In article ,
says...

On Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:35:14 -0500, Wayne B
wrote:

On Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:02:50 -0500, Wayne B
wrote:

We are once again underway for a little boating adventure, and
hopefully by this time next month we will be deep into the Caribbean,
most probably the BVI or Leeward Islands. From there we'll work our
way south to Martinique and St Lucia in the Windward Islands before
turning around and heading back north. Some of you will remember
that we did mostly the same trip 3 years ago. It was arguably one of
the best boating cruises of my lifetime and hopefully this one will be
even better.

Anyone who wants to keep track of our progress or lack thereof can
keep track of us he

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0utTAiadygIUkT4LIXeoYfKADAn2Dkz os

Right now we're headed to Key West for a few days of watching my
oldest son racing sailboats in the annual Key West regatta, and after
that we'll head over to the Bahamas and start working our way farther
south as weather permits.

We'll have some internet access along the way but not everywhere, so
play nice in the meanwhile and try to think more about boating and
less about politics, gun control, abortion, etc.

========

We've made pretty good progress so far (presently at Chubb Cay in the
central Bahamas), and have had some interesting experiences along the
way. On day 2 we were heading SW from Marco Island towards Key West
in strong north easterly winds and 3 to 5 foot waves - not exactly
idylllic, but since we were headed downwind and surfing the waves,
fairly tolerable. Next thing I know an 87 foot Coast Guard cutter
with a pair of large machine guns on deck is pursuing us from astern.
They already had an inflatable and boarding party in the water so it
was clearly not going to be a social visit. The inflatable could not
keep up with our sprightly 9 knots so they radioed us to slow down to
5 knots, which we did of course. We were boarded by 5 heavily armed
young coasties who announced that they "wanted to see if we were safe
out here." The boarding officer was almost apologetic but said that
we were the only boat out that they had seen. We've been through
this before so all of our equipment was well in order, then they asked
for our boat documentation and "identificaion for everyone on board".
Since our passports were with the boat doc, I handed them in thinking
there could be no better proof of citizenship and ID. It turned out
they wanted driver's licenses however so they could run a search on
the NCIS database in the hope they could find unpaid parking tickets
perhaps? It was tempting to tell them that we didn't need drivers
licenses to be out there but discretion overruled that impulse. At
any rate we finally got a clean bill of health and were on our way.

Yesterday while heading across the Gulf Stream from the Florida Keys,
we were startled by the sight of a 25 to 30 inch fish which jumped
high in the air, even with the flybridge at about 15 feet, and sailed
clean across the boat to the other side. It was the most spectacular
jump I've ever seen from a fish that size.

The weather has been good so far and tomorrow we are headed south east
towards Nassau and he northern Exuma Islands. All systems are go -
especially the alternators thanks to Tim's good work.

====

Just arrived at South Side Marina in the Turks and Caicos after a
moderately challenging run south from the Exuma Islands. We'll
probably be here for 2 or 3 days while we rest up and plan out the
next leg of the trip, most likely the Dominican Republic or possibly
all the way to Puerto Rico if we have a really good weather window.

We caught a nice Mahi Mahi about 20 miles SE of the Exumas and
promptly cooked it up for dinner that evening. Delicious.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0utTAiadygIUkT4LIXeoYfKADAn2Dkz os

Awesome, I looked and the marina where you are at has a website!!

http://www.southsidemarina-tci.com/index.html

On Sun, 3 Feb 2013 08:36:11 -0500, iBoaterer wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Sun, 27 Jan 2013 00:35:14 -0500, Wayne B
wrote:

On Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:02:50 -0500, Wayne B
wrote:

We are once again underway for a little boating adventure, and
hopefully by this time next month we will be deep into the Caribbean,
most probably the BVI or Leeward Islands. From there we'll work our
way south to Martinique and St Lucia in the Windward Islands before
turning around and heading back north. Some of you will remember
that we did mostly the same trip 3 years ago. It was arguably one of
the best boating cruises of my lifetime and hopefully this one will be
even better.

Anyone who wants to keep track of our progress or lack thereof can
keep track of us he

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0utTAiadygIUkT4LIXeoYfKADAn2Dkz os

Right now we're headed to Key West for a few days of watching my
oldest son racing sailboats in the annual Key West regatta, and after
that we'll head over to the Bahamas and start working our way farther
south as weather permits.

