Ghosts in the Machine: Used Sailboat Adventures

My otherwise faithful Balmar Alternator and external regulator recently sound as if they’re revving-up and then down.   Two to four seconds pass, then it reoccurs. The sound corresponds with: 

• ·      The battery voltage moving up and down
• ·      A green light flash on the regulator (May not be 100% correlation).
• ·      A Tachometer that waves at me.

These used sailboat symptoms appear less noticeable while under load and after the engine runs for a few hours.  Both devices are quite old but I don’t have dates.  They didn’t always make this sound.   The alternator belt is in good condition and doesn’t appear to slip.  

Questions: 

• What would cause this?
• Are my Batteries at risk?
• The alternator is charging a bus which is connected to three different banks is that an issue?

I look forward to posting my solution soon.

Measurement Details and Pictures Below:

Engine Run time (.3=30 sec)	Battery	Measurement tool	Low Voltage	High Voltage	Delta in volts
Off	Starter	Volt Meter	12.4	NA	NA
Off	Starter	Gauge	12.7	NA	NA
Off	House	Volt Meter	12.9	NA	NA
Off	House	Energy Monitor	12.96	NA	NA
Off	House	Gauge	13.2	NA	NA
Off	Regulator- Blk&Red	Volt Meter	12.9	NA	NA
0.3	Starter	Gauge	13.5	15	1.5
0.5	House	Gauge	14.5	15	0.5
2.4	Starter	Volt Meter	13.2	13.8	0.6
3.5	House	Volt Meter	13.9	14.3	0.4
4.57	Regulator- Blk&Red	Volt Meter	13.8	14.2	0.4
14.36	House	Gauge	13.6	15	1.4
15	House	Energy Monitor	14.1	14.5	0.4
17	Starter	Volt Meter	13.1	14.6	1.5
18	House	Volt Meter	14.1	14.3	0.2

      

Used Boat Courage

Maintaining a used sailboat takes courage.  “Courage” defined here as the willingness to take something apart while lacking the ability to rebuild it and, while standing on one’s head.

Some boat projects feel overwhelming and can push the captain well beyond the comfort zone.  In fact, one is often driven past that Am I just making this worse zone, straight through the I should have photographed how this looked before dismantling zone, and deep into the dark hollows of the How much will this cost me zone.

Take for example “Un Tie the Lines”  a series of short videos artfully telling the story of a young, courageous woman who left her country, family, and job, to restore a used sailboat in Panama with the dream of sailing it over the horizon.  It’s still unfolding.  See it on Utube.

Used SailBoat Project Lifecycle:

Something seems wrong-- A gauge raises, a new sound, a new smell, or water droplets appear.  This wrong thing becomes an annoyance and eventually speaks louder, or smells worse than all the other projects on the boat’s perpetual list.  Then, like the damn faulty grill lighter, one day, BANG!  This nagging feeling pokes through the subconscious and ignites the decision to start the project.

Planning Phase:

• Watch related utube videos- That someone already experienced this problem, is likely.  That someone bothered to record and post it for you, is amazing.
• Draft your version of the steps- Great reason to sit and relax. 
• Talk to your marina:
• Consulting an expert never hurts
• Learning the cost of actually hiring an expert provides motivation to either figure this out or sell your home.
• The marina’s cost estimate also provides an artificial reference point that can justify the purchase of a new tool (that you’ve always wanted anyway) which brings me to:
• Talk to your Spouse:
• Women, and especially my wife, have an ability to incite courage- more effective than “I dare you…” was as a kid.
• My head is a tangled weave of boat projects.  My wife, who’s sailed next to me since we’ve owned the boat, has no, none, zero boat projects on her mind.  She naps  while I fix.  But her “outside perspective” often helps me prioritize and avoid bad, expensive, ideas.
• Purchase the materials- Two choices, go to a:
• Marine supply store, and pay three times “fair price.” For exactly what you need, Or,
• Go to a hardware store, pay a fair price for a highly corrosive version of  “sort-a like” what you need.

Destruction Phase:

• With a plan, materials, and yourself uncomfortably contorted in position, start dismantling anything limiting access to the problem. This spawns the inevitable question:  How far am I willing to drill, dig, unscrew, break and pay to solve this problem. 
• With a clear line of site, investigate the problems’ root cause and choose from one of six solutions.

Solution Phase:

All boat problems are resolved with some combination of these six steps:  Sand, clean, epoxy, replace, purchase, and patch.

