Month: July 2020

Painful irony?

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So depending on how I feel in a moment it is painful or amusing or frustrating or sad or just ironic that the blog post to sell our Diesel engine is currently the most popular on Sustainable Sailing.

It does highlight that for us, it is important to get afloat and demonstrate that an older boat, switched away from fossil fuels and refitted for a lower impact on the climate is practical, enjoyable and sustainable.

We are not engaged in some hair shirt, self inflicted punishment on this journey. In so many ways we find that living more sustainably is a really positive thing for ourselves as well as for others.

Fortunately, despite all the refit work this is not just about something positive in the future. We are also enjoying the journey to that future. While we are working on the refit we have already got a comfortable place to stay away from work and in a beautiful location.

Hopefully, we will soon sell the engine, ideally to someone who will be able to retire a less efficient one, who will benefit from this engine while using it very little 😉 In the meantime the money will be able to go towards more sustainable things for Vida 😉

Details of Yanmar Diesel 3JH5E for sale

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Attached a whole load of photos of the engine which we are selling as is. Having looked around we are setting the price at £3,000

The plate says it was manufactured in June 2010. We understand that it was professionally installed in our Rival 38 by Dickies Boatyard in Bangor, North Wales between 7 and 10 years ago.

We understand less than 400 hours of use and that it was winterised when Vida was brought ashore at the end of the season nearly 3 years ago.

The fuel tanks and fuel lines were not changed when the engine was installed and the lack of accessibility to flush and clean these was our primary concern, not the engine.

As you can see in the photos we made one mistake when removing it which was to cut the wiring loom in half. Shouldn’t be a big deal to splice or replace.

We are including all the bits in the photos. Some were look like they were new with the engine, others, like the morse control seem to be original.

I’ll be putting it on ebay soon. Open to generous offers.

The engine is in a luggage trailer at present. Happy to deliver reasonable distance for fuel costs. Will need to be lifted out (approx 180 kg). For extra £100 I can build an A-frame and lift it out onto the ground for you.

The various identification plates.
The engine
The bits including some spares

Electric Motor compartment changes

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Our process for designing the electric motor compartment has had to be somewhat adaptable. We started from knowing nothing and so it has been a constant process of learning and then changing our plans.

The work over the last two weeks (Stuffing box flange is off, Yanmar Diesel 3JH5E for sale and Friday progress #21) has been a catalyst for some more changes. We now have a much clearer understanding of how all the parts between the motor and the propeller fit together. We also have a much better idea of what we need to fit (and many thanks to Tristan for his comments on our post Staycation Electric Motor Progress which got us rethinking our drivetrain).

So we are now close to deciding upon a PSS Pro Shaft Seal to keep the water from coming into the boat through the stern tube. We like this dripless seal as we shouldn’t need to provide a raw water supply to lubricate it. That is good because as our motor is air cooled we don’t have any raw (salt) water to divert into the seal. Some brands require 4 litres per minute which would mean installing both an extra seacock and a pump.

The challenge of providing water lubrication to the dripless seal isn’t just that we would need to provide it when the motor is running but that we would also need to provide it when sailing and using the spinning propeller to generate electricity using the regen feature.

So the PSS Pro shaft seal allows you to provide an air vented hose if your speed will be less than 12 knots (if we ever reach 12 knots it will be a short lived and no doubt terrifying moment!). However, if we find that water lubrication is required to reduce wear when running in regen mode for days at a time, then we can add a seacock salt water inlet and connect it directly to the seal without needing a pump.

The PSS Pro shaft seal is also available with a wider range of support for propeller shaft and stern tube flange sizes. We hope/plan to reuse the flange that used to hold the stuffing box, it is a larger diameter than would otherwise be the case and most dripless seals can’t cope with that.

So that is all good 🙂 The only downside is that the PSS Pro Shaft Seal is a bit longer than many of the solutions.

That brings us to then next piece of the puzzle which is where Tristan was so helpful. Our initial plans used thrust bearings within the motor frame to absorb the push and pull from the propeller. These have two grub screws that pass the thrust from the propeller shaft onto the motor frame and then that gets passed through the motor mounts to actually move the boat.

