Estrogen projects

Estrogen projects

By

First Mate Tamera

Three small projects were finished this weekend....well one was a little more than small but really not huge.

Project one and two are in the same photograph below.  The hanging fruit and vegetable holder was crooked and needed a little more space between the baskets.  Before I go any further I just want to say thanks to Scott for the initial effort in making the F/V holder but it needed tweaked.

The second project was installing the wine glass holder (shown on the bottom section on the left side).  Originally the glasses were setting on the top shelf and as you know space is at a premium on a boat and this was a real waste of space.  So off we went on a shopping treasure hunt to find a small and narrow holder to hold only 4 wine glasses.  At our local hardware store they have an RV section (not boating, yeah it puzzles me too)and we found a can holder that we simply used to hold wine glasses.  Simple, cheap and effective.  This freed up the top shelf for important cruising supplies like rum, wine and crown royal....you know only the essentials.

Second project - again I would like to thank Scott for helping out with this after all I told him I would install the water filter.  My plan was to ask a friend of our who is a plumber to assist me with the installation but that fell through.  So my dear sweet captain stepped in and basically did the installation.  Don't think I did not help, who do you think held the light and snapped the great photo's below???

Our old way to get filtered water was with a Britta pitcher (seen below) and two re-purposed orange juice bottles.  This worked OK but took up that very special counter top space.

 

First we had to find a suitable spot for the new filter, lets put it under the sink (the most reasonable spot) BUT the filter was too tall.....you can not stop Scott once he has the best solution.  We will simply cut a hole in the shelf and make it fit.  Brilliant....and it worked.

 

 

Then we had to drill a hole to install the new faucet and like magic we have filtered water.

 

 

 

BALANCE has been restored  - equal amounts of Estrogen and Testosterone ....Whew.

 

Feeling the Power

By the Capt.

Our cruising plans are to throw off the lines in the fall and live off the grid most of the time.  It is the only way to maintain our budget.  It will mean living more simply but we will still need to stay connected and power is a key to running the equipment that maintains and facilitates that connection.  Even if that connection is to read a book, listen to music or watch an old movie.  All of it takes power. 
 
The Caliber 40 can come with a house battery bank made up of 3 4D AGM 200 AH batteries.  That is a total capacity of 600 AH.  Because that rating is generally expected to be delivered over a 20 hour period then theoretically these batteries should be able to deliver 30 amps for 20 hours to go from 100% charge to 0% charge.  It is not recommended to discharge the batteries more than 50% as permanent loss of capacity can result.  The open circuit voltages listed below approximates the various States of Charge (SOC).

DOD (%)	1 hr. Rate	8 hr. Rate	20 hr. Rate	120 hr. Rate
10	12.23	12.62	12.65	12.79
20	12.16	12.51	12.55	12.69
30	12.07	12.39	12.42	12.55
40	11.96	12.25	12.28	12.40
50	11.83	12.11	12.13	12.22
60	11.70	11.96	11.98	12.08
70	11.55	11.79	11.81	11.90
80	11.38	11.59	11.61	11.70
90	11.15	11.32	11.34	11.43
100	10.50	10.50	10.50	10.50

Please note that these voltages are averages and will vary slightly temperature and from battery type or manufacturer to battery type or manufacturer even of the same rating. They are, however, a good indicator of state of charge for an AGM battery.  An older battery will measure a lower voltage for a given DOD.

We have four (4)  power sources to charge the batteries and supply power to all the gizmos we can't seem to live without.

1. The shore power battery charger.
2. The engine alternator
3. Solar panels
4. Wind turbine generator.

Once we are away from the dock the 1st one will not be of much use.  In fact the shore power charger is also an inverter and will become an additional load if we need 120 VAC power for anything such as charging computers, cel phones, watching a movie or running a power tool such as a drill.

