and more durable.

The sailboat that sank last week was an old woody, but well loved and cared for.  Unfortunately, a plank separated at the stem and because the boat was not connected to shore power, the battery died eventually and without power for the bilge pump, the boat went down.  Sadly, it will be totaled.