We'll have some internet access along the way but not everywhere, so
play nice in the meanwhile and try to think more about boating and
less about politics, gun control, abortion, etc.

========

We've made pretty good progress so far (presently at Chubb Cay in the
central Bahamas), and have had some interesting experiences along the
way. On day 2 we were heading SW from Marco Island towards Key West
in strong north easterly winds and 3 to 5 foot waves - not exactly
idylllic, but since we were headed downwind and surfing the waves,
fairly tolerable. Next thing I know an 87 foot Coast Guard cutter
with a pair of large machine guns on deck is pursuing us from astern.
They already had an inflatable and boarding party in the water so it
was clearly not going to be a social visit. The inflatable could not
keep up with our sprightly 9 knots so they radioed us to slow down to
5 knots, which we did of course. We were boarded by 5 heavily armed
young coasties who announced that they "wanted to see if we were safe
out here." The boarding officer was almost apologetic but said that
we were the only boat out that they had seen. We've been through
this before so all of our equipment was well in order, then they asked
for our boat documentation and "identificaion for everyone on board".
Since our passports were with the boat doc, I handed them in thinking
there could be no better proof of citizenship and ID. It turned out
they wanted driver's licenses however so they could run a search on
the NCIS database in the hope they could find unpaid parking tickets
perhaps? It was tempting to tell them that we didn't need drivers
licenses to be out there but discretion overruled that impulse. At
any rate we finally got a clean bill of health and were on our way.

Yesterday while heading across the Gulf Stream from the Florida Keys,
we were startled by the sight of a 25 to 30 inch fish which jumped
high in the air, even with the flybridge at about 15 feet, and sailed
clean across the boat to the other side. It was the most spectacular
jump I've ever seen from a fish that size.

The weather has been good so far and tomorrow we are headed south east
towards Nassau and he northern Exuma Islands. All systems are go -
especially the alternators thanks to Tim's good work.

====

Just arrived at South Side Marina in the Turks and Caicos after a
moderately challenging run south from the Exuma Islands. We'll
probably be here for 2 or 3 days while we rest up and plan out the
next leg of the trip, most likely the Dominican Republic or possibly
all the way to Puerto Rico if we have a really good weather window.

We caught a nice Mahi Mahi about 20 miles SE of the Exumas and
promptly cooked it up for dinner that evening. Delicious.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0utTAiadygIUkT4LIXeoYfKADAn2Dkz os

Awesome, I looked and the marina where you are at has a website!!

http://www.southsidemarina-tci.com/index.html

===

Yes, South Side Marina is an interesting place, sort of an
international cross roads for boats cruising north, south, east and
west. Unfortunately Simon Anderson and his wife are not here this
winter. They are incredibly helpful people who were always ready to
round up local resources and provide transportation when needed, not
to mention their party organizing and restaurant expeditions..

On Sat, 2 Feb 2013 20:52:47 -0800, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:


"Wayne B" wrote:


Tim, I'm pleased to report that "our" alternator is performing
flawlessly so far.
------------------------------------
Just curious, which L/N do you have?

Lew



====

I believe it is this one if my memory is correct:

http://www.prestolite.com/pgs_products/specs.php?item_detail_id=951&item=A0014867JB&produ ct=Alternator

It turns out that you can buy them on EBAY for halfway reasonable
prices (search for Leece-Neville 270 amp).

It was an interesting project which required a few iterations to get
it right. Knocking on wood, it seems to be doing well. The idea was
to be able to generate enough DC amps that I could drive a 2KW
inverter while underway and eliminate the need for running the
generator in most circumstances (the exception being air
conditioning).

Here's my original posting on this effort:

Those of you who followed along with the updates from our Caribbean
cruise earlier this year (2010), may remember that we experienced some
alternator issues along the way. This was disappointing for a number
of reasons because we had already spent a fair amount of time, effort
and boat bucks trying to find a high output alternator that was also
durable.

Our goal is to not run the generator at all when under way, and to
minimize generator time when anchored. The potential savings on
generator fuel and maintenance add up to a big number. To that end
we've installed a 2,000 watt inverter and a bank of 8 golf cart
batteries with a total capacity of about 1,000 amp-hours.

The inverter and battery bank work well together but the batteries
eventually need to be recharged, and when underway, the alternator
needs to supply inverter amps, recharge amps and onboard house loads
like navigation equipment, lights, auto pilot, engine room blowers,
etc. Peak alternator loads can easily approach 250 amps and average
well over half of that.

