First Contact

Yesterday was the first official trip to the boat this season, and was done so with uncertainty in these increasingly crazy times. Following a morning spent at the closest dealer capable of performing the airbag recall for my model, I drove the rest of the way to the boat where it was chillier than expected. Thankful that it wasn't snowing, the first order of business was to remove the tarp that was starting to have issues holding up to the wind. Even though it was billed as heavy duty, and indeed it was heavier duty than the standard blue tarps, it only takes one sharp edge to render it silly. Rather than re-lash it into place, I dropped it to the ground for stuffing in the car later. Next was the batteries. These Duracell GC2 batteries weigh 68 pounds apiece. They also do not come with straps. They come with loops for straps, but no straps. As I was not savvy enough to order a strap ahead of time, I was left with the pleasant option of once again, carrying them one at a time up the ladder to the cockpit.

Sitting in the cockpit, I looked at my current to-do list. Figure out the battery situation. Figure out the anchor roller placement. See where the Rocna will sit. Hook up the wifi battery monitor gadget. Grab the fuel connector for the outboard so I can test that at home. Oh where to begin. Since I was sitting right next to the gas tank, I decided I would remove the end of the fuel line to bring home. I had a brand new 6 gallon tank and brand new line, sans connector, waiting to power up the outboard. As I started to unscrew the clamp, my eyes wandered to the other end and I realized the entire hose was the same as the one I bought. I'll just take the whole thing. How simple! I unclipped the hose, tossed it on the seat, and then hefted both batteries down into the cabin, all 136 lbs of them. I removed the old batteries and the make-shift plywood tray I had built two years ago. I had originally wanted to just set the two new ones in alongside, but the presence of the motor mount bolts interfered. So I ditched the plywood, braced a board over the cavity and temporarily slipped the four batteries into the space, and wired them all in. Soon, all four were mounted, a 430 amp hour battery bank, fed by a Victron 75|15 SmartSolar charger converting the sunlight hitting the HQST 100 watt solar panel sitting on the cockpit seat, and hooked through a Schulink wireless battery monitor connected to the marina's WiFi network. That little monitor is pretty slick, considering the cheap cost.

I was scrolling back through some old Sail Life videos this weekend, and in one he had mentioned a CTEK Battery Sense monitor. One of his irks about the app is that it only gives the percentage of charge, which he found suspect to start with, and not a voltage readout. A positive on the Schulink, is that while it gives a percentage of charge, it also gives a voltage readout. It only goes to tenths, but that's still something. Here's a screenshot of what the app shows

They also carry a battery charger that would give another step, but since I am not using theirs, it'll show zero charging, when I know for a fact it is. Now, if I were to give one piece of advice using devices like these, it is this. Because these hook with a simple positive and negative connection to your battery, if you do have a source of charging coming in, it may show an inflated number because it's seeing voltage across the connections. For example, today was a bright and sunny day, feeding a good portion through the solar panel and Victron. Because the batteries are working on still getting topped off, it was putting in some good amperage. The Schulink showed 100% charge, when I know it was more like 75 or so. If this is a setup you have, it's best to wait until you know you have minimal charge coming from outside sources if possible before checking the state of charge through the app. In my case, I just wait until it's dark. Obviously the Victron app is miles more accurate and informative, but for a $20 investment to be able to get a general idea from hundreds of miles away, I can't complain.

I brought the Rocna aboard and got nowhere with that, but I do have a slightly better plan for the anchor roller. That's a topic for another day though. The Rocna stayed below, since it's really not too easy to hang over the bow of a boat on the hard while trying to juggle a 33 lbs hunk of metal with a sharp point.

I swear it looked bigger

It's funny how sometimes you just can't get a good sense of size for something until it's in your hand. This can go either way, really. Take my boat - a 28 foot sailboat with decent cabin room, on the water looks normal. On the hard and on stands, you go "oh it's bigger than I thought." And the anchor roller I bought suffers the reverse effect. I know it's 16" long piece of kit. And I sat here when I ordered, and went "Well, that's about yay big, and then... yeah, should be good." Gets here, and.. nope. Again, it was an experiment and will continue to be, so I can get an idea of what WILL work.

Now that New York state is in the clutches of Corona fever, it's increasingly uncertain as to what kind of boating season there will be. Officially, the marina is still 3 weeks away from opening, so anything can happen. Because anything can happen, I sat around this weekend debating on if I should be ordering boat goodies, or holding off. On the counsel of my Dad, whom I talked with on the phone this weekend, I decided that holding off would be silly. As he said, at least this way, it's all still there, and really, it makes more sense that way. Sure, it means trying to find somewhere to store the parts in the meantime, since I don't know how soon I'll be able to get up to the boat, but they'll at least be here for when the time comes. So in that spirit, today was shopping day.

