2023: Now for the Sails

Taking Stock of the Sails

Indeed, I love all my Doyle sails, as they are well built ie strong fabric, good shape, well sized for our boat, and have needed only minimal maintenance.  We have replaced the UV sunbrella stitching only once in all our years of ownership (now 16), and also a bit of repair to the yankee luff.  The yankee and the staysail furl and unfurl easily every time and they set very well IMHO.

In Mast Furling Mainsail

The in-mast furling mainsail not so much.  It's a fantastic sail...when it works. When it furls in and out fine, I love it.  When it won’t unfurl, it really pees me off.  There is never a problem furling it, unfurling is a different matter.  It becomes a huge chore, with help from at least a couple of others, to extract it from the mast...

Readers, and hopefully sympathisers, will recall that I had the mast re-tuned in 2023 to make it straighter.  The back story is that after replacing all the standing rigging in 2018, the mast was put back on the boat with a major bend in it – a no no for in-mast furling gear, so it needed correcting.  Quite frankly, after an enormous amount of research and the re-tuning of the mast in 2023, I believe it can only be a user error.  What I mean is this:  

At times, it works perfectly.  At others it does not.  So, I've concluded that it must occur as a consequence of user error.  I should add that I had the mainsail flattened a bit in 2018 so, all things considered, it should not have changed much over the last five years since 3 of those 5 the boat wasn’t being sailed.  So watch this space.  I might add that, as at Sep23, a basic new cross cut one will cost upwards of USD 3500.  We could all do without that!

Stay tuned.

2023: Time Well Spent in St Martin

 AIS Coupler

We have had a GMC AIST120 coupler for some years and it works but not so well as I would have expected.  The antenna is mounted on top of the solar panel frames on the back of the boat and, I would have thought, send out a decent signal to the horizon.  On our Atlantic crossing from Portugal to Antigua, via Madeira, Canary and Cape Verde Islands, we found that some ships, on a heading to cross near us, would suddenly change course when only a couple of miles from us.  I concluded therefore, that we had not been picked up by them until they were relatively close.  So I decided to do something about it.

I purchased a GMC AISS120 coupler and installed it next to the VHF radio.  The idea is to use the VHF antenna for the radio, for the AIS too, as the VHF antenna is on top of the mast.  Much better range for obvious reasons.  You can’t use the VHF radio and the AIS at the same time but we hardly if ever use the VHF at sea so it didn’t matter.

The major challenge for WJ3 was to connect the AIS and the AIS coupler – the AIS is at the chart table and the VHF radio is on the port side of the companionway.  After looking at all options for the cable run, I ended up passing the cable from the AIS along the starboard side to the mast, then back under the ceiling liner to the coupler.  I needed about 40’ of cable rather than the 20’ I had initially purchased before I looked in detail at the routing options.  Fortunately it didn’t cost much but lesson learned again.  Time spent in detailed reconnaissance is seldom wasted.

The cable came with fittings which were supplied by a helpful salesman at Electec in St Marten.  Our elec techie Mike, who was working on a bunch of other elec issues (see below), soldered the fittings on the ends of the cable for me.  Next time I would look at a YouTube video as it didn’t seem particularly difficult when Mike showed me how I could do it myself.

Mike also supplied a ‘black box’ to link my Ipad with Navionics (located at the helm mostly) to the AIS via wifi.  Worked well in St Marten with symbols for each AIS/ship/boat shown on the chart but now in Trinidad having difficulties with it.  I’ll update as I progress and, if necessary, I’ll defer back to Mike via email.

New House Batteries

We found that our house batteries were not holding a charge very well.  As they were now six years old, plus we were experiencing all these charging problems, so it was time indeed to replace them whilst in St Marten.  We looked at the options and came up with four new Trojan 6 volt DC 225 to give total 450AH for USD 1066.  

2023: Electrical Issues Persist

One of LIfe's Big Mysteries

On the journey along the US ICW and through the Caribbean we found that, and particularly when motoring, the batteries did not charge very well.  We might be motoring for six or seven hours yet, at the end of the day, the batteries had not charged much.  When stationary and the sun is shining the batteries would show a fairly healthy state of charge, but if not sunny, we would have to run the gas generator.  So I sought the assistance of Mike in St Marten to, not only sort out the AIS/Navionics set up but to also trouble shoot the whole electric charging system.

