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LondonRascal
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Posts posted by LondonRascal
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Night time cruising is lovely because you have real freedom, but there are some aids that can help because often nature is not on your side in giving a clear moonlit night.
The first one I use is simply going online to see what the phase of the moon will be, and when it might rise that way I I know if I have that added 'torch from the heavens' or not.
Secondly, I use Google Maps on my phone in 'satellite mode'. It means that you can see your location in relation to the next bend or on the likes of Barton Broad knowing where the posts are in real time - just set the brightness to minimum and it will not mess with your eyes.
It is often the case you need to see something in the cockpit, but you do not want to put a light on or use a torch - a red light of the correct intensity and colour will not ruin night vision, a really cheap and effectively method we have on Broad Ambition are LED bike lamps. They cost £1 from Poundland and work a treat.
You can use external lighting, I have a temporary light that can be used - it is an LED mini light bar (36w) on a long cable to a plug that goes into a 'cigarette lighter socket' (now politically correctly referred to as an accessory socket) it can be handy at times but generally I cruise without it but for mooring it has been handy especially when angled to port slightly and so gives you a wide spread of light unlike a spot light's focused beam.
The real issue about night navigation on rivers is the relative narrowness and things like banks getting in the way but you also have to watch out in the early evening in popular places like Horning and Wroxham for craft underway (especially small dinghy with an outboard) who have no lighting at all. I would much prefer something even if not the correct form of navigation lights because it has happened to me - two years ago - bringing Broad Ambition down to Potter Heigham on a Friday night in October to meet with crews of the other boats for Lads Week.
As we passed Thurne Mill and the dyke a couple in a dinghy shot out across our bows - no lights - and was only the sound of their engine that alerted me that something was there. It is however magical as too is the other end of the scale, cruising at first light.
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On Independence I was fortunate to inherit some tube heaters. I am lucky that I can close off and seal the engine room from the outside with large baffles and this alone has helped with heat retention not having cold air blowing through. I then have a very large tube heater on the floor between the two engines on a timer to come on over night and to early morning - two smaller tube heaters in the accommodation one in aft cabin and one forward with all the doors left open.
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Hi Dave, I had looked at something similar but to be honest if I keep on top of things, I should be ok in the future and you can buy a lot of fuel filters from the big Racor's for the cost of that kit.
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Little update - so the Marina have 'accepted me' and offered me a deal - stay another year and save 5% on the mooring - but they also have agreed to let the contractor on the pontoon which is nice though oddly they don't usually allow such to be done at weekends, despite the office being manned 7 days a week. Anyway I have rearranged dates so the fuel cleaning will take place on 16th December.
The tanks do have an inspection hatch on top of them, but to get to such means laying on the engine, reaching through the air intake baffle and having about 20cm or less clearance . I would never consider having holes cut in the decks just to get down to the tank beneath there should never be any need as all that is required is enough room to get a suction hose in to the tank to scour the bottom.
Once the bottom of the tank is cleaned, a smaller set up is then used - this takes fuel out the tank, through two very fine micron filter elements, then back into the tank - this processes is repeated in a loop until all particulars, water etc contaminants are removed from the tank. The process is expected to take 6 hours to complete but could go on for longer if the fuel is very bad.
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Was done in 2010 in Oxford Street:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-12073140/pedestrian-speed-lanes-for-london-s-oxford-street
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The fact is, whatever may have gone on to cause the business to go down the path it did, I wonder how viable honestly their offerings would be now and into the future anyway. They always did things that little bit different, and I guess while that was something that worked in the late 80's and 90's (bringing in a settee, bath and domestic flushing toilet) are just some examples of 'ahead of their time' additions on boats, these days they look very dated and dare I say odd.
It takes a lot of money and skill to design a boat, so if they had wanted to come out with fresh designs for their own fleet and to be sold on to other operators who do not build their own, this would have to be financed then their existing fleet updated to compete in the market we are now in whereby larger boats, that sleep fewer people, and cost more per week to hire are increasingly the norm.
All the above would have had to have been planned some years previous and then have begun rolling out now and I think the only way that you can really afford to invest in such large scale things is to have different revenue streams which they did not have. Look at Barnes Brinkcraft, they are building boats and they seem to hire very well and at a high cost but they also have shore side accommodation, private moorings and boat brokerages in Wroxham and Brundall which obviously help even if one keeps them as separate business units a Director may say investment is needed in such and place and channel money in from another area of the business to avoid borrowing and with interest rates likely to be heading upwards in years to come you don't want to be borrowing money now.