 

The engine alternator is the 2nd item and is the standard 80 amp alternator.  It is not meant to be a regular charging solution as the efficiency of running a 50 HP engine to produce, at best, 1/2 HP of electrical output from the alternator.  This method of charging was not something I planned on making a regular practice unless we are steaming somewhere which I hope is normally only about 10% to 15% of the time. 

 

The solar panels on the other hand should be very efficient.  I have installed two (2) 140 watt Kyrocera polycrystalline solar panels over the cockpit awning. I got them from altEstore.  The folks their were very helpful and seemed to know a great deal more about marine applications than I expected.   The most common solar panel sizes are in the 220 to 260 watt size but their physical size (approximately 60"L X 39"W) would only allow me to mount one (1) panel.  It also would present a large surface area to wind and waves and stress whatever mounting they were secured to in rough weather.  Short story is a bit of research went into the panel selection.  The panels are electrically connected in series meaning their output voltages are additive.  Their total open circuit voltage in direct sunlight is about 44 VDC.  The panels were  connected this way to decrease the wire size required between the solar panels and the charge controller.  I would expect to get about 240 watts or 20 charging amps for about 5 hours each fully sunny day.  The panels are fix mounted so their output will quickly fall off as the sun travels away from being directly overhead.  The solar panels are strictly dependent on direct sunlight and cloud cover will cut their output to 10% to 15% of their maximum output.  I have installed a Blue Sky 3024il MPPT charger (also from altEstore) that boosts the recoverable power from a solar panel for battery charging by typically 30%.  I won't go into how the MPPT charger does this because the explanation is lengthy but I will explain why it is necessary.  12 VDC solar cells or photo voltaic cells (PV) are neat things. Unfortunately, they are not very smart. Neither are batteries - in fact batteries are downright stupid. Most PV panels are built to put out a nominal 12 VDC.  The catch is what "nominal" can mean. In fact, almost all "12 VDC" solar panels are designed to put out from 16 to 18 volts. The problem is that a nominal 12 volt battery is pretty close to an actual 12 volts - 10.5 to 12.7 volts, depending on state of charge. Under charge, most batteries want from around 13.2 to 14.4 volts to fully charge - quite a bit different than what most panels are designed to put out.  OK, so now we have this neat 140 watt solar panel. The primary problem is that the panel is rated at 140 watts at a particular voltage and current. The Kyocera KC-140 is rated at 7.9 amps at 17.7 volts. (7.9 amps times 17.7 volts = 140 watts).  If you hook the solar panels to a regular  battery charger (a rectifier) the PV voltage will drop to the battery voltage (12.7 VDC) at the same current (7.9 amp) which equals 100 watts of transferred power to the battery.  The MPPT charger tracks the maximum power point of the solar cells.  In other words the MPPT chargers will accept the 17.7 VDC @ 7.9 amps at its input and convert that power internally so it can output to the battery 12.7 VDC @ 11.2 amp. 
Specifications for the Blue Sky 3024il charge controller

