Designing & Building Hammerhead

[twistedtree]

On the steering and autopilot, that are reacting a bit too slow to my liking: solutions are in sight. I spoke to both the shipyard and the manufacturer of the (hydraulic) steering system.

First, I'll check the potentiometer. It can be turned up and down, and turning it up will speed up the rudder's response time, as I understand it. Secondly, there is a sorta valve that can be opened (for manual tiller operation) or closed (for the hydraulic steering to work). If that's (partially) loose, that might also cause the slower than normal reaction time of the steering.

Since nothing actually changed to the steering system, at the shipyard, those two checks and potentially changes should bring the steering back to normal (which was very good, exact, and precise). If not (or if only partially so), then there's a software patch that can be installed to (further) improve the communication and reaction speed.

So, Thursday I'll know more. I'll be at the boat to prep and check her before departing on a long weekend cruise to Zeeland province. And if the first two interventions, mentioned above, don't do it, then I'll have the new software patch installed next month, on my way north, when we basically pass the steering system manufacturer's site.

Regards, Salty.

Good luck on the shake down cruise!

 

[Salty Pelican]

Thanks TangleWood!

 

[Salty Pelican]

Second shake-down cruise of "Moonshine"

Back from a second shake-down cruise, where we visited the province of Zeeland for a few days with family.

We had ok weather. 5 Bft. on day one, 2 Bft. on day two, and 3 Bft. on day three and 4 Bft. on day four. No rain, a little sunshine every now and then. It remains almost unbelievable how stable and smooth the ride is in higher wind conditions! Very happy & impressed by that. The missus thought the 5 Bft. was more like 2 or 3!

All systems work fine. Only issues that need checking is that the oven trips the electrical system and a few lights in the salon stopped working. That'll be taken care of tomorrow.

I was able to speed up the steering assistance slightly. Manual steering is now all ok, but the autopilot is still slow to react. The manufacturer has a software update that'll be installed in about two weeks.

Here are some pictures of us having fun during the trip. We had a family meeting on the boat, with sushi, beer, and wine. We sailed to the salt waters of Zeeland, did some seal spotting and had great seafood!

Regards, Salty.

 

[Salty Pelican]

Update: new oven



So, we found out that the oven is no longer in pristine working order. Probably the electrical insulation got compromised by the boat's movement. Rubbing of wires or something. Wires heating up triggered the GFCI.

Old oven (microwave, hot air oven combo, actually) is out. New one is bought and will be delivered tomorrow. To be installed next week.

Regards, Salty.

 

[Salty Pelican]

An update on Moonshine's travels

Saturday we sailed to Zaltbommel. Upriver, against the current, it took 2 1/2 hours. On Sunday we sailed back. Downriver and with the current. It took an hour and 15 minutes. But most importantly: everything worked fine!

We'll start a tour of the northern Netherlands this Friday. First, we'll sail via the Rotterdam harbor and via the North Sea to The Hague. Second day will see us do a 60 NM trip to Den Helder, where the Dutch navy and maritime museum reside. On Sunday, we'll do the Wadden Sea and sail towards Friesland. From there onwards, in smaller stints, we'll work our way back.

A total journey of 285 NM that we'll do in 7 to 8 days. Here's a Google Earth picture of the trip.

Regards, Salty.

 

[Salty Pelican]

Moonshine crosses the former "Zuiderzee"

This morning, from 8 am till 10h30 am we crossed the IJsselmeer from Urk to Enkhuizen. 22 kilometers of shallow water over the former Zuiderzee or "South Sea" (as opposed to "North Sea").

Depth? 2.5 to 4 meters. Wind force? 6 Bft. Wave height? 1 to 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet), but with a 1.2 second period. And that short period and the associated very steep waves, well, it was quite the challenge. Nothing scary or crazy, but about where "pleasure" is close to be taken out of "pleasure boating".

Anyhow, "Moonshine" did great and so did the crew (save one), and the MagnusMaster stabilizers allowed us to steer a course up to 90 degrees to the wind and wave angle, where another ship, that tried to come our way, had to abort the port course and had to keep beating into the wind, and find another harbor, more in line with the wind direction.

I never thought about how roll-damping helps out by creating more degrees of freedom on course selection. But I like the extra opportunities it creates. That and the overall extra comfort, of course.

I think the video does not do justice to the heavy and frequent beating we had to endure for 2 1/2 hours, but here it is anyhow.

Tomorrow? A day of sight-seeing in Enkhuizen. The day after, I expect the new software for the power steering to be installed. We'll probably sail to Friesland right after that.

Okay, cannot upload the video, because it is a MP4 format. So a picture of Veronika showing off our new "Moonshine" caps.

Regards, Salty.

 

[Salty Pelican]

Haha, here's the video via Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/100009129566512/videos/559909516267519

Regards, Salty.

 

[Salty Pelican]

Motor yacht Moonshine in Beautiful Enkhuizen!

Yesterday we visited the beautiful city of Enkhuizen. Over half a millennium of history in just a few pictures. And of course a picture of "Moonshine" at the Enkhuizen docks ...

Regards, Salty.