Roger Gunkel
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Posts posted by Roger Gunkel
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Roger
My post was not really aimed at you, just to make it absolutely clear to anyone that does not have the knowledge you do and may read the thread at a later date..
I cannot parallel mine as they are different voltages.
I didn't take your post as being a warning for me particularly Keith, and it is a very valid point that the alternators need to be matched. I am flattered at your suggestion that I have a good level of electrical knowledge
but my knowledge is pretty basic based on information gleaned here and trial and error. I am always happy to listen to those who have already been where I am heading Roger
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Hi guys, apologies for not getting back sooner, internet connection has been down this morning
Thanks for the replies and it seems that my idea is pretty straight forward and workable. Thanks Chris for the link to the previous thread, particularly Gibbo's emphatic post which seems to confirm my own thoughts.
Arthur, I have been running 200w of solar for the last couple of years, and I am quite sure that we will manage with the increase to 500w + 100 backup, and our wind generator which I had forgotten to mention. The paralleling of the alternators will give us a good extra boost through the Winter with our greatly reduced electrical consumption. My experience with solar is that the figure of 10% is based on estimated optimal highs and minimal lows, but in actual real life use, we have been getting more than that through the winter as optmal levels are rarely reached at both end of the scales.
Bottle, both alternators are identical which should make paralleling an easy option and a cost free increasing of the charging rate. I've never seen the point of a 75ah alternator to charge a starter battery that is used for maybe 5 seconds a day.
Blodger, Innisfree, By'eck, Biggles, thanks for the input, I think I will keep it as simple as possible at the moment, literally just attaching the alternator outputs to the same bank terminals, before going down a more electrically sophisticated route. As Gibbo said, the alternators already have enough built in electrics to sort themselves out.
Roger
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Apologies if this has been covered before, but life is about to change and I am looking at ways to increase our charging.
After being liveaboards on a marina based residential mooring for eight years with shortish trips away from base, we are going to be leaving the luxury of mains hookup, for an extended period of off grid living. I will be extending our existing 200 watts of solar pv to 500 watts, but as the engine is fitted with two 75 ah alternators, wondered whether it is possible to disconnect the output of the starter battery alternator and connect both alternators to the domestic bank. If so, is it just a simple matter of paralleling up the outputs, or will this lead to damage to one or both alternators? Hopefully if this is possible, it will considerably shorten the bulk phase of the charging process of the 500ah battery bank in the short term, with the solar giving a lower sustained output for the later charging stages.
I am not worried about flattening the starter battery, as there will be another 100w solar panel permanently connected to it, plus a back up battery kept in charged condition.
All batteries will be new as they are all due for replacement, all lighting will be leds and we will be replacing any high consumption appliances.
Roger
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If you own a boat it isn't going to pay for any other sort of accomodation for long. A house will pay for care for quite awhile plus you may be able to downsize
A house won't pay for care for long if you still owe a big mortgage on it. A small house won't pay for as much care as a big house, a small boat won't pay for as much care as a small house. So many people seem to be obsessed with how much money will be available when they are too old to look after themselves, that they forget about enjoying life now.
Why go through life constantly worrying about what might happen when you get old? Go through life enjoying it and confront old age if and when it happens. Throughout all my adult life I have known friends and family who died before their time and for whom no ammount of planning or money would have helped for an old age that never came! What does it matter how much you have hoarded away or invested in your life of worry, knowing that it will all go to some care home who are unlikely to give a toss about some bed wetting, babbling old fogey, providing the care home owner can enjoy the lixury life your money will bring.
Roger
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They are temperamental because they have only ever run properly on low sulphur diesel, it's just that the manufacturers and builders didn't bother to to tell boat users. It does say it in the small print somewhere in the technical spec under the fuel specificatipn EN590 or current equivalent.
Roger
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Hiya
This is hardly a fair comparison unless your laptop has SSD instead of the traditional HDD. Apple excel in the audio, publishing and lighting areas, its suprising to hear youre using the windows and apple OS the opposite way round to their strong points
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It's not meant to be a fair comparison, just a statement of fact. Before getting the iPad, I had to boot up a windows laptop to get online, whereas now it takes a few seconds on the iPad.
