Seaward's Christmas List

Here’s a blog post with a difference, written in the hope that Susan will read it – and act upon it. For years I am told, I have been difficult to buy presents for – especially at Christmas. A couple of years ago, we were affluent enough to purchase pretty much what we wanted without need to wait for Birthdays or Christmas. Now, our self-imposed frugal lifestyle means that luxuries have to be saved for. I quite like this idea of deferred gratification – the anticipation of waiting and wondering whether the right people have got the message which of course has to be subtly delivered - like a whisper in the ear.

When it comes to Simple Sailing and Low Cost Cruising, it can be particularly difficult. The stuff you really want is pretty obscure, and you can’t always trust partners to buy exactly what you’ re hoping for – lets face it guys, how many of us would dare to purchase the right shade of lipstick or nail varnish for our partners, confident that we have made the right choice. Well it’s the same for them with boating equipment. For example, to your partner a fish finder is a fish finder – Ah yes! But is it a Raymarine  or a Garmin? The other aspect of having to wait and hope rather than simply buy, is that you have time to choose carefully so, to you, the choice between  Raymarine and Garmin is crucially important.

Now while working on this boat I have tried all sorts of ways to keep costs down – DIY and low tech approaches are a given but one thing I have learned is that there is no saving in low quality. The most effective cost saving approach is to purchase carefully and well – going for the best quality you can afford – it’ll work better and last longer.

Now I’m hoping that these items will help keep me safe on the boat, and at home give me a better handle on the weather, and then of course, - a good read for the holiday period. So Susan, hoping you read this and maybe click a few links?

For The Boat - emergency dry bags

Outdoor Products 3-Pack Ultimate Dry Sack (USA Readers)

ocean pack dry sack (UK Readers)

For the Home - a weather station

Brand New Howard Miller - Howard Miller Shore Station - Clock, Barometer, and Thermometer "Home/Office - Clocks & Barometers" (USA Readers)


Howard Miller 625-249 Shore Station Weather & Maritime Wall Clock By (UK Readers)

And a good book to read! One of the first single hander's who found simplicity is the key to happy cruising

Voyages of a Simple Sailor (USA Readers)


Voyages of a Simple Sailor (UK Readers)

Plus, don't forget, if you're interested in other aspects of Living in France please visit the other Blogspot:

Frugal Living in France

Seaward

Boat Electrics

Boat renovation requires you to think ahead and in some cases study ahead otherwise your project frequently becomes stalled by questions such as ‘what should I do next?’ and ‘how on earth do I do that?’ So for me, bedtime reading during this period of intensive  Gel-coat sanding has centered on trying to gain an understanding of 12 Volt electrical systems and methods of keeping juice in the wires when I’m not hooked up to a land-line on a pontoon.

I had kind of hoped to make a technological leap when I came to considering what my power needs might be. I already have a handheld GPS and VHF so I thought I might be able to go for a very simple system, maybe supported by an Apple I’pad  or something but the more I thought about how I wanted to use the boat and what that meant for power (in and out) the more complicated it seemed to become, especially for me who doesn't know the difference between an Amp, and a Volt.

I don’t claim to be a fast learner but I do know that if I’m told something three times (preferably in three different ways) then I have a chance of understanding and retaining the knowledge. Three books were particularly useful. You’ll find them listed below. Now I’m living in a country district in France so its hardly likely that I’m going to put my hands on these books in my local book store twelve miles away – so thank goodness for the internet and, for people in similar circumstances, the book titles below are links to a trusted supplier. If I were to purchase just one of these books it would be the 12 Volt Bible – but in truth I must confess I needed all three.

I bought mine with the intention of selling them on later --- in retrospect I think it’s a better idea to keep hold of my copies.

It would be impossible to cram all the information on 12 Volt boat systems into one blog post but here is a very brief synopsis of the logical steps in system design and the processes you need to go through to get yourself started.

Essentially you need to consider what kind of sailing you intend to do and list the electronic equipment you will require:

            Echo sounder or fish finder?

            VHF Radio?

            GPS?

            Navigation lights?

            Autohelm?

            Comapss light?

            Cabin Lights?

            Sound system?

            Electric bilge pump?

