race prep

[haulback]

A buddy gave me a radar reflector which appears to conform to new rules, 12 inches across in all dimensions, octhedral in shape, Kind of old but with a little elbow grease cleaned up as good as new, some odd name I never heard before .... But I do not see that Davis is the ONLY one we can use, is it??? Anyway, it now lives lashed part-way up the port-side backstay (insulated for HF antenna). Cut down old Mobri and will give it away to somebody.

Haulback is pretty much ready to go, apart from a haul-out to long-board bottom and re-paint. Will probably put her on the hard to do this for a few weeks late April to early May. Sails have all been looked over and repaired or modified as needed - most required equipment checked over and ready to load on board. To-be-borrowed EBIRP and comms-backup-satphone will be picked up just before I leave Vancouver for the trip south in mid-June. Still have to go through boat-storage locker and sort out spares and various bits and pieces to take along 'just in case'.

With thoughts of Steve's (of Westerly fame) battery failure during '06 I changed-out old batteries a month or so ago, and put in new AGM's; 2 - 4D house and a series 31 start.

Just ordered plotting charts (2 inches to one degree of latitude) to cover race course so I can plot 2X daily positions, and sailing tracks, of competitors I will want to keep a close eye on. Helps me visualize where everyone else is in relation to myself during the race - also gives me something to do between naps, reading, stargazing and generally goofing-off during the crossing.

I know most of you have had AIS for a while, but still a great novelty to me. Was out sailing for better part of a couple weeks lately, so got to play with it and get used to it a little. What a cool little peice of gear. Draws about 1/2 an amp.

Hope all the new guys are doing OK with getting all the stuff they need, or think they need (hint: Take lots!!)....Just think....next time will be much easier..

So. How's everybody else doing????

Jim/Haulback

 

[blighbaum]

Jim, in the picture of you and Haulback on the website, it appears that you have a flexible solar panel on the dodger. What brand is it, and do you recommend it? I was thinking of getting the Global Solar P3 panels, which are the right size, but it turns out they can't stand salt water. The Power Film rollable types have been recommended as being marine grade, but the largest is 20Watts and is one foot wide and 6 feet long, which is a bit awkward.

For myself, I think (hope!) I've finished most of the major stuff: new rigging, new and repaired sails, electrical system overhauled, engine brought up to snuff (ingition key is now below!), leaking cabin window fixed, arrangements made for shipping home, monitor windvane (and emergency rudder) going on this week. Next is solar panels and water badder . . . and then all the minor stuff, down to the spare flashlight bulbs! I fear that I'll get 200 miles out and find that I've forgotten something vital that is not on the SSS inspection checklist, like stove alcohol, a can opener (shades of my 2003 LongPac), toilet paper . . . .

- Tom Kirschbaum, Feral

 

[BobJ]

I'm champing at the bit to get the boat converted back to an "ocean racer" but in my other life I'm a CPA and you know what that means.

But Jim's right - it will be much easier the second time around. Tom, save your lists!

Because of the new requirement to submit an electrical budget, I've put a lot more thought into it this time. So far my calculations aren't matching the reality from the 2006 race. Either I didn't use as many electrons as my budget says I will, or the solar panels put out more than expected. Right now my budget says I need to run the noisemaker 139 minutes per day. That ain't gonna happen.

Like Tom, I'd like to find a long flexible solar panel to go across the dodger. The flexible panels aren't as efficient but will still work when partly shaded by the boom. Let me know if you find one.

Tom, the provisioning seminar (in 2006) was great for the can opener/toilet paper stuff. I know there's a seminar on that topic coming up, but in the meantime I'll see if Rob can post the handouts from 2006.

Okay, there's the fax with some joker's (uh, client's) property tax statement for 2007 - back to work ...

 

[haulback]

re: flexible solar panels

I actually started out with 2 of them, one on top of the dodger and one on the coachroof. They were unisolar - ummmm - can't remember how many watts.

Proved to be, in my experience at least, more than a little underwhelming..... One packed up between Hawaii and Rarotonga, so I got the ultimate revenge over a shitty piece of equipment and tossed it over the side (it only managed a total of maybe 5,000 miles, give me a break!!!) The other one did make it around, but quit working somewhere along the way....But because I had put on some other rigid ones (2 @ 35 watt each) in South Africa, I have no idea when the last flexible one actually gave up the ghost and stopped contributing to the on-board power grid. Noticed it had died last fall when I took off the S African ones to start installation of new panels.

New solar setup on the boat now (third installation since '04) is 5 - 43 watt Kyocera rigid panels running through a Solar Boost charge controller. Consists of 2 panels mounted on pushpit, one on hard dodger, and two more mounted in a common frame fitted so they can be positioned on the 'sunniest' side of the coachroof.

We will see how this works!!!!

Jim

 

[Alchera]

The flexible panels I use on Alchera are the UniSolar 32 watt ones. I put two on the top of the dodger and 3 forward of the dodger on the cabintop. Unfortunately, I haven't seen anywhere to buy those panels lately, they seem to have been discontinued. If anyone can find them or something similar I would like to know.

- Mark

 

[AlanH]

Well, I returned the two 65 watt Kyocera panels, they were just too darned big. So my solar array will be two BP solar 30-watt panels and two 40 watt kyoceras. 140 watts, with 7 hours of useable sunlight is still plenty to keep me going.

The old portable Coleman Lightning generator (which I discover claims to put out 50 amps at 12 volts!) is at the small motor repair shop. I will have to test it and see if it's REALLY 12 volts or more like 16. I'd assume it's the higher voltage, seeing as charging batteries is about the only reason to crank out that sort of amperage at 12 volts.

This saturday (I've been putting it off) I go up the mast and install the strobe. Since there's already one on the pulpit pole that I have the radar reflector mounted on, I will be flashing two strobes all the way to Hawaii. I also will put on the permanent autopilot bracket this weekend, and adapt the silly piece of 2 x 4 that I've been using to be bracketed to the stern pulpit so that I can put an autopilot on my self-steering setup.

The emergency rudder blade is done, I'm working on the cassette. One half of it is completed, I will layer up the other half sometime this week. Progress is slower than I'd wish, but then I've also cleared the calendar of everything but sailing, boatwork, two Highland Games and whatever my Mother In Law needs between now and July 12th.