|
And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
Well, it's been a very long time coming, but the rehab, repairs and
refit are finished on Flying Pig. Those interested in the gory details are encouraged to go to the log sites, the photo galleries, and perhaps prior emails, but it suffices to say that we've come from a wreck to a gem. New hardware, fittings and other niceties following the structural and hull repairs make our seatrialed vessel seaworthy, comfortable and otherwise a joy to be aboard. Despite the blistering hot temps here, we've survived with fans and a night-time shower. Unfortunately for us in those areas where we may be shortly, if it's 95 out, the fan we have in the aft cabin, where we sleep, won't be used, as it's 110V, and a high drain on our electrical system. That said, we do have household current aboard, and will use it to charge our computers, power some of our internet and entertainment stuff, and, even (luxuries are found, even aboard), grind our coffee in the morning, saving me the 75 strokes on the manual grinder I had used for about a year, until we were given a very high quality electric unit which not only does a great job in grinding, but is so quick as to be nearly meaningless in load on our batteries which supply the unit which translates 12V to 110V. I'll spare you the details on what we have done, but it's enough to say that it's been staggering, and regularly, on the telling of the umpteen acquaintances we've made as a result of our notoriety, goggled and jaw-dropped over and about both the amount and speed of our recovery. In the meantime, lots of new stuff (replacing old) was added, so we should be very good to go for a long time, ordinary maintenance aside. A few days ago, we passed along (to a fellow cruiser) the vehicle which had, right after our wreck been given us by another cruiser, and, as I type this, will return the rental we had, later today. As always with departures, there are last minute runnings-around to attend to, but they're minor and will be accomplished quickly. We've acquired so many new and helpful friends that it's difficult to try to enumerate them, but the significant ones of the moment are Erkki Taada and Phillip Savill. Erkki used to build satellites for the Canadian government, and had a payload on one of the shuttles, among other things. Thus, he's pretty good at electronics, and has been working tirelessly to get us up and running in areas we've not yet had success in achieving. He's also very fully equipped, or has friends who are, where he's not, as a machinist and other very useful skills, and has helped immensely in the accomplishment of many mechanical areas. Phillip is an accomplished power boat captain and master fisherman (delete questionable joke about baiting skills) who just happens to also be a master craftsman in wood, having built his own boat to look like a victorian salon inside, and having done many restorations of Tampa historic buildings. In the meantime, he used to build boats for a living, so knows more than enough to have been very valuable in many other areas aboard. These two are joining us in our initial leg. We'll anchor overnight at Egmont Key, the location of our recent sea trials overnight stays, and head out at first light direct to Key West (nearly a straight shot south), going around there and continuing direct to Fort Lauderdale. In FTL we'll stop at the Seven Seas Cruising Association offices for more charts, attend to any issues which have arisen in our dash (anticipated time minimum 3, more likely 5-6, days from our expected Thursday AM departure) there, fuel and water the boat, and head out again. From there we'll jump into the Gulf Stream, gaining 2-4 knots (half again our boat speed, perhaps), and barring any oddities in distress or weather, not get off until we either get to the NYC area, or, if it's *really* fast, perhaps even Cumberland/Portland Maine. The Gulf Stream, in opposing wind directions, is really nasty. However, this time of year, that's a very minimal percentage of the time, and the prevailing winds are favorable for a very fast passage. The more time we spend aboard, and the more time spent sailing her, the better we love Flying Pig. We'll be out of touch by both internet and phone for the periods of our being at sea, but we're hopeful of being able to do radio-based email in the short-term future. Whether we get it done before we leave FTL is subject to reality, but when we have it, we'll identify how to find us that way, too. We've just had a mini-storm here, washing the decks which are currently in total disarray, as we've not yet stowed all that we took off in our rehab. We also are currently (as I type this) without internet connection, so I'm hopeful I'm able to get it out before we actually leave. If you see this on Wednesday, July 11, you'll know I succeeded :{)) Finally, though I know you've heard it many times before, endless thanks to all who have lent support, work, love, aid and otherwise helped us turn our wreck around into something more positive than we can effectively communicate. We're very blessed, and continue to pay it forward. Obviously, what goes around comes around. Stay tuned for further developments. As we regain connectivity, we'll post new pix in the new gallery "Away We Go - - AGAIN" in the Flying Pig is Aloft gallery - the first one in the link below. L8R Love from Skip and Lydia Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
Best of luck to you and Lydia, Skip. :-)
"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message oups.com... Well, it's been a very long time coming, but the rehab, repairs and refit are finished on Flying Pig. Those interested in the gory details are encouraged to go to the log sites, the photo galleries, and perhaps prior emails, but it suffices to say that we've come from a wreck to a gem. New hardware, fittings and other niceties following the structural and hull repairs make our seatrialed vessel seaworthy, comfortable and otherwise a joy to be aboard. Despite the blistering hot temps here, we've survived with fans and a night-time shower. Unfortunately for us in those areas where we may be shortly, if it's 95 out, the fan we have in the aft cabin, where we sleep, won't be used, as it's 110V, and a high drain on our electrical system. That said, we do have household current aboard, and will use it to charge our computers, power some of our internet and entertainment stuff, and, even (luxuries are found, even aboard), grind our coffee in the morning, saving me the 75 strokes on the manual grinder I had used for about a year, until we were given a very high quality electric unit which not only does a great job in grinding, but is so quick as to be nearly meaningless in load on our batteries which supply the unit which translates 12V to 110V. I'll spare you the details on what we have done, but it's enough to say that it's been staggering, and regularly, on the telling of the umpteen acquaintances we've made as a result of our notoriety, goggled and jaw-dropped over and about both the amount and speed of our recovery. In the meantime, lots of new stuff (replacing old) was added, so we should be very good to go for a long time, ordinary maintenance aside. A few days ago, we passed along (to a fellow cruiser) the vehicle which had, right after our wreck been given us by another cruiser, and, as I type this, will return the rental we had, later today. As always with departures, there are last minute runnings-around to attend to, but they're minor and will be accomplished quickly. We've acquired so many new and helpful friends that it's difficult to try to enumerate them, but the significant ones of the moment are Erkki Taada and Phillip Savill. Erkki used to build satellites for the Canadian government, and had a payload on one of the shuttles, among other things. Thus, he's pretty good at electronics, and has been working tirelessly to get us up and running in areas we've not yet had success in achieving. He's also very fully equipped, or has friends who are, where he's not, as a machinist and other very useful skills, and has helped immensely in the accomplishment of many mechanical areas. Phillip is an accomplished power boat captain and master fisherman (delete questionable joke about baiting skills) who just happens to also be a master craftsman in wood, having built his own boat to look like a victorian salon inside, and having done many restorations of Tampa historic buildings. In the meantime, he used to build boats for a living, so knows more than enough to have been very valuable in many other areas aboard. These two are joining us in our initial leg. We'll anchor overnight at Egmont Key, the location of our recent sea trials overnight stays, and head out at first light direct to Key West (nearly a straight shot south), going around there and continuing direct to Fort Lauderdale. In FTL we'll stop at the Seven Seas Cruising Association offices for more charts, attend to any issues which have arisen in our dash (anticipated time minimum 3, more likely 5-6, days from our expected Thursday AM departure) there, fuel and water the boat, and head out again. From there we'll jump into the Gulf Stream, gaining 2-4 knots (half again our boat speed, perhaps), and barring any oddities in distress or weather, not get off until we either get to the NYC area, or, if it's *really* fast, perhaps even Cumberland/Portland Maine. The Gulf Stream, in opposing wind directions, is really nasty. However, this time of year, that's a very minimal percentage of the time, and the prevailing winds are favorable for a very fast passage. The more time we spend aboard, and the more time spent sailing her, the better we love Flying Pig. We'll be out of touch by both internet and phone for the periods of our being at sea, but we're hopeful of being able to do radio-based email in the short-term future. Whether we get it done before we leave FTL is subject to reality, but when we have it, we'll identify how to find us that way, too. We've just had a mini-storm here, washing the decks which are currently in total disarray, as we've not yet stowed all that we took off in our rehab. We also are currently (as I type this) without internet connection, so I'm hopeful I'm able to get it out before we actually leave. If you see this on Wednesday, July 11, you'll know I succeeded :{)) Finally, though I know you've heard it many times before, endless thanks to all who have lent support, work, love, aid and otherwise helped us turn our wreck around into something more positive than we can effectively communicate. We're very blessed, and continue to pay it forward. Obviously, what goes around comes around. Stay tuned for further developments. As we regain connectivity, we'll post new pix in the new gallery "Away We Go - - AGAIN" in the Flying Pig is Aloft gallery - the first one in the link below. L8R Love from Skip and Lydia Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
The Walrus and the Carpenter
The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might: He did his very best to make The billows smooth and bright -- And this was odd, because it was The middle of the night. The moon was shining sulkily, Because she thought the sun Had got no business to be there After the day was done -- 'It's very rude of him.' she said, 'To come and spoil the fun!' The sea was wet as wet could be, The sands were dry as dry. You could not see a cloud, because No cloud was in the sky: No birds were flying overhead -- There were no birds to fly. The Walrus and the Carpenter Were walking close at hand: They wept like anything to see Such quantities of sand: 'If this were only cleared away,' They said, 'it would be grand.' 'If seven maids with seven mops Swept it for half a year, Do you suppose,' the Walrus said, 'That they could get it clear?' 'I doubt it,' said the Carpenter, And shed a bitter tear. 'O Oysters, come and walk with us! The Walrus did beseech. 'A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk, Along the briny beach: We cannot do with more than four, To give a hand to each.' The eldest Oyster looked at him, But never a word he said: The eldest Oyster winked his eye, And shook his heavy head -- Meaning to say he did not choose To leave the oyster-bed. Out four young Oysters hurried up. All eager for the treat: Their coats were brushed, their faces washed, Their shoes were clean and neat -- And this was odd, because, you know, They hadn't any feet. Four other Oysters followed them, And yet another four; And thick and fast they came at last, And more, and more, and more -- All hopping through the frothy waves, And scrambling to the shore. The Walrus and the Carpenter Walked on a mile or so, And then they rested on a rock Conveniently low: And all the little Oysters stood And waited in a row. 'The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things: Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing wax -- Of cabbages -- and kings -- And why the sea is boiling hot -- And whether pigs have wings.' |
And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
On Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:23:38 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote: Well, it's been a very long time coming, but the rehab, repairs and refit are finished on Flying Pig. Good luck, and be safe out there. Slow and steady wins the race. Keep a good weather eye peeled for those low pressure systems coming up from the tropics, and from off the coast. I don't want to be reading any more news articles about you guys. Wayne B (currently in Long Island Sound awaiting passage of a mid-western cold front) |
And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
Yes, Skip,
And stay away from errant drifting WWII mines, or whatever! G'Luck! Have you ever sailed the reversing falls, Billy? Please show your free laundry ticket to the commissionaire. Be careful, my wife might recruit you. Wanna watch a parking lot for 8 bucks an hour? Terry K |
And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
4PM Friday, July 13th - a great Friday the 13th it is, too!