            Domestic water heater and pump?

The list can be as long or as short as you feel you need. To my list I added a bank of 12 Volt plugs so that I can always plug in additional equipment or recharge hand held stuff.

The next step is to calculate the ’power drain’ that these items will inflict on your batteries. Careful thought is required at this stage. The packaging and product information will give you and idea of how many amps a given piece of equipment will require when in use but you will have to determine how many hours you are likely to have it turned on for a given stretch of time. 12 Volt direct current also weakens according to the distance it has to travel from the power source to the equipment so you have to accommodate that in your calculation in order to get an idea of the amount of power you need to be able to store (one battery, two or more!). Thought also needs to be given to choice of batteries. Automotive (car) batteries can be less than idea – they are built to provide an enormous power hit over a brief period to start an. Boat equipment however, has a much smaller requirement but will expect power to be provided over a much longer period. A deep cycle battery is therefore more useful. Then thought has to be given as to how you will keep your batteries charged. One way is to use a 24 Volt landline from the pontoon – but at sea, can you keep the batteries topped up using you boat engine, or is solar or wind turbine power more appropriate to your needs? Some would argue that the best idea is to install both systems  so that you have an option of any given circumstance. Finally, you’ll need some mechanism to stop batteries charging when they are full – otherwise they may overheat. If you are considering a 24 volt recharge capability why not also think about dockside comfort and opt for a 24 volt domestic circuit for use while in port?

OK there is a great deal to think about and I’ll let you know how I get on – but if you’re considering tackling your boat’s electrics please remember 12 Volts are unlikely to kill you but a badly set up 12 Volt system can start fires. 24 Volt domestic electricity is always dangerous if it isn't correctly installed but close to water the dangers multiply enormously.

Here are those books I found most useful: 

Title:   The 12-Volt Bible for Boats (Second Edition)(USA Readers)
(UK Readers Click here)
UK

Author: Miner Brotherton Revised by E Sherman      

Publisher: International Marine / Mc Graw Hill

ISBN    978-0-07-139233-4

This is a complete introduction to the 12 electrical system you are probably going to want to use on your boat. It explains how the system works and how to install maintain and troubleshoot problems. If you are installing your own system it offers the basic information and it should be your first port of call for most answers.

Title:    Understanding Boat Wiring (USA Readers)
Understanding Boat Wiring (UK Readers)

Author: John C Payne  

Publisher:  Sheridan House

ISBN       1-57409-163-8

The book is a very practical guide to planning and installing wiring on your boat. It establishes the standards to which you should be working, explains electrical principles, circuit protection and isolation, switchboards and panels, systems for earthing circuits.

Title: Understanding Boat Batteries and Battery Charging (USA Readers)
Understanding Boat Batteries and Battery Charging (UK Readers)

Author: John C Payne  

Publisher: Sheridan House

ISBN  1-57409-162-X

Whereas the previous book dealt mainly with power distribution around your boat to drive the electrical systems and equipment on board, this book explains how to choose and install the sources of that power (the battery or batteries) and how to keep those storage cells charged and functioning. I would recommend that this book be read in conjunction with Understanding Boat Wiring (above).

Finally, thanks to significant correspondence from readers, it has become clear that many of us are working in remote locations and that the issue of sourcing materials equipment, tools and information is a central concern to us all. With this in mind you now find a new Page on this site : ‘Seaward’s Boatshed’.  As time goes by you will find here a growing list of all the books and tools I have used and found useful with links to trusted suppliers. In keeping with my own self imposed site policy explained on the ‘Homepage’ however, you’ll only find gear listed here that I have found to be reliable and useful. Other gear may be just as good but if I haven’t had first hand experience of it or if it has let me down – then I can’t recommend it and you won’t find it listed.

Seaward

Preparing a GRP boat for Painting

See latest View from the Galley for delicious timely tips!

