When disappointment is a good thing

Disappointments are never pleasing.  When they happen, they can seem like the worst possible thing.  But there are times when that disappointment can actually be the best of alternatives...

Referring back to a previous post, I have indeed found the blockage in our raw water system.  It was right where I thought it would be.

This is that end plate on the water-cooled exhaust manifold... from the inside. Where is the water inlet?  Exactly.  You can't tell.  It is completely limed over.

Here is the same plate with the lime chipped off.  There's that opening!

So I took the plate to the shop and pickled it in concentrated hydrochloric acid to get rid of the remaining lime.  And guess what I found?  The spud where the hose attaches was cracking loose from the attaching brazing (this is an iron casting, and it had been repaired already by brazing on a new spud).  And inspecting the spud itself, I found that it was paper thin.  So OK, time to replace it.

It was the work of just a couple of minutes to break off the old spud (that is frightening in its own right).  Then grind the old brazing down and braze on a new piece of 1" copper pipe (the old spud was steel).

But wait!

When knocking off the slag from the brazing exercise (using the correct tool: the handle of a pair of pliers...), I actually knocked a hole in the plate!  It's visible there in the photo.  Here's a better look from the inside:

And there is a crack there too.  Yup... your conclusion is the same as mine:  there isn't enough good metal left on this thing to put it back into service.

So, here's a case where a benign failure at the dock was a disappointment, but it was far better thing than if that end plate casting had failed out on the water somewhere.... and surely it would have.

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Postscript:  I checked - I'd have to order a replacement out of England.  Instead, I have a local boat yard (Miller & Miller - I really cannot recommend them highly enough) fabricating me a new one out of mild steel plate.

When disappointment is a good thing

Ten most common questions asked of liveaboards

This blog is about living aboard a boat in Puget Sound.  Since most folks consider this to be an unusual lifestyle and are curious about it, inevitably questions arise.  Below I have tried to put answers to the ten most common questions we have received over the years.   They are in no particular order, except that #1 is by far the most common question.

Enjoy!

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1. Don't you get cold in the winter?
   
   No, we don't, because our boat is heated.  In fact, in this climate any liveaboard boat will have some form of heat.  On Eolian we actually have two heat sources:
   

   • An electrically powered heat pump that we use when we are at the dock and plugged into shore power (it has a thermostat and everything, just like your house), and
   • A diesel-fired heater which we use when we are off the dock

   
   
   
2. Isn't the boat always moving?  Doesn't this bother you?
   
   Yes, the boat is always moving.  And no, it is not a problem.  The human body is amazingly adaptable...  so adaptable in fact, that when we are hauled out and the boat is stationary on stands ashore, it is the lack of motion which is discomforting.
   
   
   
3. How do you sleep in all that wind?
   
   In light to moderate winds (up to say, 20 kt), we sleep just fine (see "adaptation", just above).  But in a heavy blow, well, we don't.
   
   And when at anchor, we don't sleep well when the wind goes above 15 kt.
   
   
   
4. What do you do with your *ahem* sewage?
   
   This is an uncomfortable topic which folks ashore can mostly ignore, except when paying their sewage bills, of course.   The short answer is, "We carry it around with us."
   
   We have a tank onboard into which our sewage goes.  When it is full, it must be emptied before the onboard "facilities" can be used again.  There are a couple of services (we use SS Head) which will periodically come to your boat and empty your holding tank.   Also, most marinas in the Sound have facilities to pump out your tank.
   
   The sad and frustrating part of all this is that the carefully managed and collected sewage is then deposited into Seattle's sewage system which, thru a series of design decisions made long ago, overflows raw sewage into the Sound thru "Combined Sewage Outflows".  Thankfully, that only happens when it rains.  And we all know that never happens in Seattle.
   
   
   
5. Where can you "park" your boat?
   
   The short answer: "Pretty much wherever you want."
   
   But that is an over-simplification.
   

   • You can tie up at any marina that has space on their docks.  For a fee, of course.   It's been a while since we did this, but I think the going rate may be running $1/ft, which means it would cost us $50/nite to tie Eolian to a dock.
   • With a few exceptions, you can anchor anywhere.
     
     But the preference is always to anchor somewhere where you will be protected from wind and waves.  This means in a bay, inlet, or harbor.
     
     Also, it is desirable to have water that is not too deep (we like to anchor in less than 30' if possible) or too shallow (Eolian needs 6'... at low tide).  And the bottom needs to have good holding characteristics - that is, the anchor will get a firm grip on the sea bottom.
      