Keep in mind that, when stationary, the fridge and freezer were operating 24 hr each day drawing, on average, about 5 amp hours.  When sailing/motoring there is an additional draw from the auto pilot, say 3-4 amps depending on conditions.  And at night time of course there is no charge coming into the batteries.

So, Mike started with the solar panels.  We found on a mid sunny day that the solar panels were producing around 16 volts each (should be 18-19 volts but still reasonable).  Three, spread over the arch, are hooked up in parallel.  On checking the wiring we found that there were two places along the cable where it had noticeably overheated.  Mike fixed this by cutting out about a metre of this cable and joining another (thicker) wire to the original cable to fill the gap.  Worked much better.

Next we checked the charge when the motor was running and the alternator was doing its thing.  The smart regulator showed that it was all okey on startup and shortly thereafter, so all seemed good.  We even tried the spare smart regulator to see if that improved things – according to Mike it did so I left it connected.

All seemed to be looking good and we departed St Marten and headed south/east.  Along the way ie a day or so later and while motoring between Nevis and Deshaies (pronounced day eh), Guadeloupe, I found the regulator had stopped working ie no lights showing at all.  I did not stop as the engine continued to run normally and we were pushed for time, plus the seas were quite lumpy and uncomfortable.  We stayed for a few days on a mooring in Deshaies, so I tried to fix the problem with the regulator, but without success.  I even tried to wire the internal regulator of the alternator (which is available for this alternator) but that did not seem to work either.

We pushed on to Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe where we were to be joined by my mate, Lawrie, from Oz, who just happened to be an electrician, computer nerd and self-made vehicle mechanic.  He wanted some work to do but he walked into a bit more than I think he anticipated and indeed was challenged.

After many hours of checking this and that, wires, terminals, multimeter checks, on engine, alternator, regulator, owner manual(s), fatigue, blah blah blah almost by accident, Lawrie found that the power cable for the regulator was loose at the fuse.  He found this by jiggling the wire while the motor was running and the regulator was not showing any lights.  Simple, and with a bit of fiddling of the fuse fitting so that it was much more secure, it has not failed since.

Next problem.  When running the engine our battery monitor would show 20 amps, say, belting into the batteries for about one minute and then followed 3-4 minutes of negative power flow ie no positive amps and just a few amps leaving the batteries.  This had us completely baffled and much checking (as above) followed.  Finally, Lawrie jiggled the excite wire and the AC tachometer wire, which were part of a plug assembly joining the regulator with the alternator, and low and behold the problem became obvious.  The plug assembly was intermittently connecting/disconnecting.  The fittings were made more secure and so power to the batteries became consistent ie starting with 20 amps and lowering as the batteries became more charged but always positive current flow into the batteries.  Much joy and celebrations followed, the engine charging problems, when the engine was running, appeared to be finally resolved.

That is, until we cruised into Carriacou, Grenada from Mayreau.  As we came to anchor, there was a nasty smell of burning electrical insulation/cable coming from below.  It sort of went away when we turned off the motor and could find nothing obvious, but the smell lingered. 

A couple of days later, when we motored into Clarke Courts Bay, on the southern side of Grenada, we checked more widely and thoroughly, and found the alternator wires, where the excite and tacho wire entered the alternator, had melted.  Lawrie then resurrected the old alternator, fitted it, and then everything worked (again).  (Clearly we've been keeping our visiting crew very, very busy this year!)

So, in September (2023) and on the hard in Power Baats Yard in  Trinidad, the ‘new’ alternator is in the repair shop and the old one is still fitted to the engine.  When the ‘new’ one comes back, assuming it is healthy, we will refit it and the old one will go back to being my trusty spare.

What caused the overheating/meltdown on the alternator remains a mystery!

2023: Outboards. Reliably Unreliable?