SPECIFICATIONS	Solar Boost 3024iL
Output Current Rating	30 Amp @ 24 Volts / 40 Amp @ 12 Volts
Nominal Battery Voltage	12 / 24VDC
PV Input Voltage	57VDC maximum
Power Consumption	0.35W Typical standby • 1.0W Typical charge on
Charge Algorithm	3-stage Bulk/Acceptance/Float Plus Equalize
Acceptance Voltage	14.4VDC (range 14.0 – 14.8VDC, 10.0 – 40.0VDC)
Float Voltage	13.4VDC (range 13.2 – 13.8VDC, 10.0 – 40.0VDC)
Equalization Voltage	15.2VDC (range 10.0 – 40.0VDC) • automatic or manual operation
Auxiliary Output Function	Single output field configurable as either: 20 Amp load controller –or– 2 Amp auxiliary battery charger
Aux. Battery Charge Load Control Dusk to Dawn Control	2 Amp typical, same charge voltage as primary battery 20 Amp maximum; ON @ =12.6VDC / OFF @ =11.5VDC (Range 10.0 – 40.0VDC, or net battery amp-hours) Variable Post-Dusk and Pre-Dawn timers, Range 0.5 - 20.0 Hours
Temperature Compensation	Optional temperature sensor adjusts charge voltage setpoints based on measured battery temperature, -5.00 mV/°C/cell correction factor (Range -0.00 – -8.00 mV/°C/cell) • sensor range -60 – +80°C
Power Conversion Efficiency	97% @ 28 Volt 24 Amp Output
Cabinet Dimensions	6 7/8”H x 6 5/8”W x 3 3/8”D (17.4cm x 16.8cm x 8.59cm)
Analog Input Accuracy Range	Battery & Aux. Battery voltmeters, 40.0VDC ±0.50% FS • PV voltmeter, 60.0VDC ±0.50% FS 42.0A +/- 0.50% FS
Communication	Blue Sky Energy’s proprietary IPN Network interface
Environmental	-40 – +40°C, 10 – 90% RH non-condensing
Approvals	ETL Listed to UL STD. 1741, Certified to CAN/CSA STD. E335-1/2E, CE labeled, FCC part 15 certified

This Blue Sky MPPT charger has several standard configurations and one that supports 24 VDC solar panels that are charging a 12 VDC battery system.  The charge also supplies a 2 amp charge current for charging the engine battery once the house bank is mostly charged.  This is a bonus for an engine battery that does not get exercised that often.  I have not hook this function up yet but it is on the list.

Pictured above is the solar panel MPPT charge controller and as seen in the evening with over cast  grey skies the charge output is pretty much nothing but earlier that day this charger was putting out 11 amps of charging current.  They have only been install for about 5 days and they already have a thin coating of dust on them.  I am hoping once we are away from land this will become less of an issue.  Even a thin film of dust will decrease their output as will partial shading.  Partial shading can be a real problem for solar panels.  These Kyrocera panel come standard with diodes that prevent a shaded panel from accepting current from a non shaded panel when wired in parallel with it.  Wiring these panels in parallel would be a acceptable however I would need to increase the wire size to do so.

 

 

The last item to be covered in this post is the wind enerator.  We purchase a SunForce 600 WATT Wind Turbine Generator with MPPT controller. 

Again I did a lot of research and can't say if I have ultimately made the right choice but so far I am not disappointed.  In the marina here at Bayland there are 3 types of wind generators are represented.  The owners of each swear by their selections and only the AirBreeze owner ridicules all the other type of wind generators however his ridicule readd exactly like the sales brochures sent with the AirBreeze units.  I actually bought the same kind of wind generator as Eric the Viking       (I called him Eric the Viking because I am terrible with name and could not remember his last name) but I did not know it at the time.  Actually Eric was the most modest about his wind generator.  He said it worked pretty good and the price was reasonable.  Oddly enough that was what I found after my research.  The highest rated wind generator by far was the German made SuperWind but I just could not bring myself to shell out $2400 for the unit.  At the price I paid for the Sunforce I can replace it 3 time for the price of the SuperWind. 

The owner of the SuperWind are a great Cruising couple (Bud and Jill from SV Earendil) we met and they are quick to admit it is a pricy unit but they have no complaints after 4 years and it is pretty quiet. They have a really nice Norsemen 447 about 60 ft away at the marina.  We really enjoy when they visit.  They have given the first mate and I so much cruising advise that their is no way to repay them for it.

Anyway the installation mast and stabilizer kit was also available from SunForce however I was unable to buy directly from SunForce and had to buy it thru the evil empire (West Marine)  They had 2 in stock and eventually were able to locate one and ship it to Texas.  My good friend John Jacobs and his wife Victoria came down to help install it on Kooky Dance. It was a really good visit and very much appreciated.  I believe these friends will come to visit us in far and distant lands and I can say without hesitation that I look forward to it. 












The SunForce came with the MPPT charger.  The winds in the area we are at are generally light and variable and the wind generator needs about 20 to 25 knots to output its maximum power of 450 watts. 