It turned out that as a very basic and cheap solution it was flawed. Two grub screws are not very much when it comes to transmitting the thrust generated by a 40hp motor spinning a propeller ar 1600 rpm to move 9 tons of boat. Also if the motor mounts need to transmit all the thrust to the boat they can’t be very flexible and so they won’t absorb much vibration.

So we are adding an Aquadrive to the drivetrain. This helps us in several ways. The propeller shaft ends at the Aquadrive which is fixed in perfect alignment with the cutlass bearing. So vibration and wear is minimised. The Aquadrive then passes all the thrust directly to the boat, so no thrust is acting on the motor which can therefore be mounted on much softer mounts so less vibration is passed onto the boat. Plus the connection from the Aquadrive allows for a lot of freedom in alignment for the motor requiring a less accurate installation.

Apart from the cost of the Aquadrive (nearly £1,000) this is all good. However, the impact on our layout is that the Aquadrive is over 250mm long.

With the PSS Pro Shaft Seal and the Aquadrive our motor needs to be moved forward so much that instead fitting the motor batteries (2 rows of 2) in front of the motor there is barely space for one.

So, we think we are switching things around. We will move the motor to the forward end of the motor compartment, a longer shaft will connect the motor frame to the Aquadrive. The motor batteries will then go aft of the motor above the shaft and Aquadrive (it raises them by about 200mm).

We will probably move the house bank batteries to above the motor to keep the weight distribution approximately the same fore and aft. The centre of gravity will be a bit higher although we think still lower than with the diesel and full tanks.

We have not tried to fully plan where all the electrical items will go (motor controller, and inverters are the biggest) yet.

The plan is to build from the bottom up. So

  • Remove the old bulkhead to the corridor to ease access to the motor space. Finish the cleaning, then sand the whole area.
  • Fill the old seacock holes from the cockpit drains and the diesel water cooling (these will end up somewhat hidden by the battery box).
  • Paint the whole of the motor compartment and the cockpit locker.
  • Fit new Cutlass bearing (need to sort out grub screws to hold it in place), then the propeller shaft with the dripless seal. Add the (still to be fully cleaned) propeller and an extra zinc for galvanic corrosion protection.
  • Next will be the Aquadrive, which includes building the frame that will transmit the thrust. We should be able to fix this to the moulded in engine bearers.
  • That will allow us to mount the motor and fit the new shaft connecting it to the Aquadrive.
  • Now we will be able to fit the new cockpit drain seacocks where we can get easy access and route the hoses efficiently.
  • Then the battery box for the 48 volt motor battery bank of 4 x 300AH can be built above the shaft/Aquadrive.
  • Then the battery box for the 12 volt house battery bank of 4 x 120AH (position a little uncertain at the moment)
  • This will allow us to build the full bulkheads separating the motor compartment from the cockpit locker and from the corridor (and also steal a bit more space into the aft cabin).
  • Then we can fit all the electrical items and wire everything up (big job).

Fortunately, while the list is long the uncertainty is getting less. The biggest unknown is now how well the default program settings of the motor controller will work. Will we need to hire or buy the tool to reprogram it? Within that the biggest questions are about the regen and we won’t be able to know much about that until we are actually sailing.

So quite happy with all this :-).

Friday progress #21

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So we have come of age 😉 21 today. Not too bad, we are still a month away from owning Vida for a year and we were unable to visit for nearly 4 months due to the lockdown.

We arrived late last night (slightly delayed by a poorly signposted diversion). We had to sneak in quietly, as another couple from the NWVYC were asleep in their motorcaravan, in the carpark 🙂 So just the essentials to carry to and up onto the boat at 10:45pm.

This time that included one of our Natures Head Composting Toilets. We took it home last time as it was getting full and we decided to continue to avoid using any shared facilities, so took it home to empty. Again Composting Toilets prove to be by far the best toilet during a Pandemic. No capacity limit. No need to use anyone else’s facilities.