Rebuild Phase:

Start by looking for the lost screws and determining which screws go into which holes because none use the same thread size.  Review old pictures of boat guests hoping to catch a glimpse of how the work site looked like prior starting the project.

The moment of truth is that point at which you can test your repair.  Always cleanup prior to testing.  This is because if the test proves successful, my manly motivation to clean instantly disappears.

We crown every successful project with two triumphant words:  “It works!”  Taken from the early days of discovering our recently purchased used sailboat. Many items needed repair so when something functioned as designed, it was cause for a celebratory exclamation of “It works!”

Completion is genuinely satisfying.  I know more about my boat, I may have a new skill, tool, or a better /safer boat.  I have the satisfaction of knowing that one more piece to this used sailboat- this micro world- this island of self sustainability, is now functional, stronger, cleaner, and done. 

Fog Psychology

Used sailboats commonly list with radar so I share this story to urge my first time boat buyers to become wise radar users.

With the Auto pilot steering outbound a familiar channel, rock walls on either side, and myself on the bow prepping the staysail,  I noticed a different wave formation about 20 yards of the port bow.  Shallows?

I looked up to evaluate our distance from the jetties, but they were gone.  I couldn’t’ see them. I couldn’t see anything-  Just 360 degrees of pure fog, not even an outline of land.  A nervous imagination started spinning my mental compass.  Which direction am I going?  Grasping any barring- The only mark was the oddly placed little breaking waves now just 10 yards off the bow.  Yikes!

I thought I trusted my auto pilot but having purchased several used sailboats, trust in any device is scarce.  The sudden blindness and odd waves were spooky.  I hustled back to the GPS which showed us safe from rocks but headed towards a large channel buoy. I could not see it but when the radar “warmed-up”  The screen showed the bouys and our course relative to the rock wall.  That was reassuring.  I altered course and a minuite later saw the buoy pass close by.   

I was thankful to know what both the rocks and the bouys looked like on the radar.  Having studied them before instilled confidence in what the screen displayed. 

Relaxing some, I covered the GPS to simulate having to navigate by the radar alone.  This was a great exercise.

My initial reaction to the fog was to look “harder” and keep looking until something materializes.  This of course is wrong.  If, on a clear day, I look at the real world 80% and the electronics only 20% I now believe that, in dense fog, that ratio reverses (if single handed).  It was time to deepen my trust in the radar.

Use a clear day to learn how certain objects, buoys, small boats, big boats, and at various distances appear on screen.  You’ll find the knowledge particularly valuable against the emotions surrounding disorientation and may help let that used sailboat live to sail another day.

The Miami Strictly Sail Boat Show 2014

I view sailboats like an art enthusiast that sits still to "experience" a painting.  Yes, I liked the Miami boat show.  The scene is hot, slightly crowded, and frantic but there were beautiful new an used sailboats, and experts on every sailing accessory.  The knowledge was free to the asking and mostly within walking distance. 

The high point for us was John Kretschmer’s lectures on Ocean Passages and Storm Sailing.  John is a professional sailor and gifted story teller.  His lectures offered valuable facts and opinions that had us jotting notes, cringing, and laughing.  Here are a few subtopics I found interesting:

• Chafe is your number on enemy on a long passage.
• Don’t use your main sail in the down wind trades.
• Over purchase your auto pilot and furling rigs.

His latest book is A Serious Ocean- Sailboats, storms, stories, and lessons learned from 30 years at sea.

Rarely are two people equally tolerant of crowds, heat, and sales people.  So, next year we’ll plan to accommodate that inevitable point at which I’m getting started and my wife has had enough.

Boat Show Tips:

• The show’s last day was a Monday which was far less busy than the weekend. 
• Have a backpack with:  Water, snacks, hat, sun screen, and room for purchases.
• Set goals for the show.  It provides everyone a sense of purpose and progress. If the goal is simple and easy there’s also room for spontaneous excursions that would, with out a goal, feel like impulsive floundering.  If the couple, plans the goal together both parties work together during the show.  My targets were to board the Hanse 50, Passport 54, and Hylas 46.  Attend 4 lectures, See an AIS, and a wind generator rep. I boarded all the boats plus other used sailboats but only attended 2 lectures and missed everything else.

 Boat shows are a tremendous opportunity to see and touch new and used sailboats.  More importantly they provide a valuable learning opportunity for gadgets, new technology, and creative ideas for cruising racing.  Lastly, as a yacht broker it's reassuring for me to see other brokers in action.  it's reassuring to know that there is always room for my hallmark.  Honesty.