The unit comes with a manual dynamic brake that electrically shorts the 3 phase turbine windings together and stops the wind turbine from turning.  It works by making the current generated by rotating the turbine and directing back into the turbine windings and creating a counter emf that drives the turbine in the opposite direction.  The harder the wind tries to the turn the turbine the harder the counter emf resists that force.  The charge controller also employ the same dynamic brake when it detects the batteries are fully charge.  I got to test the unit last weekend and when the winds gusted to 25 knots the wind generator often stopped charging by braking the turbines rotation.  It was good to see it working as advertised.

Continued Progress on SV Kooky Dance

by the Captain.

I must apologize for the length of time I have ignored the blog.  With both of us working time has not been favorable but this weekend the first mate has to work at the hospital and the weather is crappy outside so I am stuck below with few excuses.  There have been some project completed on the boat so I will cover some of these.

AIS

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) that we chose for Kooky Dance was the Class B transceiver.  My options were a receiver or a transceiver.  The difference is the transceiver transmits and receive vessel information. The AIS includes two antennas; a GPS antenna and a VHF antenna. The central transceiver receives vessel information from ships that are within range of the VHF antenna and transmits SV Kooky Dance information to AIS unit also within range.  The central unit also calculates Closest Point of Approach (CPA) and Time to CPA (TCPA).  Based on the limit you set in the unit the AIS will issue a proximity alarm.  The information the AIS receives include position, course and speed.  It also can display the MMSI and vessel name.  This information will make calling those vessel easier and can facilitate a Digital Selected Calling (DSC).  The beauty of a DSC (if required) is it will set off an alarm on the bridge of the vessel being called that they are legally required to respond to it. 
I had an initial diagnostic failure with the antenna that was cause by a cable mixup but once that was straightened out I started picking up vessels and station at 32.5 nm. 

SSB

We also completed the installation of the SSB radio.  Shown here is just the control head.  The transceiver unit is located on the other side of the boat away from the control panel and away from electronic that may cause interference.  The other unit is the ATU-140 which is the antenna tuning unit and it got located well aft in the lazarette so that it is close to where the antenna lead from the GAM antenna penetrates the hull.  I have tested the weather fax and receiving and all looks good.  I need to read the book some more before I transmit to check transmit power. That test will enable testing the email function over SSB.  More on that later.  I am still having problems getting the SSB to receive the NMEA 183 GPS data.  I had originally planned to hook it up to the AIS and get the GPS data from it however that did not appear to work. 

I bought a Actisence NMEA 183 to USB adapter from NavStore and looked at the data from the AIS.  The data speed was 4800 baud and the sentence format was as expected from the AIS however the ICOM 802 SSB would not capture and display the Lat &Long.
We have an ICOM marine VHF radio that receives the GPS data from the Furuno chart plotter so I hooked the ICOM 802 SSB radio input into the same connection.  Still nothing.  I reconnected the computer to the same connection and read all the correct data.  I am stumped as to what the problem is.  I am, however, determined to get it working.  The SSB has the functionality to send out a distress signal at the push of a bottom that will light up the SSB radios that are within range.  That range can be thousands of miles and will include my position.  Odds are someone will hear it.    I hope I never need that function but I would like the peace of mind that it will work if needed.  It would a bad feeling if you are floating out in the middle of the ocean on a life boat with little chance of being spotted and thinking; "I sure wish I had gotten the distress signaler to work on the SSB".  I am at the point of hiring some professionals at $95/hr to figure this out but I have a feeling they don't know anything that I don't but it will be worth a little money to find that out. 

Battery Monitor

I also installed a Xantrex linkPro battery monitor.   It installation was pretty simple.  I have not had much need for it while tied to the dock where the batteries stay charged up from shore power.  I will likely test the batteries for full capacity before we leave in Oct of this year.  They will be 5 years old by them and it may be time to replace them.  The last batteries in our previous boat lasted 8 yrs before they had to be replaced and it was actually a faulty charger that ruined hem by boiling them dry.