We left our slip at about 10:30 yesterday and went up the creek to fuel. I'd estimated we'd take 50 gallons, but it was only 48, instead. We executed a close-quarters turnaround, and headed out on the rest of our lives - again! - at a little after 11AM. The wind was right on our nose heading south, so we motored our way under the Skyway Bridge, perhaps for the last time. A few squalls caused multiple openings and closings of our hatches and ports, in blistering St. Pete summer with 95 degree heat. Once under the bridge, we set sail on a perfect close reach, and once past the shallows at the end of the Southwest Channel, headed direct to Key West on a lovely beam reach. We set all the sails (well, the genny, the staysail and the main - we'd been told that there would be more wind than would make the spinnaker prudent) and pulled confidently forward in all of 5 knots of wind, making about 5 knots. Unfortunately for us, the wind was light, then died altogether, so we pulled in the furling genny and motored slowly at about 4 knots with the staysail and main pulled blade tight to minimize rolling. In truth, though, the entire night and most of the next day was nearly flat water. We slowed the boat down in order to not arrive in Key West before daylight, and as I write, we're again at 4 knots, which will put us at a fishing spot right at dawn. We set up our watch schedules as 8 on/ 8 off, with a pair splitting each 8 hour shift. So far, that has worked very well, indeed. We were all up and at 'em in the beginning, of course, so we didn't start our shifts for the first few hours. Lydia went immediately for a nap, having stayed up until 3:30, again, so, needed the rest. Phil and she took the first watch at 4, and Erkki and I puttered around with electronics and took naps, coming back on duty at midnight in relief. After a wonderful breakfast of French toast and eggs, he and I were entertained by not only the Milky Way, but also light shows of lightning off in the distance, and even a few meteorites blazing across the sky. As I write, I'm waiting for the third of the satellite passes which are giving us real-time pictures of the weather around us - for thousands of miles. The most recent showed us the Gulf of Mexico and west of Central America as well as down to about Guatemala and north about to Arkansas. The next one showed us the Atlantic at about the same latitudes as the first, nearly out to the western coast of Africa. When the satellite goes directly over us, in about another half-hour, we get a view of an area from well into South America and up to Hudson Bay. Overall, we have real-time information on weather. Last night, we got our first real test of the SSB - Single Side Band High Frequency radio. I participated in the Mobile Maritime Net - the only boat to check in, with the others being mobile (auto or truck mounted) or fixed, land-based stations. We had been very concerned over our apparent inability to communicate over our radio, but it turned out to be a hazard of marina life - metal buildings, metal roofs, and a forest of masts. While we could not hear the control (the guy who directs traffic, so to speak), I was getting through loud and clear. Today we started fishing in earnest. We put out our trolls, and quickly caught a Bonita (sort of like a tuna, but extremely bloody - we cut him up for bait for when we're in the Gulf Stream), two barracuda (which we tossed back), and then a mackerel. A lovely fish, we filleted him immediately, hoping to catch another for dinner. In between, we believe we must have attracted a shark, as not only was the lure gone, but the leader was much abraded quite a bit up the line from the lure. Ever optimistic, we set again (all this while doodling along at about 4 knots). Interrupting the electronics project we had, as well as just as we were going to stop the boat and take a swim, a very large fish hit our port side line. After long time of reeling, as she'd pulled off a lot of line before we got to the rod, we successfully boated a 48" king mackerel. I said she because there was also a huge egg sac. We decided we'd better put away the rods for a while, as we have something on the order of 20 pounds of fish from that single catch. We've just finished a huge meal, immediately roasted on the grill, which was more than awesome, not to mention filling. There's still a gargantuan amount of fish left from the first half, which is all we had room to cook. The second half is being saved for other delicacies - sushi, sashimi, ceviche, a salad, and sandwiches, among others. In 77 feet of water currently, the color is stunning, and while we can't see (or, at least, know what we're seeing) the bottom, crystal clear. Our delayed swim was tempered by the reality of sharks, so we waited until we'd moved well away from the area over which we cleaned the King Mackerel. No sharks showed up for the remains we were throwing over, but there was a small crab which stood by and then latched on to one of the smaller bits, immediately heading into deeper water. It was amusing to see him swim sideways to keep up with the drifting boat until we tossed over his treat. Once clear of the area, we put the boat into a hard turn, so that its motion would be minimized, and jumped in, hanging on to mooring lines we'd put in the water to wash. While the water was very warm, it was still refreshing, and we took advantage of our stop to do a "Joy Shower" - Joy dish detergent makes a great salt-water wash. So, we stood on the platform one at a time - it's not that large! - and jumped in to rinse off. After getting off the soap, we climbed out for our fresh water rinse with the shower on the stern. That platform got a lot of work today, cleaning three fish, and washing down with the pressure-fed salt-water washdown on the stern (with Joy, of course!), so it looks great. We have taken to doing our entire exterior teak with the lightest grade of olive oil available, so we thought we'd do the platform as well. However, if this pattern continues, there won't be any way we'll have any olive oil left on it! Our exterior teak looks marvelous doing this - and there's no sanding, either! Well, I'm now on watch, so I'll stop here. More to follow. L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
July 15th - Oops - we missed Ft. Lauderdale
Erkki and I had the dawn patrol today. Our shift included looking at lots of shipping, as well as distant thunderstorms, on our radar, as we tracked the Gulf Stream in search of a lift north. All the light shows resulted in nothing, however, as they were too far away to affect us. One (additional - after all the rest so far) problem which surfaced early on, however, was that apparently our mast-top navigation light has no red light. That means vessels approaching us from our port side can't see us. That's meant that we have to run our deck level navigation lights, as well as our masthead, or steaming, lights. As those lights are of the heat-generating type, they use a lot of electricity. So, we'll have to attend to that rather quickly, as we won't want to run our deck level lights any more than necessary - not to mention that the mast-top light is new, and high-tech, so we want to get it replaced immediately. Fortunately for this set of circumstances, however, the wind continues to be nonexistent - or so low as to require running the engine. Running the engine generates more electricity than we use, so it's been ok about the lights. As I write this, we're again under motor, with sails furled other than the main, which is up to minimize rolling in the light waves which are present tonight. Earlier today, the wind was entirely dead, starting shortly after first light. As sunlight is the biggest age component of sails, we stowed them all, and motored on. Fortunately, the Gulf Stream added speed to our travels, as expected, and we continued to make good time with light use of the "Iron Genny" - so nicknamed for replacing the genoa (the big sail up front) - similar to the "Iron Horse" of pioneer times. However, it was so hot that we also took a swim and bath break around noon. It was very refreshing, and lowered our body temperatures, despite the Gulf Stream being in the upper 80s. We renewed our vigor and continued to motor. As I was off shift, I went down to nap, again, and when I came up, the wind had picked up to a wonderful 4 knots, in a direction suitable for putting out the spinnaker. So, of course, we did. Another phantasmagorical sail under that marvelous piece of rainbow cloth. We were making 5 and 6 knots in the water, but with the Gulf Stream lift, we were making 9 or more knots over ground. We'd been making such good time since we entered the stream that we took a meeting and the crew decided we'd go to Daytona Beach, instead. There, it will take less time to drive home, and, as a bonus, there may be a ride available from one of Erkki's friends. As I write, we're off North Palm Beach, making over 8 knots with a 4 knot lift from the Gulf Stream. As it's such a boost, even though it goes offshore rather much by the time we get to Daytona Beach, we'll ride it until nearly 30 miles to go, then triangulate into the entry. This will duplicate the entry I made all these years ago, on our proving cruise with my second ex-wife's father. He'd been taking on crew as he did a single-handed circumnavigation, and we were one of the last legs; it's what convinced Lydia that it's what she wanted to do for the rest of our lives. Tonight on the SSB was better, in that I could hear the traffic, and, while the control in mid-Florida couldn't hear me, a guy in Texas could, and relayed our information for us. We're now in the winlink.com tracking section, so those interested could go to the web site and look for our call sign, seen in the sig line, but KI4MPC (Kilo India Four Mike Poppa Charlie). However, this time around also exposed a weakness, said to be a well known difficulty in our particular radio. At high power, we get voice clipping. Practically speaking, that means people can hear us but not understand us. The good news is that it amounts to a product defect, and should be remedied at no cost - albeit not only a delay, and probably at least the shipping costs to return it to the factory or some authorized service center. So, there are some things we'd like to get repaired or corrected, as soon as possible. If there's a service center in Daytona Beach, it's worth spending some time there to have that defect remedied. Of course, if there are service centers, likely NYC would have one, which would be OK, too, as we at least are able to check in with the Mobile Maritime Net. Likewise, if my supplier can send me a replacement mast light overnight, I could get that installed while we're in Daytona. Given the level of security that represents in shipping lanes, that's a high priority. Fortunately for the nuisance factor, there are also several other things I need to do up the mast, so I can attend to them at the same time. Overall, we're doing much better than hoped, and the breakages and difficulties are part and parcel of cruising. The saying goes that "Cruising is boat repair in exotic locations!" I'm not certain how exotic Daytona Beach, and New York City environs is, but at least it fits with the usual epectations of having to fix something after every voyage. Fortunately for us, those things so far are minimal. Erkki and I have the midnight shift tonight (ends at midnight) so I should get another full night's sleep, and be ready to go at it again. So far, so good, and we're thrilled to find that it's meeting our expectations. L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