Anyway, after a good sleep we got stuck into our first task. Removing the Cutlass Bearing. Really the last key piece that needs to be removed (so it can be replaced with a new one) in order to progress with the electric motor installation. This is the part closest to the propeller, it is a bronze sleeve with rubber insert that slips inside the stern tube that is built into the boat.

So I had bought these bits.

A 1m long 24mm diameter threaded rod. To go on the inside end a lock nut then two washers, one with a 24mm hole to fit snugly and then one with the right outside diameter to fit inside the stern tube but not inside the cutlass bearing. So this gets pushed in from inside the boat until the threaded rod appears and the washer is snug against the inside end of the cutlass bearing.

On the outside I have a 63.5mm stainless steel tube that goes around the end of the stern tube to push against the keel. Then a huge 70mm diameter washer and another nut.

On site I used a hole saw so that I had a piece of wood to protect the keep from the stainless tube.

Here you can see the outside nearly ready to go.

It proved to be a really hard task, we tried tightening the outside nut (had to file flats onto the threaded rod so we could use a spanner to stop it moving). Got it really tight but no movement.

Tried using our short section of propeller shaft and a hammer from the inside to knock it out. No movement.

Tried to cut the cutlass bearing lengthways with the Dremmel. Managed to cut a lot out but still it didn’t move.

Then rather than hit the propeller shaft with a hammer I used the shaft itself as a sliding hammer down the stern tube. It worked!!! Took until about 2:30pm but finally we managed to get it out.

This is the sterntube without a cutlass bearing.

This is the Cutlass Bearing, you can see where I had cut it and trimmed it with the Dremmel to try to free it.

With that done we could get on with other jobs.

First up was more cleaning of the old cockpit locker and diesel engine bay. After several hours it is now mostly clean enough for sanding and painting.

After working on part of the cleaning together I moved onto the glass windows of the wheelhouse. We have noticed a few leaks and wanted to fix those and check their condition.

The corrosion wasn’t too bad. The seals were pretty rubbish though and several of the screws rather loose. I cleaned and refitted using a neoprene strip 6mm thick. We can plan something better for the future now we know what is there.

Last job of the day was to fit the first two uprights that will become the sides of the motor and battery compartment. We wanted to add some additional strength to support the cockpit, particularly on the port side where there is a footwell for when you are steering. Plus we need uprights to fasten the sides that separate the motor space from the cockpit locker on one side and the corridor on the other.

These will be epoxy coated and fixed in place, more will added when we are sure where the motor mounts will go.

The new space for the motor and batteries is going to be a lot narrower than the old. So we can extra space in the cockpit locker and in the corridor to the aft cabin.

I’ve set them both vertical which turns out to nearly perfectly line up from the engine bearers to the flange that the cockpit floor bolts to. Now these are in place I’ll be able to remove the old corridor side which is going to make access much easier.

It is now horrible outside, the wind has got up and it has been raining hard for 3 hours. Yet we have left the cockpit floor and cockpit locker lid off to continue to air them out (yet again a significant improvement in the smell). So good that we have a wheelhouse above). You can see how much cleaner they look. Once they are painted it will make such a difference!

Eventually the cockpit floor is going to be bolted down more permanently (because we don’t need to take it out to fit an electric motor) with two new, bigger, drains fitted in the rear corners. Until then it does provide lots of light and makes it easier to get the larger timber in.

As we move to boxing in the cockpit locker we will need to build a ladder, probably on the aft bulkhead in order to get in and out.

Next a good sleep, a lie in and then back home to work.

Friday progress #20

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As I’ve already written we had very visible progress this morning as our diesel engine is no longer on board. Vida now has no fossil fuels on board (although we are still connected to the boatyard electric supply at the moment).

Jane also managed to get the whole hull deck joint sanded ready for the toe rail to be fitted.

The next step is for Trevor (one of the boat builders at the yard) to fit an aluminium strip on top of this joint. From memory it is about 50mm wide and 10mm thick. It arrived with curves that should make it easier to line up with the deck.