 Yamaha Outboard

Our faithful Yamaha worked fine and I was ever so proud of myself since I had made repairs the previous year and saved myself at least USD 3000.  That is until we got to Vero Beach in Florida when it would not cooperate and kept cutting out, or would power up only to die shortly after.  And then it wouldn’t start.  And we had only a few days before our guests arrived from Oz.  Talk about Murphy’s Law!

New Mercury 6hp 4 Stroke Outboard

So, rather than lose time working on, and may be repairing the Yamaha, we decided to get a new one, quickly.   A phone call or two and we had ordered a new 6hp 4 stroke Mercury available in the North Palm Beach store.  We could anchor a few kilometres near by and a kindly cruiser anchored near to me gave me a tow to the dinghy landing up a creek and the only place you could park a dinghy in that area.  I walked to West Marine and, against all their rules apparently, gave me and my new ob a lift back to the dinghy.  Off drove my friendly WM and I proceeded to fit my new Mercury to Bruce.  Only it wouldn’t start!  And, yes, I had fuel in the tank and it came with {a minimal amount of] sump oil.  Anyway, a friendly dinghy happened to be leaving the landing area and he and his family kindly gave me a tow back to WJ3.  Thank goodness for the boating community’s sense of helping each other in times of need...

The next day, after studying the Owners Manual umpteenth times and following the startup instructions, it still would not start.  So I called WM and they advised me that it was now out of their hands and I needed to discuss my problem with a dealer, which they were not.  WM just sell the stuff apparently.  And when I talked to a recommended ‘dealer’ they wanted me to deliver the ob with the appropriate paperwork.  And their work would have to be fitted in with all their other commitments, so nothing was going to happen quickly.

by now, our guests were sitting on a dock in West Palm Beach!  Oh well, nothing to lose, so I set the throttle on full power (not recommended) and pulled the starting chord.  BROOM.  All good.  I called WM and told them I had fixed it and how, and they were happy.  I was very happy and off we went.  Our guests, by this stage fuelled with a few happy-hour G&T's (American cocktail size), were very happy!

Four months later the Mercury started playing up (single cylinder remember) and a new spark plug fixed the problem.  Our Yamaha has had two changes of spark plugs in 15 years so I am now wondering if that might be the problem with that motor.  Anyway, the Yammy is now with a mechanic in Trinidad and, if they fix it as I expect they will, I will then have two ob.  Just like the alternator, it’s always handy to have a spare.

I later purchased, in St Martin, a throttle control variable tiller extension arm and it works a treat.  Even though the 6hp outboard can only comfortably move us through the water, when I am by myself and sitting forward, the RIB will comfortably plane.  I remove the extension when more than one person is on board.

2023: Back to a Cruising Life

Catching up at last: 2023

The Galley Slave and I rejoined the boat in Deltaville VA, Feb23 and cruised to Trinidad.  Along the way we experienced ongoing problems with the electrical charging system, amongst other things.  Quite the maintenance list, actually!

RIB Puncture

Bruce, our faithful RIB, had developed a leak in one compartment (port aft) and looked decidedly deflated when I rejoined the boat.  I tried to find the leak using a soap and water mix, several times with brush and spray, but could detect no bubbles.  It wasn’t until I launched WJ3 and Bruce that I was able to detect bubbles streaming up through the water from the leak.  It was an old repair gone bad and not small.

I pulled Bruce from the water onto the marina pontoon dock, turned it over, washed with fresh water, deflated the respective compartment, sanded and cleaned, and then glued a patch over the leak.  I carry spare fabric on board courtesy of a fellow sailor whose Hypalon inflatable had been written off.  

 I used West System G/flex thickened epoxy adhesive based on the advice of the local hardware and it has worked perfectly so far.  There was no Hypalon adhesive available locally in Deltaville.  You need to ensure that there is plenty of pressure and I used diving weights for this plus clamps.

Dripless Shaft Seal

On launching at Deltaville Boatyard the DSS wasn’t dripless, leaking a small amount.  The travel lift operator kindly assessed the problem and, with the help of a small sledge hammer, stopped the leak.  I think he just tapped the aft ‘bracket’ forward a bit to tighten the whole thing up and all is good.  I have never before had any problem and the DSS has been on the boat since I purchased it 17 years previously.