Saturday, July 14. Happy Bastille Day! And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
My apologies for the out-of-sequence posting. I was totally blasted
from the heat and sleep deprivation (why that was in later posts). The last one will make more sense after this: Saturday, July 14. Happy Bastille Day! Last night was a litany of electronic difficulties. The mobile maritime net, which, albeit with a relay, had worked so well before, this time was nearly unintelligible to the folks on the other side. While I could hear very well, I wasn't well heard. Tonight, I am unable to understand any of the traffic - so I'm back to not knowing whether I have a problem, or it's just the nature of the solar cycle or some other global difficulties. Then, after we'd redone a wiring-problem installation of a depth sounder and speed log, upgrading to being able to independently switch on the lights, we found that the depth sounder wasn't reading the depth, and the speed log wasn't working, either. Fast forward to the next day and the impeller (the thing that gets pushed around by the water running by it) became loose, again, apparently, rotating and providing electronic input to the display unit and now we have a speed indicator that works. Another of our instruments has the same difficulty, but I will pull it out (making a small amount of water in the boat) and free it up. We concluded that our last week in the marina slip,, with extremely high and low tides, as well as a case of the red tide (which killed a lot of small fish and made for a very nasty water environment), had gunked up our impellers so that they didn't work I have one other minor check point to do in order to see about the depth sounder - new right before we left! - and hope that it's a simple fix. We're on 8-hour doubles shifts, which is to say that each pair can get an entire 8 hours of rest. Before our expected changeover at midnight, Erkki and I elected to let our relief sleep an extra hour, in order to allow them more rest. After they arrived, and we had briefed them on what was happening with our course, speed, and location, I went to bed. I got a great night's sleep, but it wasn't so restful topsides. Adding to our list of things to investigate or take care of is the refrigeration. We believe that we are just stressing it immensely, with all the constant opening and closing, insertion of warm water and newly- caught fish, and the huge amount of heat added each time we trade out one slightly colder bottle of water for another, newly poured, 90 degree gallon. However, where we used to be able to easily maintain single-digit temperatures in the freezer, and 35 degrees in the refrigerator, we're struggling to get to 20 in the freezer, and are over 50 in the reefer. Back to last night. There were miscellaneous squalls to be avoided, but, primarily, there were issues with each and every one of the instruments in our helm area. The speed and depth logs mentioned earlier were already known inoperative, but at various times overnight the chartplotter failed, the GPS integrated to the chartplotter lost its fix (repeatedly), the other helm-mounted GPS either wouldn't light, wouldn't acquire the satellites, or wouldn't even come on. The speed indicator lost its light (apparently - it's connected with the autopilot, which controls the light level), entirely. The fish finder, which integrates speed, depth and temperature, is so old that the display is difficult to read. Adding insult to injury, the speed portion is the other impeller mentioned, which I will have to pull out (opening a hole in the boat) in order to free up. Disappointingly, it's also the trip log, so our distance traveled will have to be recorded based on the distances between waypoints. And, finally, the lashing securing the boom to the point of the staysail where it attaches to the sheet (which controls how tightly it's pulled) opened, creating momentary flogging and banging. The killer was, however, that it required heading into the wind, in order to take the strain off the sail, to repair it. While that job was pretty straightforward and simple, the autopilot chose that occasion to hiccup, and the speed, autopilot, chartplotter and GPS (both of them - the one below which controls the autopilot, and the one at the helm) all took dumps at the same time. The end result was lots of hand-driving to keep the boat pointed correctly while repairing the sail, and, in the end, a lack of knowledge of where the boat was, and how to get to where we were going, other than by compass. While driving by compass is ok if you are confident of where you are and where you're going, if you know neither, and are in the area of very shallow water, as the end of that particular leg of the trip was, it gets a bit nerve wracking. In the end, the instruments were persuaded to return to duty, and the sailing resumed. That's the good news - the wind had finally picked up enough to sail, without having to run the engine. All through the night, Flying Pig proceeded at a stately pace, timed to get us to our earlier-defined fishing hole. Well, as might be expected under the circumstances, with all that fish aboard, Phillip - the fisherman aboard - elected to pass on that exercise and proceed directly into Key West's Northwest Channel. Our trip through Key West was uneventful, if also boring (if you disregard all the potentials for going aground!), and we set sail on a very close reach in order to get to the Gulf Stream once in the channel. Well, wouldn't you know, despite being able to tack from our exit directly into our track for finding the Gulf Stream, the wind was again light, and, eventually, died. Again, we struck the genoa (the big jib on a roller), and started the engine. The engine and all the related stuff has worked flawlessly - except for, you guessed it, an instrument. The temperature gauge is flaky at best. It was an electronic instrument I got, new in the box, at the first Seven Seas Cruising Association convention I attended, in the Saturday morning flea market. It's worked exactly as I'd hoped in its first few trials, but, on this trip, it's totally unreliable. Fortunately, I have an electronic, infrared, thermostat, and checking the engine temperatures at several locations along the way have assured me that all is well - even though I'd much rather receive real-time info about our coolant temperatures! Lest you think this last day has been all bad news, last evening, before being relieved by the others, Erkki and I were joined, as we frequently are, by the off-watch crew (you can't sleep all the time, and nobody's seemed to want to read all that much, either!) for conversation and dinner. Right after dinner, we noticed a dolphin (well, a porpoise; dolphins are what we hope to catch for dinner) jumping beside the boat. We figured he wanted to play, and sure enough, he came alongside, did rolls and swoops, and then raced ahead of the boat for about a minute before diving deeply. In between, I managed to get a few good shots of him, including some of the ones where he was looking back up at us, to see if we were watching him! Our crew arrangements are working out marvelously. Erkki and Phillip are great company as well as competent watch standers. As I write this, it appears we'll make Ft. Lauderdale by mid-day tomorrow. Our entry to the Gulf Stream was gentle and gradual. We could see the different color of the water, but the expected temperature differential never materialized - perhaps, because it's July, and the water all around is also very warm. Initially we got some help with the usual slide that a sailboat does as it's being pushed sideways by the sails. However, once we were on our course at the edge of the Gulf Stream, we got about a knot of lift to begin with. Now that we're fully in the stream, however, we're seeing a 3.5 knot (nautical miles per hour) improvement in our speed. We'll stop in Ft. Lauderdale for more charts, fuel, water, perhaps deal with some of the equipment challenges we've found, and then head back out. If we can get a better wind, our trip north should be a great deal faster! Stay tuned... L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
Saturday, July 14. Happy Bastille Day! And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
Wow, I am surprised you are still posting. If I had a run like that, I
am afraid my laptop would be the first to get smashed on the console... I have been following this for a looooong time. All the distractors now wish they were you, even with the troubles I bet! Better luck and fair seas to you and your crew. |
July 16th - Hey!! Wasn't that Daytona Beach?? And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
July 16th - Hey!! Wasn't that Daytona Beach??
