Archive for January 2017
The prototype of the yacht I am building just completed the Cape to Rio yacht race for I think the third time. The provisional results shows Black Cat finished seventh on IRC out or a field of 20. They sailed on a TCF or 1.05 which I think they achieved with a reduced size genoa. Our TCF would be higher due to the deeper keel and extra sail area so it will be interesting to see if we can sail at that level.
A lot has happened over the past two weeks. A couple more days of electrical work and all the 12 volt system is completed including instruments, autopilot chartplotters, fridge and pumps. The lighting has the option for red night lights and I like the look. Wednesday the gas was fitted by the approved Gas Fitter. Yesterday was Australia Day and I celebrated with more top coat inside the yacht and the first fibreglass on the rudder. Today we had the electrician working and two of the crew helping to screw on fittings so we fixed all the toe rails, the last of the jammers and half of the winches. As a bonus we connected the refrigerant lines on the ice box and tonight I am testing if it will freeze water on the lowers setting. So at last I have some photos to show.
As we have moved fittings from the rumpus room to the yacht Elaine is getting some of her house back. At the same time the interior of the yacht is getting more comfortable so we had tea inside the hull while we enjoyed the music from the stereo and admired the night lights.
Our Didi 40 Cr showing off stainless steel, running lights and toe rails
The view from the stern just catches the stern light
Navigation station with red night light option on.
All the lights we can see from the companionway have the red night light option
The bulkhead instruments at mid brightness level
Even the cockpit locker had the red night light option
We have a very standard Raymarine system on the new yacht. We have wind, tridata for boat speed depth and water temperature, a liner autopilot and chartplotters at the navigation station and on the deck. It is a copy of the system on Passion but using the latest hardware. I reported my purchase of the last chartplotter and autopilot system in the last post and they went straight onto the onto the yacht. When we powered up the Seatalkng network I was surprised and annoyed that we had a constant “No Pilot” alarm that was preventing any diagnosis of the system. The issue was resolved by downloading the latest version of software for the EV1 course computer and it fixed the issue immediately. I am not pleased that the equipment shipped in the one box was not software compatible but at least it gave me some practice at the software updating and all the equipment is now on the very latest versions of everything. Also the discussion with the Raymarine technical person provided some good advice on system redundancy like putting the Seatalkng into both chartplotters so that if the master fails the slave takes over with all the data already connected. Another good idea is to have a dedicated Seatalkng power supply prewired behind the panel so that if the autopilot fails we can plug the power supply into the backbone and still have the Seatalkng network running. I could power the backbone separately but I have run out of available connections and in ten years have never had a fault with the autopilot system powering the seatalk network on Passion.
Software version 1.11 on the EV1 course computer instead of the required 2.17
With the instruments working I turned on the VHF and realized I needed the MMSI number so went on line to apply for one only to find that I had already done the exercise and already registered the VHF and AIS. I shot off an email to AMSA apologizing for being forgetful and promptly entered the data into the VHF and it worked even without the antenna installed. The radio is working fine too and so are a few lights.
The next target for electrical completion is the fridge. The condenser is mounted in the ice box and the compressor is sitting on the base ready to be joined so by Friday night I hope to have a cold beer in the fridge.
The other domestic appliance that needs to be installed is the oven and the gas fitter is due this week.
Our friends on Izzi sailed the Wednesday twilight race remarkable well. By good luck or canny choices thy carried a larger genoa while we had our smaller No 3 up for the windy conditions at the start. We still had the reef in the mainsail from last week and opted to leave it there for the gusty trip through Humbug. We were a bit under powered in the sheltered area around the start line but once into Humbug we managed to match Worlds Apart and take an early lead. Saoirse was sailing fast in the stronger winds and having a great battle with Worlds Apart but they both overstood the turn to Cockatoo Island and we stretched out our lead a little. We probably lost a little on the corner as we had to pinch hard and slow to clear the dock by an arms with. This was the first of three close shaves on the evening and we were considering renaming Passion after one of those razor brands. The next close shave was at the navigation mark on Balls Head. Tana and two Etchells were below us and we could see that they would need to tack onto port to avoid running aground. We had a Young 88 just ahead so it was quite crowded conditions. When Tana and the two Etchells tacked we opted to take their sterns and try to clear the point on starboard tack but Tana stalled and we were forced to make a big deviation around her stern which took us below the point. We hung on and pinched to just clear the point but the deviation and slow sailing brought Izzi right up to us. In the light conditions around Balls Head Izzi was powering along and had now passed Worlds Apart and Saoirse who were having a very close battle to leeward as we approached the Navigation mark at Goat Island. We took out the reef for the run back to Long Nose as the wind was moderating. We lead around Goat Island but once into the clear air Izzi poled out their large Genoa and powered past. The carried the poled out Genoa very high and managed to sail through our lee and from there with more sail area sailed faster to the finish.