First on the list, was an upgraded solar panel. I currently have a 100 Watt panel on it now, sold as an HQST panel. It was paired through a Victron 75|15 SmartSolar MPPT controller and feeding a pair of GC2 batteries from Sam's Club, for a total house bank of 215 amps, or a shade over 100 useable. This setup has worked on my Excalibur 26, and also the last couple years with the Newport. I don't have a massive draw on them, it's typically used for listening to the radio out on the water, running the fishfinder for the depth readings, charge up my cell phone when it gets low, and then at night, firing up the laptop and watching TV on the 24" LCD television with Netflix on a Roku box. On my Excalibur, it was the same usage but swapping out a 7" chartplotter and VHF radio on full-time, but the results were the same. I actually could go a few days with no solar at all on the bank and still be ok. As an experiment, I even powered up a full size desktop and monitor off an inverter. Crazy, but it worked.

One of the nice-to-have's for this year, was additional batteries and more solar to pair with it. I was basically looking to double-up everything. A 2nd set of batteries and another 100 watts of solar. The problem I ran into is that I wanted to mount these on the top of a bimini cover. I also have a split backstay. This could present quite the layout conundrum in trying to mount two panels on top. I decided that in order to manage that, I first need the bimini. And to order that, I need the boat in the water and mast and boom up so I can get a better idea of height, and you can see where this is going. So in the spirit of wanting to spend money, I instead opted for a new, 175 watt panel. Physically, it's about a foot longer and a few inches wider than my current HQST. It also will easily mount on the stern rail in the same exact fashion that the old one did. I can replace the 100 with the 175, plug it in through the existing Victron, and add the 2nd pair of batteries and instantly be set up. The only physical changes will be the new battery box I'll need, and new rails to mount the panel onto. I did go pick up the 2nd pair of batteries, also. Ordered a pair of bimini support poles, which work great to mount off the stanchions up at an angle to the panel which lets you adjust the angle up and down slightly, but also looks more professional.

The other purchase is a roll of fake teak flooring for the cabin:

It's foam, 6mm and hard to say how it'll end up working out, but for the price, it'll at least be better than the industrial rugs/bare paint that is there now. It's very similar to the stuff that Mads used on Sail Life years back on Obelix - Check out that video here: Sail Life - Synthetic teak . The only thing I'll need to do is just to shave down a little of the bilge boards in thickness - the ones there now, I'm pretty sure aren't original and stick up a good almost 1/4 of an inch above the sole. Definitely excited to see what it looks like in person, but it'll need a warmer climate and an actual trip to the boat for that time.

Once the shopping was done, both online and in Sam's Club, I decided to be more productive in the present rather than future. One of the items that arrived courtesy of Amazon - and by courtesy I mean after I paid for it - was a rebuild kit for my Outboard. My experience with small engines is rather limited. To date, I've changed plugs, and tested the on/off switch. So to delve into a full carb rebuild was something new to me. There are plenty of videos on YouTube to watch, which is what guided me to it. It really wasn't nearly as daunting as I feared. It didn't really look that bad online either but as with anything for the first time, it's something you go in with a little hesitation. I bought a drain pan from the store, to act as my catch-all / workstation. The carb itself did come off rather easily. A single bolt holding the choke lever in, unsnap a piece of linkage, remove the fuel line and take off two 1/2" nuts, voila! I brought it inside, and the first order of business was the diaphram assembly. Mine felt like it was being pushed through molasses when it was being depressed, instead of a spring. Once the new pieces were in place, back to normal. I then replaced all the rest of the gaskets and inspected the rest of the assembly. Surprisingly there was virtually no varnish anywhere built up on anything. Granted, I am rather diligent about using non-ethanol and I did run some seafoam through the tank at the beginning of last year. And the previous owner of the boat did say they had someone go through it back then so maybe they had cleaned it up a bit 2+ years ago. I did also buy a new 6-gallon tank and new fuel line. The fuel line on the old tank is fine, as it was also purchased new. The problem I'm running into is the connection for the motor. The Mercury fitting that is widely carried doesn't clip into place. My motor is a 1988 model, but most places only stock a connector for the 98-up versions. So while I did buy one to see if it'll work (it will probably work as long as I'm holding it in place, but it doesn't clip in on it's own), I do need to either order the correct one if I can find it again, or wait until I get the line from the boat and use the connector off that one instead. It won't hurt to have two fuel lines, never know if the bulb will fail or whatever else. But at the same time, it would be nice to do so with to complete lines and not have to swap the connector around. Little details, I guess. Today it snowed, and I'm not inclined to go messing around with the motor and gasoline and freezing temperatures just yet. I actually have to go halfway to the boat on Wednesday for a car recall service as it is, I might just run up and grab the line while I'm there.

