Monthly Archives: February 2015

Juicy Projects

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Close on the heels of our passionate dumpster-heaving, life-raft-engorging Valentine’s Day, Melissa and I spent Sunday showing our little Galapagos some love.

V is for Valentines and Victron BMV 702

 

First on my project list was to install a battery monitor.  Galpagos has about 440 amp hours of AGM battery capacity but those batteries are really old. There was a current meter and shunt on the boat but with all of the other electrical projects I had disconnected those systems knowing that I would be upgrading soon. With Melissa’s insatiable lust for power, I need a system that can monitor the current draw from the soon to be installed refrigeration system, karaoke machine, disco ball and Lord knows what else.

I chose the Victron BMV 702 because of the glowing reviews in various cruising blogs. Chief among its advantages is a very simple plug and play connector between the meter and the shunt.  The 500 amp shunt also has an extra tap to allow you to measure either a second battery voltage (your start battery, for example) or measure the temperature of your battery.  If you don’t care about measuring a second battery, you can save yourself forty dollars and buy the BMV 700.

Since Galapagos had an existing shunt with two analog meters, I chose to use the existing holes.  As luck would have it the the Victron has a square face plate which did a pretty good job of hiding old scars.

The old analog meter along side the new Victron meter. What shall I do with the old meter?

The old analog meter along side the new Victron meter. What shall I do with the old meter?

Wiring in the new shunt was straight forward and allowed me to remove the old shunt and do a bit of cable cleanup.  It appeared to me that the old shunt was set up to measure all battery current, including the start battery.  The shunt itself looked like it had seen some high temperatures. Take a look

The old shunt, top. Looks kind of fried to me.

After hooking the negative battery cables to the new shunt I simply connected the meter to the shunt using the provided cable with RJ11 connectors (Phone Jacks). The kit comes with about thirty feet of cable so you have some flexibility in where you place your meter.

Once there is power to the unit, setup can be as simple or as complex as you wish. In its simplest form, you can set the battery capacity and the unit will assume that the battery is fully charged. At that point, a running total is maintained of how many amp hours are available with loads subtracting from the total and charging current adding to it.  There are a number of tweaks that are available to allow you to trim the unit to fit your specific needs. Right now, I am ecstatic just to know that I can monitor my batteries without having to pull my meter out and dig around in the battery box to measure the voltage as a rough guide to capacity.

Power to the people!

While I was rerouting the cables I noticed the lug for the start battery positive terminal seemed a little loose. One of the things I love about Galapagos is that she has a really comfortable engine room.  A fellow can sit in there and ponder life’s imponderables, far from the madding crowd,  giving himself the time and space to consider things like those loose terminal lugs.  Maybe even have a short nap on the subject.  I made a note to go back and tighten them but that would not be necessary. The stud bolt had separated from the lead clamp and just came away in my hand.

See where stud bolt was seated on left side.

I could have looked at this clamp all day when the stud was sitting in the hole and never noticed that there was minimal contact between the battery and the cable.  A bouncy sea would have been all it took to create another trip to the engine room to start trouble shooting a mysterious, and probably intermittent engine problem. I love my engine room but all things in moderation.

So, with just one trip to the store for a new terminal lug, The Victron Battery Monitor is in.  I am looking forward to some quality on the hook time so that we can see how well our batteries are holding up.  I will save for another post my other electrical projects, but suffice to say, LED lghting and solar panels are involved. More juicy tidbits to come.

You Speak Your Language, and We’ll Speak Ours

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Happy Valentine’s Day, dear readers! Today is the day that lovers everywhere declare their undying devotion by spending money at Hallmark and hurriedly stopping at the Safeway for a box of Brach’s Special Edition Extra Corn Syrup on the way home. People have all kinds of ways to say ‘I love you’. Some people go have a fancy dinner and hope to have fancy sex later. Some people do the jewelry thing. Some expect candle light and a bottle of “Je ne sais quoi” or some other French words I can’t think of right now. But after 33 (I think) years of marital bliss, Mike and I have our own love language. At the Little Cunning Plan house, nothing says ‘I Love You, Baby!’ like a big garbage dumpster in the driveway! We were in for a delightful weekend of property clean up! Woo hoo! I’m a lucky girl!