To make a long story short, no automotive alternator that we've tried
has been capable of these loads over a long period of time, even those
that have been beefed up with heavy duty components. We burned out a
total of 4 over the course of 6 months in the islands. Repair and
replacement was problematic to say the least.

After consulting with Tim, our cheerful, ever helpful, resident
alternator expert on "rec.boats", and a number of other sources, I
decided that a fresh approach was needed. Enter a company called
Leece-Neville, a division of Prestolite, that has been making heavy
duty alternators for a long time. LNs are used all over the world on
fire trucks, ambulances, busses, big trucks, heavy duty construction
machinery, etc. Their big alternators make everything else look like
a toy, weigh over 35 pounds and are priced accordingly. Many of the
really big ones are north of $2K at full retail. Thanks to the
internet and EBAY however, they are now becoming available at more
reasonable prices. I was recently able to buy a unit that had been
remanufactured to like new condition for about $400, a bargain
compared to some of our previous repair/replace experiences. It is
rated at 270 amps continuously at high temperatures, and is designed
for fire trucks, ambulances and busses.

http://www.prestolite.com/pgs_products/specs.php?item_detail_id=951&item=A0014867JB&produ ct=ALTERNATOR

There are some downside issues however: It is designed for a so
called J180 mounting bracket; requires multiple drive belts since it
can use as much as 6 or 7 horsepower; and is not ignition protected
for gasoline engines.

Ignition protection is not an issue for our diesels, and fortunately
the front pulley on a Detroit 6-71 can accomodate up to three belts.
The mounting bracket was problematic however since the existing mount
was for a Delco 2 inch foot. In exchange for a sizable boat buck
fraction, a local machine shop fabricated a custom made J180 bracket
from 1/2 inch cold rolled steel. In combination with some Grade 8
steel mounting hardware and a new adjusting arm, everything is now
solidly attached, lined up and looking good with 3 brand new Gates
Green Stripe belts installed. In testing it has put out well over 200
amps while maintaining reasonable temperatures.

Stay tuned for the long term durability reports... :-)

New alternator and bracket prior to installation with a beverage can
for size reference:

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3557/preinstallwithnewbracke.jpg

After installation, with new HD belts and adjusting arm. The black
detritus in the background is left over from the many previous
alternators and belts which gave up their lives in that spot:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/1462/installedimg0573.jpg


Notes:

1. The washer stack shown in the pictures has been replaced by a
solid steel spacer.

2. It turns out that the 1,000+ amp hour battery bank looks more or
less like a dead short to the alternator and the resulting load is
capable of burning out even a 270 amp heavy duty unit. This could
have probably been remedied by installing an external "smart"
regulator but it was more expedient to use a 12 ft length of #4 cable
as a controlled resistance in series with the house bank.

3. We have now logged about 400 hours of underway operation with
this configuration and it seems to be working well.

"Tim" wrote:

"Lew Hodgett" wrote:
Just curious, which L/N do you have?
--------------------------------------------------
Lew, Wayne's is a modified LN 4900 320 a. 12v

http://storesense1.mysuperpageshosti...ail.bok?no=505

BTW, I always enjoy reading online stores propaganda..
---------------------------------------------------------
Looks like the update for the 4800/4805 which was the
great-great-great-grandson of the early 200A units I helped design.

My guess is this 4900 would lock up most of the sailboat auxiliaries
in service. G

Just not enough horses.

Takes a tad of torque to turn that puppy over.

Lew

On Sun, 3 Feb 2013 07:36:53 -0800, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:


"Tim" wrote:

"Lew Hodgett" wrote:
Just curious, which L/N do you have?
--------------------------------------------------
Lew, Wayne's is a modified LN 4900 320 a. 12v

http://storesense1.mysuperpageshosti...ail.bok?no=505

BTW, I always enjoy reading online stores propaganda..
---------------------------------------------------------
Looks like the update for the 4800/4805 which was the
great-great-great-grandson of the early 200A units I helped design.

My guess is this 4900 would lock up most of the sailboat auxiliaries
in service. G

Just not enough horses.

Takes a tad of torque to turn that puppy over.


====

Enough to make a Detroit 6-71 grunt for a split second when you switch
on the big house bank. :-)

I think you could drive one with a 40 or 50 horse aux if you had some
sort of "soft start" regulator arrangement. The key is to have double
or triple drive belts which most small engines are not equipped for.
Another issue is the alternator mount and adjusting arm, both of which
need to be quite rugged.

