Communications At Sea

Not an option…

Last weekend at the Cruising Association, we also attended a lecture on ‘Staying in Touch on Boats’, by Ed Wildgoose of mailasail.com satellite communications. 

Safety and preparedness for the crisis (that we hope will never happen) is always our priority. 

And there’s always the chance that I’ll need to get in touch with Pussy Galore sometime late at night. Let her know I’m safe, not to worry, etc, etc. You know how she – (Err, Furrball? She has never shown even the tiniest sign she knows you’re alive… Yeah. But best be ready – it could happen, you never know. I’m jus’ saying…)

So. At the lecture. Ed outlined the options and the Can Opener wrote ’em down:

Options

• WIFI, broadband
• 3G, GPRS mobile and dongles
• Satellite phones
• custom radio solutions (eg PACTOR, SSB, sailmail…)

Reach

• WIFI: 20-100m (21-109yards) at a cost of about <0.1p/MB (<0.2¢/MB)
• 3G/GSM: 1-20 miles at a cost of about 4p-5£/MB (6¢-$7.90/MB)
• Satellite phones: global reach at a cost of about 50p-10£/MB (79¢-$15.87/MB)

WIFI

• use a ‘booster’ to extend range eg Wifi bat, WL500 or Alfa (Taiwanese brand)
• ensure the antenna is external (above deck) and can ‘see’ the shore
• join an aggregator eg FON (a Portuguese company, useful in/near EU)

Sat phones

• very useful in distress
• use optimisation software for core needs (eg teleport emails)
• avoid costly downloads
• it has low speeds and is not priced for bulk
• gets all its power from solar power
• updates models less often (for eg. compared with iphone models. The customer base is very limited so it takes more time to get their investment back, so they wait longer to bring out a new model.)
• some example models:
• IRIDIUM 9555, 9575, 9522P – <£1000/phone
• INMARSAT iphone Pro
• Iridium Pilot approx. £3000/phone
• INMARSAT Fleet Broadband FB150, 250, 500 for business uses

Safety

• With a sat phone you can call the manufacturer from the boat as the problem develops and
• send a photo of the problem and
• get advice early.
• With a sat phone problems tend to develop more slowly.
• Two way communication as a problem develops is better than just finally pushing the Mayday distress button when you have exhausted all your own ideas by yourself.
• Since you use (and therefore test) the sat phone from time to time, familiarity is good. You know it’s working (vs a distress signal button that is only tested when a crisis is in progress.)

What kind of communications systems do you have on your boat? Would you choose the same system(s) next time? 

–Captain Cat 

 (transcribed by the Can Opener)

Batteries on Boats

photo by: Joanna Poe

Last weekend, we attended a lecture at the Cruising Association on ‘Power Systems on Boats’, by Matt Boney. 

We’ve attended a lecture on electrics on boats there before, but it’s always good to hear more on this topic again. Confirms that this is definitely something we need to master. Loads of studying ahead for the Can Opener…

Here are the key highlights from the notes I required the Can Opener take down (Hey Furrball, I’m self-motivated! I do not need you camped on my shoulder, waggling my ears like horse reigns to make me write faster…):

Battery Capacity

• Most cruisers do not have enough
• 150amps/day is a small amount
• You probably need a minimum of 300amp hours at 50% of DoD (depth of discharge)
• and batteries only top up to 80% of their capacity
• so you need to actually have more like 420 amp hours to be able to use 300 amp hours/day… and still would have to charge every day
• AND you don’t want to run your battery to 0… only want to run it down to about 25% of battery capacity
• therefore you need even more capacity!

Which battery to use?

• You can mix battery sizes to increase capacity (lifeline tested this) as long as batteries are
• the same age and
• the same make

• With batteries you ‘get what you pay for’… quality costs..

 Types of batteries

• Sealed leisure or marine batteries 
• are ‘maintenance-free’, 
• but can’t be topped up so they won’t last long. 
• They are also affected by temperature.
• Gels 
• are useful, 
• slow discharge
• old technology
• expensive
• hard to find

• AGMs
• are the best (?)
• becoming more popular
• make sure you get the right AGM for the right purpose! (There are many potential uses for these…)

Monitoring your batteries
You should 

• charge your batteries to 100% every month to anti-sulfate them – otherwise they will become permanently sulfated
• should estimate when you hit 50% DoD by measuring battery voltage
• must have a panel mounted digital volt meter
• must have a small digital multi-meter
• all batteries must have multi-stage regulators
• test your batteries 2x/year
• use your alarms!
• monitor regularly!