After an extraordinarily short sail last night in very light wind, we again gave up and fired up the Iron Genny. We continued to get a great lift from the Gulf Stream,. 4 knots of lift, in fact, most of the time. In the times we've had a decent wind, we're making 10 knots over ground. Lydia and Phillip had the dawn patrol, and it was a very good one at that. Lydia's been rather gun-shy of night watches after the wreck, but this one was very productive. Thunderstorms and squalls were skirted after spotting on the radar, her understanding of the operation of the chartplotter and GPS was enhanced, and in general she felt much better about night operations. As it was my turn off-watch, I had another good night's sleep, other than that Erkki and I elected to allow the relief watch to sleep until 1:30, so I got a late start. When I arose, I found that the crew had mutinied and demanded to go to Savannah. We'd been making such great time, and the route looked feasible, that - I think - they didn't want it to end quite so soon, and so wanted to press on. That sounded good to me, other than that I was concerned for our fuel and water. Fortunately, upon investigation, we found that our smaller water tank was the one which we had exhausted, and so the larger, nearly half again the size of the original, was the one we were working from now. In addition, we'd already resolved to do salt water showers or swims, again, using the fresh water shower at the stern, or the regular cabin showers, for (just) rinsing. As it turns out, that won't be necessary, but it's good practice, anyway, as Lydia and I expect to be enroute to New York in a few days, and not come off the water except for emergency or disastrous weather. However, there were several complications to the plan to go to Savannah, having to do with transportation, scheduling, and others. In the end, the problem which cinched my desire to go to Jacksonville (even though we'll have to go to Savannah, anyway, in order to mail off our proof-of- export to the tax people in FL) was that after detailed calculations, Erkki and I (who very much wanted to go to Savannah) determined that we would be out of fuel well before our arrival. On the other hand, we could comfortably make Jacksonville, in the early morning hours, at the rate we expected to go. In my absence (while I was asleep), the fuel tank had been sounded with a stick they'd found. I had a chart of the tanks aboard as well as an indicator of the depth as related to percentages of volume. The dipstick which came with the boat had ¼ tank markings on it, and we had slightly more than ¼ tank available. That was informative in that we could now extrapolate our fuel usage, and how much more we had available. In their enthusiasm for all the lift we'd obtained from the Gulf Stream, and neglect of the impact of the fuel we'd have to burn while coming ashore from the great distance we were out, the fact that we'd nearly certainly run out of fuel before our arrival had escaped them. So, Erkki and I did a more detailed analysis, and determined that we could safely - but with only a small reserve - make Jacksonville. So, that's where we headed. As usual, there's no wind today, so at about 5 we got ready to take our swim. Oops. There's no wind because we're motoring in the direction of the wind, at the same speed as the wind. Stop the boat, and there's a small breeze. Boats tend to blow around when there's a breeze, and this was no exception. Flying Pig is such a sailor that she doesn't want to stop. No luck whatsoever in putting her in irons - heaving to - which makes her sidle sideways with small jogs. So, we dumped all the sails, lay a-hull (sideways to the waves and wind), and jumped in. Because we headed in toward Jacksonville, we were now out of the Gulf Stream, and the water was a few degrees colder. More, it was a very different color - not nearly as pretty as in the Gulf Stream. However, it was refreshing, and that was really the point. Notably, though, the wind continued, and it was sufficient to allow us to put up the sails again. This time, as it was nearly dead astern, we put out the spinnaker and set the main sail in a wing-and-wing configuration. As I write this, we're making more than 6 knots through the water, in dead silence - other than the splashing of the waves from the bow. When the boat stands up, as it does under spinnaker sailing (vs heeled over under standard sails), the water flies off the bow, very impressively and entertainingly for those sitting in the bow seat over the anchors. Depending on our winds, we expect to be at the Jacksonville inlet shortly before dawn. We'll make our way up the St. John's River and make arrangements for our crew's car to go home, try to get connected to the internet, post all the log notes and collect our email, and even more importantly, attend to some of the repairs we need doing. It's been a great run. We'll have done over 700 miles in about 5 days, and everyone's still talking to each other! My attempts to check in on the Maritime Net tonight were again frustrated. As was the case a couple of days before, I learned that the difficulty was some inconsiderate HAM using a digital form of communication. With thousands of frequencies available, and this being a very long-standing net, an experienced hobbyist (one who would use this type of communication would be very experienced) should surely know that this frequency had a significant purpose, and should have avoided it. On the whole, however, if that's the only thing I can find to complain about, I guess it's doing pretty well. I'll take another nap in a while and then take the dawn shift with Erkki. We'll bring her home. L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in |
July 17th - How revolting! And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
July 17th - How revolting!
Well, it wasn't quite an open revolt, but shocking, none the less. As usual, the day was pretty flat and uneventful. We motored on into the still air, sweating. Our watch rotations are working out pretty well, on our last day. As is our practice, we've got the main up, blade tight, to minimize roll in the swells by virtue of that great slab resisting movement by pushing the air as it tried to flop one side to the other. The wind, however, while apparently nonexistent, is actually a light breeze directly on our rear, at the same speed as our progress forward. Thus, when we stopped to swim and do our afternoon bath, the wind pushed the boat forward from behind. We tried to heave to - make the boat stop moving by stalling it by turning the wheel one way but the sails the other, but our intrepid Flying Pig just kept going around in circles. Adding the genoa to the equation didn't change matters. So, we dumped the mainsail and had a great swim. The wind came up as we were getting out of the water so we put up the spinnaker, again, but this time, as it was nearly straight aft, we also put the main sail out to do a wing-and-wing. Unfortunately, the wind was not strong nor consistent enough, and the main interfered with the airflow over the spinnaker. As has been common in the daylight watch hours, all hands were on deck, and the actual watchstanders's responsibilities were not strictly delineated. Whoever was in the cockpit tended to do whatever was needed, whether it was their watch or not. It was thus that Phillip and I found ourselves there, and Lydia and Erkki were sitting in the stern, chatting, and Lydia doing some photo shoots. By this time the winds were building and , the seas (what little there were) were becoming a bit confused (due to the shifting winds), and it looked like it might turn into a lovely downhill sleigh ride on spinnaker alone. However, that meant that the main would have to be dropped. To drop the main requires going into the wind - a maneuver which would put the spinnaker all over the standing rigging and perhaps damage it. On the other hand, one of the common techniques to drop a spinnaker is to "blanket" (cover, dropping the wind) it with the main. It's a pretty simple process, but requires some detailed steering in order to make the mainsail do its job. In the end, I erred in not flopping the main over on the same side as the spinnaker, which, as you will see, caused a little excitement. Phillip and I made ready to drop the spinnaker. It's a maneuver I commonly single hand, by taking the halyard (the line which pulls up the top of the sail in one hand and the spinnaker in the other. However, first you have to get the spinnaker sock down. Under a lot of pressure (lots of wind), the sock which makes such a snap out of dousing the spinnaker is a bit challenging to pull down. The other common technique (if you're not racing and don't have to worry about what direction, at what speed, you're going) is to relieve the pressure on the sail by motoring downwind to the same speed - or as close as you can come to it - as the wind. So, when the main, which was on the wrong side of the mast for the purposes of our maneuver, didn't do its job, I started the engine and began to do the downwind maneuver. See above about the sail - (!) - I was doing a bit of steering to try to get the spinnaker blanketed. Any change in engine state is cause for heightened attention on the part of the crew. Combine that with full throttle operation and strange maneuvers, and all hands jump to attention. Add to that inexperience in sailboat terminology and anything other than the entirely flat water experience we'd had all this time, and Erkki, jumping in to help, became concerned for our safety when he saw Phillip struggling a bit in corralling the spinnaker sock, which was flopping around due to the sea state. As he was trying to help, he attempted to lower the spinnaker, but didn't understand either which line, or how to deal with it. Compounding what was later more clearly understood, Phillip was trying to direct him, being the guy on the foredeck. It's a little like the blind leading the blind, as Phillip isn't an experienced sailor (while being a very experienced mariner, on which, more, later), so communicating what to do wasn't clear. What little I did to attempt to assist, by identifying lines (while I was driving), it turned out, wasn't particularly helpful to his comfort level. Given that we were originally going to re-hoist it, Phillip and I were going to simply lay it on deck, turn the boat around to drop the main, and then put it back up again. However, it was getting toward dark, and one of the general rules is that you reduce sail in the dark. If the wind were to continue to build, it would be difficult to deal with the spinnaker in best conditions, but perhaps dangerous in the dark. So, I made the decision to stow it, rather than re-hoist it. Unknown to me as I'd not been seeing it at the time, however, these exercises had frightened Erkki, and, after it was over, he'd communicated the negative impact of that experience, without the root cause, to the others. He didn't understand what was happening, what the purposes were, and, worse, stepped into a maneuver already in progress, where we didn't have the time to make explanations. Not surprisingly, that led to something other than an enjoyable experience. Add attempting to take confusing direction from more than one source (Phillip and me, on opposite ends of the boat from him). Add the elements of fear, and you have the reasons most people leave sailing if they aren't incapacitated in some way, or have responsibilities which force them elsewhere. Not only isn't it fun, sometimes it can be dangerous. That it wasn't, at all, dangerous, wasn't evident without the background of what was happening. Of course, I had not seen any of this, and aside from the comments received by the others, was totally unaware of his discomfort. So, he was very ready to get off the boat. Revolt #1. Our dawn patrol watch together was very good, and our discussions helped him understand how we got to the point he'd gotten involved as well as that, while "exciting" (not really, but not dull), not any more dangerous than walking around on a moving boat can be, regardless of what 's happening at the time. However... We're now into the next day, and have pulled into Jacksonville. On the way in, before the shift change, I'd called around and learned about where to fuel, arranged rental car transport for us in the afternoon and for Erkki and Phillip to get home, and a place to tie up while we did some running around (see below). You'll recall that our electronics haven't been behaving all that well. Erkki, being an extremely high-level electronics designer, and Phillip, being an extremely high-level mariner, have not been happy with the state of our electrical system. That's not to say that I am, but I'm a bit more fault-tolerant, as that's just the way it is with older gear. Lydia, on the other hand, has an extremely low tolerance for anything which involves waiting (Lord, Give me patience - but I want it right now!), including, perhaps, a warmup period for our radar, or effort, such as touching an older piece of gear which was designed to require manual activation for a light, auto-dark after a few seconds to preserve battery life. Thus, revolt #2. Well, mutiny might be a better word. This is already too long, so I won't go into technical detail, but it suffices to say that our electrical system, from the stuff already aboard, to much of the newer gear added (including the new and expensive radar) was either poorly installed, simply doesn't work properly, or, worse, or perhaps in addition, has underlying issues which were supposedd to have been resolved as we went but have gotten worse, instead. Easily said from the outside, the consensus was that "something" must be done, and worse, it was fatally dangerous not to resolve this before making another move more than 5 miles from shore. While I don't agree (people have singlehanded safely and successfully without even the charts and other backups we have aboard which are not high-tech), I did agree that we had a problem. So, after fueling and moving the boat to where the Jacksonville Marine folks had so kindly allowed us to park for a while, and picking up our car, we went to lunch and hashed (pardon the expression) out our difficulties, first attempting to identify the problem, and then possible solutions. It was agreed that we'd do some diagnostic instrument shopping and return to the boat for some inspection. Again shortening the story, the best that can be said is that the installations of electrical (including electronics) gear have not been tidy, professionally standard, or, in some cases, complete. Compounding the difficulties is that there are transients, dropouts, spikes and other irregularities in the supply of electricity to our electronics. Thus, it is impossible to properly assign blame to the instruments until those gremlins are slain. At that point we can determine whether any given instrument is at fault, or if those gremlins were causing the difficulties. Unfortunately, that's a massive job. Whether we park ourselves somewhere for a couple of weeks and hope that the next one who has his hands inside all the electrical areas does it better than the previous several, or I do it myself, we've not yet decided. Stay tuned.We hugged and grinned and said our good-byes and otherwise sent our crew off in my rental car for their trip home. Finally, as we were about to go to bed, it was evident that the refrigerator and freezer were not making cold sufficiently. Investigation proved that it wasn't making cold at all. Troubleshooting revealed that it was in protective shutdown due to inadequate voltage. How revolting. So, we have our work cut out for us. More later. L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
July 17th - How revolting! And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:51:04 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote: Finally, as we were about to go to bed, it was evident that the refrigerator and freezer were not making cold sufficiently. Investigation proved that it wasn't making cold at all. Troubleshooting revealed that it was in protective shutdown due to inadequate voltage. How revolting. So, we have our work cut out for us. More later. Definition of cruising: "Fixing things in interesting places" |
July 18th - Oh, Savannah! And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
July 18th - Oh, Savannah!