In article ,
says...

In article ,
says...


On Feb 2, 10:16*pm, JustWaitAFrekinMinute
wrote:
On 2/2/2013 10:50 PM, Tim wrote:









On Feb 2, 8:24 pm, Wayne B wrote:
On Sat, 2 Feb 2013 16:45:31 -0800 (PST), Tim
wrote:

Just arrived at South Side Marina in the Turks and Caicos after a
moderately challenging run south from the Exuma Islands. We'll
probably be here for 2 or 3 days while we rest up and plan out the
next leg of the trip, most likely the Dominican Republic or possibly
all the way to Puerto Rico if we have a really good weather window.

We caught a nice Mahi Mahi about 20 miles SE of the Exumas and
promptly cooked it up for dinner that evening. Delicious.



http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0utTAiady...

Excellent, Wayne!

===

Tim, I'm pleased to report that "our" alternator is performing
flawlessly so far. *Admiral Diane has prepared a number of meals while
we were underway without using the generator at all, just the juice
supplied from the big Leece-Neville to power the stove top, microwave,
toaster, etc. *When we finish a days run the big house bank of golf
cart batts is always fully charged. * That has cut back the need for
generator run time a great deal.

Oh how I love the idea of massive armies of electrons flowing at high
speed, AND in proper accordance!

Nothing like a little resistance to heat things up

DON"T SAY THAT!!!

Indeed! Maybe you should contact Boeing and give them some pointers on battery
management for their Dreamliner.

LION batteries have always had an issue with heating up and blowing
apart.

On Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:41:06 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:02:50 -0500, Wayne B
wrote:

hopefully by this time next month we will be deep into the Caribbean,
most probably the BVI or Leeward Islands.

Just be careful in the ghetto there ;-)

Have a great trip and keep in touch.

=============

After an all day/all night run from the Turks and Caicos we arrived at
the north coast of the Dominican Republic around sunrise. The north
coast of the DR is arguably among the most scenic in the Caribbean,
perhaps anywhere. Picture large mountains covered with lush green
foliage cascading in terraces down to shear rock cliffs which tower
above the water. Off in the hills and trickling down into distant
valleys are pockets of mist and smoke. The sun glistening off of all
this in the early morning light gives makes it an almost mystical,
ethereal vista.

After a sometimes difficult all night run across open ocean, it is
quite a welcome sight. We had the option to stop off at Ocean World
Marina in Puerto Plata this morning but ellected instead to push on
east along the DR coast to Bahia de Samana and Puerto Bahia Marina.
Bahia de Samana is a winter breeding/calving ground for humpbacked
whales, and right on cue we were greeted with the sight of them making
huge leaps and splashes. The leaps and accompanying splash were so
large that they were easily visible from over a mile away. Puerto
Bahia Marina is an absolutely first class facility with good docks,
good protection, and a very helpful, bi-lingual staff. We'll be here
for a few days before pushing on either to Puerto Rico or the south
coast of the DR.

Stay tuned.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0utTAiadygIUkT4LIXeoYfKADAn2Dkz os

On Fri, 08 Feb 2013 00:52:25 -0500, wrote:

=============

After an all day/all night run from the Turks and Caicos we arrived at
the north coast of the Dominican Republic around sunrise. The north
coast of the DR is arguably among the most scenic in the Caribbean,
perhaps anywhere. Picture large mountains covered with lush green
foliage cascading in terraces down to shear rock cliffs which tower
above the water. Off in the hills and trickling down into distant
valleys are pockets of mist and smoke. The sun glistening off of all
this in the early morning light gives makes it an almost mystical,
ethereal vista.

After a sometimes difficult all night run across open ocean, it is
quite a welcome sight. We had the option to stop off at Ocean World
Marina in Puerto Plata this morning but ellected instead to push on
east along the DR coast to Bahia de Samana and Puerto Bahia Marina.
Bahia de Samana is a winter breeding/calving ground for humpbacked
whales, and right on cue we were greeted with the sight of them making
huge leaps and splashes. The leaps and accompanying splash were so
large that they were easily visible from over a mile away. Puerto
Bahia Marina is an absolutely first class facility with good docks,
good protection, and a very helpful, bi-lingual staff. We'll be here
for a few days before pushing on either to Puerto Rico or the south
coast of the DR.

