Roger that!

Now that the Kubota runs, all the "accessories" can now be installed.  The refrigeration lines were installed as of the last posting, but the refrigeration system was leak tested and given an initial charge.  All seems to be working properly and the final system charge will be adjusted soon.

The last of the old (dark red) formica is gone.  It was on top of the forward cabinet, next to the head.  It was above our eyesight, but since we wanted to take all the formica off the boat, it was finished and cleaned up. 

Currently Mike is installing a carbon filter in the water system.  And over the next couple of months (no real hurry since we won't be making water while the boat is sitting in the slip) we'll be installing the watermaker (powered by Frankengen).

The ICOM M802 marine SSB radio has given us a little bit of a pain in the wallet.  It has been sent away for repairs a couple of times.  The first was for a firmware upgrade (to ICOM in Washington state), the second for a software change so we could program an MMSI number and user-selectable voice compression (to a company in FL), a third trip (to ICOM again) because we started developing some transmitter problems.  The evaluation showed a bad filter board and because it was open, they found that there was corrosion on the top and the bottom of the case.  With that all replaced, the radio came back and reception was great!  However, after a couple of days, we developed a problem while transmitting.  We called ICOM and their technician said his experience with that problem was usually located in the power source.  So Mike did some troubleshooting/testing and located the problem.  A web search pinpointed the culprit and the required IC chip (that controls the precision voltage regulator) was the problem.  Solved -- for $1.50!  (Note that we're testing the radio in the basement, so the power supply at the house is not the same power supply on the boat.)

Bad power supply chip

We will not be around for a few weeks.  We have volunteered to crew for someone who needs to bring their "new" Swan 46 up from Jacksonville, FL.  So for the next couple of weeks we will be driving to Florida, making preps for an offshore trip, and sailing north to the Chesapeake Bay.  You can watch our progress (if you're interested) on http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionreportsDetail.aspx?callsign=k3mcd
 (We're using Mike's callsign for this trip:  K3MCD.)

Frankengen Is Alive!

Frankengen is alive and running ... and this time on purpose.  We say this because the other day when Mike was hooking up the controller, Frankengen started up and ran for about 15 seconds before he got it shut off.  But we digress ... let's back up and bring you up-to-date.

Briefly, with a few accompanying pictures, these tasks were completed:

• finished the installation of the 3 new house batteries
• mounted and secured the new house batteries (3 of them) under the companionway steps
• installed the battery monitor  
• built a cabinet to cover and contain the batteries
• cleaned out the items that were stored in the forward head and painted the remaining (unpainted) lockers
• re-installed the mainsail on the boom
• installed the OGM tricolor/anchor switch in the electrical panel
• cleaned up wiring in the electrical panel (shortened some, bundled wiring, and removed unused wiring)
• completed building the shelf behind the stove
• dressed (cleaned up) Ford-Lehman engine control wiring
• re-located the battery charger on the engine room bulkhead in order to make room for the Kubota voltage regulator
• found used Ford-Lehman heat exchangers and had the worthwhile ones serviced for spares
• installed the battery switch for the Kubota

House batteries installed and secured

Battery monitor for house batteries

Cabinet enclosure for house batteries

Shelf behind stove

 And, the Kubota has been installed and taken for a test run.  Getting it fully installed involved:

• installing the exhaust system:
• venting the exhaust (cutting a hole through the hull just above the waterline and inserting an exhaust through-hull)
• installing elbows
• installing the water-lift muffler
• configuring bleed and fuel lines
• fabricating new refrigeration hoses
• installing and aligning the belts (had been pre-assembled and alignments marked)
• installing the fuel pump
• installing the solonoid valve
• configuring water injection for wet exhaust
• installing plumbing hose for raw water cooling system
•  from the sea cock -> pump -> refrigeration heat exchanger -> Kubota heat exchanger -> vented overboard
• installing plumbing and circulation pump for coolant (closed-loop anti-freeze)
• hose from the circulation pump -> Kubota -> heat exchanger -> circulation pump
• integrating the electronic engine controller

Here is the 200 amp alternator after it was installed.  And the second picture shows some of the finished work.  The two parallel black hoses are the refrigeration hoses.  The "T" in the upper left connects the "clear" hose to the ball valve and into the exhaust (which is the wet exhaust) and provides the cooling for the exhaust system.

Kubota 200 amp alternator

Kubota exhaust system water injection

The Frankengen truly is alive now.  It has a brain (the engine controller) which will control the starting and stopping and many safety features to ensure that the engine will not "burn up" or "run away".  This engine controller is sort of like the computer brains for a smart house.  All it takes to turn it on is a toggle switch.  Everything else is done by the controller and does not need monitoring.

Engine controller for Kubota ("da brains")

Changing the Receiver/Dryer

Now that the Kubota has been mounted on the brackets, it is time to start re-assembling it and integrating it with the rest of the systems, or "creating our Frankengen".  The heat exchanger and salt water boost pump (for the Kubota engine) were installed.  The water filter housings were mounted on the bulkhead also. 