So in my opinion yes it is a great shame Alpha are no more but it would have needed some changes and a new direction in my mind to have had a successful and lasting future.
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Some good news I spoke to Carl of CP Fuel Polishing today and a very nice man here seems to be.
The reason I am seeking the services of his company is because I do not know how long the boat has been sat and how old the fuel in her tanks is. Does it contain the dreaded ‘diesel fuel bug’ or perhaps there is a lot of muck and debris that have fallen to the base of the tank just waiting to be stirred up once one gets in to a bit of a rolling sea and potentially could clog the fuel filters and be an engine stopper why such are changed.
The main issue he can see is access to the tanks as ideally one would like to take off the inspection hatches and see what is actually in the tanks – then use a type of vacuum cleaner that sucks up any mess that be lurking. Once that is done the entire contents of the tank are pumped through a filtration system in a loop until the fuel is crystal clear.
Of course if he is not able to get into the tank, the fuel cleaning will sort any issues with the current fuel but not remove the any crude at the bottom of the tank. Another option is to drain fuel from the bottom of the tank and hope that what comes out will include any crude or another option would be to purposely stir up the tanks contents using a high pressure fuel pump and then begin to suck and filter the tanks contents capturing as much suspended matter as possible in the process until the fuel is clear and clean.
He has estimated 6 hours of onsite time, but this may vary and is based some 3 hours or so away in Poole so talking to him I was expecting several thousand pounds but initial estimate if all goes to plan is £580.00 odd. I can for see there will be issue and so will budge to double this but even so for peace of mind and knowing that what will be in the tanks is as clean fuel as one can hope for and then treat the fuel with a suitable ‘diesel bug’ treatment like Soltron, will be one big item ticked off the pre-departure list of things that have to be done.
I have also shared a video link and asked his permission if I may film some of the work he does and then be able to share the process with you all. I have emailed the Marina ever so politely seeking their permission for his visit and seeing what the state of play is as to parking. I hope they don’t put a spanner in the works and say no!
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Would it be possible to ditch the big and troublesome flybridge cover and just have small fitted covers for the helm and instruments? (ok maybe not until you get to Norfolk and away from the gull s**t)
I did find some further covers, one for the helm instrument panel but I like the fact that cover is keeping the Gull droppings off the rest of the boat under it, I don't think this will be as much of an issue once away from the coast so may just revert to using the individual covers.
QuoteAny plans for spending a week onboard Robin ? Must be very frustrating only being able to stay for the weekend, I’d be tempted to pull a “sickie”
I've already cut my hours by two days at work to spend more time generally sorting things out, but there is only so much I want to do while the boat is where it is which effectively is to have the fuel drained from the tanks and the tanks inspected/cleaned and then to have new navigation kit installed. That makes me feel happier and more confident about taking the boat 300 odd miles in winter seas back to Norfolk.
Next Spring I can get on with all the nice things - from seat covers to gel coat polishing. I will be a damn site closer to the boat then and can consider making the big move to Norfolk.
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Talking of winter, more and more relay upon tube heaters to keep their engine bays above freezing - and they do work. Indeed on Independence I have a massive one
(engine room and tube heater) but the issue is you don't want it on 24hrs so you can have a timer, but then you think how about if had a thermostat only need come on if temperature drops below a set amount but then what happens if you run out of credit, or the supply trips - you are blissfully unaware of this and it does not take many days and nights of below freezing to potentially cause some very costly damage to an engine and ancillaries.
I have ordered one of these:
It is a smart socket that takes a SIM card. It can monitor temperature, and has a thermostat too and can notify you via text message in the event of power cut. You can send it a text message to remotely turn on or off connected equipment and can text you back information about the temperature in the room. It can also send temperature rise and fall alerts to your phone too.
Using a special connector, you can add the various sensors. e.g a message would be be sent when such a sensor that is connected is triggered - such as motion, or doors opening, fire, gas leakage etc (these you need to get separately and area available here) A built-in microphone allows you to hear what is happening in the room if you call the socket. All in all pretty decent, made in Finland of all places. Just under £130.00 http://amzn.eu/7AtPx96
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So just back home from another weekend onboard Independence (I kinda like the fact I can shorten this to Indie and it still sounds good)
I arrived late Friday with Hailstones but by the time I got to the berth (mine is about as far as you can get from the main entrance) the Hail had given way to horrendous rain - I was soaked! All was good onboard and soon had my fan heater and convector going and things were warming up nicely. No time for food mind, it was close on midnight so was a quick unpack and to bed.