I have been editing audio and video on pc based systems since they were first able to do so, and observed those with Macs doing the same thing. Initially the PC systems were much more prone to locking up or crashing, but over the last 15 years I can find absolutely no advantage in using Mac based editing. My contacts in the business that use Macs don't seem able to do more with their systems than I can, despite spending considerably more money than I. On the contrary, particularly in the area of 3d, the Macs lag way behind, and are also hampered by being tied to quicktime which is a pain in the rear end. Last weekend, I did some filming for a friend who runs a small commercial video production company when one of his cameramen let him down. His expensive Mac system running Final Cut Pro, was unable to read my HD M2TS files straight from the camera, so I had to convert them for him using my PC editing suite.
I also visited the BVE broadcast industry show last year to look at 3d editing systems and the only Mac based one that came anywhere near what I can do on my Acer 3d Win 7 laptop would have set me back close to £10k. I did get some snotty knowing comments when I mentioned that I worked on PC editing, until one salesman went on line with me to check out my claims for the software I was using. The difference in price was over £9500.
Roger
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My main business is video and audio production work and my experience is tha in both areas, most professionals use Macs. I think the reason is that the earlier computer based audio and video sustems were much more stable and faster on Macs than on the Windows platform. The die was cast and subsequent upgrades in the industry have usually been along the traditional Mac route. Most students would have trained on Macs and become comfortable with them, just has happened in the printing and design industries.
In my own case, cost was an important part early on, so I have always used Windows based computers for both Audio and Video work and I have yet to find things that I can't do on the Windows platform. I carry out regular 3d video filming and editing and a Mac 3d programme would cost me many times more for the same facilities that I have on my Windows laptop. The laptop is also 3d, which as far as I know, Apple do not make, so I would also need very expensive additional monitoring equment.
Roger
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What software and gps are you using for navigation?
And have you done a side by side with the nexus?
I haven't had a chance to look at the Nexus, but I will when I get into Cambridge again.
My iPad came with full gps built in and I downloaded the Navfree road navigation app, which has been brilliant. I like the fact tmhat in addition to the full postcode search, you can also do an online google search for places and store the location for offline navigation.
For offshore nav, I use the Navionics UK and Holland charts for the full 800+ uk charts. Imray have their range of Uk charts also available for the iPad, although the whole Uk would be a lot more than the Navionics ones.
Roger
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I have two Windows laptops in daily use, plus my wife uses an Acer eec notebook on Linux. I happened to remark to my son at the end of last year that I might get a cheap android pad with gps for sea navigation charts and easy wifi connectivity.
He decided that I needed an iPad and bought me one for Christmas. I have never bothered with Apple products for most of the reasons people have said, and have always found PC software much more varied, greater choice and far cheaper. I was delighted that he had bought me the iPad, but had a sinking feeling that it would rarely get used as I only really wanted it for navigation, any Apple add ons were ridiculously expensive and I would be frightened of damaging it. I also considered it a bit of a fashionable item, with owners saying how wonderful they were to justify their expenditure.
Well 6 months down the road, I have bought cheap non Apple hardware add ons, for SD and usb connections, an extra long power hookup, faux leather protective case and a screen protector. All of these have cost less than £25 in total, plus I have downloaded some amazing free apps including a superb road nav programme, far better than Tom Tom, plus some low cost apps for more serious use, all less than I would have paid for my Win laptops programmes.
The iPad is incredibly fast to load up, being virtually instantly on line whereas my laptops would take several minutes to fully boot up and get online. It is far quicker and more convenient for just about every programme I use, with the laptops now just being used for my business of video editing. I have also looked at a number of cheaper alternative pads to replace my wife's Acer notebook, and have found nothing to come close to the iPad. It puts me in mind of those Volkswagen Golf adverts, where the customer is looking at other cars and the salesman say 'Just like a Golf'.
It might be cheaper but it ain't an iPad, in my opinion after 6 months, they are bloody good.
Roger
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He's still a youngster
One elderly friend collapsed on his boat (in a marina) It took an hour for the emergency services to get him out of the boat as the cratch had to be dismantled. Now he has recovered he is stuck on the boat as he isn't steady enough to walk along the narrow walkways. Another boat coming up for sale.One elderly relative of mine collapsed with a heart attack in the bathroom of his house. It took an hour for the emergency services to get him out of the bathroom as he had fallen across the door preventing it from opening. He has recovered but with much reduced health and left unable to get up the stairs of his house to his bedroom or bathroom. Another house is coming up for sale!