Ways to generate electricity?

• shore power charger
• solar – recommended 600Watts+ or you won’t be able to replace daily usage
• wind or towing generators – expensive, but easy and convenient
• AC or DC diesel generator – DC is the quieter of the two
• Honda petrol generator – don’t get this one. There are no petrol stations at sea. And you are not really saving a lot on size.

What type of batteries are you using? What kind of generator(s) are you using? Are you getting the voltage you need out of them?

–Captain Cat 

 (transcribed by the Can Opener)

Corrosion & Metal Fatigue On Boats

Hold the oysters! 

We’ve just been to a blue water seminar this past weekend at the Cruising Association – and it was awesome. 7 lectures on how to cruise that were of riveting and relevant interest. Couldn’t get more near and dear to our heart than that.

Vyv Cox, a mechanical engineer who has written quite a few articles for Yachting World, etc*, led off with a talk on ‘mid-ocean things that could spoil your day’. 

Well, yes. And most of them involved metal fatigue and corrosion. The kind of thing that causes masts to come down and boats to sink. Sure made for some edge of the seat listening. 

But good news – although you cannot eliminate all risk and there are no guarantees, you can take steps to minimise the chances of quite a few scary situations. 

Most of them involve sealants, choosing the right materials and check, check, checking your equipment. Good stuff.

Here’s what we learned…

Corrosion

Galvanic corrosion

• 2 metals in salt water generate electricity… and causes one of the metals to corrode preferentially
• common example: stainless steel and aluminum
• antidote: 
• isolate different metals
• avoid using different metals close together if possible
• exclude water – use sealants to protect eg. Duralac paste, tefgel
  

Crevice corrosion

• if water covers the top of a crevice – then air is excluded and corrosion can occur
• thread roots are crevices – eg lower swaged ends of shrouds are suspectible
• so keep water out – fill it with sealant, lanolin, Waxoyl
• Waxoyl is available in an aerosol – warm up the shrouds with a hot air gun, then spray the Waxoyl on
  

General corrosion

• is materials related
• is unlikely with 300 series stainless steels
• carbon steel is suspectible but generally not used except in engines, engine components, mountings, chain etc
• NOTE: Jeanneau only uses 400 series which is not very anti-corrosive
  

Seacocks & Fittings

How to avoid corrosion… choose your materials well

• EU regulations only require fittings to be good for 5 years (Huh? Yep, the wrong seacocks can sink your boat…)
• brass suffers from dezincification – the loss of zinc from brass
• the fitting will show the pinkish colour of copper on it
• it may only affect the surface but severly reduces strength
• thread roots are particularly susceptible
• if the fittings are chrome-plated – then they are brass

Where to find these short-life brass skin fittings?

• Tonval, Guidi products – all brass
• Manganese bronze… is brass (and some other metals mixed in) – often found in propellers
• Naval brass = brass

Who uses brass skin fittings?

• Beneteau
• Dufour
• Hallberg-Rassy
• Malo
• Maxi
• Najad
• X Yachts
• …

Yeah. Surprised us too.

So what materials should your seacocks and skin fittings be made of?

If you discover you do have brass fittings, then it’s time to replace them with the good stuff… And yes, it costs a lot.

• DZR is the good stuff – it includes arsenic which slows corrosion (cZ132Cu62Zn35.2Sn0.7Pb2As0.1)
• NOTE: no DZR is chrome-plated 
• The symbol ‘CR’ (corrosion resistant) means it is DZR – but only if you see this symbol on valves!!
• Mysteriously Guidi’s brand symbol on skin fittings looks a lot like ‘CR’… but Guidi = brass. Be careful!
• ASAP brand made with DZR
• Blakes seacocks also made with DZR (at least for the last 25 years)
• Bronze – very good… and expensive

What else should you do to protect your boat from corrosion?

For mountings on hull use:

• Sikaflex 291
• 3M 5400
• Pu40
• Boatlife Lifecaulk

For threads use:

• Liquid PTFE
• Sikaflex 291
• PTFE tape

re: Bonding

• If you have bronze or DZR you don’t need to seal because your fittings will not corrode.
• (If you do bond, then you will create a galvanic situation.)
• Bonding is done in North America, not in the EU/UK.

re: Anodes

• Be careful where you place your anodes – they work only on ‘line of sight’. If you place them on the other side of an obstacle (say, a hull…) then they won’t work and can even make matters worse.

