The adventures of Anika J

[FF]

On many boats the rudder deflection angle is limited to about 35deg L or R.

This is done for 2 reasons , over about 35deg the rudder is simply a brake and does not aid turning.

Second the force on the rudder if backing at speed becomes very high, perhaps bending it.

Frequently a chain is attached to limit the swing.

This makes a great spot to use for line attachment if emergency steering becomes needed.

 

[Kit_L]

Updating: Covid-19 and the cancellation of all our workshops for this year meant that once the work described above was completed, I caught a flight back to NSW. It's eerie to be in an airport, and one of a handful of people only—these are vast spaces when empty.

Some distance work has been done: I will detail the electrical work later, but the original solar system I had in mind has been scaled back; a 3000W Victron charger and inverter will be fitted (this will handle all computer/boiling a jug/etc. daily needs), as well as a smart battery monitor. There seems to be life left in both banks, so after consulting the guru from Electech, we have decided to keep the generator three-phase and keep an eye on the charge and discharge of the house bank via the generator. IOW, no new battery banks, house or start. I had been planning on changing the five (!) domestic fridges and freezers to three 12–24 volt Engel uprights if we went solar, but keeping one 240V freezer and two 240V fridges and running the generator for a few hours a day when cooking (and charging both banks) seems the more economical route for now. I will reserve the use of the air-conditioning systems for when blessed with shore power.

We are updating the instruments, too, to a Raymarine 18" solid-state radar, an active AIS system, a tiller angle display (a present from my wife) and a 12" Axiom Pro display. The existing sounder display got fried (long story) so we will have to lift the boat to change the transducer 20 years old) to one that talks to the Axiom, and that will be done when I return to Brisbane. We will be fitting a second VHF radio, a Raymarine Ray53 transceiver (with both DSC and an internal GPS: I love redundancy). The existing TMQ AP56 autopilot (new display, and all the hydraulics and tiller angle sensor were checked before) will stay, and be a standalone system which I will use manually. More to come.

 

[Wayfarer]

That's a lot of fridges! You don't even need AC, you've got enough refrigerators for everyone to sit in... lol.

I'm getting ready to do some similar upgrades m'self. Reading this makes me even more excited about it.

 

[Kit_L]

Dave, the whole 14' beam is practically wall-to wall with these things: in the Admiral's cabin (rear master cabin), looking back to the steering position, there's two fridges, two freezers, and a washing machine... AND a smaller fridge in the galley itself. Now, we always cook our own food but I remember looking at this and thinking "overkill".

The PO was a marina resident, so this may have made sense for him. Our electrical guru has done the calculations (and I will ask him to share), and he and I agree that using the air-conditioners was only ever a generator or shore power option (and when I was living aboard in summer doing the paravane work, I never used the air-con, but all the other marina residents did, so to some extent must be what you are used to). The ventilation in Anneka J is so good and the windows work so well that I cannot envisage myself using it unless we go along way north on one of our trips.

 

[Nomad Willy]

It’s good to see someone else did the same mod I did on my boat Willy. See avatar.
Big difference being that the inbd. hole on the rudder horn was already there. The boat’s had at least 6 owners and have no idea who drilled the hole.

As soon as I saw it I had to try it. In typical back yard mode I scrutinized the structural ramifications of all the parts involved and crissened them up to the job. Swapped the bolt-to place/hole and never looked back.
I don’t know how wide our fairway is but it’s about minimum by eye. Anyway w the bow pointing toward the fairway I engage fwd gear and looking aft as soon as our stern passes the edge of the float I crank the rudder full over and carve a nice tight turn out of there w about 1.5’ to spare. Goooooddenouggghh for me my friends.

So I’ve had a 45 degree rudder for 12 years or so.
No problems at all I can add. And I’ve used the rudder full over at WOT in big following seas.
Since I didn’t adjust the swing exactly I do have a bit more rudder one way. I’ve used it as if they were the same w no ill effects.

But I wouldn’t do this w a boat that makes much more than Willy’s 6+ knots. But I assume that probably a rudder will create enough turbulence that cavitation or similar effect would cause the rudder to “stall” or otherwise cease making it’s sideways thrust as usual. Don’t know any specifics but I do at some point the negs that FF talks about in post 31 above will come to pass. But for us slow goers the only downside is probably limited to structural.