He has primed the aluminium and next has to drill it for all the screws. Once it is fitted, somehow he has to fit the thick rubber section that wraps around the aluminium to look a bit like the black hand grip on an escalator in a shopping centre.

Like much of what we like about the Rival (like the light grey deck colour) it is a rugged utilitarian workboat aesthetic.

This afternoon we returned to the cockpit locker. The one we have probably said that we have emptied at least 5 times already.

This time the starting goal was to cut out the remaining supports for various equipment we have already removed (water heater, fuel tank, fridge compressor etc).

But in fact I started by removing all the screws and nails from wire and hose clips. Plus a few bits of wood screwed on as shelf supports around the battery box.

We also started sorting out the wires and removing the ones from equipment that no longer exists. That included the disconnected shore power socket that the had the surveyor going very pale and “suggesting” that we didn’t test it.

Plus the diesel tank fill hose and tank vent and also the very dirty vent hose for the water tank (it went a very long route to a rather rusty vent, think when we replace it we will find a shorter route).

Then I started cutting out the bits I had originally intended. Fortunately with nothing resting on them and a lot more space this was relatively easy.

Hopefully this is the last time we will have to empty this locker (even as I write this in the back of my mind is a bit of wood that was supporting the disconnected engine room extractor fan).

Another cleaning session, some sanding and we should be able to paint it.

We then used our workshop vacuum to get a couple of buckets of water out of the bilge, now dry and cleaner than ever.

This is the pile of stuff we removed today.

Now for a quiet evening and back to work tomorrow 😊

Yanmar Diesel 3JH5E for sale

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Today we got our Yanmar Diesel engine off the boat. Now ready to sell. The motivation to remove it and go fossil fuel free now rather than later was due to the original fuel tanks and fuel system rather than the replacement engine. It has less than 400 hours on it. So get in touch for a ready to go engine.

Meanwhile we have our cockpit back 😊 No oil or fuel leaks, just the dry sawdust from building the support frame and cover.

Thursday progress

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In my earlier post Stuffing box flange is off! we achieved the job that has been worrying me most during lockdown. So with that done we spent the rest of this extra day off clearing more debris from the diesel engine and preparing for the electric motor.

This is the stern tube where it emerges from the back of the keel (after we removed all the paint). This is the same tube that, on the inside, we removed the stuffing box flange from. So it is a bronze tube about 1m long fibreglassed into the structure of the boat. The propeller shaft runs through it.
After help from the Rival Owners Association with think the 3 holes, in a line, are from something fitted in the past to cut ropes that would otherwise get caught around the propeller.

The single hole is matched with one on the other side and these should have grub screws in them to hold the cutlass bearing in place.

This is the cutlass bearing. It is a bronze tube about 20cm long that fits inside the stern tube. It contains a rubber bearing with grooves cut in it. This is what the propeller shaft turns in. The grooves allow water in as a lubricant and for cooling.

It needs replacing and we managed to get the rubber insert out but not it’s bronze tube. It seems that we will have to make a couple of lengthwise cuts in the cutlass bronze tube so that we can get it out. Then the new one should just slip in. H’mm, we will see how easy that is.

Then we made some more holes in the cockpit. Top, semi circular is where the holder for the old engine gear lever/throttle was. We will take it home and prep it for the new tiny electric throttle.

The rectangle below that is from the autopilot which we have removed for cleaning and to get easier access to all that wiring.

Below that a round hole and a square hole were from two vents, we think they were for the fridge compressor. We will be blocking them up.

The rough, round hole on the left is from the manual bilge pump. We are taking it home to service, we think it will be fine, it just needs a new plastic ring on the outside as the current one was broken. All the pipes for the bilge pump will be new and routes differently so that we have access to the skin fitting where they exit the boat (we will have it a bit higher too and it will have a proper valve on it).

To do these jobs we removed both the cockpit locker and the cockpit floor for light and access. Jane did some cleaning, to get rid of the diesel stains where we have removed the fuel tank from the cockpit locker. It is now so deep only her head pokes out from it. Steps are going to be needed, at the moment we climb across the empty engine room from the corridor on the left of this picture.