Oh, Savannah, oh, don't you cry for me. For I've gone to go to Charleston, the techie for to see! We headed out the channel at 7:30, and turned the corner for Savannah. The breeze was light, so we - again! - motored toward our destination of Savannah at 23 degrees. As I was already very up and awake (see below) I took the first watch and Lydia went back below to sleep. Soon, the wind moved around a bit so I could put up the sails. There was a trawler in front of me that caused some concern, as I'd have to change direction so that I'd be in front of him. However, as I proceeded to put up the main under idling autopilot, I saw that he was anchored. No problems! Even better, as I came around on my port tack, and passed him, I saw what must have been 25 porpoises milling around the boat. Perhaps the shrimpers threw off by- catch, attracting them, or maybe the porpoises just wanted to show off, but they were all around the boat, and their blowing as they surfaced was clearly visible from the half mile away or so that I was. Perhaps, one day at anchor, we'll be fortunate enough to have our boat surrounded by porpoises, too! The wind was still low enough that I motorsailed, but at least it was in a position to do some good to our speed. Whenever the sails are useful for sailing, they also stiffen the boat, so the ride was very comfortable. By the time Lydia returned, just before our new, 4-hour shift change, the wind had moderated, but still was providing some lift. I suggested that we continue to motorsail at a relatively high rpm in order to fully charge our batteries in case we found some wind and wanted to turn it off. Of course, I reviewed where we were, and identified the various vessels in the area. Three of them were warships - a submarine in the middle of what may have been supply ships, as they didn't look like fighting craft. As we were moving out of the area of our chartbook of the East Coast of Florida, I went to the back of the book where there was a larger scale chart. Imagine my surprise when I saw that Charleston was actually very close to Savannah, in relative terms, Better yet, the coastline was curving so that we would have relatively even less extra to go there. As our kids were not able to come to Savannah, we quickly agreed that Charleston it was. There is an overriding reason to hurry to Charleston, as well. It's where the guy I know from the internet - the one who got me started down the road to ship's internet connectivity - who loves to work on boat electronics, and is component-level qualified, making his living as a theater and church electronic organ repair professional. While he can't leave Charleston, if I bring the boat to him... Before we went to bed last night, I troubleshot the refrigerator to being a low-voltage problem. We'd not had what I thought was low voltage, but apparently the computer which controls the refrigerator does. Once we ran the engine, and the sun came out, we quickly recharged our (rather large) battery bank to "full", and the refrigerator continued to run until we shut off the engine. Once again, it stopped cooling, and the freezer and refrigerator temps rose, even though the battery monitor shows "full." I'll have to run the engine again, apparently, to raise the voltage. We need to resolve this quickly, as it's crucial to our ability to live long term without shopping continuously. Meanwhile, we'd been referred to an anchoring spot up the river as we were leaving our kind hosts' dock. It proved to be nearly impossible (it was, for us) to get a hook into what sounded and felt like hard rock and pebbles over it. At least we got a polished anchor from the experience! We looked at the charts of the river and moved much closer to the inlet. That proved to be excellent holding, and while disconcerting to find ourselves so close to shore if the wind and current were just right, it never got shallower than 12 feet, and was mostly closer to 20. Two tidal shifts later, we'd slept soundly and woke to head out again. So, as I write, we're on a starboard tack, the wind having shifted nearly opposite to what it was when we started, and it's picked up a bit, too. We're moving right along on a broad reach, with an easy and comfortable motion. In the meantime, I've pulled the two most recent satellite pictures, with another due in an hour or so. The most recent (last and upcoming) show the area where we are, but also from Savannah out to past Mexico City, and from Hudson Bay to Columbia. The next one will show from Texas to about 500 miles from the African coast, and from Columbia and Venezuela to nearly the tip of Greenland. This particular piece of electronic gear is very certainly a bright spot in our otherwise mostly-frustrating electronic array. Meanwhile, the wind has shifted, and picked up, so we're on a broad reach, making 7 knots in 10-12 knots of wind. We just had a real treat of what appeared to be a family of porpoises starting at the side of our boat, but then going to the bow for about 15 minutes of fun. The little ones were shepherded by a much larger one - don't know if it was Daddy or Mommy - but they swam so as to look at us, as if to say, "Please, take our pictures." So, of course, we obliged. Unfortunately, the water's not perfectly clear, and the speed of our boat (and them, of course) made it such that there was a lot of blur in the pictures. However, we believe we have many lovely shots of as many as 6 together, playing under my feet as I sat on the bow seat. It doesn't get much better than this... My maritime net checkin was successful tonight, and we left a message for the internet buddy who's also a ham, but only has his rig in his car, as that's where he is most of the time. Also tonight we finished off the last of the fish. Our master fisherman had failed to catch anything at all, let alone something we could eat - but, boy, did we eat fish for the first 4 days! Of course, it's now our turn to become self-sufficient, so we'll have to practice. Now, however, darkness looms, and we have to secure for unseen circumstances, so I'll stop here. Next stop, Charleston! L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
July 19th - Doin' the Charleston And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
July 19th - Doin' the Charleston
We pulled into the Charleston area early in the morning after an absolutely marvelous sail. Lydia had gone down to sleep after letting me sleep longer than the expected midnight change, and in return, I kept at it until past dawn and our entrance. That sleep deprivation would come back to haunt me later, as the out of sequence posting demonstrated a few days ago. We got Larry on the phone and were directed to a special entrance we'd missed both when looking at the electronic and paper charts of the area. We were also directed to the City Marina as necessary for us to accomplish what might be refrigeration repair (more difficult for a service person to dinghy out), electrical troubleshooting, instrument repairs and the like. As much as it's against my religion and our budget, we bit the bullet and signed up for the Franklin plus daily fees to be at the (very VERY long dock - the MegaDock, where the big guys park) end of the outside floating dock. Larry had his hand-held VHF radio with him and was able to hear our traffic with the control for docking and thus was waiting for us when we landed. We quickly connected to shore power and commenced to troubleshooting while Lydia went off to discover who she'd chat up in THIS marina (if you let her off the boat, she's gone for hours, as there isn't anyone she meets who doesn't turn into a conversation, some of which involve geneology, let alone hail-fellow-well-met). We quickly determined that we weren't getting nearly enough power to the batteries which appeared to be OK, but very low. Larry's first supposition was that the batteries were dead, but futher digging showed that the charger wasn't putting out anything like the 70 amps it was rated for. Out come the manuals and to cut it short, the charger and its controller were fried, literally (see gallery pix). So, the first order of business, as long as we're on someone else' (expensive - a surcharge of $6 per day) electricity, we need to get something to accelerate the charging, so it's off to West Marine. New charger installed, we're topping up the batteries. To do our tests, we've turned on everything we can find to generate lots of load. If our charger is up to the task, it should shoulder all the load and have some left over. However, as we put all that we can find into the system's load, it turns out that it's high enough to take all the charger has to offer. As it's a relatively small charger, that's not really surprising - we have lots of time when connected to regular 110V power, so it's not worrying. However... Then, while it's working, we check the alternator (the busy thing on the engine which is supposed to not only supply the electrical needs while operating, but have lots left over to bring the battery up to cover the non-running times' consumption. We'd assumed we had high output alternators based on the markings on at least one of our spares. NOT! Just like the case marking sez, they're suitable for charging the starting battery, and nothing else. No wonder we've got low power. We've been assuming all along that our alternator was not only keeping up with the running load, but could easily cover other loads (like this computer!) as well. Instead, we've been steadily sucking out the supply, rendering us nearly bankrupt in power terms. (You look at a boat's electrical system like income and spending, with the bank - except it can't be filled beyond a certain point - supplying the extra, such as drawing from your savings. We were making far less than we were spending, and our "bank account" - the battery bank - was nearly empty...) It does its thing overnight - so, now it's the 20th. More working in the engine room. As it's cooled down a bit, I go in with one of the two spare alternators I have, and change it out, on the thought that perhaps the one which has been on the engine since we bought it was somehow defective. Ever hopeful, perhaps this one is 70 amps? Nope. Same basic output. If we load up everything possible at the same time, it's more than the alternator can supply, let alone fill the battery with the excess. All this alternator testing makes for a very hot engine compartment, and heats the rest of the boat. Our marvelous extraction fans do a great job of pulling the hot air out of the engine room, but are awfully hungry for electricity to feed them. As we're trying desperately to charge up the batteries, that's not a good thing. So, I continue to work on in the heat. Making it worse, I got only a few hours of sleep last night, as we were up until the wee hours. Tonight's no different - I was so out of it from the heat and lack of sleep that I posted our third day of the trip before the second! So, we'll continue this saga at a later time. In the meantime, it's been great to actually meet the guy with whom we've been corresponding, skyping (internet telephone, with pictures, sometimes, even), phoning and otherwise picking his brain. Later, we'll do some basic touring, but save the high activity levels for our return trip when we're not trying to get to NYC. L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
July 19th - Doin' the Charleston And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
On Jul 23, 8:32 am, Skip Gundlach wrote:
July 19th - I go in with one of the two spare alternators I have, and change it out, on the thought that perhaps the one which has been on the engine since we bought it was somehow defective. Ever hopeful, perhaps this one is 70 amps? Nope. Same basic output. If we load up everything possible at the same time, it's more than the alternator can supply, let alone fill the battery with the excess. Skip............. just how many amps do you use in a day?!?!!!!? Bob |
Saturday, July 14. Happy Bastille Day! And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:17:41 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote: My apologies for the out-of-sequence posting. I was totally blasted from the heat and sleep deprivation (why that was in later posts). The last one will make more sense after this Skip, in all seriousness I would caution you to manage your cruising to avoid sleep deprivation. I've been there and done that, and it will lead to errors in judgement, sometimes serious. We did 4 or 5 all nighters on our trip north last month and on the first one I did not sleep all that well on my off watch. Come morning it was apparent to me that I was not functioning on all cylinders. Even though we were getting a 3 1/2 knot boost from the Gulf Stream and the weather outlook was promising, I made a command decision to alter course for Port Canaveral and get a good night's sleep. It was a tough call at the time, and no doubt cost us some time, but in retrospect I think it was the right decision. It's like reefing - the time to do it is when you first think about it. There are no cruising awards for endurance, and the slip ups stay with us for a long time. |
July 21st - Hot time in the old town tonight And Aw a-a-a-a-a-y-y we go!
