In anticipation of the upcoming boat lift on 16th March I have been asked buy a few people abroad to put a video up of it. This of course I will do and in time lapse as well, but I will also attempt to stream it live as well.
Over the next week or so I will be testing the stream by broadcasting at various time on GMT between 10.00 and 17.30.
I would appreciate as much feedback to my email address kwade.01(at)gmail.com. I will try to answer but not in real time if the chat box is open.
Now the roof has been painted I was able to fit the solar panels. That was this weeks mid week visit to the boat.
Having made and fitted the mounting brackets it was time to wire up and screw them to the roof. I had already laid in the wires in the ceiling void so this made the job a bite easier. What made it difficult was the almost continuous rain over the last 2 days. Anyway, after dodging what I could and getting the occasional dampening this is what it looks like.
Now the technical bit.
As the panels output at 30+ volts and this needs to get it into a 12v battery bank safely by reducing the voltage.
This needs another bit of kit, an MPPT controller (this site explains how they do what they do).
This is my MPPT charge controller.
The grey cable is to the remote meter which displays loads of information about whats happening. Of most interest is the live data on the input voltage, amperage and battery levels.
I have wired the negative via the shunt so this will record on the Victron battery monitor.
This is the instruction manual for the 10amp model but its exactly the same.
So today when the sun did shine well I was getting 35amps! Even when it was cloudy and pouring down I was still getting 5amps.
Conclusion.................... It works so hopefuly this will reduce or eliminate the need to run the generator.
In November 1997 we launched our Didi 38 "Black Cat" after 2 years of building, only 2000 hours for an amateur-built ocean-crossing sailboat. That boat launched a whole series of designs and new developments in plywood boat construction.
That was 20 years ago. I had video of the occasion that was recorded off the TV with a VCR. It was bad quality and it was recorded on the PAL system used in South Africa. Attempts to convert to the NTSC format used in USA were pretty disastrous, resulting in unusable files.
Today I have received a good copy of the video, in a usable format. Watching the video now reminds me just how long ago this all happened. I didnt even have much grey hair then, now it is totally silver. This video shows the shape of "Black Cat" very clearly. So many people came to me at that time and would not believe that this beautifully rounded shape was a plywood boat. Nobody had seen a rounded plywood hull before and they would only believe that it was not fibreglass after going inside to look at the structure.
Now my radius chine plywood designs are well-known and have been built in many countries. "Black Cat" is no longer unique but she remains the leader of an exciting time for plywood boatbuilding.
To see more of our boat designs, visit http://dixdesign.com/ or http://dixdesign.com/mobile
This video was shot last Tuesday by Paul Hernes, using a camera mount above the transom of his Phoenix III. The conditions were quite light, and Paul was doing a good job of harassing Rich Sutton in his Welsford Navigator until a channel marker got in the way.
Paul was using a Joel White Poohduck Skiff rig on his boat. As far as Im aware, Paul has three separate rigs for Phoenix III, and uses them interchangeably, as was the idea when I drew the multiple rig arrangement for the design.
Here is a photo of Pauls experimental Poohduck Skiff rig. The sail area is small, but Paul is a light-weight and he seems to like the rig.
The original Poohduck Skiff built by Rick Sutton...
...and the same rig set on Pauls Phoenix III
Phoenix III is a versatile boat, and being relatively small, experimenting with rigs costs very little.
Periwinkle was designed and built by me for her owner, John Shrapnel. She is a long, lean boat with very fine sections up forard to help her get through a head sea relatively easily, and without making her crew too wet. Towards the end of the video you can see how the fine entry allows the water to peel off the side of the boat rather than flying into the air to be blown over the occupants. The plank laps associated with the glued-lapstrake (clinker) construction also help tremendously in knocking the water down.
Although she is 17ft long, Periwinkle is actually a smaller boat than she looks, and she needs to be trimmed properly to get the best from her - she doesnt like weight in the bow, but all boats are compromises, and in this case the advantages described in the first paragraph make up for the attention needed regarding trim. In the video, John Shrapnel has her longitudinal trim perfect, sitting on the wide and comfortable seat just forward of the expansive aft deck and buoyancy compartment.
Large aft compartment and buoyancy/storage compartment
Room for sleeping, and note how the aft deck hatch is on the centreline, so even if the lid is open, water will not flood in during a capsise
The following video was shot on the east coast of Australia, at Caloundra, Queensland.
You can see more information about Periwinkle on my website here and here and here
It is generally thought that single-masted boats cant be made to self-steer. But there are plenty of examples of people who have made it happen - the best known being Joshua Slocum.
Here is a video showing Phoenix III doing the job, sailing to windward in mild conditions. I guess that many of you may have already seen this video, but I post it for those who have missed the action.
In the clip, owner/builder Paul Hernes is lying in the bilge of the boat, but he is not touching the tiller, nor in any other way cheating. The tiller has been lightly lashed and the boat is sailing herself. The rig is the balance lug, which sets on the standard mast which is used also for the sprit-sloop rig. Have a look at the tell-tales to see how well the rig has been trimmed.
With all of my designs, I try to use a single mast location and a common mast with the various rig options. This requires careful design and manipulation of sail size, shape, and location - but the net result is that it is possible to have different rigs without having to make a new mast, and more importantly, it is not necessary to change the mast step and the mast partner.
Paul frequently goes to the boat ramp with both the sprit-sloop rig and the balance lug rig. He makes the decision about which rig to set after he gets to the launch site. Sometimes he starts the day with one rig, and finishes the day with the other.
I promise that I will get an entry written dealing with Micro part 2 as soon as possible. Trust me, I have been really busy!?
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