This is looking from the corridor across the engine bay to the area Jane was cleaning. It looks very different. Before the whole area was as dark as the darkest part in this picture. When we have finished cleaning it will be sanded and painted to look pristine. Then a new vertical bulkhead (“wall”) will separate this locker from the electric motor room.

Meanwhile I cut the big piece of wood and fibreglass out from the side of the corridor. It was the support for the fuel tank (and an edge to stop the tank slipping into the corridor. Yet more saving of weight and taking out smell (untreated wood soaking up diesel for 42 years, yuck!).

That big chunk came from the left of the floorboard in the next picture.

In the bottom left of the picture you can see a cut out in the bulkhead which was for the fuel tank tap. This is the bulkhead at the aft end of the chart table which you can see in the picture. We are having a smaller chart table so that you sit facing forward (back leaning against this bulkhead). So we are going to trim the width of the bulkhead to match that tap cutout. Another step towards making the corridor to our cabin wider and easier.

We have now measured and we should be able to store two bike frames (with wheels taken off) in this space to the side of the corridor. We will probably hang them from hooks.

The right side of the corridor as you look in this picture will also move as we don’t need as much space or sound insulation for the electric motor.

Finally, we have been able to make lots of progress around the boatyard. Here I’m partway through removing the storage box we built around it while storing it in the cockpit since we lifted it out in February (see Diesel engine is out. Zero fossil fuel cruising on the way). We hadn’t expected it to be stored there so long. Tomorrow, the yard are going to life it out and down to the ground. Then we can sell it 🙂

We were also able to sort a few things with the other people who work around here. Steve is going to clear away the stainless steel and old diesel and he has sold the rigid dinghy that came with Vida for us.

Trevor is preparing to fit the new toerail (it will look a bit like an escalator handrail), before lockdown Gary got the preparation done by cleaning and filling the joint that the toerail covers with special flexible epoxy resin. This will be a lovely job to have finished as it was in progress a year ago when we bought Vida.

Only after we removed the autopilot and came below did we realise that this has left a big gap to be filled between the galley and the cockpit locker. Planning the rewiring is quite a big job as our electrical system is going to be so different, plus the switch panel is moving to the other side of the boat. We are intending to fit plastic tubes as conduit for all the wiring so that it is possible to pull new wires through in the future. However, we have both 240volt AC and 12volt DC to do and they need to be kept separate.

Stuffing box flange is off!

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This has been worrying me for a long time. The last bolt was stuck.

But today I managed to drill the bolt out despite really tight access. I couldn’t get the drill in straight so used the Dremel with it’s flexible extension.

This allows us to sort out the, rather critical, detail of getting the propeller shaft to go from the motor on the inside of the boat to the propeller on the outside and spin without water getting into the boat around it 😊

It is all beautifully engineered bronze. As soon as all the bolts were removed the flange unscrewed perfectly from the threaded tube that is moulded in.

Next we will look at the outside end where there is a cutlass bearing.

Then we have to see if we can get a dripless seal that will fit around the tube of the flange. If not we will need to get a new custom made bronze flange with narrower tube.

Sustaining Electrics

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We have had lots of comments that salt water and electrics are not compatible. We also see lots of YouTube channels who find that their electronics (laptops, hard disks, cameras etc) do not last well in salt water environments.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. So what are we doing about it?

First, we need to recognise that Salt Water and Diesel are also not compatible. Also that diesel engines still need some electrics (very few modern diesel engines can be started by hand).

Second, there is a lot that can be done to help electrics survive better and to be more sustainable in our use of them. So here are a few things we are doing that particularly relate to the electric motor.