We could see Worlds Apart and Saoirse not far behind as we crossed the line. We were happy with our result considering the condition and were pleased that Izzi had sailed so well for a first and fastest.
Back at the club ML and her team put on another great BBQ and the light drizzle could not dampen the spirits on the deck. With the first three handicap place getters opting not to stay for the BBQ and presentation we were the first to the prize table for another bottle of wind from one of our sponsors.
The new white bulkheads brighten up the hull. While it has taken more time I am pleased it is done.
The battery box, isolation switches, charge control relay and battery charger.
The instrument panel with 12 volt panel, chartplotter, VHF and AM/FM radio. On the right is the tank level. 12 volt outlet and 240 volt panel.
It has been over three weeks since my last progress report on the building or our Didi 40 Cr due to a break from building when we drove to Adelaide for the Laser Nationals. Prior to the break I was busy painting all the galley components and working on the ice box. Since we returned home on Friday 6th it has been a frantic effort to keep the painting ahead of the electrical installation.
I have been drilling lots of cable holes and openings for instruments and mounting them ahead of my boat electrician schedule. From Monday to Friday he completed a substantial amount of the wiring and we now have the engine battery and three house batteries installed and on charge from the shore power battery charger. The 12 volt panel is wired up and power has been supplied to the two chart plotters and to the autopilot. We are waiting for some Seatalkng connectors to connect the power to the backbone and light up the water speed, wind speed and autopilot control instruments. We are also waiting on a long networking cable to send data between the two chart plotters and a cable to convert Sealtalkng to NMEA 2000 to interface with the AIS.
Most of the light fittings have been mounted but removed so I can finish the top coat.
The other change has been the painting of the bulkheads white instead of the planned clear finish. I was planning on just a couple of coats of varnish over the epoxy on the bulkheads to save time but the first coat of varnish showed up too many imperfections in the timber so I have gone for an extra two coats of undercoat and a top coat or two. The warm weather has helped the paint drying process but it is best to leave each coat for two days for ideal sanding conditions. This week I plan to install the plumbing and fit in the last of the major painting in between. I also have to mount a number of 12 mm ply panels for securing electrical equipment to the hull as we cannot drill into the single 12 mm skin. There is also a 24 mm thick panel required to bring the skin up to 36 mm for the base of the autopilot actuator. I will get a stainless steel backing plate for this as the bolts will go through the transom and will need to be decorative as well as functional.
Our stainless steel pulpit and pushpits have been trial mounted and I am just waiting for help to finish the fixing to the hull. I did a shop on the super hot Wednesday last week for the autopilot and second chart plotter and on Saturday another shop for more paint and all the nuts and bolts for fixing the rest of the fittings.
Tracks from a windy Wednesday with awful tacking angles on the way out off Onions Point
The weather patterns seem to have gone missing as we had one very mild regatta sailing Lasers in Adelaide. Not that I minded as the ribs are still healing from the fall down the companionway and I needed a rest from the boat building.
Our first sailing outing on return was the twilight at Greenwich Flying Squadron where for a third lucky week we scored a fastest time. It was lucky because we set the small No 3 genoa in anticipation of 20 knots of breeze and seemed to get a lot more. I don’t know for sure as we had the speed sensor out but the SOG went up to over 9 knots in one gust. The other lucky break was being too late at the start to put in a reef so we sailed full main through Humbug at a time when there was a lull in the breeze. Despite the awful tacking angles we emerged with a good lead and had overtaken the last of the bigger black fleet through Humbug. On the work to Cockatoo Island we put in the first reef and seemed to miss not one bit in the process to have out biggest lead of the night around Cockatoo. On the way to Goat Island we lost a bit of ground when a red fleet port tacker rounded up so we bore away to go below her only to have her bear away as well. There was no room to go back so we just had to bear away harder until they could stop. I think that was the end of the sloppy bits for the evening but by now Saoirse and Izzi were in sight. Fortunately for us they seemed to have a slow trip around Goat while we had a good rounding and hit our top speed of 9.3 knots approaching Long Nose. We left our reef in for the run back through Humbug as we had a good lead but it was a bit quiet for our passage and I suspect it was a bit windier for the following yachts.
We did not deserve to win on handicap and we did not but a third to Saoirse and Izzi was fair enough reward.