So, this week the weather has been more reasonable and I’ve been preparing the cockpit for painting. I

started sanding a while ago and I’m still on the job. It’s the worst part of the boat in terms of wear and tear and so I recon if I can get this bit right, then I should have no fears about the rest. In undertaking the job I’ve used two books as guides:-

The Fiberglass Boat Repair Manual (Alan H Vaitis, International Marine Ragged Mountain Press McGraw Hill, 1988, ISBN 0-07-156914-6)

and

Sailboat Refinishing (International Marine Sailboat Library) (Don Casey, International Marine
McGraw Hill, 1996, ISBN 978-0-07-148658-3)

Although at times they seem to contradict each other, both suggest that preparation of the surface is the key and that as an amateur I should devote 90% of my time and effort in this area. Initially, I was hoping to get by with cleaner, compound and polish, but having sanded away the old paint, its fairly obvious why some previous owner opted for a paint job.

Before that however, I had to deal with the problem of silicon – which may or may not be contaminating the gel coat. It seems old boats often have a coating of silicon due to previous owners polishing then with inappropriate products. An automotive polish for example will probably contain silicon and, whilst it is good for cars, it can be a problem for anyone wanting to paint over it. Strangely, I could obtain little information regarding the damage it can do. Suffice it to say, I was frightened enough by all the dire warnings to seek out advice on eradicating it from old GRP surfaces.

Some paint manufacturers tell you to use silicon removing products that they manufacture and market but I could obtain none of the recommended products in this corner of France. In desperation I spoke with a local chandler who told me that many marine paint manufactures try to increase their sales of products by insisting that only their products should be used. By way of example he explained that International Paints suggest that their paint customers should purchase their particular brand of thinner, International Thinners No 1 for cleaning brushes and diluting paint.  According to this particular chandler, International Thinners No 1 is actually nothing more than White Spirit which can be purchased at any home deco shop for a fraction of the International Paints recommended price.

Likewise, he suggested that any strong marine detergent / degreaser should be powerful enough to remove silicon traces (if there are any, and who can say?) but, my chandler also suggested that if I really want to be sure, I should wipe the gel coat with Acetone. Once again, it’s much cheaper from a supermarket than a chandlery. All this has to be done before sanding however. The published advice I have been relying on suggests that sanding a silicon contaminated hull will only drive the silicon deeper into the gel coat thus making removal so much harder.

Well I used an Eco Friendly French detergent / degreaser and followed up with an acetone wash before sanding commenced so time will tell if I got it right – or not.

Seaward

Buying a Boat

Checkout new posting on Essential Reading and Quiz Pages - Updates for the Galley Page coming soon!

 

SO, I’m waiting for my boat to be delivered with a shiny newly painted hull and I’m hoping that the paint job is up to standard. I’ve put a good deal of faith in this guy to deliver on this and would hate to have to renegotiate the deal because his skill at painting isn’t up to it.

Meantime, I need to acquire a whole raft of DIY skills if I am to launch within my cost target. Suddenly I need to become a plumber, electrician, mechanic, woodworker, painter, and I need to understand glass fibre.

Now this may be escapism, but my natural inclination is to resort to books and read up on the subjects. It would be helpful of course if I knew the sequence of tasks facing me, then my reading could be ‘timely’, i.e. read about it tonight, do the job tomorrow. One of the frustrations of my previous life was that the Department would introduce new software and on occasion I might need to use it maybe four times per year. So, I’d undertake the training and then have no practical use for it for maybe three months – by which time, I’d forgotten the training.

Three things I do know however:

The boat (apart from the hull) will be in a sad state and will require cleaning and polishing at least. Large areas will also need painting but I’m hoping to avoid using paint where-ever I can.

From what I have seen of the boat, she will need a new electrical system

There will be woodwork to do

So, I now have a collection of books on order and one or two have been delivered. I’ll review and post notes on the ones I find most useful next door on the Essential Reading Page, and the jewels of information, hints and tips I discover, will be posted here. So, if you’re interested in getting afloat, it may help you avoid pointless reading.

As usual, all comments are gratefully received especially if they offer, different, easier or cheaper solutions.

Here’s one I picked up from John Almberg on the ‘Unlikely Boatbuilder Blog

Varnishing – cheap brushes shed hairs and are a pain – they can completely ruin a good job – BUT you can use them IF you comb them first. So, get a cheap brush and comb it vigorously until it stops shedding hairs (two minutes maybe?) and then she’s as good as a much more expensive item.