July 21st - Hot time in the old town, tonight
So, now a few days later, we're correcting these electrical problems before trying to determine exactly what's up with various instruments. One clue about all this was found last night on the way back from the showers: As I walked down the extremely long dock, I noticed what seemed to be a strobe light atop someone's mast. That someone was me, and the wind speed instrument's cups were interfering with the view as they went around, making it flicker. Once I had that figured out, as that phenomenon stopped as I got far enough along to have the cups in front of (rather than obscuring) the view of the lens, I continued on. Then it looked as though it was dimming/burning. I stepped back, and it stopped. Forward and it started again. WTF??? The way navigation lights work, in order for people who are looking at your boat at night, is to have certain lights visible from certain angles. When you get past that angle the visible light disappears. So, what I'd been seeing wasn't our anchor light - it was the green light showing from the right side of the top of the mast. I'd thought it looked a bit odd, as the white anchor light is very bright and sort of blue in color. No wonder... But, back to the story, as I got closer to the boat, I found the green light disappeared (which is how it's supposed to do) - but not before the red light started to show up and confuse the view. Being much lower than the mast and not off a half mile or more, the view was very small as compared to the output of the light. Thus it looked as though it was getting dim - but in reality, it was showing both red and green together, and as I got closer, red only. Because I was nearly directly under it, I didn't get much of the light by that time, making it difficult to determine what it was. Walking further down the dock allowed me to see more of the light, to the point where the red and white were visible at the same time. BRIGHT red light... So... The red light's lit - at least for now. I'd lit the nav light when we were powering everything we could touch in order to see how much the alternator was putting out, and had forgotten to turn it off. If in fact it's not broken, I presume it to also be a voltage issue (most of our instruments have been misbehaving - see the "how revolting" post - we presume them to be under-supplied). So... Perhaps all of our electronic glitches (the radio aside - one of my contacts has provided the link to the solution in our Ham and SSB radio) can be resolved merely with the application of adequate power. Today has been somewhat of a lay-day, in boatyard terms, in that not a great deal has happened. I've restowed the maelstrom, which resulted when Lydia emptied our storage that hid the wiring I needed for final installation on the new charger. In the process, I uncovered the other spare alternator. It's got labeling on it saying it's 70A. I'll install that tomorrow, along with a new belt, as the one that was on it has pretty well been used up. There's also some possibility that the worn belt was a contributing factor - who knows? - maybe they are *all* 70A and we're just not able to pull it out of them? I'll also be making the final wiring of the charger. It's been in a temporary location as we were doing our testing. If the new alternator and belt *does* produce that higher amperage, then we'll keep it. If not, we're in for some higher output, new, charging on the engine. Tonight we had a lovely evening aboard an Island Packet whose owners have been following our adventures on line. We find we're notorious (in the definitive, not pejorative, sense of the word) as a result of the internet. Earlier today there were a half-dozen dock-walkers from other boats who stopped by and marveled at what we'd done and been through. They also admired the burnt-out hulk of our old massive battery charger, sitting on the dock, waiting for removal... I've also worked on pictures. I absolutely detest Shutterfly, but if one has only a dialup connection, those tiny thumbnails will be visible without waiting an entire day to see them. So, there are pix at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...0CcN3DFqybMXNw. However, there's also pix at our gallery www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery - click the first picture, and follow the links. The thumbnails in those galleries are as big as the shutterfly full pix and can be clicked to see larger detail if you like. Getting those together and up kept us up late again, so I'll try to sleep late before I head back into the engine room! As I write, it's now Sunday Morning, and I'm off to deliver the USB hard drive I copied 20Gigabytes of music onto for our Island Packet friends, coffee in hand. Then it's back into the engine room! Having now exited the engine room, there's lots done there. It remains to test it all. However, the battery condition is now in the "charged" zone for each of the dozen cells, where none of them were there on our first reading a few days ago. Unfortunately for me, the alternator which I put on (the one with the 70A label) had a stripped mounting tab, and I had to come up with a bolt which would go through in order to put a nut on it on the other side. Dad's Hardware Store (the name the kids used to give my supplies at my land- based home, cuz any time they needed something, it was available, in stock) has migrated to being Dad's Chandlery. While it's still being stocked, and therefore we didn't have the truly proper bolt for the application, we did, indeed have a makeshift solution. That temporary fix will be resolved as we get confirmation of whether or not the alternator will actually keep up with our loads, and fill the batteries as well. Now that our refrigeration (34.3 currently) and freezer (7.1 currently) is no longer a concern, and we don't have to worry about a repair person coming aboard to work on it, we'll probably ditch the lovely electrical supply here, and anchor out to test out our ability to make power on the hook. We'll no longer be able to leave our laptops up all the time, but when we're cruising, we won't be able to do it then, either. So, we'll get into our cruising mode. And, perhaps, tomorrow, we'll do our electrical loads test, recording each and every thing we use as to how much power it consumes. From that, we'll be able to develop a power budget, making sure we always have more power coming in (over the long haul) than we are spending. We have what, for most boats this size, is a massive battery bank, so our storage should be sufficient to handle low-power-generation days. We just need to be able to identify our loads, and utilize our power judiciously. So, I'll leave you here, and we'll go get some dinner. Fortunately for us, it's moderated in heat recently, which makes being below in the engine room much more pleasant. That's the forecast for the next couple of days; perhaps we can get all of our heavy lifting done before it gets hot, and concentrate on some seatrialing to prove out what we've done. Stay tuned :{)) L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
Amps, etc.
On Jul 23, 12:59 pm, Bob wrote:
On Jul 23, 8:32 am, Skip Gundlach wrote: July 19th - I go in with one of the two spare alternators I have, and change it out, on the thought that perhaps the one which has been on the engine since we bought it was somehow defective. Ever hopeful, perhaps this one is 70 amps? Nope. Same basic output. If we load up everything possible at the same time, it's more than the alternator can supply, let alone fill the battery with the excess. Skip............. just how many amps do you use in a day?!?!!!!? Bob Hi, Bob, We don't yet know. We're gong to do an energy audit, prolly tomorrow, to see just exactly how much each item uses. However, the root of the problem was twofold. We didn't have an effective shore power charger, for some extended period of time (we don't know how long, as it was just discovered). That meant that we were being profligate with our 12V ashore and at the dock, and running our entire, or a major part of the, load, on just the solar and wind. At the dock and at the stands, that was pretty low as compared to being out in the briny. The second problem was that, as we were motoring for most of this trip, and assuming we had plenty of amps to use pretty much whatever we wanted while motoring, in fact, either the belt was slipping and/or the alternator was not putting out enough to replace the amps being used and recharging that which was being taken otherwise. So, for a long time, and in particular in the last week, our batteries have been in severe deficit. However, they're now up to snuff, the shorepower charger does a great job in keeping up and dumping power into the battery, and the wind and solar are now again making meaningful contributions to our overall operation. We're taking all the alternators to be tested tomorrow; if they aren't up to snuff (the one I'd just put on didn't put out at all), we're in for new alternators of higher output. I've got responses from several sources about the means to achieve that in the same mounting as I have, so I'm hopeful we'll be fine about it. Once we've proven our charging sources, we'll go on the hook and prove our ability to live in our budget. Of course, in the end, it's pretty simple. We modify our lifestyle to accommodate our electrical income. If we can't make it work, we'll break out the Honda genset. If we find we use that all the time, we'll figure out some means to make it reasonable to do so. We planned on using it regularly, in any event, for powering our hookah rig, so I'm currently looking for something which won't outgas to hold the gasoline, as it uses straight, vs our outboards which are 2 cycle, and, in particular, doesn't use much of it, so we'll have small usage and some storage issues. Thanks for the interest. Stay tuned in the coming posts about our actual resolutions... L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) |
Amps, etc.
Skip Gundlach wrote:
We don't yet know. We're gong to do an energy audit, prolly tomorrow, to see just exactly how much each item uses. Add battery capacity, any way you can, it solves a lot of problems including poor alternator performance. Lew |
Amps, etc.
