BLUE WATER fall 2020

POCKET CRUISERS ON PARADE

LADIES WEEK IN BELIZE

HURRICANES IN 2020

SAILS FOR A { FITTINGOUT }

Having sailed from Newport, What Worked RI to Town, South via Panama and the Cape of & What Didn’t... Good Hope, they really know what works aboard a voyaging After 13 years boat and what doesn’t. Here’s Rebecca’s annual report for BWS by Rebecca Childress

THIS PAST YEAR, PATRICK AND I SPENT a lot of time preparing our Valiant 40 Brick House for our South Atlantic Crossing. is a stupendous place to do work on a boat, with accessible marine supplies and reasonably priced labor. We upgraded every- thing we could while here.

GOST Security System The people of South Africa are wonderful, honest, generous people, but it’s also the crime capital of the world, and the world beyond South Africa is not becoming safer either. Instead of buying another toy security 40 BLUE WATER SAILING system that would end up in the junk drawer, products. I have always loved Predictwind we installed the GOST security system. It’s Offshore on the iPad, but it has evolved into the Cadillac of security systems made specifi- something easier and more accessible to the cally for boats, and we were not disappointed. entire crew right at the chart table on our Ray- We installed it ourselves, which I would marine Axiom Pro Chartplotter, through the not recommend...but once the system was Iridium GO. Many Raymarine Chartplotters finely tweaked, everything worked reliably, support this, as well as a few other brands, providing unprecedented protection while after installing the latest firmware update. we were aboard, away from boat for the day, But even PredictWind Offshore on an iPad or or across the border. Their new application computer, connected to an Iridium GO Wi- tracks all aspects of the system from arming Fi hotspot, is an amazing way to get weather status to alarm zones, via cellular or satellite updates once you are out of cellular/Wi-Fi connectivity. There is NOTHING this system range! Be sure to watch the video for more can’t do! details on how.

Cubic Mini Woodstove Predictwind, Iridium GO & We were planning to go to Patagonia before Raymarine Axiom Chartplotter Patrick passed away, so we installed several We made an entire video on this great com- heat sources (What Really Happened to Pat- bination of communication/weather products rick: https://youtu.be/PKbgp9qvYfY). One that we improved on this year ( https://youtu. is the Cubic Mini and I have already gotten be/PKbgp9qvYfY ). Our passage around the plenty of use from this little beauty right here great capes was very predictable and comfort- in South Africa, and I will in the Mediter- able because of the reliability of these three ranean winters as well. Not only wood and

Fall 2020 41 { FITTINGOUT }

compressed logs burn efficiently, but also lation in the boat could not have been easier coal. The silent cozy heat warms you from and if something breaks I don’t have to throw the inside out. It’s so much nicer than a loud away the entire battery since the components fan, or the stench of diesel or paraffin. This are easily serviced anywhere in the world. We high quality little work of art has held up very did still have to consider upgrades to a few well, and is so very easy to use. of our components, but all in all, it was very https://youtu.be/PuUYSUITc_A straightforward. The batteries charge quickly from very low to full, run down slowly, and are truly a “set it and forget it” upgrade, yet they are fully monitored with the Victron, below. (Watch for a video soon)

Victron CCGX (Color Control GX)

Freedom Won Lithium Batteries We wanted to replace our Trojan T-105 lead acid batteries. I knew I didn’t want a “drop- in” lithium solution that wouldn’t stand up, and I didn’t want a DIY setup because what if I missed an important part or concept in the installation? We chose South Africa Freedom Won considers this battery monitor based Freedom Won’s Lithium Ion Phos- essential equipment for the 10 year warranty phate system (https://www.freedomwon. on its batteries. Not only does it track the co.za/) because the price to do this upgrade cells’ state of charge (SOC from 10%-100%), in South Africa was more economical, and the along with the amperage and voltage, but it company uses quality components - the same shows the highest and lowest voltage of the cells, battery management system (BMS) and 8 cells. If all of the cells are not within a few materials as the DIY guys use, without me thousandths of each other, you have been having to set it all up! South Africa suffers given an early warning of a problematic cell inadequate electrical production for the grid, so that it can be addressed before it’s a big- which encourages innovative solutions and a ger issue. The CCGX monitors the state of deep competence in battery, solar and wind the batteries by the CAN bus of the batter- systems. That quality is easily demonstrated ies, rather than an external shunt like many in the Freedom Won system. The final instal- monitors do, so it is much more accurate, 42 BLUE WATER SAILING reliable, and configurable. The screen on with a Balmar Maxcharge 614, which was a the CCGX is large and easy to read, so I can model higher than we had. The package deal see it from almost anywhere on the boat. on all three items made the upgrade easily Even better, I can log in to the Victron App justifiable, and now we have a spare regula- from anywhere in the world to visualize the tor. We have always had Balmar products, so status of my batteries and have much more we knew what we were getting, knew it was information including historical graphs of serviceable around the world, and above all the batteries performance. It’s all very visual extremely reliable and fault free. Full testing and intuitive so anyone onboard can easily of the system, monitoring heat as well as monitor energy usage, and battery health. amperage and voltage, showed the regula- tor controlling the alternator perfectly, even when the batteries were quite depleted. There are so many settings on this regulator that the protection of the alternator is guaranteed. There have been no issues at all - everything works as expected, and the batteries charge quickly and safely with this setup.

