Sea Knowledge And Training – Updated

 

Here’s the sea knowledge and training programme I’ve planned for the Can Opener – with updates: 

On the Water 

• RYA Yachtmaster Offshore

Theory

• RYA Yachtmaster Stellar Navigation theory – done!
• RYA Yachtmaster Coastal/Offshore Prep Theory   done!
• RYA Day Skipper Theory   done!

Specialist 

• Diesel Engine Maintenance
• Marine Radio Short Range Certificate/VHF Operator – done!
• Sea Survival/ Emergency Preparedness
• Offshore Safety
• Veterinary Offshore First Aid
• RYA Offshore First Aid – scheduled 

Other

•  Courses run by manufacturers on servicing and maintaining their equipment – Feb 2013 – done!
• Electrical Systems and Solar 
• Spanish 

That should do it… till I think of something more to decree the Can Opener shall study.

The best thing about sailing is there is always something new to learn. Constant challenges and education. What could be better?

We’re getting there! 

Any other critical courses / topics to add to the study list? 

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Princess Anne Spotted!

Princess Anne Spotting!

Can you find HRH in the photo above?

There we were, just lounging on the RYA benches in the lecture space at the London Boat Show, soaking up all the wisdom on diesel engine maintenance when… the lecturer’s eyes bugged out, his voice went hoarse, his words trailed off dry as dust…

Why? 

Because Princess Anne, that well-known sailing aficianado, was strolling past our booth, hotly pursued and surrounded by her security scrum.

Instantly I required the Can Opener to stand guard over my lounging spot so that none of the wily diesel hangers-on would nab my place (and to take over photography duties).

Then I sprang into action (cue Mission Impossible music) and began scaling the canopy over the RYA lecture area. With absolute precision I lined up my quarry, then sprang-pounced from the canopy corner, and swan-dived directly into Princess Anne’s paper Primark shopping bags… 

(CO: You did not! Largely because I knew exactly what might whiz through your demented brain and instantly pinned you in a half-Neilson between my knees…

CC: O yeah? Explain the ‘Mission Impossible’ music then!

CO: …That, I cannot explain…)  

 

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Bugs & Biocides

Diesel bug is not this pretty – but it’s at least as inconvenient…

Diesel Fuel Care – Biocides & Bugs

Tony Warr of fuelcare.com, speaking at the Cruising Association’s recent Blue Water Seminar, described diesel bug and how to keep it out of your engine – something that requires diligence and is not so easily done. 

We heard another talk on diesel bug at the London Boat Show earlier this year. This subject is not the most glamorous – exactly the kind of thing that is worth hearing twice!

Here are the Can Opener’s notes:

Diesel bug clogs up your engine…

• Dead diesel bug causes the slime blocking up your fuel lines.
• Fuel contamination starts after the fuel arrives at the first middleman in the distribution chain.
• fuel + water + micro-organisms + a rise in temperature = microbial growth (diesel bug)
• Diesel bug sinks to the bottom of the tank… where the fuel intake is – and then blocks the primary filter to the engine.
• It also loosens in rough weather – so diesel bug is even more likely to block the engine when you may really need it.
• This doesn’t happen in petrol as petrol is not a nutrient – therefore no bugs.

What to do?

Prevention

1. Keep water out of the fuel tank because
• water makes the fuel hazy and
• provides an environment the diesel bug loves!
2. If the fuel supplier is suspect then
• use a funnel or a ‘Baja’ filter or
• have extra tanks, let them stand for 2 days till the diesel bug sinks, and then decant the diesel into the main tank.
3. Check you tank filler cap and leave tanks full before layup (to keep air out of the tanks).
4. Run your engine for 30 minutes after layup and check separator regularly on your first trip.

Use biocide

1. It’s a fuel preservative that kills bacteria and fungus. It will clean your system – it takes 12 hours to clear. 
2. Do a regular biocide treatment of 1/2 a dose every 3-4 tank fills.
3. Add biocide before your winter layup.
4. If you miss the ‘pre-wineter layup treatment’ then dilute and add it in the Spring, 24-48 hourse before your first use.

• it’s fairly cheap (costs about £3 /100litres in the UK)

Emergency backup

1. carry a small 12 volt electric fuel pump and filter
2. practice connecting spare fuel can to suction of low pressure fuel lift pump

• this can fix diesel bug blockage in 10 minutes – which may be fast enough to restart your engine in time to avoid something really perilous!

Have you ever had diesel bug in your fuel?  

What did you do?

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Previously: see also Diesel Bug

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)

Engine Excitement

Photo by scrumblecatamaran

Four days out… and an engine gave out*. 

Mechanical warning beepings sounded that had us all racing round the boat to determine which system was telling us to turn it off before it melted. 

Those beeps are so imperious and seem to come from every direction at once. Kind of like aircraft carriers…

Sure enough – it was the port engine sounding off that had just been serviced a few days before we left Spain. 