Whisker Pole

I wanted a whisker pole for the staysail when running dead downwind and I saw one on the side of the road among a pile of other boating junk.  I knew the owner (old Bob) and, after asking him if he wanted it to sell it to me, he gave it to me.  One end was a normal piston type end fitting and I wanted the same for the other end, which was some other useless fitting for my purposes.  I happened to have a spare spin pole end fitting and, after having it machined to fit my new pole, fitted perfectly.  I then found a 2nd hand slider fitting for the spinnaker pole track, purchased a locking slider and now all done, almost.  I now need to fit a block on the front of the mast and a topping lift.  All up it will have cost about $150.

I might also think about using this pole, which is pretty substantial, for a bowsprit for my asymmetrical top-down spinnaker furler.  We’ll see.

Fridges Not Refrigerating Properly

Shortly after leaving Deltaville and on our way southwards along the ICW our fridge and freezer were not getting really cold enough.  Yes, cold-ish but not like they normally should perform.  I checked most things but could not identify the problem: all lights were on that should have been on but the water pump wasn’t operating.  I checked for any blockages in the plumbing, electrical cabling and connections and even pulled the pump apart (as much as I could).  Finally, I checked the manuals and I noted the mention of a fuse in the control box.  I checked it and, sure enough, it had failed.  I replaced it and all good, both boxes cooled down as per normal in double quick time.  The lesson here is that, although all lights were on, not everything was working properly, clearly.  I just simply thought that if all lights were on then everything electrical must be working – wrong.  You never stop learning.

WAECO Fridge/Freezer

To add to this dilemma, our ever faithful WAECO fridge/freezer, purchased in 2010, decided to play up and finally died in 2023 after 15 faithful years of service.  Our built-in fridge and freezer can only be run when the boat is in the water as, to keep them cool, sea water has to flow around the compressors when they are running.  On land, which is a fair amount of time at the start and end of each season, we use the WAECO as a fridge and/or a freezer.  It’s mostly been a reliable companion, trusted importantly, with keeping our cold beers and food fresh.  The WAECO unit has been just great and we loved it.

However, rather than try to live with an old but unreliable friend, we ditched it and purchased another and, since we had friends about to join us in Florida, there wasn’t time to muck around.  Our new one is virtually the same as the old – a 50 litre Dometic portable fridge/freezer purchased from Fort Pierce West Marine as we made our way south along the Intra Coastal Waterway towards Florida.  She works just great and so we are very happy.  I should add that Fort Pierce Marina kindly let us hang off a dock while we jumped an Uber to West Marine to pick up our purchase.  Very friendly staff given that it was peak migration time for boaters heading north and not much room.  A nice marina experience.

 E-Bicycle

We purchased an Ancheer 20” folding electric bike to replace our folding bike stolen in Annapolis in 2019 (from a shop just opposite the local Police Station - as GS likes to remind me!).  It, like all e bikes, is comparatively heavy but, for my ageing body, is oh so easy to use.  It speeds along with very little effort and we have also fitted ‘saddles’ to make it a useful pack horse for trips to super markets etc.  One reason we went for this particular model (there seem to be 100s to choose from) was the aluminium ‘spokes’, disc brakes, and reviews it had received.  So far, we are very pleased with it.  

We also purchased stowage bags and have put four mounting brackets on the coachhouse roof so that we can tie it down with ratchet straps.  When sailing we also cover it loosely with the foredeck sunbrella awning and, after four months of sailing south through the Caribbean the bikes were in really good condition.  I also have upgraded the bike security locks and use them always.

 

2022: And in Conclusion

New Liferaft  

Our four man liferaft purchased in 2008 in St Marten was overdue for a checkup and, when trying to locate a liferaft servicing agent on the east coast of the US, found that it would be a costly exercise to ship it somewhere (Florida for example).  It would also cost at least one thousand USD to service (a quote over the phone) as the liferaft was well overdue for a service because of covid having delayed things.  