I don't intend to sound facetious, merely illustrating that age and fitness can present major difficulties wherever we live and each change of circumstances can call for adaption, whether living on a boat or in a house. The arguments about not being able to lift gas cylinders, black the boat, do maintenance work are equally as relevant in a house environment, but with a slightly different tilt. Unable to clean the windows, get up the front steps, cut the grass, rod out the drains etc, etc.
If you want to do something badly enough and are currently fit enough, do it now before you are preparing to meet your maker regretting all the things you failed to do when you were able. I am 65, been living on my widebeam for nearly 8 years and am currently planning to upgrade my other sailing boat to sail down to the Med and beyond. Whether I have my fitness for a further 6 months or 20 years is irrelevant. I can do it now and am not afraid of what may happen in an unpredictable future. I was talking to a Mcmillan nurse yesterday who was telling me that one of the saddest parts of her job is listening to patients talking about how they regretted letting opportunities pass them by before illness struck.
Roger
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For inland waterways craft I think that's probably even more risky than a channel crossing.
I'd agree with that! There are no safe places to make for if the weather changes between say Boston and Wells, or Wells and Great Yarmouth. At narrowboat speeds, you would be looking at 10+ hours at sea on each leg, and with wind over tide conditions and the water movement through the channels, there are frequently nasty short and steep waves even on comparatively calm days. I have made the trip from Kings Lynn to Gt Yarmouth a couple of times in my 25ft displacement sea boat, and encountered unexpectedly rough seas that would have been dangerous and possibly disastrous for many inland waterways boats.
Phylis has done the trip in her power cruiser, but with the speed capability to take advantage of favourable weather and tides. I'm sure she would agree that it can be a dangerous stretch of coast for an unsuitable boat.
Roger
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Used Tom Tom for about 3 years and found it very reliable. Now having a smartphone with GPS, I tried the free. Navfree app which I think is superior to any satnav I have used. Since getting an Ipad with gps, the same app also works on that, and I have a dash adapter to mount it like a conventional but large satnav. The Navfree programme has frree map downloads for most European countries, plus full postcoade search and various add ons for very low cost. You can also use Google search for unusual addresses or destinations that you have no road name for. You can do the google search while you are on line, and just enter the search result by tapping the map where shown. You can then use it off line for the actual navigation.
Even with a smaller screen on a smart phone, the voice instructions are very good meaning you don't neccessarily need to look at the screen when driving. If you've already got a gps enabled phone, then for free its a no brainer
Roger
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Welcome to the forum
It's probably the only canal and inland waterways forum with anything worthwhile to offer, and a mine of information and discussion.
Happy posting,
Roger
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The jetstream tells you a lot and I like this site Jetstream. There is a tutorial on interpreting what you see and there are a number of other areas including rain radar, which can be great for seeing whats coming in the next few hours.
Roger
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Mike, I had some smelly black water in the cabin bilge a while back and found that rain was coming down the chimney and seeping around the flue join at the collar. It was then finding it's way behind the lining and dripping down the side of the boat into the cabin bilge. It was only during fairly prolonged rain when there was no fire alight, just the sort of conditions we have had lately. It could also be leaking slightly around the collar to roof fitting.
I might be way off base, but it would be worth checking as you haven't found any other source.
Roger
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The Two Tees Boatyard at Cambridge built a number of wooden cruisers similar to the one in the picture and I know that there are still a few arround. One of their's was destroyed in a petrol explosion near me a couple of years ago, which I posted pics of here.
Hi Ditchcrawler, it was good to see Harnser coming past us at Upware yesterday, presumably on your way up from Cambridge Roger
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Not an option on the morse control fitted to my boat. The only options are tickover out of gear and forward / reverse in gear. There is no other lever to pull out. The gearbox is a prm120 so there may be an issue running it at speed out of gear.
My LB widebeam built in 2004 has the standard LB fitted button in the centre of the control lever at the pivot point. There are several other LB boats here that are all the same. The button is a black plastic disc flush with the casting of the lever and needs to be pushed in to disengage the gear select. Mine has fallen out a couple of times and it appears to just cover the securing nut at the centre pf the lever, but without the plastic button, it is very difficult to disengage. Is it possible that yours has never been there? If so, then the neutral position will only be at tickover point.