  1. Keep salt water out of the boat.
    1. Reduce the number of holes in the boat. We are down to 2 seacocks which are for the cockpit drains and so there is no opening from them into the interior of the boat.
    2. Change the traditional stuffing box to seal the propeller shaft with a modern dripless seal. The stuffing boxes always leak a little, right next to the motor which is clearly a bad thing.
  2. Actively dry the air, we will be fitting and electric dehumidifier into the motor compartment so that the air used to cool the motor will be dryer. The model we are looking at (Ecor Pro Dryboat 12) removes the moisture in an warm, damp exhaust to the outside (so we don’t need to have a water drain inside). A side effect is warm, dry air that can be used to warm the cabin, dry clothes etc.
  3. Box in the motor. While not fully sealing the motor (it is air cooled so needs air flow) we will make sure that it isn’t directly open to the bilge and that the air into the motor compartment comes from drier parts of the boat (such as the aft cabin which is far from the entrance and from wet clothes lockers). The compartment will be fully sealed from the cockpit locker where wet ropes, fenders etc will be stored. Also fully sealed from the galley where we create steam.
  4. Keep other water away from the motor compartment. So no plumbing at all. No water pump, no hot water tank etc.

We are also considering sustainability when it comes to other electronics such as used for navigation, general computing, entertainment etc.

Here our intention is to avoid integrated proprietary solutions in favour of low cost, open solutions. Also to use wireless communications where possible.

So our key platform will be Raspberry Pi single board computers. These do not require fans, can be installed in fully waterproof cases and run off 5Volt DC so are easy to power from our battery banks. They can be used for navigation (using OpenCPN), communication between sensors (such as wind speed, boat speed, AIS etc using SignalK as well as wired connections), entertainment (video etc), work (office software, video editing etc etc).

All the software is free and open source which is always far more sustainable than closed proprietary solutions that companies can stop supporting (or the companies can disappear). Even if you are not a programmer you still benefit from this.

Waterproof screens are now widely available and replacement screens can be bought anywhere (anything with an hdmi connection will work). That compares to replacement screen needing to be bought from B&G or Garmin or Apple.

As Raspberry Pi computers are cheap (the most powerful, more than we need is £74) and can be used for so many tasks, we can have several meaning we gain redundancy.

More and more sailors are switching from the very expensive dedicated units such as from B&G, Garmin, Raymarine and instead using the phone, iPad or tablet. However, these are generally not very waterproof and as they are all in one units they are expensive to replace.

Instead we can have a “dumb” but waterproof screen and keep the brains (the Raspberry Pi) separate, away from the elements. If there is a failure we haven’t lost the whole unit bit can easily replace just the broken part.

The open source element also allows a great deal of integration For example I can write code to access our Batteries Management systems over bluetooth from our Raspberry Pi (and make it available to the boat management system) without needing to wait for our unknown brand to be supported by the navigation system supplier. Others have connected sensors for temperature, humidity and much more.

There are a number of new sensors for sailing becoming available eg wind sensors from both OpenWind and Calypso that are solar powered and wireless. Both can be connected to Raspberry Pi systems. This should prove more reliable that systems requiring wires up the mast for power and data signals.

Whilst the (very expensive) integrated systems from B&G etc are very sophisticated they also tie you into an ecosystem that does not have sustainability at it’s core. To gain that you need to have more control yourself which is what the OpenSource approach gives.

Plus neither we nor the planet can afford to keep replacing Macbook laptop computers every year or two.

Measurements confirm layout choices

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So I recently wrote Cabin Refurbishment: Part 4 Layout, however, at that point we hadn’t been on Vida for over 3 months during which time our thinking has been evolving. So our ideas were based on memory and the drawings which are a little inaccurate for the internal layout.

So, yesterday, we took lots of measurements :=)

Galley: In order to fit the worktop extension flap we are only going to have reduce the height of the bulkhead by about 50mm. We will be able to hinge the flap so that when it is in the up position it will cover the top of the bulkhead and so there will be no visible hinge to trap food, that will make it easier to keep hygienic.

Chart Table: We do want to keep a chart table suitable for a standard folded chart. The existing chart table is much, much larger than that, but sadly not quite big enough for an unfolded chart. We have enough space for a forward facing chart table with a permanent, forward facing bench seat (with storage underneath it). We will be able to have a shelf under the chart table to fit the sewing machine, without reducing knee room. This should end up being a comfortable place to sit when you are on watch (between getting up every 15 minutes for a full look around the horizon).