Kubota heat exchanger and water filters for watermaker

We had decided to change the refrigerant from R12 to R134a.  Since the DC system already utilizes R134a, we only will have to carry one type of refrigerant.  (It's a dual circuit cold plate and can run two types of refrigerant if we so choose.)  While flushing the old system in preparation for the new refrigerant, Mike checked the existing water-cooled refrigeration condenser unit and found that it would not pass the refrigerant through the the receiver/dryer.  The receiver/dryer stores liquid refrigerant for the refrigeration system until it needs it.  It contains two felt filters and desiccant (drying pellets) between them.  It turns out that it was clogged.  You can see dirt in this picture.  Mental note to selves:  change the filter dryer every year, as recommended by the manufacturer, to prevent this from happening to us.

Old receiver/dryer cut open for inspection

Dirt in old receiver/dryer

So the new receiver/dryer arrived and Mike brazed it into the assembly.  This assembly will be in the raw water cooling circuit for the Kubota engine.  The tube on the right is a heat exchanger which contains two circuits of tubes -- one set for raw water and the other for the coolant.  At the top of the tee on the left he installed a charging port.  This will make it easier to charge (add refrigerant to) the refrigeration system.  By design, this type of system may lose refrigerant over time (just like the air conditioner in your car), necessitating a means to charge the system.

Picking up the Pace

We are picking up the pace, as it is not quite as cold these days, and thus a little more bearable on board.  While Mike was clearing a space for the brackets for the "frankengen", he was moving hoses and found that the drain from the aft sink choked from 1 1/4" to 3/4" and was completely blocked.  He also found a bad connector in another hose.  Well, they are about 30 years old, so they were replaced:

New connector and bad connector

1 1/4" chokes down to 3/4" (connection at lower end)

You can see the 30-year calcium build-up and the new "T" connector here:

30-year calcium build-up

New "T" connector; no choke point

Things are rolling a little faster now.  Thanks to our friend Gary, Mike was able to finish welding the brackets for mounting the "frankengen" (a homemade version of an Aquagen) in the engine room.  What we're calling the "frankengen" is a Kubota diesel engine, which drives (1) a refrigeration compressor, (2) a large-framed alternator for charging the batteries, and (3) a high-pressure pump for a reverse osmosis (RO) watermaker.  He had assembled the entire unit and had tested the alignment of the belts, etc.  Then he marked the alignment of all the pieces, so he could re-assemble it on the boat.  It was disassembled and we were waiting for the opportunity to take the Kubota piece to the boat when the seas were calm and there was no snow or ice on the deck.  The Kubota was awkward to handle and weighed 119 lbs.

The "Frankengen"

Today was a good day.  It was in the mid 40s and the sun was shining and there was no breeze.  Mike had prepped the engine room by clearing a space and mounting the brackets.  Now, all we had to do was lug it to the dock, drag it out onto the finger pier and maneuver it onto the boat, into the engine room, and up onto the brackets.  It was a two-person task (plus a little help from the simple machines on Abake).  We used a jib halyard to move it from the finger pier to the deck (we're bow-in-first in the slip), then the main halyard to move it to the cockpit.

The throne awaits Frankengen

Made it to the cockpit

Then we opened the aft hatch all the way and guided the Kubota through the hatch to the aft cabin floor.  From there it was no more simple machines, only humans who moved it into the engine room and lifted it up onto the brackets and secured it.  Whew!  We feel that we accomplished a major milestone today.

Down the hatch!

Securing the Kubota

Now the other pieces need to be re-assembled, hoping of all hopes that everything again lines up and runs smoothly.  We'll keep you posted.

A Slow Winter

We haven't posted in a while, maybe because there wasn't much to say.  Our holidays were wonderful, spending it with family and friends.  We took about 2 1/2 weeks and drove to Florida to see Jenny's parents and cruising friends Dave and Wendy who were stateside for a little while.  We had a wonderful time with all of them and were enthralled with the record breaking warm weather.

Back in Maryland we have hunkered down a few nights with a roaring fire in the fireplace.  Mike has been finishing up assembling the Kubota in the garage and overhauled the refrigeration compressor on it.  He's also set up the radio (again) in the basement and has the Pactor and everything integrated and working.  (It had required a modification for a clipping problem, which required factory servicing in Washington state.)  He's received e-mails, weather faxes, and is listening to the cruiseheimers net these days.  Jenny has worked on a few small sewing projects and watched videos on making cushions.  She's ready to go, but needs the cabin taken out of "garage" mode to "cruising" mode before she attempts any new cushions.  Just so we have a picture for this blog, these are the window coverings that were finished, using Warm Window.  They will keep the sun/heat out and when needed, the warmth in!

Hopefully February will bring the installation of the rest of the watermaker and the new batteries.  Then we will be able to move some things on board.  Progress is slow right now, but it's progress.  Once the weather breaks, we'll pick up the pace.