My other boat and others that I have previously owned, have all had pullout buttons or Knobs.
Roger
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I had a similar problem on my small motorsailer recently after it was laid up through the Winter and not run for some months. I drained water from the seperator before first starting and also checked for signs of diesel bug. I have had it perviously on this boat and it is easy to spot as it looks like very fine gloopy mint sauce.
There were no signs of bug, so I attempted to start the engine, which fired up and ran for a couple of minutes before slowing and stopping. It then fired a couple of times but wouldn't run. The fuel filter was checked and I found quite a bit of water contamination, so emptied it out, flushed it with meths and manually refilled it with fresh diesel. The engine fired again and ran for about 2 minutes.
I then bled the whole system and checked that the lift pump was working but to no avail, so checked for fuel delivery anf finally found that no fuel was coming through the tank on/off supply tap. I ended up taking the fuel supply upstand pipe out of the tank and found that the bottom end of it was completely blocked. It was also only about 4mm from the bottom of the tank when in position, so I guessed that it had picked up sludge and sediment from the bottom of the tank over a long time. I sawed an inch off the pipe, used an extractor to get out as much muck as possible and reprimed and bled the system. It started immediately and now runs smoothly and sweetly.
EDITED TO SAY that a partial blockage may still allow the engine to start and run at low speed or on tickover, but with not enough fuel to keep it going when revs are increased.
Finally, if you do find evidence of diesel bug, it is not neccessarily as big a problem as is often feared. Over 8 years of having the boat and leaving it standing for long periods, I have found the bug on 3 occasions and each time cleared it with Marine 16 or Starbrite diesel bug treatment. With both products it worked in about 3 hours, although you need to make sure that you put a drop in the filters etc to kill anything in the lines. I now always leave treated fuel in the tank over Winter and have remained bug free for the last couple of years.
Roger
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I think Carl's already covered most of what I'd say in far more detail than I could, but I would also mention that the modern racing yachts made from carbon fibre and other exotic stuff tend to have a life of only 5-10 years before they start falling to pieces due to fatigue. They're worked hard, designed with the bare minimum of safety factors, and by the time they fall apart the design will probably be uncompetitive anyway, so it doesn't really matter to the racing fraternity, but it might be a bit more of a problem for people who want their boat to last a bit longer.
As you say, racing yachts are only expected to last for a short time, so for this reason are designed to totally different specifications compared to a blue water cruising yacht. Hull design and construction is for optimum speed to weight ratio, as is the frequently oversized rig and fittings. The number of keel to hull failures and spar failures bears testament to this, whereas ocean cruising yachts carry on for decades without those sort of structural failures given normal maintenance.
The relationship in vessels between the racing and cruising fraternities would be somewhat akin to the relationship between road and grandprix cars.
Roger
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and if you scaled up to a motor boat, using the same carbon fibre, then it wouldn't work which is why boats made of advanced materials are not "double or less" the price, they are 10 times or more.
Correct epoxy does not suffer from osmosis, however, the fact is that grp boats just haven't suffered from osmosis like all the scare stories suggested they would otherwise wouldn't epoxy/glass boats be the norm, rather than polyester/glass?
My Albin 25 is 38 years old, and has just been refloated after a scrub off and new antifouling and hull painting. The was no Osmosis anywhere on the hull at all.
Osmosis, when it is present, is perfectly curable and there are many boats that have been bought with osmosis present and still carried out long distance voyages with no problems.. In my searches for a bigger seagoing boat over the past months, I have seen a number of steel yachts with considerable rust problems at vastly reduced prices, but proportionately far fewer grp yachts with worrying osmosis..
Roger
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Hi Martin
A very wise post and just to strengthen it, if you are in ANY way in danger or think you are or need to let anyone know of your presence re safety then you can transmit without the relevant paperwork. Lets face it if the you know what hits the fan which is worse not using a safety aid ( radio ) or using one without the bit of paper !!