Balmar Alternator and Regulator This setup was something we had to give thought to when we upgraded the batteries. Lithium batteries will suck the life out of an alternator of any size, forcing it to work to maximum capacity for extended periods. The BMS protects your batteries, but you must take measures to protect the alternator. To do this, we upgraded from a 110 amp alternator to a 165 amp high-output alternator from Bal- mar, which included the very straightforward Manson Boss Anchor upgrade to manage the added load, from the We love our aging Manson Supreme anchor; standard alternator belt to a serpentine belt it just sticks the moment it hits bottom and and appropriate pulleys that slip over the never drags. But in a rather tight fit on the existing ones. CDI Electronics make the ser- twin bow roller, next to our Supreme was an pentine pulley and belt upgrade kit specific old rusty CQR. We needed to once and for to the engine so everything just slips together all get rid of that untrusted farmers plow and in less than an hour. The installation of the find an effective anchor that could fit next alternator itself was a little tricky in that dif- to the Manson Supreme. The Manson Boss ferent wiring connections were required, but fit the bill, and fit the bow. We only used the one call to Balmar and our questions were an- Boss 8-9 days this year, but in every instance swered. We replaced the alternator regulator it was in very difficult conditions, and, like

Fall 2020 43 { FITTINGOUT }

the Manson Supreme, it tenaciously grabbed and we stayed put. Manson Anchors are works of wonders by experts in where quality and consistency is still valued.

Raymarine Autopilot We installed a Raymarine autopilot in 2006 tion of this hybrid hot water heater was fairly that is oversized for our boat, and installed it standard and trouble free after the world’s with high quality oversized, watertight wires. fastest delivery, literally three days to the It has never ever skipped a beat. We once other side of the world! Our lithium batteries found a corroded connection in our wiring can heat the water, with 12 volts, in less than which stopped the pilot, but aside from this, an hour or two, as well as on 120/240 shore this thing just keeps on ticking. However, with remote lands on our horizon, we con- sulted with Raymarine about which part was most likely to be wearing out after 13 or 14 years of demanding use. Patrick and tech sup- port agreed that the linear drive unit, with its motor, would be the most likely component to fail. So we purchased the drive unit and installed it. We put the new one in rather than wait for the old one to break, and stored the antique away as a backup. This unit, along with our Monitor Windvane, has been such a great team for so very long.

Torrid Marine Water Heater Our old water heater was on the edge of a leak- ing disaster, so we bit the bullet and got a new water heater from Torrid Marine. The installa- 44 BLUE WATER SAILING power, or excess engine heat, or energy diverted from wind, solar or other sources. The heat is re- tained for a long time due to the insulated, 304 stainless steel tank. It’s good to know that we won’t run out of hot water in cold places! area, but no other growth. It’s so easy to clean that the divers here at RCYC in South Africa Hypervent Marine don’t even want to charge me the minimum We recently had Defender Industries in the fee. They are rarely down there for more than USA, quite quickly and economically, send us 15 minutes, where as other boats it seems to out two rolls of Hypervent Marine material to be for hours that they scrape away. I am so put under our bunks and cushions to prevent glad to not have to worry about this now, but condensation. Using heat in a cooler envi- will continue to regularly hire a diver every ronment has certainly introduced moisture, few months to wipe the bottom and prop and then mildew in to the tighter enclosed down until we are in warmer water, and I spaces due to the temperature differential. can do it myself. The woodstove dries things out, but all other forms of heat on the boat create condensa- Avon RIB Dinghy tion. Hypervent is a three-quarter-inch spun Our RIB continues to deteriorate. It has a polymer bonded to a breathable fabric layer, slow leak and it needs to be pumped every installs very easily, and simply does what it’s few days when in use, and it deflates on deck supposed to do. It elevates the cushions off during a passage. I may send it in to some the surface, so warm air is able to circulate professionals to see if they can find the leak underneath, minimizing the conditions that and repair it. Or maybe after 13 years of hard create condensation. If condensation does use, it’s time to think about a replacement, or occur, the Hypervent material allows the at least new tubes for it. BWS moisture to evaporate. Rebecca Childress has been sailing around the Coppercoat/Propspeed world aboard Brick House for the last 14 years. After nearly one year, our Coppercoat and Now in South Africa, she is recovering from the Propspeed have been cleaned about once ev- sad loss of her husband Patrick Childress from ery two months with a soft sponge or towel. the coronavirus. Her plans are to continue cruis- There is some soft slimy growth, and there ing and to continue posting new videos on her was one barnacle early on in a hard to reach YouTube channel Sailing Brick House.

Fall 2020 45