I woke up Saturday to more rain and wind - I really did not feel like doing too much outside or going to town, so I began working on the fridge issue - after taking most of the galley to bits to get at it, turned out was a blown fuse - this was duly replaced and the fridge came to life. Sadly a few hours later it died again but rather than fear a dying fridge I will have to get a new Rectifier after all and if this does not fix it then I have lost little financially and will replace it with a domestic version running off the 240v supply.
Time to head into the city and first thing was get to eat as I had nothing last night - Pizza Express it was. love their dough balls, but prefer Zizzi Pizza personally and would love a fusion of both. Then it was off to Argos to get a basic Lithium battery drill, drill bits and a 75ft 'expanding' water hose. All this is about 15 minutes from the Marina so I could not me more central. Rain again, time to go back to the boat.
Upon getting onboard I notice the hatch to fly bridge is all dark - heart sinks - canopy has come loose I think, well I get up the ladder try and open hatch but find it stuck, get door open and get half through when I realise what peril I am in - too late - I am soaked with a lovely water and Gull sh*t mix. You see the canopy had got more and more laden with water, sunk in the middle like a paddling pool, the edge then came up and slipped off the screen and the wind caught it thus flipped it over the door and hatch. I headed for the shower block, change of clothes and back into town. This time I got some waterproof trousers, and from Halfords a bunch of bungee straps.
Back on the boat, suitable 'suited up' with gloves I set about picking up the canopy, and trying not to get too covered with water and the dreaded Gull sh*t. I then found a metal bar to make more of a 'tent' to stop water pooling as much, and used the bungee straps to held secure the canopy but have some give in it - it is a real hack but I think it will work, and was the best I could fashion up given the falling daylight and need to at least get the instrument panel from being exposed to the rain.
While doing this though I found a way to lift the forward seating in the fly bridge area, and you can crawl into a space above the saloon helm area, in here was some lovely thick ropes, more covers and all types of water/power and hydraulic lines - also access to the back of the instrument panel.
Back inside the boat and I was setting up a new speaker system a Logitech Z906 - it is offers 1000w of 5.1 Dolby surround sound. and I got 57% off of a black Friday deal and was pleased, because while it sounds loud it feels a bit too bass driven and that is because of a 30cmx30cm subwoofer which I have now found no space for - anyway having done a temp install and tested it does not sound too bad but you need some volume to get things working and then you are in danger of pissing off the neighbours - it looks totally over the top but that is find, I have put a big stamp of my character on the boat.
I then found out the boast has a safe - sadly it was empty - but is a proper bolted in affair and fancy keypad locking system. I also went to the engine room again where I like to pop down to and sit and contemplate and say "hmm" and "Where the hell does that go to" and then hit my head. However this visit was fruitful. I have found how hard it is going to be to change the starboard engines fuel and oil filters and I think I will need to employ a Toddler to get to the impeller on this side of the boat, and talking of impeller's it must be easily the size of my fist judging from the housing. Thankfully the port engine is all very accessible.
I also found the domestic water system has not got an accumulator after all on the cold waster inlet side - only one for the hot water side. This is kinda good news and kinda of bad news. The pump fitted is big (20L per minute) but the fact that the galley has poor pressure I think will have to be lived with, because pressure on the port side heads is good - not sure it is 20L a minute mind you but then it made me wonder what the hell the red accumulator tank was for - well turns out for the closed side of the air-con chillier lines. You see these get heated o chilled by the system and are probably a good 1.5" diameter pipes that serve the air handlers and then return to the chillers in the engine room. This explains the 14Psi and pressure gauge. I can however find no header tank for the system so I ma not clear on how one would drain and re-fill the system, as I would very much like to not have plain water in it but a 50/50 water antifreeze mix. I have found invoices from 2007-2012 where the system was each winter drained, flushed and left then re-filled after winter. But how do you know it is full? HFL who make it, have the worst website with no clear details so I can see this having to be a Contractor thing first time and then learn how it is done and do it myself thereon.