This is the rudder. Large area is also helpful.

 

[Kit_L]

Eric, thanks for commenting.

I agree that FF's concerns might apply if one flung the helm right over to port or starboard while running at hull speed could do some damage—but who in their right mind would do that? As well, angles over 35° most definitely do aid slow-speed maneuvering in my experience with two boats now, and that's what I made the modification to do. At maneuvering speeds all the propwash does is move the stern, in my experience, and there is no strain on the gear. And I do have limiting chains fitted (there is a photo of them above, if my memory serves me correctly).

I do agree with the point about backing at speed but, again, I do not do this. The way I have it set up now, the boat can be backed in a straight line, and this does not require full deflection.

 

[Kit_L]

When a not-so-good battery goes bad...

Well, when I dropped into the ER this morning, to find out why my inverter was not providing current, this is what I found: one of the two Delkor 8D batteries (the PO's "house" bank) had exploded, and not only blown the top of its case off, but the whole enclosing heavy-gauge plastic battery box apart too.

One image shows much more of the interior of an 8D than I wanted to see, personally.

The last image shows the two replacement battery boxes, 18mm AA marine ply, glued and screwed, waiting for undercoat and paint.

The replacement batteries are Century 6V heavy duty deep cycle batteries, with 225A h capacity. As our system is 24 volts, simple connection.

The big drama is going to be getting the two 8D batteries, one with acid clearly visible, out of the ER. I will report on this later.

I don't know why the previous owner thought that the 8Ds were the right batteries for a house bank – when I looked it up I found that they were starter batteries for heavy earthmoving equipment. I guess their only advantage was that they are relatively inexpensive.

A question to the experts: I have a temperature sensor on my Quattro inverter charger so that if the batteries get hot, they will not be overcharged, but I do not have one on my Victron MPPT controller – does anyone know whether a temperature sensor can be fitted to this device to stop overcharging if the batteries get too hot?

 

[Pete Meisinger]

I am going to start a ground swell movement: Ban 8Ds from boats.

pete

 

[BruceK]

If an 8D has an inherent defect or type unsuitability it`s not resolved by substituting two similar characteristic batteries each half the size of the 8D and connecting them.
But it would resolve the physical risk of manipulating and fitting them.

 

[Wayfarer]

That must have made quite a sound!

 

[BruceK]

I`ve seen the aftermath of several battery explosions, memory says at least one was a Delkor 8D. Messy and acidic. If they are SLAs (as I suspect), could they run dry of acid without it becoming apparent, and explode under charge.? Maybe the early sign is the case distortion, and decreased performance. There`s plenty of SLA batts out there, knowing how it happens could be useful. I`m guessing a capped/unsealed batt would blast caps off rather than just go bang.

 

[Kit_L]

Re. Delkor 8Ds: they are a cranking battery for heavy machinery, like earthmoving equipment, according to their site. When we examined the plates in the one that exploded, they were swollen and warped, so touching in many places—probably should have been changed years ago.

This is not a criticism of Delkor 8Ds per se, because these batteries could be over 10 years old. However, since acquiring Anika J, I have learned that as soon as any battery stops performing close to its specifications, it is better to change it sooner rather than later.

The new 4 x 6V 225 A h batteries are in, charged, and working as expected. They were completely cold after the bulk charge, and moved through the absorption cycle in minutes, and are now floating. I am too tired to load images of the extraction, but will tomorrow evening (prior commitments for tomorrow morning).

 

[Kit_L]

@BruceK: yes, SLA. What I like about the new Century deep cycle batteries is that the battery caps can be pulled and you can inspect at least part of the plates from above with a strong torch. As well, the caps allow gas to escape freely, if not overfilled.

The guy who sold me the very old-fashioned C105 batteries told me that of all of the current technology this type (FLA) is the oldest of all of them all, but they are also very tolerant and we should expect something like eight years life out of them if we don't overcharge them and don't discharge them too deeply. We have heard some absolute horror stories about Lithium Ion, especially in the catching fire department.

 

[Simi 60]

Probably to late now but Neil at J&J batteries at Wynnum is very knowledgeable and does regular deliveries in that area.