Corridor to aft cabin: The space at the outer starboard side (where the fuel tank was) is long enough to store both our bikes (providing we remove the wheels first). That means we don’t have to spend money on folding Bromptons (at least initially – folding bikes are a lot easier to transport ashore and can be kept with you in shops for security). We will fit it out with shelves to maximise the storage space around the bike frames.

It means that long term we can have at least one full-size bike for use on the indoor trainer for exercise 🙂

The changes to the chart table and turning the engine compartment into the motor room mean that the corridor can be widened, enough to make it practical for a foldaway sea berth. We can also add an opening porthole to the side of the cockpit to provide natural light and ventilation to the corridor as well as easier communication from the chart table or sea berth to the cockpit.

Electric Motor Room: We need a cool name for this space that is going to be so awesome. Something that sounds like it comes from the Starship Enterprise 🙂 We have confirmed that the motor, it’s battery bank, the house battery bank, the two inverters, the MPPT Solar controllers will all fit while still having good access to the only 2 seacocks in the boat (2 x 50mm Trudesign composite seacocks) for the cockpit drains.

After further study and thinking we are probably also going to fit an electric desiccant dehumidifier in this space so that we can improve the lifespan of all the electrics by drying the air thus avoiding them sucking in salty, humid air causing them to fail. More on this in the future, a nice side effect is that the dehumidifier also warms the air (and yes we will make sure that warm air gets directed outside the boar when we are in hotter climates).

I’m working on designs for battery boxes that fully enclose the batteries and hold them in place even in the catastrophic event of the boat rolling over. With the motor bank of 4 batteries weighing a total of 152 kg the thought of these flying around is terrifying.

Critically, we are going to be able to have really short and simple electrical connections between a) the batteries and motor b) the house batteries and the inverters with all fuses and master switches very accessible. We have some really chunky tinned copper (60 x 6 mm) for the main busbars so are very confident that we can get a really efficient house battery bank (that is very critical for 12 volt batteries connected in parallel where the current is very high) with a key focus on that connection to the inverters and also to the windlass as these are, by orders of magnitude, the items needing most power.

The route to our main 12volt switch panels (everything apart from the inverters and the windlass) is also simple as the panels will be above the entrance to the corridor (above the chart table, on the starboard side of the companionway). All the busbar connections for the lights etc will be accessible behind the switch panels above the corridor (there is a narrow space inside the edge of the cockpit), we will make them so that they drop down for easy access.

Forward heads: We feel we also have a measured plan for this space. We are sacrificing some, rather inaccessible, storage space for what will be a much more generous toilet, shower, dressing space.

The composting toilet will be on the port side, sitting on a raised platform which allows it to move outwards a bit. Above and behind it will be storage space for a hand washing machine and an electric spin dryer. As we won’t have the sliding door to the saloon we will be able to fit big handholds, on both sides, for when you use the toilet in rough weather.

The two big, awkward cupboards/wardrobes opposite, on the starboard side, will be removed. On the forward side there will be a narrow hanging locker/wardrobe for guest hanging clothes. Next to that the basin with vanity storage outboard and holding tank below.

The central section will be used (with full standing headroom and plenty of space) as the shower. The toilet and basin will be protected by shower curtains (although if it is rough you can sit on the toilet to shower). The shower drains straight into a sealed section of bilge which will be pumped directly into the larger holding tank.

There will be a hinged door to the saloon (will block off the basin when it is opened).

The hinged door to the v-berth will open and expand to be able to hide the toilet. When the v-berth is used as a guest cabin you can use the shower area with wash basin and hanging locker for getting dressed (with the toilet out of view). At night, if you wish, the door to the v-berth can be closed to act as a headboard. We will add a step to the lower part of the hanging locker to make it much easier to climb up into the v-berth when it is configured as a double.

We think the small loss of storage (which is currently very difficult to access and going to be very damp if you have a shower) is a small price to pay for a comfortable shower and space to get dressed when using the v-berth as a double.

The whole of this space will also be much lighter (thanks to the larger windows as they no longer have frames) and better ventilated as both windows have opening portholes.