I did more cleaning surfaces and chucking out things, found perfect condition sets of vinyl window covers and some dirty but not too far gone mesh window covers for summer. I've now put these under the forward double in the bow where there is a large area of space and access to the bow thrusters. Talking of those, the rubber 'boot' from one of the controls on the helm has split, I called the company who make these (they are Tork Master made by Hardy Engineering) to be told you need to buy the entire panel - over £400.00 - I said I will live with a split rubber boot.
So might not sound like a great deal of action and progress, but with limited time and only me I am still happy with what I am doing and have a good plan going forward of the things I need to do, things that would be nice to have and the vanity projects that just will look nice but are not in any way essential.
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As you are running two bloody great diesels, why not have a 1000W fan heater, running through a suitable inverter, while they are running? I assume you are going to fit larger alternators to these engines, when you install more domestic, or "hotel power" batteries?
I'm not going to be changing the Alternators for the new batteries, but will need some pretty smart voltage regulation between them and the new batteries - since the new batteries are going to be Lithium. I also need an Inverter but neither of these two things need to be done in Plymouth.
QuoteThis also assumes that you will be doing a lot of cruising but what you have described so far tends to suggest that you will be spending more time aboard when moored up. In which case an oil fired boiler system circulating through radiators will give you autonomy
I doubt there will be much cruising being done - certainly not compared to what one would expect on a 'river boat' which countless people have reminded why go to the expense and trouble of fitting her out with such a comprehensive navigation suite let alone all the rest of the features such as the Lithium battery system, to be honest it boils down to the fact I simply wish to.
QuoteRobin i would expect a few electric fan heaters set to half would cost less than running diesel heating in most cases but I suppose it all depends!!
It would be cheaper, but it would not be integrated and I like fancy control panels and fans and industrial things and why I like the space this boat has to to fit such items. Oh, and I have a bit of an obsession with fans and air-con lol.
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If i am right in presuming the berth was paid up for the year by the old owner I would be thinking about moving on rather than renewing if something as simple as a wifi code is going to upset them
Yes but I was going to be asked to leave before Christmas, or I'd have to pay over £500 a month to keep it there until the date the Contract ended with the previous owner. I kicked up a fuss and had evidence of a verbal agreement between me and the Broker (why filming things helps) long story short I singed a Contract stating my name and address and the berth in my name coming to an end 31st March 2018 - and I had nothing to pay. I can well imagine this annoyed the Marina since they have a waiting list and could have got a new berth holder in paying up front for the year many thousands of pounds but it just was another sweet thing for me in this journey I am on.
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Thanks for the real world advice above, the thing is right now I am merrily going to the boat and using the electric hook up and have not the slightest idea how much a unit of electric costs - so may well be in for a shock and could explain why other boaters in the Marina use their diesel heating if that turns out to be a far cheaper option.
I have to be careful mind you because I have just had the berth signed over to me for nothing, and if I go to the office to much and begin causing bother they may think of wanting some money off me - they seemed a bit miffed when I wanted the WiFi code which then turned out not to cover the whole marina, just the lounge and outside deck area.
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Paul you make a good point about stop gap measures, and originally this was intended to be something that could be put in on a semi-permanent basis.
However then, the more I considered this I thought if it is in it may as well stay there so looked into details more and cosmetically pleasing units and fascias to cover them. But you are right down the line I do want to install diesel heating and the most efficient will be the 'wet type' where coolant is heated up not air. This in turn can heat the water onboard as well as provide heating to the cabins.
I may have said before, but it may well be possible to utilize the existing air handlers and plumbing they use to connect to the Diesel heaters hot water output and simply have a valve installed to isolate the chillers from the air-con side. Then, come summer one can equally isolate the diesel heating side from the system but both would share a common header tank and plumbing system - this is something HFL who make the 'air-con system on the boat produce, I'd rather see if such can be done locally (as in Norfolk)
Combined system from HFL:
This is very similar to the system I have installed:
From the above, I can now see that the pressure gauge that I thought was for the fresh water system is actually for the chiller system 'coolant circuit' of the air-con. This explains why it is set to 14 PSI (which is pretty low for a fresh water system) and I am sure I will confirm on the weekend it is not part of the accumulator tank at all. I find it fascinating making these discoveries.