 

[ofer]

Once the hull was completely dry and the repairs effected, the caulking was removed and epoxy putty replaced it. Then the hull was 'tri-axially glassed': this was a new technique to me, but common on commercial wooden vessels here: to wraps at 90° from upper hull to keel, and a final wrap across the hull.

Hi thanks for all the great information. As the new owner of a timber vessel similar to yours, I am very interested in the above. any more details?

how is it holding up? are you happy with the results?

Thanks

 

[Kit_L]

@Simi: thank you for the heads-up, but Anika J is in Greenwell Point now. I brought her back from Manly (in Queensland, the state to the North of us for non-Australian readers) literally two days after the Qld border opened, about seven weeks ago. It was a whirlwind of activity; she had been sitting in the MTBC marina for almost ten months. We had to spend a few days in Camden Haven on the way down, and I paid $1.90 per litre for diesel in Port Hacking... and I have had no time to update this thread, until now.

Getting the totally exposed 8D battery and its mate out of the engine room will need a post of its own, but new battery boxes and new batteries are in, tested, and fully charged now.

@ofer: yes, happy, but I have not yet personally inspected the job (again, Covid and no-travel between states) but we will be slipping Anika J at Ulladulla some time before mid-year for anti-fouling, so will have a very careful look over her then. The technology is well-known; but the work must be done by someone who understands its potential pitfalls. I have a hull sample I can shoot an image of (we had to fit a new sounder transducer, and the electrician very kindly left me the core. It's perfect, and you can see the outer layer perfectly).

 

[ofer]

funny.. searching the net for ''tri-axially glassed" this thread is about the only relative item that comes up

 

[Simi 60]

Triaxial glass is pretty common

Triaxial - Stitched

 

[Kit_L]

How to get very heavy batteries out of a deep engine room

I think the images show the process without needing too many words. I bought the tripod from ebay, and modified the legs so it can be collapsed about 50% smaller, and its level adjusted with much finer amounts. We got it fairly level, I think. The deck slopes significantly here, closer to the bow.

A shout-out to delivery Captain Richards, who bestowed the "handy billy" (the block and tackle we used) on Anika J on her delivery trip!

For safety, this job required two people; I think the 8Ds are around 60kg, and as everyone knows, there is usually little room over battery boxes. We slid the 8Ds out of the old box, after removing the generator and engine start batteries.

The boxes have been painted, screwed to the sole, and I am yet to cable-tie the wires neatly. I will be fabbing lids for both boxes, including heavy tie-down straps around the boxes and their supports. I will make sure they are properly ventilated. I checked the leads and the batteries during charging yesterday as mentioned: stone cold.

I have contacted OutbackMarine here for advice on a temperature sensor for MPPT controller's input to the house bank. The Victron inverter/charger already has a temp. sensor installed—that's the black and red wire you can see in the last pic.

Overnight, I used about 31A h: LED lights in main salon; charged both computer and phone; used toilet; boiled water for coffee this morning (9A h!!!); and ran the 240V fridge. I am getting a power draw meter today and will check how much this draws; it has the tiniest compressor I have ever seen; it is sitting at 2°C, and it cycles for a minute or so four or five times an hour. The bilge pumps are powered up, too, but they use no current.

 

[BruceK]

@BruceK: yes, SLA. What I like about the new Century deep cycle batteries is that the battery caps can be pulled and you can inspect at least part of the plates from above with a strong torch. As well, the caps allow gas to escape freely, if not overfilled.

The guy who sold me the very old-fashioned C105 batteries told me that of all of the current technology this type (FLA) is the oldest of all of them all, but they are also very tolerant and we should expect something like eight years life out of them if we don't overcharge them and don't discharge them too deeply. We have heard some absolute horror stories about Lithium Ion, especially in the catching fire department.

I had both removable cap FLAs and sealed SLA Century Marine 8D batts in the IG36. They were charged via alternator, charger, and solar, the last being a modest but useful 90watts per battery, via digital PWM regulators, with a selectable Equalization function which I used, and ceased using after seeing strips of plastic(?separators) floating in some cells in the capped batts. I don`t have notes, but battery life was around 4 years. I did not use the charger at the marina, solar kept the batts full without it. An old OEM ferro resonant only used on the hook with me keeping tabs on the charging.
I don`t think the batts tolerated Equalization, it was as if the pulsing was too much for the construction, I stopped it, I think when I moved to SLAs. I suggest getting the mfrs voltage charge points to use with any adjustable charge output.
A hydrometer is very useful for checking capped cell condition,for < $10 they tell you a lot.

