Karizma

What a great topic ! Anybody ever tried using this stuff before? Black Tank Water Treatment I get the impression the typical 'Blue stuff' just tries to make things smell nice, where as this stuff apparently breaks down all the 'solids'?

Great job - well done. I also noticed you have an anode on the skeg (as well as the rudder), mine doesn't, but I did think about fitting one last season; maybe I will next time now I know others have them! Thanks for sharing .......

When we did Karizma for the first time last year, we used a coat of underwater Primer (where needed if the antifouling had completely disappeared), then 2 coats of Hempel Broads on the underside of the hull and 2 coats of Hempel Boot Top Hard Racing Antifouling on the waterline. We decided to leave the bow thruster ‘tube’ with primer only, as the Vetus bow thruster instructions state “……to prevent corrosion problems, do not use copper based anti-fouling” (because Hempel Broads is copper based) - might be worth a check what yours states? Think you'll find it pretty easy to do (though your arms will hurt by the end of the day), but you will certainly save yourself a few quid for more important things - enjoy.

Early start to the 2024 season - nice trip up river today in the sunshine ................

Home moorings were completed flooded all day so needed to carry dog off the boat as he'd have needed to swim to the banking for a walk !!! Moored on the floating pontoon at the Tea Gardens so at least no problem going for a walk this evening.

So sad to read this after encouraging signs over the last few days. RIP Ian. My condolences to his family. Steve

Hi Kate, I have the Eberspacher Airtronic D4 unit and mine was smoking on start up and shutting down all on its own for no apparent reason, so I took it out of the boat and stripped it down (they are not very complicated inside). I bought a service kit from flea bay (gasket set, fuel pump filter, glow plug, glow plug tool remover) for abt £40 and took it all apart, cleaned the chamber out (was 'carbon-ed' up) and put it all back together with the new bits. I also have a separate diesel filter for the heater, so I replaced that as well. Since then (that was in Dec 2020) its been working great ever since. Not saying this would solve your problem, but it certainly worked for me, and the fact that your heater is starting up and then shutting down would suggest that there's not a lot wrong with it ......... hopefully.

Hi CC - just paid, see you all next year.

Congratulations - looking forward to seeing things develop. ATB.

How many of us got somebody to cut a big hole in the roof - to fit a sun roof, before cars started getting fitted with AC? Also cutting two big holes in the parcel shelve to put two large speakers in the back!

whoops - should have been OBB rather than OBO but couldn't edit quick enough !!!!!! anyway, would still welcome your thoughts ......

Hi OBO, thanks for the feedback; thats one of the websites I've been looking at, but wanted confirmation that they do 'what it says on the tin'!! Do you know if they also pick up and boost Wifi signals (as well as mobile signals)? I'm assuming not, but you might surprise me Any recommendations on set ups, functionality, etc, based on what you found?

thanks for the replies guys - sound as though you are all using either a 'Mobile Wifi Routers' which take a SIM card (of your choice) to get Wifi, that you then connect your device to, or a call / data Sim package which goes in your mobile phone. I'm wanting to find something that booster a poor mobile phone signal i.e. something like a 'mobile phone signal booster' that amplifies a weak signal, that your phone can then connect to, for both voice calls and data usage - anybody used one / got any experience of one?

CC - can you book us in for Saturday night please. Boat name: Karizma People x 2 (Steve & Tracy), Dogs x 1 (Cody) Cheers

Thanks for sharing - certainly food for thought as we never wear our life jackets, though they are on board all the time. glad it all worked out ok for you in the end - and I assume Finlay was none the wiser what mum had just gone through?

Just gone through this thread again as I would like Santa to treat Karizma to some sort of 'mobile phone signal booster' ......... I have a EE mobile phone 'package' that has a massive 200gb of data per month (doubled up due to having BT broadband), and when on the boat we use this to hotspot to the laptop; to watch TV through Sky Go and films through Netflix. We can get a good enough mobile signal in most areas, but there are a few places where the signal is there but sometimes just not good enough! I've seen that you can purchase a Portable WiFi Router, where you insert a data sim, which then provides a wifi signal that I could connect the laptop to, but having so much 'data' available on my phone contract I'm reluctant to purchase another SIM card to use for wifi access - typical Yorkshireman !!!! Has anybody got experience of one of these mobile phone 'signal boosters' that have an external antenna, a signal booster and an internal antenna, which claim to boost voice connections, as well as improving mobile internet?

first time I've ever felt so strongly about the long term future on the Broards regarding the toll increases and the number of 'free' moorings we've lost in the last 2 years - so I've also sent an email to Paul Sharpe.