Long Distance WIFI

We also installed a long distance WIFI antenna.  It is a RogueWave power over Ethernet antenna.  Without the antenna my computer picks up only the wifi from the marina with 1 or 2 bars.  With the RogueWave antenna I pick up about a dozen wireless networks and all bars on the marina wireless.

I think I will end this post on the electronics.  I will do another post on the power generation equipment and another to additional changes to the deck gear.  After that the First mate and I may do one on an RO watermaker.  We have different opinions on the subject.

Learning to live aboard

By: Capt. Scott

Living Aboard 

This is the first post after moving aboard SV Kooky Dance our Caliber 40LRC.  There won't be many picture in this post because I am not so sure that living aboard is a visual thing.  Learning how do a lot of things again.  Learning how to deal with the differences (notice I did not say inconveniences). 

After living in our old house for 15 yrs. we had laid things out so they were very much to our liking, but there was room to work with.  Living on a boat you need to work with the limit room available and make that to your liking. 
 
So our plan was to outfit the boat with things that will make living aboard easy (yeah we thought that) but we were having problems finding place for everything and found ourselves constantly re-arranging to get to access to this or that.  We had missed the mark in our planning, but we had thought we might all along.

We are followers of the Drake & Monique on SV Paragon and had been watching a tour of a southern cross and the owner was commenting about when outfitting your boat to listen to the boat and let her tell you what she needs.  When he first said it I have to admit I was a little skeptical, but then it seemed like the boat started telling us what she needed.  OK so maybe by living on her you start to see what could be changed or added to make thing more functional and easier, but it sound more romantic believing the boat is sending you messages.

For example the hanging net we had for storing fruit ended up by default storing the vegetables.  As EVERYBODY knows citrus fruits accelerate vegetables aging (actually don't feel bad because I did not know this about vegetable aging until my lovely wife informed me and when it comes to vegetable aging there is no one I trust more).  So where to store round rolly  vegetables?  Tamera picked up these plastic strainers and I found a short piece of line and 5 minutes later we had a vegetable hangy down thingy.

 

People keep asking me what it is like to live on a boat and I am still formulating my answer.  It is winter so the cold factors in to our feelings and responses to this question.  For example; living on a boat is like living in a house except when you want to use the bathroom, take a shower or wash some clothes you need to walk to the end of the block no matter the weather and this has hit really hard in the 30 degree temps with 20 knot winds (wind chill in the teens).

 

First Mate Tamera here - I want to add my two cents worth on the subject of learning to live aboard.

 

One element that I had to learn to deal with is the control panel.  When I need to run the heater (and trust me, it this weather I want to run the heater) I need to turn off the water heater, microwave and stove in order to stay warm.  Well hunger soon sets in and I have to cook and do the dishes so I have to turn off the heater and turn the stove, microwave and water heater back on. It is a priority game but I am loving every minute of it. 

 

I am also learning how to cook meals ONLY for two without a bunch of left overs.  With limited fridge space I can't make a big pot of soup and store it in the fridge.  Space is a premium thing on a boat.  I am still learning how to shop, store and prepare our food, but once again I am loving every minute of it. 

 

Clothes are another issue.  I have moved things around a couple of times trying to find the right spot for everything.  Since we have returned to work I have to keep clothes somewhat wrinkle free.  Not easy to do when you don't have an iron any longer.  For right now the forward shower stall is where I keep most of the clothes that we wear to work and they stay somewhat unwrinkled.

 

Dishes are a small issue.  Living in a house we could eat a meal and then put the dishes in the dish washer and run it when it gets full.  On the boat we need to wash dishes by hand after each meal.  With such a small galley the space gets cluttered real fast if not maintained often.  This is not a big deal just something new we have to deal with.

 

I can not wait until spring in two months so we can work on our projects and get this show on the sea.