     Beautiful surroundings are nice.  Thankfully, these are common in Puget Sound, the Gulf Islands, and the Inside Passage.
     
     As far as I know, there are no fees to anchor anywhere in Puget Sound.
   • You can tie up to a mooring buoy.  Washington State Parks maintain a whole host of Marine State Parks, each with mooring buoys.  Last time we tied up to one, I think the fee was $10/nite.  It may vary with location.

   
   
   
6. Where do you park your car?
   
   We park our car in the marina parking lot.
   
   When we have the boat away from the dock, we simply do not have a car available to us.
   
   This means that we prefer to frequent places which have stores, pubs and restaurants that are with easy walking distance of the shoreline.  For example, there is a very nice grocery store within easy walking distance of the dinghy dock at Eagle Harbor.  But sadly, in Gig Harbor, the nearby grocery store has closed.
   
   Some boats carry bicycles.  These would extend the range a lot, but the carrying capacity not so much.
   
   
   
7. What is it like when it rains?
   
   Soothing.
   
   
   
8. How do you live in such a small space?
   
   This is a big topic.
   
   We are all, every one of us, pack rats.  How else to explain the profitability of all those self-storage places out there?  It seems that we will fill the space available to us, with things that we "might" need at some point in the future.
   
   Living on a boat forces you to face up to this, up close and personally.  For example, before I got my Kindle, if I found a book I wanted to keep, I was forced to make a decision on which book I was willing to discard to make room for it.
   
   But even tho you start with more available space ashore, you will eventually be faced with the same decision:  Can I afford to store this (object) somewhere?  Living on a boat, you just reach this point sooner.
   
   Of course, many liveaboards rent those self-storage units.
   
   
   
9. What do you do for electricity?
   
   This is another big topic.
   
   When we are at the dock, we have a cord which plugs Eolian into the electrical grid.  Thru that cord, we can get up to 30 amps.  How much is that?  Is it a lot?  No - it's not much at all, compared to the 200 amp service you probably have at your house.  But it is enough.
   
   When we are away from the dock, we have far less electricity available to us.  We have a diesel generator onboard, but it is noisy, so we avoid running it as much as possible.  We carry 8 large batteries in our bilge which provide us with most of our electrical needs.  Of course, these are storage...  we must refill them with electricity periodically (there's that generator again).
   
   
   
10. How do you get your mail - at the marina, right?
    
    Until recently, the answer to that question was, "No."  The marina provides no mail services, so we kept a Post Office Box near where I work.  But that all changed a year ago, when Angela on s/v Ghost across the dock started Dockside Solutions.  What a wonderful blessing that has been!  Not only does she do the mail and USPS packages, but also UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc. packages as well.

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If, after reading thru this, you have a question about living aboard a boat that I have not answered above, please put it in a comment, and I'll try to answer it  (to bloggers, comments are like candy!).

Ten most common questions asked of liveaboards

Project ST5000: The relays have come in!

Aren't they pretty?

(OK, you're probably not as excited about this as I am.   I can understand.)

Project ST5000: The relays have come in!

Project ST5000: Report #4

• I have ordered 4 Solid State Relays (SSR's) via eBay.  They are Mager brand, rated 5-220 VDC load voltage, 3-32 VDC control voltage, 40 Amps capacity and 0.035 ohms resistance in the on state.  That resistance means that the heat generation within the relay will be at a rate of 8 watts with locked rotor conditions on the drive, and about 0.9 watts during drive actuation under normal operation.  This should put heat generation well within the capacity of the cast aluminum case to absorb it.  Yes, they are Chinese - but Mager publishes all the specs.
• 
  Worked up the wiring path for the ST5000 drive output to the H-Bridge inputs, including the limit switches in the drive unit, using diodes to select the flow path and to protect the inputs of the SSR's from back voltage.  (As always, click on the image for a full-sized version.)
• Hooked up the drive and my single SSR (left over from another project), and was able to actually observe the autopilot running the drive at slow speed when small course corrections are requested, and at very, very slow speed when only a 1° change in course was requested.  I am very much looking forward to seeing this in actual operation. 

Now I am (not very) patiently waiting for the relays to arrive, and looking forward to beginning the assembly.   I plan to document and write up the wiring changes that I make in the drive unit, in a step-by-step fashion... for myself as well as for others who may wish to adapt a Benmar drive to a modern autopilot control head.

Project ST5000: Report #4