Tim
A good point Tim, but also worth mentioning that having the training and paperwork gives a number of important benefits. It makes it legal, it gives you the knowledge to use correct channels and procedures for quick responses and the confidence to use it. A properly licensed VHF DSC radio will also be able to transmit vital boat information, details etc in an emergency. The mmsi number will give coastguards access to information about your boat which could be essential or at least very useful in an emergency situation. That would include size and type of your vessel, which would be invaluable in a rescue scenario, and contact information for reference. All in response to a 5 second push of the emergency button.
Most narrowboat users would never need it, but for those that frequent tidal waterways, the comparatively low cost of radio and training could be life saving as well as convenient.
Roger
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I think that a lot of casual boaters just don't see how vital for safety a VHF radio is on commercial waterways and offshore. It is also essential to have the propert training to understand how to use the channels and procedures.
For commercial operations it is a perfectly normal and everyday communication to make working safe and efficient, so having a small private boat blundering into the middle of this without radio, is frustrating and potentially highly dangerous. Using correct radio procedures in a leisure vessel will get quick, professional and helpful response. Whilst coming back into Great Yarmouth on my little Motorsailer recently, I was instructed by port control to stay close in to the right of the channel and wait as a large oil support ship was reversing out of the port. The ship immediately responded directly to me, saying that they could see me clearly and for me to proceed at normal speed. A few minutes later, I was again asked to hold my position as another large vessel was about to manouver fro one side of the port to the other by thrusters alone for cargo loading. Again the bridge of the ship radioed me directly to thank me for my patience and saying that they would wait for me to pass rather than delaying me for what could be a lengthy process.
I mentioned this as an example of how VHF communication is to the benefit of amateur and professional alike in a commercial environment.
Roger
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Here are a couple of extra things to help you sleep better:-
When steel rusts, the oxidisation process causes it to swell up 8-10 times its thickness, so if you see a 1mm thick flake of rust, then it is only about 1/10th of a mm of metal. As you have 6mm of steel on your hull, I would only start worrying if your rust flake was nearer 50mm thick
Secondly, if you are worried about a sudden hole developing in thin metal and the boat suddenly sinking, it won't happen. Let's say hypothetically that in 25 years time, areas of the metal have rusted through lack of maintenance to allow rust to eat right through the steel. It would first start as a tiny pinprick at the centre of the thinnest point. That would lead to a gentle weeping of water into the bilges over weeks or months, which would be noticed long before the boat was in any danger of sinking and it could be hauled out and repaired. Even if the steel became perforated from the inside outwards, it is quite likely that no leak would develop for quite some time if the hull had been regularly blacked, due to the blacking covering over the tiny perforation
Sleep well,
Roger
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I expect your reputation preceded you !!!
They've banned you, just in case!
I lasted about 3 posts before getting locked out. Still no idea why.
But are you actually worried about being locked out of an empty room?
Roger
but my knowledge is pretty basic based on information gleaned here and trial and error. I am always happy to listen to those who have already been where I am heading 
Thanks for the replies and it seems that my idea is pretty straight forward and workable. 
One elderly friend collapsed on his boat (in a marina) It took an hour for the emergency services to get him out of the boat as the cratch had to be dismantled. Now he has recovered he is stuck on the boat as he isn't steady enough to walk along the narrow walkways. Another boat coming up for sale.
Hi Ditchcrawler, it was good to see Harnser coming past us at Upware yesterday, presumably on your way up from Cambridge 
Most efficient/economical heating fuel for living-on
in Boat Building & Maintenance
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Our 57'x10' widebeam is heated by a single Evergreen stove which has a similar heat output to a Squirrel. We originally had an Eberspacher fitted when built, that that was unreliable and expensive to maintain and run for our 24/7 liveaboard life. The stove supplies all our heating needs, but that is because we have concentrated on retaining the heat rather than producing more.
Most boats suffer from high heat loss compared wih a modern house, even those that are spray foam insulated as ours is. So rather than burning more and more fuel, we completely double glazed our boat, which has large windows, and made sure that areas behind cupboards, under beds etc had plenty of air circulation space and were well insulated. Also sealing hatches and doors properly, as sufficient normal ventilation will come through mushrooms and normal ventilators.
The difference over the last couple of years has been amazing, with no cold spots and an even spread of heat, gradually reducing by a few degrees to our bedroom at the far end, which is how we like it.
Roger