Stay tuned.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0utTAiadygIUkT4LIXeoYfKADAn2Dkz os

Sounds like you are having a great trip. Do you make water on the boat
or get it on shore?

=====

We get it on shore since the boat has 500 gallons of water tankage.
Typically using just half of that, it still lasts about 3 weeks
without taking any extreme conservation measures. The people who need
water makers are the ones with small tanks who do a lot of laundry on
board. I've thought about installing one but it would become yet
another complex piece of equipment to maintain and we just don't need
it.

In article ,
says...

On Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:41:06 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:02:50 -0500, Wayne B
wrote:

hopefully by this time next month we will be deep into the Caribbean,
most probably the BVI or Leeward Islands.

Just be careful in the ghetto there ;-)

Have a great trip and keep in touch.

=============

After an all day/all night run from the Turks and Caicos we arrived at
the north coast of the Dominican Republic around sunrise. The north
coast of the DR is arguably among the most scenic in the Caribbean,
perhaps anywhere. Picture large mountains covered with lush green
foliage cascading in terraces down to shear rock cliffs which tower
above the water. Off in the hills and trickling down into distant
valleys are pockets of mist and smoke. The sun glistening off of all
this in the early morning light gives makes it an almost mystical,
ethereal vista.

After a sometimes difficult all night run across open ocean, it is
quite a welcome sight. We had the option to stop off at Ocean World
Marina in Puerto Plata this morning but ellected instead to push on
east along the DR coast to Bahia de Samana and Puerto Bahia Marina.
Bahia de Samana is a winter breeding/calving ground for humpbacked
whales, and right on cue we were greeted with the sight of them making
huge leaps and splashes. The leaps and accompanying splash were so
large that they were easily visible from over a mile away. Puerto
Bahia Marina is an absolutely first class facility with good docks,
good protection, and a very helpful, bi-lingual staff. We'll be here
for a few days before pushing on either to Puerto Rico or the south
coast of the DR.

Stay tuned.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0utTAiadygIUkT4LIXeoYfKADAn2Dkz os

Come on, quit teasing, we need pictures!!!! Sounds like you are having a
fantastic trip!

On Fri, 8 Feb 2013 09:11:24 -0500, iBoaterer wrote:

In article ,
says...

On Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:41:06 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:02:50 -0500, Wayne B
wrote:

hopefully by this time next month we will be deep into the Caribbean,
most probably the BVI or Leeward Islands.

Just be careful in the ghetto there ;-)

Have a great trip and keep in touch.

=============

After an all day/all night run from the Turks and Caicos we arrived at
the north coast of the Dominican Republic around sunrise. The north
coast of the DR is arguably among the most scenic in the Caribbean,
perhaps anywhere. Picture large mountains covered with lush green
foliage cascading in terraces down to shear rock cliffs which tower
above the water. Off in the hills and trickling down into distant
valleys are pockets of mist and smoke. The sun glistening off of all
this in the early morning light gives makes it an almost mystical,
ethereal vista.

After a sometimes difficult all night run across open ocean, it is
quite a welcome sight. We had the option to stop off at Ocean World
Marina in Puerto Plata this morning but ellected instead to push on
east along the DR coast to Bahia de Samana and Puerto Bahia Marina.
Bahia de Samana is a winter breeding/calving ground for humpbacked
whales, and right on cue we were greeted with the sight of them making
huge leaps and splashes. The leaps and accompanying splash were so
large that they were easily visible from over a mile away. Puerto
Bahia Marina is an absolutely first class facility with good docks,
good protection, and a very helpful, bi-lingual staff. We'll be here
for a few days before pushing on either to Puerto Rico or the south
coast of the DR.

Stay tuned.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0utTAiadygIUkT4LIXeoYfKADAn2Dkz os

Come on, quit teasing, we need pictures!!!! Sounds like you are having a
fantastic trip!

=====

Organizing, uploading and posting a lot of photos is difficult when
you're underway ans dealing with sketchy internet connections. Here
are some from Google images that will give you some flavor for Puerto
Bahia Marina:

https://www.google.com.do/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=102 4&bih=605&q=puerto+bahia+samana&oq=puerto+bahia

Here's a good coastal picture from someone else's sail blog:

http://www.sailblogs.com/member/svchrista/images/dscf0706_scale.jpg