The waiting game continues.

Ever-changing plans

In a world that's rapidly running in circles, sometimes it's hard to remember to sit back and just think. While there's still a lot unknown, and with it a lot of needless panic, the most frustrating thing is having to adjust your own lifestyle and plans around others. It does make the prospect of being a thousand miles into the middle of the ocean a lot more appealing. Rather than get into all that wonderful debate, I'll skip ahead.

As of now, my potential trip to Cali has been cancelled until further notice. Schools and such have been closed for the next four weeks, but that they've cancelled my trip that's nearly two months out seems to be jumping the gun. There's no way to know for sure if four weeks is going to be fine, or if it'll be months on end. The bigger question is things like, will there even be water around to stock the cooler when summer hits? Or do I need to take out a loan for a water-maker... Obviously I have no doubts that somehow, logic will return to the percentage of Americans that are panic buying out of fear and misinformation, and slowly the stocks will return to the shelves. In the meantime, filtered water will do just fine out on the lake.

In the meantime, I'm still brainstorming my bow roller for this Rocna on my floor. I swear it looks bigger every day. The largest issue is the raised toe rail, followed closely by a serious lack of space on the bow. Since I'm not at the boat, I can't give a perfect picture, but suffice it to say, engineering will be required. So far, my plan is to use a block to mount on the deck and then mount the roller onto that. The anchor locker will need to be modified, I may have mentioned it earlier. I'll probably end up cutting it down, maybe in half, or somehow modified, and then the roller can mount on it's position. The other question in my mind, is how to secure the rode once the anchor is deployed. Part of the reason for raising the roller up over the rail is for clearance, but the other is to allow access to the bow chock underneath to feed the rode through at anchor. My preference is to not use the roller as structural at anchor. Normally when deployed, the rode feeds out along the roller, and away you go. My initial plan will be to deploy the anchor, letting the rode pay out until it's where it needs to be. Then, I'll reach forward, and pull the rode back from the now-deployed anchor through the chock and cleat it off. So far that's the only feasible plan I have. Obviously the roller will be mounted with a sufficient backing plate, but I'd rather be safer than broken.

I did order a roller for this week. It's quite impressive, how many different versions, styles, sizes, and makes there are. There are hinged ones, and ones designed to be more effective for certain styles. In my case, I've cheaped out and went with a very basic one, to at least see if my idea for mounting is even feasible. If it is, then great, I can come up with a version 2.0. And if it doesn't pan out, I'm not out a lot of money.

So I can afford more toilet paper.

Bumming

As the season approaches, I find myself anxious but at the same time a little bummed. But then not REALLY bummed? It's complicated.

I went out and pulled the serial number off the outboard today so that I could start looking up the correct rebuild kit for the carb and new impeller. For future self-reference, it's a 1988 Mercury 9.9HP Sailmate Long shaft. The harder part is that I can't exactly work on the engine in the house, and I have no garage to work it into. Couple that with the cold weather and I'm hoping to order the parts soon, but will likely be a couple weeks before I finally get around to doing the impeller. The carb I can probably get removed in short order even in the cooler temperature, and work on the rebuild inside complete with gasoline odor. The impeller requires dropping the leg and such. I just have to remember to put it back together properly this time around.

I also found another product on clearance in the local Wal-Mart: Schulink Wireless Battery Monitor. Obviously I have yet to play with this thing, but it claims to be WiFi capable, and if you do have it connected to a wireless signal, you can access the state of the charge from anywhere by logging in. Since the marina has WiFi available, and if I can get a good signal on board, maybe this will be another little toy to check on the state of the charge from the house. It won't be nearly as telling as the Victron app from my charge controller, but at least I might not have any more of those trips up only to find something had gone awry and I was depleted. For $19.00, it's worth a try.