On Jul 23, 8:45 pm, Lew Hodgett wrote:
Skip Gundlach wrote: We don't yet know. We're gong to do an energy audit, prolly tomorrow, to see just exactly how much each item uses. Add battery capacity, any way you can, it solves a lot of problems including poor alternator performance. Lew There is another path............. reduce load = smaller house bank, smaller battery charger, smaller alt, less engine running, quiter, cooler, also less things to fix! Bigger aint always better. My 400 Ah house bank is huge............... for me :) |
Amps, etc.
On Jul 23, 8:00 pm, Skip Gundlach wrote:
On Jul 23, 12:59 pm, Bob wrote: Hi Skip: Do you have a way to determin a battery's level of charge? Battery Monitor? Hydrometer? Bob |
Amps, etc.
Bob wrote:
There is another path............. reduce load = smaller house bank, smaller battery charger, smaller alt, less engine running, quiter, cooler, also less things to fix! Bigger aint always better. My 400 Ah house bank is huge............... for me :) As long as you remember that you must replace 125AH for every 100AH consumed and the max sustained recharge rate is 15% of the battery bank AH capacity. Being realistic, over time, electrical consumption will increase, not decrease. These days, minimalists are few and far between. Lew |
Amps, etc.
On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:00:33 -0000, Skip Gundlach
wrote: On Jul 23, 12:59 pm, Bob wrote: On Jul 23, 8:32 am, Skip Gundlach wrote: July 19th - I go in with one of the two spare alternators I have, and change it out, on the thought that perhaps the one which has been on the engine since we bought it was somehow defective. Ever hopeful, perhaps this one is 70 amps? Nope. Same basic output. If we load up everything possible at the same time, it's more than the alternator can supply, let alone fill the battery with the excess. Skip............. just how many amps do you use in a day?!?!!!!? Bob Hi, Bob, We don't yet know. We're gong to do an energy audit, prolly tomorrow, to see just exactly how much each item uses. However, the root of the problem was twofold. We didn't have an effective shore power charger, for some extended period of time (we don't know how long, as it was just discovered). That meant that we were being profligate with our 12V ashore and at the dock, and running our entire, or a major part of the, load, on just the solar and wind. At the dock and at the stands, that was pretty low as compared to being out in the briny. The second problem was that, as we were motoring for most of this trip, and assuming we had plenty of amps to use pretty much whatever we wanted while motoring, in fact, either the belt was slipping and/or the alternator was not putting out enough to replace the amps being used and recharging that which was being taken otherwise. So, for a long time, and in particular in the last week, our batteries have been in severe deficit. However, they're now up to snuff, the shorepower charger does a great job in keeping up and dumping power into the battery, and the wind and solar are now again making meaningful contributions to our overall operation. We're taking all the alternators to be tested tomorrow; if they aren't up to snuff (the one I'd just put on didn't put out at all), we're in for new alternators of higher output. I've got responses from several sources about the means to achieve that in the same mounting as I have, so I'm hopeful we'll be fine about it. Once we've proven our charging sources, we'll go on the hook and prove our ability to live in our budget. Of course, in the end, it's pretty simple. We modify our lifestyle to accommodate our electrical income. If we can't make it work, we'll break out the Honda genset. If we find we use that all the time, we'll figure out some means to make it reasonable to do so. We planned on using it regularly, in any event, for powering our hookah rig, so I'm currently looking for something which won't outgas to hold the gasoline, as it uses straight, vs our outboards which are 2 cycle, and, in particular, doesn't use much of it, so we'll have small usage and some storage issues. Thanks for the interest. Stay tuned in the coming posts about our actual resolutions... L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah) L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery ! Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog "You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it however." (and) "There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts." (Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)to your system. Skip, I strongly suggest that you get a digital voltmeter with at least one decimil place readout and wire it into your system. Use a selector switch so that you can read the voltage of any battery bank. It is priceless for monitoring what is going on with the electrons. The one I have is a LED readout so it is easy to see at night. You can use it to check everything - charging? It will climb up to about 14.4 volts and then drop off to about 13.6, or if you are using a manual charger you can monitor voltages and switch the charger at the appropriate time. How much power are your nav lights using just switch them on and check the voltage. Ho! Ho! Turned the lights on and the voltage driopped 0.1 volts at 12.7 volts. A little math and you know how much power yout lights draw. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Amps, etc.
On Jul 24, 5:46 am, Bob wrote:
On Jul 23, 8:00 pm, Skip Gundlach wrote: On Jul 23, 12:59 pm, Bob wrote: Hi Skip: Do you have a way to determin a battery's level of charge? Battery Monitor? Hydrometer? Bob Somehow I think Skip would prefer to spend time writing lengthy cruising blogs, than learning about S.G. levels... =) cheers, Pete. |
Amps, etc.
|
Amps, etc.
* RW Salnick wrote, On 7/24/2007 10:23 AM:
BTW, I agree about the DVM, its essential on any boat that has more than a minimal electrical system. Better yet is an Amp-hour meter, certainly pricey but worth every penny if you have larger loads, such as a fridge, and tend to live off-grid. I second the comment that you need a way to monitor amp-hours in and out of your batteries - it is the only real "fuel gauge" for batteries that there is. And it is essential if you are not living plugged into shore power. We have a Link 2000 and I absolutely love it. Yes, I love mine also. Since we have a single house bank, and the stating batteries don't need a meter, we run the fridge through the second leg of the meter so we can monitor its usage day by day. One must be careful though - our meter has a "drift" that I've never been able to adjust out. I've found that the best measure of battery state (other than specific gravity) is actually the charge rate. In any case, I read the monitor several times a day so that I don't get caught by surprise. |
Amps, etc.
On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:14:12 -0400, Jeff wrote:
* wrote, On 7/24/2007 6:09 AM: ... You can use it to check everything - charging? It will climb up to about 14.4 volts and then drop off to about 13.6, or if you are using a manual charger you can monitor voltages and switch the charger at the appropriate time. How much power are your nav lights using just switch them on and check the voltage. Ho! Ho! Turned the lights on and the voltage driopped 0.1 volts at 12.7 volts. A little math and you know how much power yout lights draw. What math is that? How does the voltage drop at the battery tell you the Amperage its delivery? BTW, I agree about the DVM, its essential on any boat that has more than a minimal electrical system. Better yet is an Amp-hour meter, certainly pricey but worth every penny if you have larger loads, such as a fridge, and tend to live off-grid. I had, foolishly, assumed that he knew the resistance of the devise, mainly I guess because the O.P. was talking about a low amperage mast head light. The problem with the amp hour meters is (I suspect) they aren't very accurate. I admit that I've only read the manual on a couple of different makes but they both talked about initializing the meters and then later into the manual they mention that you need to re-initialize (or maybe they said "zero") the meters from time to time.. I quite like the basic idea but given that as the battery ages the charging time changes I cannot see how the meter can be absolutely accurate and if it is only approximately then I can envision problems although it certainly seems to make things simpler. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Amps, etc.
On Jul 23, 11:21 pm, Lew Hodgett wrote:
Bob wrote: Bigger aint always better. These days, minimalists are few and far between. Lew Hi Lew: I must agree sadly with you. In my 20s I sported about the west coast on my Norton motorcycle. It was basically two tyres, a frame, and two cylinders. Light, fast, and easy to fix cause everything was right there. I just could not understand other riders who zoomed past with full dress Honda lead wings, huge faring, fiberglass saddle bag condos, AND pulling a trailer. I think there was a mortycycle under all that ****. Sorta defeated the purpose of a motorcycle I thought. Christ, they reportedly even had a reverse gear !?! But they seemed to be having fun............ I wonder what I can fix for lunch since I don't have a refer............. oh yes, boiled pasta cabbage, carrots, some unions peanut sauce fish sauce Squeeze of lime some wonderful red chili sauce with that rooster on the bottle. And a nice glass of tea Umm........ fresh crunchy............ AND NO REFER ! After lunch ? Since I don't need to install another alternator or write a daily 1000 word blog I think Ill bike over to the library and flirt with woman in the children's section. She's way cute.................. Bob |
Amps, etc.
|
Amps, etc.
On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:09:20 -0400, Jeff wrote:
* wrote, On 7/24/2007 11:10 AM: The problem with the amp hour meters is (I suspect) they aren't very accurate. I admit that I've only read the manual on a couple of different makes but they both talked about initializing the meters and then later into the manual they mention that you need to re-initialize (or maybe they said "zero") the meters from time to time.. They are quite accurate in a sense, but I think mine gets confused by the number and variety of charge sources and sinks. This leads it to automatically adjust its concept of charge efficiency poorly. Recently I realized it was using 73% when a better choice was 87%. However, if you understand that is happening, its easy to compensate. In my case, I knew that it was losing about 15 Amp-hours a day. A few hours of charging, as when powering through Wood's Hole is enough to reset the meter. On a day by day basis, when my alternator charge rate drops down to around 40 Amps, I know the 450 Amp-hour bank is at about 90%. I quite like the basic idea but given that as the battery ages the charging time changes I cannot see how the meter can be absolutely accurate and if it is only approximately then I can envision problems although it certainly seems to make things simpler. Its better on the usage side than on the charging side. But still, its infinitely better than nothing. Well, yes. The output side is just amps times time but when you start charging it gets difficult as depending on the battery's age you may need to put back 110% - 125% - ???% of the amp hours that you have used. This was the part I never could figure out how to compensate for. For the moment I use a volt meter and keep a watch on the voltage. I guess it is sort of a mental gage but I wish someone would invent one that maybe measured S.G. and compensated for that, automatically compensate for the ageing battery bank. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Amps, etc.