Well, that’s something I’ll definitely try!

Seaward

Essential Reading for Sailors (3)

RYA Manual of Seamanship

Tom Cunliffe

This book, part of the RYA Yachtmaster Series is a ‘must have’ for anyone who puts to sea in a small boat. Although written with sail boats in mind, much of the advice and wisdom is equally applicable to motor vessels also. It deals with hull form, speed in theory and practice, the motive force of sails and power units, ropes and rope work, boat handling, anchoring, mooring handling heavy weather, storm survival, dealing with emergencies, fog, manners and customs of the sea, dinghy work, river seamanship, grounding and wind and waves – an awful lot of information in one hundred and seventy well illustrated pages.

The author, Tom Cunliffe will need little introduction to most boat-owners and there can be few writers better qualified to write on this subject, having spent a lifetime serving before the mast in small sailing ships, racing, skippering yachts for private owners and serving as a mate on British registered coasting vessels as well as teaching.

So, if you want to know how to coil rope, what flag to fly or how best to survive unexpected heavy weather – this is the book to tell you and the advice contained within its pages is the best you can get.

Tom Cunliffe’s Manual of Seamanship is essential reading for anyone taking an RYA Dayskipper, Yachtmaster course or, for that matter, anyone who puts to sea.

RYA Manual of Seamanship Title        

Author     Tom Cunliffe

ISBN         978-1-905104079

Publisher    Royal Yachting Association 2007

Seaward

Essential Reading for Sailors (2)

Reeds Handbook Marine Surveying 2ed

Thomas Ask

Books on marine subjects coming from Reeds publishing house have a reputation for being clear and authoritative and this second edition is no exception. It is an expanded and updated edition aimed at students of marine surveying, professional surveyors, boatyard operators and technically minded boat owners.

Expensive - but could save money

As you would expect, it covers the latest surveying technology and includes an analysis of the mechanical behavior of materials, stress concentration, failure analysis, fatigue and fracture. More practically for the boatowner it also has new sections on hull and deck loads, non destructive testing, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, engine installations, cooling and exhaust systems, fuel and electrical systems, noise and vibration.

Without specialist equipment, it would be very difficult for the average amateur to carry out a full boat survey but given the cost of commissioning a professional buyer’s survey, the section of the book which provides a survey checklist with techniques and hints for conducting a survey is particularly useful for anyone considering buying a small boat.

Basically, I read the book so that I could do my own ‘pre-survey surveys’ on a number of craft to get an idea of whether any of them are worth pursuing. Let’s face it, a surveyor will charge you even if the boat is a wreck. You don’t need to commission many surveys before you are seriously out of pocket, so you  have to be pretty sure the boat is what you want and in a reasonable state before you part with your limited cash.

The advice contained here, would give you a fighting chance of getting it right before you call in the professionals.

Mmm - don't need a surveyor for this one

All in all, this is a very sound practical text book which could earn its keep on your bookshelf simply by arming you with enough knowledge to spot obvious faults in any boat you were thinking of buying. As a paperback with a recommended retail price of £30.00 it is very expensive – so try Amazon (scroll down to the link) and see if you can pick up a second hand copy.

Thomas Ask, the author is an associate professor in the school of construction and design at the Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Title                 Reeds Marine Surveying (2^nd Edition 2007)

Author             Thomas Ask

Publisher          Adlard Coles Nautical London -38 Soho Square London W1D 3HB

                                    www.adlardcoles.com

ISBN:                           10: 0-7136-7714-7

Seaward

Inspirations

Two important pieces of writing

Well, they say the darkest hour is before dawn – and I guess this is it. The weather has been unseasonably good for the time of year – more like July than April – and here I am boatless, kicking my heels on the shore, with no prospect of getting afloat until I have found a very inexpensive boat and brought her back into commission. The original idea is to trade money for time and achieve a sea going cruiser through an investment of my time rather than shedloads of cash. The dream is still there but it can seem like a distant dream at times. This time next year, hell or high water I want to be afloat and cruising.
In the meantime, I found two sources of encouragement / inspiration.