I did start putting together a second shopping list for things to do as the season gets underway. As I've mentioned, I have a new anchor, and a new-to-me compass to install. Compass will be easy to install, anchor, less so but still not the end of the world. But in addition to those, there's another group of purchases, most of which I've mentioned in the past. First on the second list - two more GC-2 batteries to go with the pair I have now. Doubling the house bank is never a bad idea. I've gone back and forth on this, since the batteries I have now, along with the single 100 watt solar panel, keep up everything fine. I've never really had any issues with it, but I also don't have any high draw devices. I swapped to a newer, lighter laptop that a) takes less to run, and b) has a newer battery to last per charge. I have a couple more cabin lights to change over to LED bulbs, or swap fixtures out, sure, but those don't add much. I've toyed with the idea of a Raspberry Pi based computer for running OpenCPN and having extra power for those, even as minuscule as they are, would be nice. I'd also like to see if doubling the bank would allow for using one of my 12 volt coolers for a weekend instead of my large one with bags of ice instead. Not to be satisfied with just doubling the house bank, but also I'd like to add another 100 watt panel. The Victron 75|15 controller I have, would in theory handle two panels together just fine, and initially I'll go that route, but I'd like to either size it up, or better yet, a second 75|15 for the second panel. I have to get the boat in the water and rigged so I can figure out if a bimini will serve as a suitable mount for a pair of panels, or if I might need to adjust how things sit.

Back to the extra batteries for a moment. Right now, the pair I have are installed, end to end, in a plywood box/shelf that's mounted in the old engine compartment. I never did seal the wood but it's been no issues. But that should be resolved this year.

This was one of the in-progress pictures as I was throwing it together. It's served it's purpose well, but since I would like two more batteries, they can't exactly stay this way. So in that spirit, only a couple options made sense. Looking in the picture, you can see the old mounts for the motor, the threaded rods sticking up from the floor, etc. There's actually enough room in there for two batteries side by side, and if I'm honest, I could probably fit six altogether in there in a 2x3 configuration. I'm only going for two. My original thought was to shave down those bolts to just above the floor level, and use a solid piece of plywood as sort of a floor, to fill the space. From there, I would mount the batteries on top, using wood pieces as braces on the bottom, and sides, all fiberglass sealed and using the tops of the bolts as anchors. Holes in the corner of the floor with a nut on top to basically bolt the plywood in place. I then found option 1A:

This is a 4-battery box from... well, this one says it's a company called Dyno, sold HERE at Fisheries Supply, for $129.99 with free ground shipping. There's also another one identical manufactured by Century Plastics out of Canada that are sold in a few places, with about the same pricing by the time you add shipping. As another option, there's a company called NOCO that makes much more heavy-duty versions, though they only sell them in a 2-battery box style. If you're curious, those are HERE. So my plan is now, to still build my shelf, or at the very least, use a couple boards as braces over the gap, and mounted or even if I just slot the ends to fit over what little bit of the thread sits up.. I like that idea actually. But get that stuff in there, and then mount this box right to those. Then boom, 4 batteries, fully contained, fully mounted, and sealed in. But there's still plenty of room above to maintain the water. If I get fancy, I'll order one of those snazzy all-in-one watering kits, but that's down the list a ways. I also wanted to link the box here for my father, and anyone else that might be curious about such boxes.

Now how does all this make one bummed out? Well those items in and of themselves don't. But in a bit of bittersweet news, I may find myself traveling to Long Beach, CA for work for the months of May and June. Last year, it was late in the season before I was in the water, July 7th, actually. So in one regard, I wouldn't really be losing any more time this year than last, if I end up out there instead. However, the plus side, is that the marina is working hard to get renovations taken care of, but also they've said they want to launch people as soon as possible to try to beat the rising waters and groundwater flooding that delayed some of last year's splashes. I intend to be on the forefront of those early launches. I'm on the next dock over, this year. The Marina officially opens the season on April 17th, though how soon they'll be putting boats in, I'm not sure. I did take the two weeks at the end of April off, and would like to get the most out of those two weeks as I can. With luck, I'll be able to host my Dad up on the boat, and maybe even get some longer distances underneath our keel, perhaps out to Olcott, NY (some people may figure out why that's on the to-do list). I'm hoping to be kept busy with tidying, and projects, and whatever else we can think of along the way. Granted, the weather early in the season can pick up a little, but hey! I've got an oversize Rocna to play with. Oh, and upgrading to 5/8" anchor rode from the 1/2" I have now, is also on the second shopping list. I'm leaning towards a roller on the bow with the Rocna permanantly mounted with the 5/8" + the 25' of 1/4" High Test chain as the primary anchor, and moving the 1/2" with another length of chain to the stern with the Fortress there. I might even go so far as to make a compartment under the cockpit somewhere, that can house the rode with a hawse pipe in the corner somewhere, so that if the anchor needs to be deployed, it could do so at a moments notice with minimal setup. Or at the very least, a duffel bag with easy access. Who knows. Time?

Anyone in Cali want company on some weekend sailing by chance?