Fortunately, catamarans have two.

Nonetheless we decided to skip the excursion around Sardinia (we were hugging the Algerian Basin at this point) and head straight for a major port in Sicily about a day or so away so we could get it looked at sooner. 

Some of the crew were disappointed but, although Sardinia would have been great to visit again, the Can Opener and I were okay with giving it a miss. 

We just love being at sea.

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

* We had been running it to charge the batteries.

Diesel Bug

Just back from the Boat Show – which was brilliant!

Amidst all the boat and gear ogling, we also managed to attend 2 (free!) lectures, one of which was on ‘caring for diesel engines for cruisers’ with Tony Brooks. 

Tony is an instructor offering boaters’ courses and technical help. His site with some good technical notes on it can be found here.

He only had 20 minutes to speak but had great handouts and parts on hand to illustrate his points.

Here are the highlights…

For a long lived and happy engine you need:

• a clean fuel system
• a clean oil system
• a clean air system 

and

• regular maintenance prevents and pre-solves a lot of problems.

Okay. So far so good. Then came the meat of the talk…

Diesel bug
This is a pretty yucky bug that likes to live in your diesel fuel and turns it a burnt brown colour and lumpy (dead bugs). The solution previously appeared to be to add emulsifier to the fuel.

Unfortunately, this emulsifier caused a new problem – a waxy-like, light coloured fuel which blocks up the filter. Not good.


To get rid of diesel bug, you should:

1. stop using emulsifier
2. treat your tank by adding a de-emulsifier with a biocide included in it (eg Marine 16 or Grotamar)
3. let it stand to give the de-emulsifier with biocide time to do its job
4. pump out the cloudy opaque fuel from the bottom of your tank
5. then keep using the Marine 16 or Grotamar regularly

Listening to this lecture highlighted that… we don’t know a thing about engines yet. 

Even the Can Opener was motivated to jump to the engine section in our Don Casey’s Sailboat Maintenance Manual.

We’re also going to take the RYA Diesel course earlier than planned. As the wise bloke at the Boat Show’s Cruising Association stand said, being able to troubleshoot an engine will make us more appealing as crew. So bring it on.

Have you ever gotten diesel bug in your fuel? 
What did you do? 

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Cruising Lectures

Next: Battery Capacity 
Previously: Stay Alive – How to Cross Shipping Lanes

Don Casey’s Sailboat Maintenance Manual – Arrived!

links below at bottom of post

I just got Don Casey’s Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual in the mail to add to the library. ‘Six books in one’ is anyone’s idea of good value. 

I’ve assigned it to my First mate by day for some light reading (ha!). He needs to cover this giant reference book cover to cover. In particular, I want him to focus on its overview of how to survey boats. The book weighs in at about 3 lbs, so it’ll take him a while.

By night, however, the book is mine! A few good snoozes stretched over this tome should allow all the info contained therein to leech upwards into my sizable and osmotically inclined brain. I’ll be done absorbing its info long before the Can Opener. 

Then I can move on to selecting the right shade of organic catnip slip covers for the berths in the saloon. 

A captain’s work is never done.

 

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

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The Plan to Get Trained

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Part 3 of Captain Cat’s Invincible Plan to Get Cruising:

How much education and training is enough before you shove off on your first really long term voyage? Offshore passage making certifications? First aid courses? Diesel maintenance? Celestial navigation?

It’ll never be enough!

But there are some fundamental courses the Can Opener absolutely must pass before we head out on our merry transatlantic.

Taking care of yours truly is our first priority. Making sure the Can Opener stays safe ranks right up there too. Someone’s got to cut open the clear packs and sauté the deli sausages for my breakfast!

Here’s the sea knowledge and training programme I’ve planned for the Can Opener:

On the Water

• RYA Yachtmaster Offshore

   

Theory

• RYA Yachtmaster Stellar Navigation theory – done!
  
• RYA Yachtmaster Coastal/Offshore Prep Theory   done!
• RYA Day Skipper Theory   done!

Specialist Courses

• Diesel Engine Maintenance
• Marine Radio Short Range Certificate/VHF Operator done!
• Sea Survival/ Emergency Preparedness
• Offshore Safety
• RYA Offshore First Aid – scheduled May 2013

Other Study

• Courses run by manufacturers on servicing and maintaining their equipment – Feb 2013 – done!
• Electrical Systems and Solar 
• How to catch a fish

That should do it… till I think of something more to decree the Can Opener shall study. Like useful languages for shopping in island markets for breakfast treats… Or electrical systems…

The best thing about sailing is there is always something new to learn. Constant challenges and education. What could be better?

Any critical courses / topics to add to the study list?

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Part 4 of Captain Cat’s Invincible Plan to Get Cruising is: The Plan to Find a Boat that Fits.

How to Cruise
Next: Cruising Courses – Cost Survey for 3 Countries
Previously: Sail Training – Where to Get It