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve been continuing on our quest to ‘make space’ for this life transition by throwing things out. What better way to clear out the work area of that pile of rotting lumber, that stack of plastic pots from plants, the remnants of the pond filtration system? How else would we dispose of the little shed that Andrew built years ago in the ‘Lothlorian’ area (which we call our small forested space)?

Goodbye cute little hut Andrew built in his youth. Goodbye lean-to that used to have firewood stored beneath it. Hello wide open places!

It’s the end of an era of letting Andrew go hog wild with wood, saws, nails and screws. We thoroughly enjoyed his industrious years of building things in this big back yard we have. And we miss the sound of his little hammer and Daddy’s drill, his archery targets, the tin cans with holes punched through them where the arrows hit their marks.  Gone are the days of large siege engines tossing big things across the neighbor’s fence. He was like a medieval warrior, or at least a medieval carpenter. They were built to work, and built to last. But we have our memories, fond and otherwise, and on occasion at the tender age of almost 23 he still lets loose a few arrows out back. But I am running amok down memory lane right now and that’s not the purpose of this post.

What is this day without flowers? Here’s one from the garden today. We have an early spring in the Pacific Northwest.

No this post is a Valentine’s gift to you, readers, because guess what you get to do now? Go ahead. Guess. I’ll wait.

Ok. You don’t know, do you? Your super surprise extra bonus gift of this day, because we love you and all, is to watch this great video of us deploying our life raft in the back yard. That’s right!!! I’ll bet most of you have never seen a life raft deployed, and the rest of you are asking yourselves why we would even consider doing such a thing. This is why: the people at the boat show told us to.

There she blows.

We had this life raft that was born in May 1993 and last serviced in 2005. Now frankly, we figured it was still good as gold considering it had been protected in the sturdy (and unbelievably heavy) case in its secure holder on the back of Galapagos for the last 10 years. No sunlight or water could get to it. I called around to some places that repack life rafts and none of them really wanted anything to do with it. You know the story: “Oh, you need to bring it in and let us look at it and then we can tell you if it’s any good.” But we couldn’t get a bead on how much this ‘service’ would cost us, or whether it would even be worth our time. For all we knew we should just fill it with those plastic balls and rent it out for children’s birthday parties.

It has been in our garage for a year or so now with us not knowing what to do with it. So what the hell. We had nothing to lose. We couldn’t dispose of it the way it was because it was considered hazardous material due to the canister of gas. And we sure weren’t going to try to sell it the way it was. The guys at the boat show selling life rafts were familiar with what we had and said that in its day it was considered a really good life raft. They said we should just set if off and see what we had.   We’ will likely have to buy a new one anyhow, so we just went outside and pulled the painter. And the rest, as they say, is water under the bridge.

It was a ton of fun, and almost like an extra Christmas to open up the ditch bags and see what was inside. There was plenty of loot, and most of it was still good. Get a load of this:

Real loot!

What we have here is a kite for signaling help, a very nice, brand new Swiss Army knife with every possible gizmo on it, still in the box, a brand new compass, a nice signaling mirror, two different fishing kits, waterproof matches (still good), two short wooden paddles, and a sturdy flashlight. We also found a lot of drinking water in pouches that was still perfectly fine, and a nice first aid kit with a number of items that can be used, and a bottle of sea sickness tablets. I guess those are toast by now.

Look, baby! It works! Nothing says ‘Manly man’ like extra filth and a hammer hanging on your pants.

Turns out this is a very nice raft. In fact, it looks like it is just as good as the new ones we looked at, especially considering the chances of our having to even use it. There is a little light inside, and one on the top, and a kit with an extra bulb. There is a sea anchor attached, and it has weighted bags around the bottom to help stabilize it in rough seas.

A nice sea anchor, attached well to the outside of the raft.

And now what? We are hoping that if we take it to the same place that inspected it twice before, DBC up in Victoria, B.C., maybe they can service it again and put it in a different kind of case. If there is a way to salvage this life raft and use it, it would save us about 2000$, minus the cost of servicing and repacking it. If you know a resource for us, please comment. If we’ve killed it by deploying it, oh well. We figured we’d have to buy another one anyhow. There is always the children’s birthday party idea.