Survey Says!

We wrapped up our tasks for our rigging survey.  Survey said we had to replace the boots on the upper spreaders, and that meant going up the mast.  All of the other necessities  had been taken care of (cracked swage, locking pins in the lifeline turnbuckles, shortened the backstay, and a cotter pin in the forestay turnbuckle), but we just hadn't gone up the mast for any other reason and the boots were all we needed to do.  So we went up the mast.  Or more accurately, Jenny went up the mast.  She figured it was easier to replace the boots one-handed than cranking Mike up almost 50' with one hand.  No problems, no incidents, everything went well, and our rigging is now insured.

Up the mast

New boots for Abake

We were also able to make a sleeve for the furled genoa and test that out this week.  It looks good.  Then, we started winterizing Abake by taking down the genoa.  Once the sail was down and folded, as Mike was tying it together, Jenny had a brain fart and raised the furler head.  Oops!  Guess who had to go back up the mast (twice in one week!) and retrieve it.  Mike was a good sport and cranked her up again, luckily not as far as before.

Sleeve being raised

Sleeve being sewn

Mike has continued to work on the generator, and the shelf brackets were welded at Gary's house just after we made our last post.  He has cut pieces for the alternator bracket and is waiting to weld them. So Gary, he's not done with your welder yet!

Welded brackets for generator shelf

 In order to mount the new generator, space on the bulkhead had to be cleared.  This required moving the CO detector, the automatic fire extinguishing system, and the auto-pilot control.  These were all re-located in the engine room.  He also converted the 160 amp alternator on the main engine (a Ford Lehman) to use an external voltage regulator, and removed the internal regulator.  Our external regulator will allow us to adjust the programming for charging the battery and has sensors to prevent damage from overheating.  The previous internal regulator only knew one way to charge, had no sensors, and could make no adjustments.

In Maryland for the Winter

Well, we're officially saying (out loud) that we're not heading South this winter on Abake.  (We've known it for a while, but just didn't say it out loud.)  We will, however, drive to FL to visit Jenny's folks and some friends, to get a taste of some warmer weather.  Anyone who has ever retrofitted/rebuilt a boat understands some of what happened.  As we would take things apart, we'd decide to "fix things the right way" while they were accessible.  So, our list of things "to do" would grow, and our schedule would slide.  Don't get us wrong, the boat was in good shape when we bought her, but some of you will understand.  And, there were items that we were not going to install before this winter, that we had planned on adding to Abake next summer, but again, chose to do them this Fall.  Then, there's Jenny's thumb.  She was in denial about how long it would really take to heal.  Now, at 12 weeks after surgery (on Christmas Day), she's hoping she's given the go-ahead to start strengthening her grip with some light pinching and gripping exercises.  There's still no line handling for her for the near future.

Cruising a long distance on a boat with new and unfamiliar electronics as well as new systems, along with sails that have been modified and not tried is not wise.  We originally planned to do shakedown cruises on the Chesapeake Bay this past summer, with a long one scheduled for the winter.  Not having done our shorter shakedown cruises, we didn't think it was wise for us to take off for a trip to Florida or the Bahamas as our first shakedown.  We are back to our original plan, but just a year later.

So we continue to upgrade Abake this winter for what we believe will be our cruising lifestyle.  We can't do everything, because we don't exactly know what our liveaboard lifestyle will be.  But we can upgrade her with the things we're sure we're going to want -- like a watermaker.

Mike, in between other projects, has been assembling a Kubota DC generator that will charge the house batteries, make water, and freeze the cold plate for the refrigerator.  He has most of it assembled and has cut brackets for mounting it.  The next step is to weld the bracket pieces together and mount them on the forward bulkhead in the engine room.  We're hoping to weld the brackets today.

Adjuster bracket

Serpentine belt on DC generator

Angle bracket reading for welding

Also, while he was cutting formica for the aft sink, he also cut the formica and replaced the dark-colored formica on top of the dresser in the rear cabin.  All the plugs were sanded and the rails were re-stained.

New formica on dresser

When Abake was out of the water for hurricane Sandy, we took the opportunity to move the 3 new house batteries (Lifeline 4D AGM batteries) on board.  They've been positioned under the companionway stairs and Mike's been designing the distribution system.  That also means that he had to decipher what the current system was in order to remove the unneeded cables.  What a chore!  There will be quite a bit of re-design because we're adding the Kubota and upgrading the charging system.  Abake was never set up for liveaboard cruising (away from shore, or AC power).

Old house bank

Removing cables

And, we learned that an upgrade is available for our SSB to keep it from "clipping" (i.e., intermittently dropping the voice while talking).  This is a free modification from ICOM, but requires that the radio be sent to Washington state.  We had our previous SSB serviced by them and had great results.  And, to our favor, the radio had not been mounted on the boat yet, so now it is on it's way to Bellevue, Washington.