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The transbac

Solstice made it back safely last Friday to SF and will undergo her hull repairs at KKMI prior to returning to her home port of Monterey. It was a 17 day return trip and (like other reports) included just about everything... which is what it is all about I'm sure. Memorable moments included having a crew (Austin Book) come along for company and expert assistance, allowing some catching up of rest, teams dolphins visiting, a well deserved swim some 1000 miles offshore, long hours playing around with Expedition software (finally learning the finer points), and listening to the audible book on Shackleton (Endurance) which put things into perspective for sure! Also only burned about 20 gallons of diesel during the crossing which was also nice.

Miss you all already and many thanks for the great commerraderie that is evident within this amazing group of people and supporters... That is definitely the best part of this entire adventure. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Michael P.
Solstice
 
Hi everyone! EOS made it back safely. It was quite exciting and not exactly what I expected. Just a few things for now and then I think I should follow up with more details in a tale of newbie experience to help others in future...

  1. Raw water pump replacement in Nawiliwili. A new Sherwood pump blew its bearings but I knew this was a weak point so had a complete spare I swapped in. Stressful though.
  2. Starter battery failed. Its a pretty new Relion lithium but designed to start engines. It was charging and otherwise working OK but the BMS suddenly started cutting out on high-current start. Still dont know why. Could be a case where low resistance actually hurts. I have ability to combine so can use the house battery to start and also had two LiPO jump packs: one worked (Weego) the other did not (Schumacher). I had not tested combined battery mode for days at a time though, so was nervous.
  3. Sailed out of Nawiliwili with Tortuga which made me feel better and then it got rough, lost sight of them at the end of the first day and then learned a couple days later they had turned back. Wife was hoping I could follow them most of the way back. Definitely felt more alone than on the way there. (Randy looks like he is having a tough time.)
  4. My alternator and regulator failed about 2 days out of Kauai. Running the engine was discharging the batteries in float mode. After a couple days troubleshooting, the alternator looked OK. It took 7-10 more days of troubleshooting with great support from shore (thank you Ryan) to learn that the Balmar controller was really designed for AGM and had been hacked (Balmar's words) for LFP. Balmar wanted me to change about 8 parameters to figure out what was going on. At day 20 I ended up just hot wiring a switch to the alternator, running the alternator in bulk to charge things and then manually turning it off. That got me home. It could be something to do with combined battery mode, still working it out. Never had a problem before but I dont often run the engine for 24 hours either.
  5. As part of troubleshooting the alternator problems, I enlisted Rick Shema, The Weather Guy, to help route me in clear weather whenever he could. I knew engine belt/alternator/pulleys was a weak spot; I replaced all before I left but knew I could not change the alternator at sea. So my backup was 600W of solar and that turned out to be a good backup for the alternator and charging system. Big thank you to Rick.
  6. Together with Michael and Solstice went through a stinger low. I got spun around in a 40knot downblast about 10:30pm. The rudder wanted to go this way and the autopilot wanted to go that way and shear pins broke. That was an interesting quick repair.
  7. Solstice timed things perfectly and overtook me a few days out from SF. I did not time things well. Ran into a gale in gale alley. Saw it coming and went as high as I could get. Had no choice but to run off South (you can see it in my track) in the face of 25G30 wind from 000M but mostly because of two swells: a 12-14 000M swell that was confused with a swell from 030M that I never did figure out. Just could not do anything except head DDW for what seemed like forever. Things calmed down just in time for me to turn East for a panic motor into SF.

Let me add my thanks to all those who organized the SHTP. Amazing people doing an amazing amount of work. Thank you.
 
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It took 7-10 more days of troubleshooting with great support from shore (thank you Ryan) to learn that the Balmar controller was really designed for AGM and had been hacked (Balmar's words) for LFP.
Click to expand...
The Balmar 614 isn't "hacked" nor designed for AGM (also Lead, Gel, LFP, etc) but programmed for your battery type. Years later and many years ago they added LFP to the the stock programming choices. I worked with Balmar 15 years ago to come up with charge profiles that work great with LFP packs and I've personally used it for dozens and dozens of installations. If you want the numbers that are know to work reliably hit me up.
 
Also re: starting LFP. You have to be careful with any pack that has an integrated BMS because any number of internal failures can happen and the default position is OFF. This is why I like LFP packs with external BMS setups as you can bypass the failed electronics and still get to your perfectly fine electrons in the cells. Starting packs usually aren't setup to handle a lot of charge amps so you should never use a combiner or charge directly from an alternator. You should always use a DC-DC trickle charger that charges from the house bank when it's getting charged. NEVER use a 1-2-ALL battery switch. You should have a starter selector switch that lets you choose to start from the House or Starting battery.
 
1. Thanks Daydreamer!
2. Thanks solosailor! You posted many similar great comments on batteries and charging that really helped me in the thread on power budgets https://www.sfbaysss.org/forum/showthread.php?2846-Power-budget-calculations/page2 Instead of mangling this thread I will post an electrical follow-up in either that thread or start a new one.
3. Randy sent me a few messages and he is slogging his way back much further north than anyone else had to go. He says Horizon was about 360 nm SE of him a couple days ago. They are, I think, the last two coming back.
 
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Solstice update...

Since our return to the mainland, Solstice has been with KKMI in Point Richmond for a bit now and the repair is going very well says the yard's PM today. The hull damage was caused by a pretty heavy "slam" during my post arrival move from Hanalei to Naliwili where the wind and seas became a bit "spirited" off of the lighthouse point and a table sized chunk blew off the side of the hull leaving only a thin layer of roving between the sea and the cabin. The yard noted that the epoxy and roving patch that we put in place in Nawiliwili prior to the return to the mainland also held very well and has been now ground off for the finish fiberglass layup and repair with X-Mat and other modern epoxy compounds... making the repair the strongest part of the boat now of course!

The yard also said that the problem was originally located at a previous hull/waterline repair that had poor adhesion some years ago. Good news as that means that there is not a systemic issue with the hull other than the fact that resins have changed and improved much since 1963. Anyway, I just wanted to give everyone an update on the progress and look forward to getting Solstice back to Monterey after she is made whole again.

Cheers,

Michael
Cal40 #4 Solstice
 
Horizon update. I exchanged emails with Piyush this morning. He is 350 from SF and trying to make it home before the next gale rolls down the coast. Winds are light but he says he has an enough fuel to motor.
 
Did Horizon make it in?

That storm is nearly done and Randy and Tortuga are speeding up to get in since wind totally dies Friday. They are 175 nm out at 7:30am today. I was hoping to go help Randy when he came in, not that he needs it and I'm sure there will be a ton of people there at Pier 39, but he helped me so much before and during the SHTP I just wanted to say thanks again. I am going down to LA to visit in-laws but Tortuga should be in by the time I get back. What a journey!

Mike/EOS
 
Yes Horizon is back. I exchanged VMs with Piyush Tuesday morning and he had just arrived back. He said wind and seas were building but not as bad as when we left for Hawaii. No major breakage or issues.
 
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