 

[Kit_L]

@BruceK: thank you, that's extremely helpful. And a hydrometer is on the list of things to get.

I am not planning on equalising these in any automatic fashion; I will be installing a second bank and I will ask the tech. person what the top voltage point in charging should be, too, as well as his advice on frequency of manual equalisation. The second bank should ease the stress on the whole system.

 

[Kit_L]

The new House and Start banks

After finding the exploded battery box a week or so ago, life has been busy. I bought two sheets of AA grade marine ply, and built four boxes:

The small one, screwed to the ER sole, holds the generator 12V start battery

The larger one behind the exhaust pipe holds the two 12V start batteries for the main engine; these batteries weigh 27Kg, or 60lbs and lifting them over the exhaust pipe and lowering into the box was at the limit of my strength.

There are now two 4 x 6V 225A h banks for the House; we have a rated capacity of 450A h now. Because I run the generator for any really big loads (like the combined oven and microwave, and the new electric two-plate stove, last image), I plan on not discharging any more than 30%, so these should last for a while.

The first house bank has a temperature sensor that limits the Victron charger's inputs if the batteries get too hot; I want to investigate this further, because the solar charger does not have a temp. sensor—I feel it should. Having said this, I felt all batteries and wiring yesterday during the first generator run, and later while using shore power to bring all the batteries up to full voltage, and everything stayed cold.

I have yet to restrain the batteries and to zip-tie the cables. As well, I will separate and internally restrain the batteries with lengths of timber, so the batteries will not touch each other. This should help with any temperature problems, too.

It's a genuine pleasure to be able to boil a kettle first thing in the morning!

 

[Kit_L]

A local friend and I were having a glass of vin rouge très ordinaire (remarkable for only one thing: I had never seen my friend drink anything but beer in seven years) and we both noticed that a boat, 'Tucantu', originally all the way from Cardiff, Wales, many years ago, had dragged its mooring and was resting against another friend's boat... so we hopped into his putt putt and motored over. It was dusk.

We had not gone more than a third of the way when we entered a massive cloud of mosquitoes—and when I say "cloud", I mean CLOUD: we were both literally black with mosquitoes. Our arms, faces, hair, feet, all exposed skin was literally black with these damn things. In comparison, finding out that the mooring rope had literally parted completely from the weights on the bottom of the river was an anti-climax – we were both so busy pulling on the mooring line, controlling his boat, and slapping the mozzies. We needed a few more arms; it was a lost race from the beginning. It's a special feeling when you feel them forming a mat in your hair (mine is a #0 cut, so totally exposed). I could feel the little buggers crawling around looking for the right spot...

We towed the Tucantu about 70 m to the public mooring at the entrance to Shaw's Creek, and tied off to it. The pain from the mosquitoes was quite extraordinary – I had been bitten by some sandflies about three days ago and the mosquito bites in someway made the body re-experience the pain of the sandflies, except magnified about 50 times! It was intense.

The crazy thing is though that when we stepped back onto Anika J there wasn't a mosquito around, apart from the half-dozen my friend brought aboard, and they departed rapidly as soon as I lit a coil. I must say I just don't understand it — they must stay close to the water's surface or there must be some other explanation because in all the nights I have stayed on board here, there hasn't been a mosquito to share the experience with me.

On the battery front, I have cable-tied the wiring and am thinking of different ways to restrain the batteries.

Using the lights last night, running the pump for water, boiling a kettle this morning for coffee, and powering the 240V fridge overnight used just 6.5% of the two bank's capacity—and at 07:25 in the ayem, the solar system is just starting to kick in (47W and 1.85A). I think the batteries are going to work beautifully.

 

[Wayfarer]

I found myself itching all over while reading this. I'm glad you weren't carried away!

 

[Kit_L]

I felt almost airborne a few times, I can tell you!