As to the 'free heat' system, there is also the possibility of using the Starboard engine - which is not connected to the Calorifier, thus it's full coolant heat output could be used without having to take into account of any heat loss already going on from the Calorifier that the Port engine has.
However, there is also no plumbing on this engine - but I am sure the outlets are there to be tapped into.
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You see, I don't take offense to any of this - though I find it a shame people are as they are. From the moment I got serious about this, and began making contact with Brokers I have been 'making waves' and changing perceptions.
Frankly this has been my first experience of suffering real prejudice. I know we read in the news about discrimination women or those of different races in society, but when you are someone who is different to the perceived 'norm' of large motorboat owner I have seen first hand how unwelcome the welcome can be to the 'club' and how it feels to be judged by people you've never met, but having a tough skin means I don't let things bother me.
Even the model of boat I have bought is I ma sure to some an odd choice. You see, it is commonly seen as something that people 'work their way up to' from other smaller or faster craft and want something more traditional on the one hand in style (especially internally) and also want something that can cruise all day at 10Knts and they can plan passages from the UK to the likes of the Mediterranean - destinations and passages they would never have contemplated when they may have owned a 35ft planing boat where it was a quick dash to the next harbour along the coats on a summer weekend.
So here I am, never having owned a twin screw 'sea boat' before, not married and with no family in my late thirties calling up Brokers about these boats. Couple this to then sharing this with people in the real and online world and some I don't think took me seriously. Indeed I think some felt I was making things up, being a stirrer (or in online parlance a Troll) - and no, none of this came from this Forum who have been most gracious all along. But then it happened and paid my money and got the keys and people thought "Oh blimey he was real and he did do it".
All water under the bridge now as I am getting to grips with the boat, sharing things and helping other owners - I have made contact with a chap in London who owns a later model of my boat and sharing things, another who having seen my LED bulb changes may well go on to change his over and save Amps. So all good in the end and what boating can often be about: helping others out.
But the fact remains when I am down on the boat I stand out. From the first introduction in the Marina office when the lady looked over the rims of her glasses at me 'can I help you' in a very headmistress fashion and yet when I announced I was the new owner of the boat her eyes brightened and she became all of a sudden most polite and even offered me a coffee. I guess my look did not fit standing there in my t-shirt and jeans.
It is to be expected when I go to a Chandlers that they too will make that initial judgment to me - yet I am sure they would not in Norfolk, where you have a far larger mix of boating types. From the young families with the small weekender boats, to the older sailors and everything in between.
But coming full circle, while it might be a shame to be judged initially, I do enjoy the surprise and being open about things and genuinely those who know me (even just from videos) have all been very warm and congratulatory and eager to follow though I am fully aware there is likely a large contingent of arm chair captains waiting to pounce at their keyboards the moment I do something wrong.
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Thanks for the replies, advice and ideas.
This initially was to be a 'stop gap' measure thinking it would be as simple but as time has gone on and reading more into this, while the principle is indeed simple the reality of an installation where the matrix system will be some height above the engines does create another issue. This issue is something one can overcome, but it presents more components and time being spent on something that once has been used very rarely again - only if it is very cold and the boat is underway and you only want some heat to the Saloon.
In light of this, I think I might change my mind - but will have a look this weekend when I am back onboard and can see what is what exactly with where pipes may run and so on. I also need to go hunting for the header tank for the closed circuit on the Air-Con because I want to see what state the Glycol Antifreeze solution is in and if poor drain and re-fill to provide protection over the winter. The issue here is having no idea what I am looking for or where it could be and having a very poor diagram to go on from the HFL website as to how a typical installation may look.
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For me the Sonar system you plan to install is far too dangerous, I’d spend far to long looking at what is beneath me than what’s in front of me !
Yes lol - here is what it is capable of:
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The funny thing is this whole set is going to be needed very occasionally - maybe even as little as once. I say this because once I get a dedicated diesel based heating system installed, I can use this as a far cheaper method of making heat when away from shore power than running a 13.5Kw generator to make electricity to run other forms of heating - be it electric fan heaters or the reverse cycle conditioning system.
Despite the fact this is not going to be something that may be used much, I want it to be cosmetically nice and should I sell the boat any new purchaser can see it is 'marine grade' and feel confident in its installation. I feel that is better than me having to explain that under the seat is a Volvo heater matrix and a Ford Transit three speed blower for example - there really is no difference in performance, but it does not 'sound as good' as saying this is a Marine system made by Mikuni.