Looks very similar set up to mine (minus a prop!)- have fun

Ho yes noticed that - good summary ............ and a great letter. Let's hope it has the desired results.

Great list - most of it looks very familiar ................ I'd recommend adding to your list all underwater checks whilst she's out of the water: Check / replace rudder bushes/gland packing Check / replace anodes Check / replace stuffing box gland packing Check cutlass bearing for wear Service bow thruster Check all through holes - full and free movement Clean depth sensor and speed impellor / lubricate with ZX1 The first time we took Karizma out (which was last winter) we ended up replacing the cutlass bearing and servicing the rudder bushes - both jobs weren't on our original list! Enjoy your first winter of servicing / getting to know your boat - I really enjoyed the process, as every day is a 'school day'

@Bikertov thats exactly how Karizma was wired up and I had exactly the same thoughts, so combined the banks together - seems to work as planned.

So after approx 2 weeks worth of work spread over a couple of months the electrical upgrades have finished (though I'm sure I'll be 'tweaking' going forward!). Once all the Victron equipment had been powered up I needed to connect to them individually on the Victron App via bluetooth to allow any firmware updates and to set the individual parameters regarding battery types and charging profiles I wanted. Turning the ignition key was a little apprehensive after all the work that had been done, though I was quietly confident as we had done this in an as controlled a way as possible........... and thankfully it all went well. Everything worked as it should do, and the amount of data you get from the individual pieces of equipment is excellent, all summarised on the Victron GX Touch 50 monitor or via the App on my phone via bluetooth. One of the interesting exercises that we were able to do was to try and turn everything off (apart from the main isolating switches) and see if we still had current draw from the batteries. Initially we were seeing about a 5 Amp draw, and we realised we'd left the fridge on! so turned that off and we were still getting a 0.5Amp draw. So looking round the boat we noticed we'd got some USB adapters (with lights on) connected to the 12 volt cigarette sockets and as we took these out the amps dropped to zero - showing just how sensitive the shunt was. Knowing the 'state' of the batteries (both domestic and engine) and the amount of amps being either, put into the batteries via the alternators whilst travelling, or taken out of the batteries when the inverter is on and Mrs Karizma is boiling the kettle for a cuppa via the touch screen I find very interesting. All in all, I'm well pleased with the outcome and still have lots to learn now I have some new 'toys' to play with!

PS: with the amount of wire I've taken out of the boat - there's far less to catch fire now!

@Smoggy - ho ye of little faith

This weekend was spent finishing things off and turning the ignition key to see if everything still works! The 'unswitched' domestic 6-way Mega fuse holder with Busbar was completed, supplying fused supplies to: 1 - supply directly from the domestic battery bank protected with a 250Amp fuse 2 - DC supply to the Victron Energy MultiPlus 12v Inverter Charger with a 200 Amp fuse 3 & 4 - the output cables from the 2 x Orion-Tr Smart 12/12V-30A non-isolated DC-DC Chargers with 60 Amp fuses 5 - supply to the domestic isolator switch supplying a midi fuse block for the 2 x Blue Sea Fuse Blocks (previously shown) with a 100 Amp fuse Next was the Engine battery unswitched' Mega fuse holder with Busbar, allowing the following connections; 1 - supply from the 1st 60 Amp alternator protected with a 80 amp fuse 2 - supply from the 1st Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC Charger with 60 Amp fuses 3 - supply to the 'switched' Victron Lynx distributor supplying power to the Engine, Bow thruster and Central Canopy motor. As well as installing a new Negative Bus Bar to reduce the number of negative cables going directly to the engine battery. We then installed a Midi fuse block supplying the 2 x Blue Sea Fuse Blocks previously shown, and an additional negative bus bar to again reduce the number of cables going directly to the batteries. Along side both of these, we installed the Victron Cerbo S-GX which is the interface between all the Victron equipment and the Victron GX Touch 50 monitor to be installed later. Next was installing what I will call a 'buffer battery' to allow a connection between the input from the 2nd 60 Amp alternator and the input to the 2nd DC-DC Charger, as recommended by @Dom earlier in this thread. Again these cables are all protected by Mega fuses. At the moment I haven't connected any other devices to this battery, though that is an option in the future if I want. Finally it was time to wire up the new AGM batteries with new 2/0 AWG (70 mm2) cables, protecting the cable with a Blue Sea 5189 Fuse (250A) and Fuse Terminal Block (can't be seen in this photo), as well as tidying up all the cabling to the engine battery and installing a 250 Amp Mega fuse, again to protect the cable. I'm pleased with the difference seen between the 'old' and 'new' wiring in the battery boxes! Now for the moment of truth ..................