 

[Kit_L]

A short, partial, list of the MANY things that have been done recently:

new holding tank pump-out pump (changed over when the tank was full; yikes )

all (small area) rust spots on engine, genny, fuel lines and other ER areas wire brushed and treated with Ranax (phosphoric acid treatment)

added switch on ER bulkhead so fresh and salt water pumps can be isolated

tested and annotated all switchboard peccadillos (this is a lovely word that just does not get enough love in daily parlance); example: to be able to use the 'Deckwash' switch at the helm position, "Wiper 1" must be ON on the switchboard...

hull interior remediation continues; looking lovely now

all interior lights now LED (the warm white type); the light is lovely and does not seem to use any power.

None of the new batteries have required any distilled water; OTOH, they have not been discharged more than to 86%)

New Super Sarca anchor (#8) graces the pulpit

There's more, but I am tired and must rest!

 

[Kit_L]

It's been a while, and we have been in a long lockdown, like many. I am posting today on our recent trip North, from Greenwell Point to Pittwater, a distance of ~85nm. I wanted to talk about how we go about planning any trip. Before picking any possible weather windows, we look at the official nautical charts, here published by Australian Hydrographic Office (AHO). We use these for dead reckoning, getting a feel for the big picture (even though we have two 12" MFDs, these are not good for this purpose, IMO; charts are better)

And we have Alan Lucas's Cruising Guides, in addition to paper maps and the same MFDs you folk have, with their proprietary maps. Alan's Guides are fantastic; in addition to from-the water photos of all harbour entrances from both directions, there's a huge amount of additional information (like critical cruising-related phone numbers of local Marine Rescue pilot houses, harbour masters); it seems endless. Excellent reading any time, IMHO.

I will add the multiple weather prediction apps we use, too. But even the best can be completely wrong, even one day out (more below).

Our approach to planning is about safe havens in the case of bad weather as the priority. For example, we had been looking for a weather window to head north from our home, Greenwell Point, to take A-J to Sydney for some maintenance. We have been in Covid lockdown for many months.

The weather apps all showed last Tuesday and Wednesday to be days of moderate swell (1–1.5m, from two directions) and moderate winds (under 20kn). We set off at first light on Tuesday, crossed the Shoalhaven bar, logged on with Marine Rescue, and after running N for a while, worked out our current SOG (the East Australian Current was running around 3kn S at the time, but further offshore than we were), and updated our arrival time with MR. Day one's destination was Port Hacking, some 55nm up the coast. We did not use the stabilisers (this was my wife's first offshore trip and our hope was that it would be comfortable). Heading into a NE swell, with a NE 15kn wind, the motion of the boat was comfortable.

We set off on Wednesday morning, first light, and as the sun rose, we saw that from Port Hacking we were heading directly into a larger, at that point Easterly swell, 1.5–2m, and we decided to deploy the stabilisers; we came to a stop, and dropped the fish in after lowering the poles.

I am glad we did: we made the turn up the coast, staying about 1.5nm offshore, and the stabilisers worked beautifully; the wind was NE, about 10kn. We were planning to overnight in Sydney (Manly Cove, safe in a big nor'easter). But as we headed up the coast, we checked Thursday's weather for the third leg, Manly to Pittwater. Overnight, the forecast had changed, showing Thursday's swell to be quite a bit bigger (2-2.5m, and the same direction, NE being the primary one), and 20kn+ winds increasing sharply around lunchtime, and we wondered whether with a longer second day, we might avoid this.

So we recalculated our SOG (running into the almost head sea, plus the stabilisers, and the winds now 20kn) as we were making 5kn. The extra 20nm to Barrenjoey Point would be at least four hours. The boat was running well, visibility excellent, and we revised our ETA and destination with Marine Rescue.

By the time we were passing Long Reef, now 2nm offshore, the swell and the wind both had picked up; the wind was 20kn gusting to 25kn, and the swell ~2m, and still NE; I was concerned that as we started our series of turns around Barrenjoey Point that we might roll considerably more (occasional swells were 2.5–3m by now), but I needn't have worried; the stabilisers worked even better than I hoped for, and the motion hardly changed.

So, we made Pittwater by 14:00, and when we tied up to our mooring, I asked my wife to check Thursday's weather: 0.5m swell, and zero wind!

Moral of the story? Weather prediction software (SeaBreeze, BOM, Windy, and WillyWeather) had predicted completely different strength winds and swells just 24 hours out.

So, echoing a poster on another thread, we have a short day's destination, and a long day's destination, and the choice is only made on the conditions at the time.