Having read up on things a little more, the only issue I can see is the fact the matrix is going to have to be in the saloon and I can fit it perfectly under a seat, behind an existing grill used to hid one of the air handlers for the Aircon system. The problem is this puts the heater matrix about 3 feet above the engine's expansion tank for coolant return. This in turn will mean when I add more coolant to account for the extra volume of the matrix and associated pipe work all will be ok - it will even be ok as the volume of liquid expands under heat load, with any excess going into the expansion tank - the issue will be when the engine is off and the system returns to ambient air temperature - it has no way to flow back into the engines header tank from the expansion tank thus meaning coolant tank on the engine will be under filled.
The solution, I have read, is to have a secondary header tank - but that needs to be slightly above the level of the highest point of the system - and that cannot happen in the set up I wish. If I put the Matrix down below in the engine room and from this have some air ducting into the Saloon that is going to be a couple of 50mm holes I need to make somewhere through the engine room sound insinuation which is about 2" thick and solid cored. This also causes the ships engine room to no longer be considered sealed from the rest of the accommodation. Let us say there was a fire which melted the ducting or even spread up it, either way smoke will rise through the ducting to the accommodation above and therefore this is why I am not able to use any ducting.
Now in reality I could of course use such air ducting. I could say what are the chances of a fire and so on and so forth, but again in so doing I change the the integrity of something and a prospective new owner down the line will be well aware of this, especially when a Surveyor looks at the set up from the engine room up. When you are dealing with a boat that is category A offshore rated as she is, she will have systems that cover her being 'largely self sufficient' it changes a number of things not least is the fact you will likely need to deal with situations well away from shore based help and in the event of an emergency extra time means a great deal, so when you begin to modify the design in ways which may effect the boat or cause a future purchaser ho is attracted to the rugged nature of the boat from her systems from the remote emergency fuel cut offs, air intake shut offs to the engine room and fire suppression systems they may well get put off seeing some plastic ducting heading up to the saloon from the engine room.
So it is all a bit different to a river boat and I have to be mindful of this with everything I do and plan.
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What sort of aircon system is it? A lot of them are reverse cycle, so can heat to an extent as well as cool.
It is a massive HFL system - takes over 20Amps (AC) to run so no good to use with most 16Amp shore supplies even.
It does run in reverse cycle but it gets what I would refer to as being 'warm' not very good for all the power it consumes. It better work better in summer at cooling or the whole lot will be removed as it takes up masses of space with two large compressors and air handling units throughout the boat.
This is why I seek to have a Diesel fired heating system at a later stage, and also why to run a large Generator to make enough power to runt the system to get some luke warm air out does not make much sense on our passage - if we can get some free heating to the Saloon all the better.
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Well I will be steering clear of car systems and sticking to the above example, which are custom built 'all in one' units that have the blower fan, matrix and casing their cost is dependent on size which effects the Kw heat output rating, but I'd suspect to pay about £250 for one. I've hired boats with these in and very effective they are too.
In the longer term I will have a Diesel fired boiler system from one of the Forum's sponsor's 'JPC Direct'. Such a unit will heat coolant and this will run through the boat to these type of matrix heaters in each cabin - this being far easier to run small diameter water pipes than large diameter air ducting. Also air looses heat far faster rate than water and it might even be possible to use the existing air-con matrix system and plumbing, but simply isolate this with valves that in winter the coolant is heated from the boiler and in summer the boiler is isolated and the compressors cool the coolant to cool the boat.
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Thank you for the replies - looks like this will be doable then - just need to see where it could be mounted and how to run the hoses - I have a good idea of the location since already there is some that head down to the engine room from the Air Con system.
The only thing is this is all sealed up with goop to maintain the engine room being a sealed area from the saloon above in the event of a fire and smoke so any hole would likewise need to be sealed with suitable goop.
Edit: Hmm now I have been thinking some more though - this is going to surly need a circulation pump and be run for best performance in parallel with the Calorifier and not in series? Also with the added volume of coolant in the system would an additional head tank be needed.
Simple idea turning less simple.
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I am sure someone out there knows the answer to this, for I have an idea that I believe will work but I'd like some inout with regard to obtaining 'free heating' from the engine's coolant system when you are underway.