Number 1

Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931)an English novelist, author of ‘How to Live on 24 Hours a Day’. He says:

‘That proverb (Time is Money) understates the case. Time is a great deal more than money. If you have time you can obtain money—usually. But though you have the wealth of a cloak-room attendant at the Carlton Hotel, you cannot buy yourself a minute more time than I have, or the cat by the fire has.
Philosophers have explained space. They have not explained time. It is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it, all is possible; without it, nothing. The supply of time is truly a daily miracle, an affair genuinely astonishing when one examines it. You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life! It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions. A highly singular commodity, showered upon you in a manner as singular as the commodity itself!
For remark! No one can take it from you. It is unstealable. And no one receives either more or less than you receive.
Talk about an ideal democracy! In the realm of time there is no aristocracy of wealth, and no aristocracy of intellect. Genius is never rewarded by even an extra hour a day. And there is no punishment. Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld from you. No mysterious power will say:—"This man is a fool, if not a knave. He does not deserve time; he shall be cut off at the meter." It is more certain than consols, and payment of income is not affected by Sundays. Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt!
You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste to-morrow; it is kept for you. You cannot waste the next hour; it is kept for you.’ 

You can download the entire text on

Project Gutenberg at www.gutenberg.net

Number 2

The other piece I found is a very short novel by Joseph Weston Martyr, (1885 – 27 March 1966). In his day he was a pioneer British ocean yachtsman, writer and broadcaster, The piece I read was ‘The £200 Pound Millionaire’ (1931). In it he explains how to live cheaply, comfortably and in some kind of luxury  on a small sailing boat.

Apparently he also wrote a follow-up essay, ‘Five Hundred Pound Millionaires’ (1957)  which describes how to do the same on canals and inland waterways.

I found the full text of the £200 millionaire at:

http://www.bluemoment.com/200pm.html

Seaward

 Essential Reading for Sailors (1)

How to Design a Boat

No, not planning to design my own boat – the way things are going I’ll be purchasing second hand at the bottom end of the market with a view to achieving my ‘ Simple Sailing, Low Cost Cruising’ ambition by investing plenty of physical effort in her, rather than money ( of which I do not have much!). But that initial investment of money is crucial – the boat has to be the right one and she has to be in a condition that gives me, and my lack of skill, a half decent sporting chance of success. So, while I’m casting around thinking about my future vessel, I’m investing a lot of time in reading about boat design and behaviour.

Now this book ‘How to Design a Boat’ by John Teal, is the most straightforward guide to designing a boat ever published. It takes you through the whole process in a clear and logical way, explaining the math en route and using lots of examples to illustrate the theory. The book deals with preliminary sketches and calculations, preliminary design, working drawings, resistance, sail plans, stability, hull balance and constructional considerations. There is a special chapter on motor boat design because, although much of the design process is the same for motor or power vessels, there are some special considerations which have to be given to high speed craft. The author’s aim was to enable the reader to feel confident enough to design a boat which would perform perfectly well, not a world beater but a good boat nonetheless. In this book he has certainly achieved his goal.

Is she too far gone?

As I said, I’m not about to design and build my own boat but for me as a boat buyer, it is still a very good work of reference. A few simple calculations based on the contents of this book and published dimensions of a given boat should enable me to gain a good idea of what to expect of her.

Mine is the third edition of the book, reissued in 2006 as part of a ‘How To’ series. Unfortunately, not enough care went into proof reading. The inside cover mentions ‘painting varnishing and antifouling’ three topics not covered within this volume – although they are the topics of a different volume in the series. Also, on page 3 there is a misprint in the very first mathematical calculation – a waterline length of 7ft rather than 17ft. This could be highly confusing and unsettling for a reader who is less than comfortable with maths but don’t let this put you off. I would still recommend it as an valuable work of reference for anyone interested in boats.

Title                             How To Design a Boat

Author                         John Teal

Publisher                     Adlard Coles Nautical

Price                            £10.99

ISBN                           0-7136-7572-1

I guess you’ll find the book via bookshops, chandleries or from the publisher’s website www.adlardcoles.com. Mine came from Amazon (secondhand). Order it at the bottom of this page. When this project is finished I’ll probably put it back for sale via Amazon and recoup some of the outlay!

Seaward