For your Valentine’s Amusement, here is the video; 4 minutes or so of me trying to get Mike to move faster so the video won’t be so long. Enjoy  .[vsw id=”DDc4UgYmkPo” source=”youtube” width=”425″ height=”344″ autoplay=”no”]

 

After a long Valentine’s Day of hurking great piles of rotting lumber and remnants of ancient remodeling endeavors, and deploying still-perfectly-good life rafts, our evening goes like this:

Melissa: What’s for dinner, Baby?
Mike: Je ne sais quoi.
Melissa: You know you are irresistible to me when you speak French. Come here and get your Valentine’s gift you handsome devil.
Mike: Ow! Donnez-moi l’Advil, s’il vous plait.

blogliferaft

 


					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Smelly Cheese Not Included

			
						

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A fun thing about going to the boat show is getting to look at some ‘previously loved’ sailboats for sale. Used to be there were more of them at the show. Now, I think it must cost the brokers too much to give just any boat that kind of visibility, so the pickings are slim. We got to look at  2005 Malo 45 Classic designed for Nigel Calder (It had a new engine. How appropriate.).  It was a pretty nice boat, and only $599,999. Even at less than 20% of that price, we like Galapagos better. Whew! Close call.


We got a couple of ideas for Galapagos on board the Malo 45 Classic. OK, sure, maybe I like the galley a little better on this boat.


We also got to look at a nifty 1982 Shannon 38 Pilothouse, one of only 9 built. The price tag on that one was only a cool $95,000 so getting a bit closer to our league. Shannons are really good boats, so someone is going to have fun with this one. It was a saucy boat but, again, we like ours better. I do love looking at boats, but it’s good to continue to be happy with what we have.


Some of the lovely, saucy stuff on board that Shannon.


What flipped us totally out was going aboard the 2009 Garcia 76. Oh my good golly Miss Molly! That boat is simply amazing. If this is an example of how ‘the 1 percent’ must live, then I have been born into the wrong life. When this boat goes onto the U.S. market, it will be listed at about $2,500,000.00. That’s a lot of zeros.  This is a number that is so far beyond my reality, it seems like one should be able to buy a small country, complete with serfs for that amount. The amount of pure hedonistic indulgence is the equivalent of a gallon of your favorite ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. It’s enough to make you completely sick.


Still,  the aluminum hull of this monster called to me from across the docks. I just had to go aboard because I wanted to be able to wrap my head around a boat that big that looked like it was an awesome sailing boat. Yes, I know there a many boats that that big. But I’ve never been aboard them. Mike and I almost raced each other to the swim step to clambor aboard


The 2009 Garcia 76. Oy vey. I couldn’t get far enough away from her to get her entire self in the frame.


I’m so glad the boat’s owner wasn’t aboard to see us gawking and exclaiming about the size of the equipment on this boat. How embarrassing that would have been. We were all kinds of ‘touristy Americans’, exclaiming in wonder as we surveyed the breadth of the mast, the sheer beefiness of the blocks, the world of electric roller furlers. And on this 2+ million dollar boat, someone had wound the foresail so tightly around the furler that it was hurting the sail. I could barely walk away without feeling its pain. Awful.


Look at the space on that deck! It’s like a Mother Ship!


Here you go. A little sailing eye candy:


Pretty! Just real pretty!


Mike noticed their use of soft shackles, pieces of sailing ‘hardware’ that Mike, too, uses liberally. So we’re sort of kind of like the owners of this boat. In a way.


Soft shackle ahoy!


When I look at boats, I always like to spend an appropriate amount of time on deck before going below because it makes me look like I am actually interested in all the sailing stuff going on up there. But of course, I am really dying to go below. You know, true confessions and all.


Can you just say WOW!?


I believe the word ‘stunned’ would be an appropriate description of what we must have looked like upon finding ourselves in the main salon. Just WOW! First, get a load of that settee and dining area. I’ll show you the galley, which goes the entire beam of the boat, in a minute. Mike and I had our mutual jaws hitting the floor about every two seconds just looking around. Then, when the broker heard me say I would be writing about this boat on the blog, he asked if he could give us the tour and show us some of the finer bells and whistles. Are you freaking kidding me? Lead on, friend, lead on!


First, I noticed the flooring which is not at all the traditional sole in a boat. It’s actually an all weather fabric mesh that I have seen used on floors in industrial chic designs. You can buy outdoor rugs made of it. And it makes a dandy surface on the sole of the boat. The color in this boat, a deep graphite, is quite soothing and gives the boat a quiet feeling.