I've heard of this being done in but not sure exactly how one would go about it, so this is my idea: You see on Independence she has no diesel heating system, the only way to obtain heat is from electric heating either when you are alongside and connected to shore power or if one runs the Generator to get electric to do the same, or run the boats air-condition system in reverse cycle mode to generate some heat that way. This is very inefficient way especially when you are underway to get warm.
I have noticed that the Port engine has two hot water hoses that lead off to the Calorifier - I presume one is a feed the other a return. Both have valves you can close to isolate the system. Above the Port engine is the Saloon and helm area so I thought if one took a 'T' off the hot water feed and plumbed this into a matrix heater box then out the matrix and back on the way to the Calorifier that then with 12v feed to power the blower motor we would have 'free heat' when underway in the saloon.
Is that all that is needed to be done, or should there something I am missing? I guess I could even take the feed off the Starboard engine which would mean that there would be no heat loss to our domestic water but since the plumbing is in situ on the Port engine I thought this may be an easier option.
This is an example Matrix:
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Grendel, yep it will be an out of water job to change the Transducers. The current system is all original and 15 years old, not that it does not work but the main point is think how far everything from computers to phones to televisions have come in 15 years.
The Sonar system forms part of your navigation system as it allows you to get a damn good idea that you are indeed where you think you are based off the chart datum, it also is a safety system so you know you've got water under you but the new structure scan element is just damn cool to see, in three dimensions the underwater profile you are cruising over and to be able to 'play back' time and pan and zoom. This sort of stuff was the preserve of research craft, salvage companies and the Navy not too many years back.
The other big changes have been in position information - few will specify such systems and simply rely on GPS and many will use the GPS chip embedded in their device (such as Chart Plotter) but even having an external antenna, there are times when GPS is lost for whatever reason, but the system is 'dumb' it does not know the true heading of the boat, or take into account yaw and roll. The system I wish to have has a solid state Compass. This has two GPS antenna's built into it, and has support for Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS). This complements existing global navigation satellite systems and will compensate for certain disadvantages of THEM in terms of accuracy, integrity, continuity and availability. This will provide positional accuracy of 3 feet anywhere on the planet.
You should take a fix every few minutes - could be 15, 25, 30 it really depends on where you are, what the weather is like etc but the point is should everything go belly up you know x number of minutes ago you were at this point and if everything has been going as it was, you are estimate you are now and y position which in an emergency would be what the Coast Guard would use as the place to start searching from. The system I am building will continue to give an accurate position even if the GPS signal is lost for up to 40 minutes.
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P.s for any boat Nerds among us, here is a scan of the boats manual and drawings
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(engine room and tube heater) but the issue is you don't want it on 24hrs so you can have a timer, but then you think how about if had a thermostat only need come on if temperature drops below a set amount but then what happens if you run out of credit, or the supply trips - you are blissfully unaware of this and it does not take many days and nights of below freezing to potentially cause some very costly damage to an engine and ancillaries.
Independence - Updates | Maintenance & Care
in General Discussion
Posted
I took a weekend off from boating things and somehow ended up in Halfords looking at various cleaners and polishes but this time with Shiela. The net result was she now has a new bicycle, helmet, lights, pump, lock.... At least that is Christmas sorted.
However it now ramps up for me turning back towards boating things. Today I am having many items arrive from Amazon - a lovely 96 piece socket set to more mundane things like speaker brackets and wire strippers. Come this weekend I will be once again headed down to the boat with more gear and odd bits from home. I will be also working out if anyone local can provide spare parts for the service that is needed for Generator or if these need to be ordered online. Then come 16th December I will be back again, this time for the guy from CP Fuel Polishing to work his magic with the tanks (once that is complete I will be a lot more comfy).
23rd December will see Shiela and I head to Norfolk and be spending Christmas on Broad Ambition again - I am hopeful for a more mild time - but you never can tell - at least this year I have no pressure about taking the boat back and getting back to London if the rivers freeze like last years pressure of being on a frozen Malthouse Broad and needing to get a train later the same evening. All was well in the end though.
Then looking to 2018 and in January there is a full on maintenance weekend where Charlie, Howard and others will join me on board and sort out the list of items I have so far identified - some will be easy others not so much some left for another time but it will at least mean the majority can be sorted and then February 1st is a big day for this is when she says goodbye to Plymouth and heads out on her travels to Norfolk. Lots to look forward too.