Fatigue

• Fractures occur due to cyclic stress.
• eg shrouds and stays, fittings, masts, shafts
• eg if you let off the back stay every time you are at the dock, then you incresae fatigue in mast which could lead to failure (hmmm, the boat we train on does this…)
• Therefore eliminate stress raisers and allow freedom of movement. 
• (So, does this mean never put the backstay on? Or leave it on all the time?…)
• Failure of bolts are always due to not being tightened enough, which allows play, leading to fatigue and failure.
• Make sure that swaged fittings are in line (no ‘banana’ swags or cracks) and that toggles are on all ends.
• Inspect all of the mast and mast fittings for cracks
• Low profile T-ball fittings are best.

Have you ever been caught on the wrong side of corrosion? What did you find the last time you inspected your mast?

We will certainly be going over Un Tigre Beau‘s mast with a giant magnifying glass this winter I can tell you…

–Captain Cat 

 (transcribed by the Can Opener)

* coxengineering.sharepoint.com

Departure Checklist – Closing Up The Boat

 After a few productive and enjoyable training days with the new cruising crew, I had the Can Opener draft a ‘to do’ guide for closing up the boat for a short time after a training weekend. 

This is to make sure we do everything necessary to take care the boat before leaving it at the dock.

The team we’re training with is a stickler for boat care and a dehumidifier is used whenever we’re not aboard to make sure it stays dry and mildew-free. We live in a rather damp country…


Here’s the Can Opener’s list:


 

DEPARTURE CHECKLIST
at end of a short passage 

Seacocks

• Close seacock valve – toilet outflow
• Close seacock valve – seawater for toilet inflow
• Close seacock valve – seawater for engine cooling inflow
• Ensure seacock valve still open – galley sink outflow (for dehumidifier)

  

Electricity

• Ensure fuse is on for dehumidifier
• Ensure onshore electricity is hooked up (for dehumidifier)
• Ensure onshore electrical extension cord is secure – wrapped once around electric box on dock and once more around nearby cleat
• Turn off electricity to service system
• Turn off all white circuit breaker switches by nav station

 
Cabin

• Close and lock all hatches – bow (1), saloon (1), loo (1) and stern ports (2)
• Tidy and stow everything
• Clean all glass and silver surfaces
• Hoover floors
• Clean loo and under sole in loo
• Put ‘conditioner’ in loo
• Set up dehumidifier – plugged in? yellow hose into sink? dehumidifier turned on?
• Leave all interior cabin doors open for ventilation
• Turn up cushions and mattresses for ventilation
• Close curtains to reduce interior sun damage
• Put GPS cover on at nav station

 
Galley

• Sort and store dry goods in galley cupboards
• Remove all perishable foods from boat
• Do dishes
• Clean sink and silver surfaces
• Wipe down all counters
• Wipe inside refrigerator
• Leave refrigerator door open for ventilation
• Confirm propane gas switch in galley above sink is turned off
• DOUBLE CHECK that propane gas tank is turned off by helm!

 
Deck & Dock

• Coil all lines
• Confirm all sails secure
• Confirm that all dock lines are secure and halyards not slapping against the mast
• Confirm fenders are in right place and doing a good job
• Bring in life ring and life sling and store them inside cabin
• Replace plastic covers on instruments
• Remove engine start keys and place on berth in stern cabin
• Raise dodger
• Tie sail tie around the furled jib
• Loosen genoa halyard
• Loosen both backstays
• Hose saltwater off deck and exterior surfaces (make sure all hatches are closed first!)
• Lock up boat!

 
Admin

• Make a LIST of what groceries and supplies need to be bought for next time
• Marine Office – return boat keys
• Marine Office – return shower block keys
• Other Marine Office business?
• Other planning-for-next-time business?

When we’ve tested this list a bit and made sure there are no more important adds, I’ll have my First Mate adapt it for an ‘Arrival at the Boat’ check list.

Do you have a departure check list? Any suggestions for things-to-do to add to this one?

 

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Next: Arrival Checklist – Opening Up The Boat