The other side of the salon.


On the other side of the salon there is another white leather settee and matching white leather club chairs. And the thing about those club chairs is that they are attached to the floor with magnets. To move the chair, you just flip a switch and it releases. Pretty darn cool. But wait! There’s more! What’s behind the chair? That would be the electrical and workshop area.


These are so well organized. They seem like they should be bronze or something but what do I know?


With all the tools of your dreams, of course.


Get a load of that panel. Mike’s sighs were deep and long.


So turning back to the salon, we tarry awhile longer admiring the view of the furnishings (a little afraid to touch them, actually, with our plebian hands)  then move to the galley. The galley; that which left me speechless. It’s just not possible to understand how a sailboat can have a galley like this. I mean, I get it that cruise ships have galleys. But this boat is owned by an INDIVIDUAL person. Not a government or a large corporation. I only wish I could have had a gander at that refrigerator. But we were not allowed to open it due to the presence of smelly French cheese, at least that’s what the sign said.


Starboard side galley.


And this:


Port side galley. I love the counters. Just love them.


And let’s discuss storage. No, let’s not bother. Because this boat has so much it may as well be a condo. But of course, it is 75 feet long. Seventy five feet. I wonder. Does this boat spend much time in a marina? Oh, wait. No. No need for a marina when you have a crane on the stern of the boat where your OTHER boat lives. The other boat was missing, but I’m guess that the ‘dinghy’ would have been roughly the size of our previous Cal 34, Moonrise.


Can we get this on Galapagos? Um. No.


What a world we live in.


We move toward the bow of the boat and find an entire new world of berths and cabins, with heads everywhere. I believe the broker said there were 4 heads on this boat and I didn’t take a photo of even one of them. When that happens, you know I am overwhelmed by all the other sights I am seeing. I’m sure they were simply grand. We have enough trouble with two heads on Galapagos, so I can’t imagine doubling that. But I supposed if you can buy this boat, you can pay people to take care of it for you.


More photos because I simply don’t have enough adjectives.


The port galley is on the other side of those pillows.


And another cabin. This boat seems to be layed out like the big sailing yachts of yore;  like S/V Odyssey, the pretty Sparkman Stephens sailboat owned by the Tacoma Sea Scouts. The owner’s cabin is in the stern of the boat, with captain’s quarters up front, along with guests and crew. Here’s another nice cabin.


Who wouldn’t sleep well in this cabin?


And then, far away in the fore peak, the serf quarters. Nothing says ‘this isn’t really your house’ like a toilet in your bedroom. On a normal boat, this cabin would be pretty nice. On this boat, it pretty much pales in comparison to the other cabins.


Less accommodating and really? The servants can’t use the regular heads?


But I’m saving the best for last. The master cabin. Have mercy, this is a lovely cabin.


The master cabin. Why yes, I believe that IS a glass door to the head.


Alert readers will see that this bed is not on the midline of the cabin. But what about when the boat is under sail and she is heeled over nicely? Won’t the owner be irritated by that? Not to worry. This is a FRENCH boat! And the French are all over your comfort at sea. They have a long tradition of building fine boats. They keep these details in mind. Watch this:


Did you see that?


The broker was positively gleeful as he pushed a button and magically the head of the bed began to rise. Starboard tack?  Port tack? No problem. Push the button again. Raise the foot, raise the head, raise whatever you need to raise in order to get a good night’s sleep below. Sweet.


Then, of course, there is the storage behind all those pretty wood panels. Drawers pull out, hanging lockers pull out.


Pull out hanging locker. Clothes are still in it. Whoopsie!


Finally, there is a work station to die for in the master cabin.


Work station in the master suite.


On the way out I took notice of the nav station.


A plush leather navigation station. Wow.


By the time we’d seen the master suite, we were getting the idea that it was time for us to let other people have a turn. People were lined up waiting to board so no time to actually talk about little things like engines or sailing systems, things like that. I’d say we got a bunch of ideas for refitting Galapagos by looking at this boat, but you’d probably think I was exaggerating. And you’d be right. We just have to appreciate this boat for the work of art that it is and be glad we had the luck to be at the show to see it. Plus we have a blog so we got to see the magic bed and all. What a great day! You see? There IS a benefit to writing all this stuff down!Garcia sign