On balance we opted to purchase a new US-made one, three year inspections, offshore, cost effective solution.  We purchased a six man … liferaft and had it delivered to the boatyard at Deltaville and it was there waiting for us when we arrived back at the boat.  We went from a four man liferaft to a six man as the new rafts are considerably lighter than older ones, we will have guests on occasion and with four people possibly in the liferaft plus at least one jerry can of water this seemed a more appropriate size.  Cost difference of a six man vs four man was very small.

We also keep the liferaft in a valise in the main cockpit locker so it is weather protected, easily deployed and a valise is much lighter than a fiberglass-contained raft.  So, it's just a better option if only the GS is available to deploy it (I may be injured or worse).  Being in the cockpit will also make it easier to launch via our sugar-scoop stern.

Iridium Go from Predict Wind

This was purchased and carried in personal baggage from Oz to the US.  Fairly simple to set up the satphone and other hardware by following the instructions.  We have used it this season, almost exclusively for weather reports while at sea and out of range of the internet.  It works well and Predict Wind is a good charting program.  Unfortunately, most of their instructions are on the internet only, some are slightly out of date as equipment and programs have changed a bit over the years,  I also had to contact them several times for assistance (they respond helpfully within a day or so) but their whole setup could be improved with a comprehensive owners manual, which can be downloaded up front, much like other chart programs provide.  The other apps – Iridium Go and Iridium Mail – I hardly used and, even after registering for a new telephone number on line I still had to go and request what the actual number is.  

I would also suggest that Predict Wind offers some comparative information re Iridium Go vs Starlink, which appears to be a more popular internet setup here in the Caribbean among cruisers, as they also market this gear too.

2022: Love a bit of Sewing

Canvas Work

In 2022, I did quite a bit of canvas work as I have a small industrial sewing machine on board, a priceless investment that has paid for itself many times over.  

Dodger

The windows in the dodger, bimini and joiner between dodger and bimini needed replacement as they had aged and you could hardly see anything through them.  These would be the dodger’s third set of windows as the originals were made in 2008, replaced in 2011 in Gibraltar after breaking one on our Atlantic crossing, and now 10 years later, no surprise that they needed further replacement.

I removed the dodger and soon realized that replacing windows on such a large item, down below inside the saloon on the chart table, was to be a particularly difficult undertaking.  I viewed some videos, finding Sailrite’s splendid collection of extremely helpful ones, and decided to follow their method of making up various panels and then fixing them together using zips.  

My one piece dodger quickly became six panels – top panel, 2 x side window panels, and 3 x front window panels.  These are all joined using zips with velcro flaps to ensure water tightness.  See photos.  The whole thing was pretty involved (Sailrite make it look easy) but almost all good except for one or two things.  For example, for reasons that completely escape me, when I finally fitted the ‘completed’ dodger back together, some gaps between a couple of edges have developed in two of the front windows and I couldn’t completely do the zip up.  Now fixed.  The dodger is certainly more weather proof than it has ever been and much easier to pull apart and then make small repairs, which are required most seasons.

Finally, I made covers for the stainless steel tubing bows where they rubbed against the windows.  I had not done this previously and my old windows had developed long unsightly burn marks over the years.  I just cut up a towel and put Velcro along the edges then fitted them to the bows.

Life-sling Cover

The original woven cloth cover had succumbed to being out in the weather and so was starting to fall apart, leaving a mess below when we stowed it at the end of each season.  I pulled the old cover apart and measured, then sewed a new sunbrella cover but retained the plastic inserts.  A fairly simple project.

Winch Covers

I serviced the six winches and then made sunbrella covers for each of them.

Stowage Bags

I purchased line stowage bags from Oz and fitted them to hold the lines that run to the cockpit so that the lines are held above the cockpit cushions and there is no accumulation of dirt.  The bags have netting at the bottom so that any water runs out.  Two more are attached to the front of the steering pedestal and used for all sorts of stuff that accumulates in the cockpit eg sun screen, sun glasses, personal safety lines, cockpit light, water bottles, etc.  Buying them was easier than making them in this instance!