On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:14:13 +0700, wrote:
On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:09:20 -0400, Jeff wrote: * wrote, On 7/24/2007 11:10 AM: The problem with the amp hour meters is (I suspect) they aren't very accurate. I admit that I've only read the manual on a couple of different makes but they both talked about initializing the meters and then later into the manual they mention that you need to re-initialize (or maybe they said "zero") the meters from time to time.. They are quite accurate in a sense, but I think mine gets confused by the number and variety of charge sources and sinks. This leads it to automatically adjust its concept of charge efficiency poorly. Recently I realized it was using 73% when a better choice was 87%. However, if you understand that is happening, its easy to compensate. In my case, I knew that it was losing about 15 Amp-hours a day. A few hours of charging, as when powering through Wood's Hole is enough to reset the meter. On a day by day basis, when my alternator charge rate drops down to around 40 Amps, I know the 450 Amp-hour bank is at about 90%. I quite like the basic idea but given that as the battery ages the charging time changes I cannot see how the meter can be absolutely accurate and if it is only approximately then I can envision problems although it certainly seems to make things simpler. Its better on the usage side than on the charging side. But still, its infinitely better than nothing. Well, yes. The output side is just amps times time but when you start charging it gets difficult as depending on the battery's age you may need to put back 110% - 125% - ???% of the amp hours that you have used. This was the part I never could figure out how to compensate for. For the moment I use a volt meter and keep a watch on the voltage. I guess it is sort of a mental gage but I wish someone would invent one that maybe measured S.G. and compensated for that, automatically compensate for the ageing battery bank. Bruce and anyone else interested............... Take a look at www.smartgauge.co.uk I have a customer that has a Smartgauge and a BMV501 on board. He was concerned that the BMV was indicating the bank at 86% when the Smartgauge showed 53%. His bank was sulphated and the Smartgauge was correct. Continuous Equalisation charges brought his bank back up (luckily). I put my money on the Smartgauge, And yes I sell them and fit them but you make your own decisions ;-) -- Richard Nb "Pound Eater" Parkend G+S "Governments are like Nappies, they should be changed often." (For the same reason) |
Amps, etc.
"Bob" wrote in message
oups.com... I just could not understand other riders who zoomed past with full dress Honda lead wings, huge faring, fiberglass saddle bag condos, AND pulling a trailer. I think there was a mortycycle under all that ****. Sorta defeated the purpose of a motorcycle I thought. Christ, they reportedly even had a reverse gear !?! But they seemed to be having fun............ We call those Hondabagos. Leanne |
Amps, etc.
On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:41:29 +0100, Electricky Dicky
wrote: On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:14:13 +0700, wrote: On Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:09:20 -0400, Jeff wrote: * wrote, On 7/24/2007 11:10 AM: The problem with the amp hour meters is (I suspect) they aren't very accurate. I admit that I've only read the manual on a couple of different makes but they both talked about initializing the meters and then later into the manual they mention that you need to re-initialize (or maybe they said "zero") the meters from time to time.. They are quite accurate in a sense, but I think mine gets confused by the number and variety of charge sources and sinks. This leads it to automatically adjust its concept of charge efficiency poorly. Recently I realized it was using 73% when a better choice was 87%. However, if you understand that is happening, its easy to compensate. In my case, I knew that it was losing about 15 Amp-hours a day. A few hours of charging, as when powering through Wood's Hole is enough to reset the meter. On a day by day basis, when my alternator charge rate drops down to around 40 Amps, I know the 450 Amp-hour bank is at about 90%. I quite like the basic idea but given that as the battery ages the charging time changes I cannot see how the meter can be absolutely accurate and if it is only approximately then I can envision problems although it certainly seems to make things simpler. Its better on the usage side than on the charging side. But still, its infinitely better than nothing. Well, yes. The output side is just amps times time but when you start charging it gets difficult as depending on the battery's age you may need to put back 110% - 125% - ???% of the amp hours that you have used. This was the part I never could figure out how to compensate for. For the moment I use a volt meter and keep a watch on the voltage. I guess it is sort of a mental gage but I wish someone would invent one that maybe measured S.G. and compensated for that, automatically compensate for the ageing battery bank. Bruce and anyone else interested............... Take a look at www.smartgauge.co.uk I have a customer that has a Smartgauge and a BMV501 on board. He was concerned that the BMV was indicating the bank at 86% when the Smartgauge showed 53%. His bank was sulphated and the Smartgauge was correct. Continuous Equalisation charges brought his bank back up (luckily). I put my money on the Smartgauge, And yes I sell them and fit them but you make your own decisions ;-) Thanks for info. I started to read your technical section and the lights went out but will do more studying later. I've always liked the idea of a meter that showed amps in/amps out but never was able to figure out a method of outwitting the time necessary for the chemical changes to take place during the charging phase. Bruce in Bangkok (brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom) |
Amps, etc.
On Jul 25, 10:46 am, wrote:
Thanks for info. I started to read your technical section and the lights went out but will do more studying later. I've always liked the idea of a meter that showed amps in/amps out but never was able to figure out a method of outwitting the time necessary for the chemical changes to take place during the charging phase. Hi, Just google for 'battery conductance tester', that's basically what it is. Whether it's worth having or not IMHO depends largely on whether the prospective user knows little about electrics and isn't able to use a hydrometer. cheers, Pete. |
Amps, etc.
"Pete C" wrote in message ups.com... On Jul 25, 10:46 am, wrote: Thanks for info. I started to read your technical section and the lights went out but will do more studying later. I've always liked the idea of a meter that showed amps in/amps out but never was able to figure out a method of outwitting the time necessary for the chemical changes to take place during the charging phase. Hi, Just google for 'battery conductance tester', that's basically what it is. Whether it's worth having or not IMHO depends largely on whether the prospective user knows little about electrics and isn't able to use a hydrometer. cheers, Pete. Pete, do you propose using a hydrometer everytime you want to know your state of charge? This could be a couple of times each day, or more. |
Amps, etc.
On Jul 25, 2:37 pm, "KLC Lewis" wrote:
"Pete C" wrote in message Pete, do you propose using a hydrometer everytime you want to know your state of charge? This could be a couple of times each day, or more. Hi, For those who know a bit about electrics and can use a hydrometer I would propose: Do an energy budget/audit. Size the battery bank for 40% DoD (depth of discharge) on a normal days/period of use Use the hydro to verify the above a few times as well as check the batts are getting fully charged. Use the hydro to check a few times that an exceptional days/period of demand doesn't draw the batts below 80% DoD Comments??? cheers, Pete. |
Amps, etc.
"Pete C" wrote in message oups.com... On Jul 25, 2:37 pm, "KLC Lewis" wrote: "Pete C" wrote in message Pete, do you propose using a hydrometer everytime you want to know your state of charge? This could be a couple of times each day, or more. Hi, For those who know a bit about electrics and can use a hydrometer I would propose: Do an energy budget/audit. Size the battery bank for 40% DoD (depth of discharge) on a normal days/period of use Use the hydro to verify the above a few times as well as check the batts are getting fully charged. Use the hydro to check a few times that an exceptional days/period of demand doesn't draw the batts below 80% DoD Comments??? cheers, Pete. My own energy needs are quite modest. Nav instruments, VHF, stereo, running and anchor lights, computer (laptop), the occasional cabin light for short periods (converting to led units). No refer, no power windlass. Of course, I do need to be able to start-up the iron genny from time to time. My battery bank is 4 new-this-seasonTrojan T-105's and a 40 amp smart charger for dockside use. 2 US32 solar panels rated at 64 watts. Voltmeter always reads "top of the green" at 13 volts after dockside charging, bottom middle of the green after sailing for a day and anchoring out overnight with the anchor light lit. Engine starts right up like it has a fully-charged battery when weighing anchor in the morning. But translating this to "how much power do I have left?" leaves me paranoid. |
Amps, etc.
Hi,
If you're able to use a hydrometer, this FAQ tells how to relate battery 'SG' to state of charge: http://www.batteryfaq.org/ http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/carfaq4.htm http://jgdarden.com/batteryfaq/carfaq4.htm#soc Bear in mind 'state of charge' isn't a percentage of the battery's *rated* capacity, as they lose capacity as they get old or sulphated. State of charge is a percentage of the *actual* capacity of the battery, taking into account it's age and condition. To work out the actual capacity you need to compare the drop in state of charge to a known amount of charge used. So if drawing 1 amp for 10 hours (10 'amp hours') from a battery makes it's state of charge drop by 25%, the actual capacity is about 40 amp hours when it's fully charged. If the above battery then reads a 75% state of charge, then approximately 30 amp hours of charge are available until it's completely flat. (Though of course it should be recharged when the state of charge is around 50% or less) If the above is a bit too then try and get someone to explain it to you in person as it's a little difficult to do in a short posting. hope this helps, Pete. |
Amps, etc.
On Wed, 25 Jul 2007 08:37:20 -0500, "KLC Lewis"
wrote: "Pete C" wrote in message oups.com... On Jul 25, 10:46 am, wrote: Thanks for info. I started to read your technical section and the lights went out but will do more studying later. I've always liked the idea of a meter that showed amps in/amps out but never was able to figure out a method of outwitting the time necessary for the chemical changes to take place during the charging phase. Hi, Just google for 'battery conductance tester', that's basically what it is. Whether it's worth having or not IMHO depends largely on whether the prospective user knows little about electrics and isn't able to use a hydrometer. cheers, Pete. Pete, do you propose using a hydrometer everytime you want to know your state of charge? This could be a couple of times each day, or more. It is, or used to be, the practice on submarines. Not much extra work when you are checking/adding water. The original smart charger was a sub sailor with thermometer, hydrometer, and voltmeter. Who knows what those guys are doing now. Casady |
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