BELLE

When BELLE first went into the water she was fitted with 5-off 110Ah ‘Multicell AGM Dual Purpose’ batteries for the domestics.  We do not have an electrical shore supply, so these batteries were hammered, and they were subjected to daily discharge / charge cycles.  Their performance was perfectly OK for 4 years, started to deteriorate at the beginning of the 5th year, and they needed replacing at the end of that year.

In view of this performance, I was minded to fit more of the same, but I could not get another 5-off at short notice.  In a rush, I ended up getting 5-off 110Ah ‘NUMAX Sealed Lead-Acid’ batteries instead, expecting that they would last at least 2-3 years.  They set me back a few quid shy of £500 around Christmas time 2011.  Alas, this was not to be, because they started to show signs of deterioration after 6 months use and they needed replacing after about 10 months!

Needless to say they have been replaced by another set of Multicell AGM’s!  This latest set are actually 125Ah (in the same case size) and they cost me a few quid shy of £800, but they still represent the cost-effective solution. 

No brainer, init

PS. No updates to this post for another 5 years (hopefully)

After a fair bit of research we decided in the end to purchase an Ampair 300 wind turbine and Ampair Voyager VS-50 regulator.  The wind turbine has now been installed on our mooring and the regulator has been installed in BELLE’s stern, leaving us the option to mount the wind turbine on board BELLE at some later date.  The system was fired-up at dawn on Monday this week and everything seems to be working OK - performance thus far is impressive.

Looking back to the two questions posed in our BLOG entry 19 July 2011:

Noise and Vibration – Having had brief discussions with a number of boaters that have passed us over the last few months with a wind turbine stowed on their roof, we established that a wind turbine is best located at the stern, where it can be mounted securely to the rear bulkhead and/or the counter.  The boat structure is much stiffer here and this helps keep the noise and vibration down.  However, noise and vibration is still evident on board in a stiff breeze, so it makes more sense to ground mount the wind turbine whilst on your home mooring when seeking a quiet life.

Charging Control – The Ampair VS-50 regulator is effectively two regulators in one, i.e. one to manage a wind turbine output of up to 25 amps and the other to manage a solar panel output of up to 25 amps.  There are other regulators available from Ampair and their competitors, but we opted for this one because it has been designed specifically with the Ampair 300 wind turbine in mind.

For sure, these items of Ampair equipment cost significantly more than those available from Ampair’s competitors, but you do not need to look very hard at all when comparing designs to quickly realise that these Ampair products are definitely built to last a long time in a marine environment.

The wind turbine mast has been made from a 3.0 metre long section of 48mm OD aluminium ‘standard’ scaffold tube – this mounts into a steel ground socket that has been cast into a small block of concrete.  The guy lines and fittings are stainless steel - the lines are connected at the ground end to eye bolts that have also been cast into small blocks of concrete.

The electrical output from the wind turbine is delivered to BELLE via a flexible cable assembly that connects via a new waterproof plug and socket arrangement on the stern.  A waterproof plug and socket has also been incorporated into this flexible cable assembly at the base of the mast.  Therefore, a much shorter flexible cable assembly can be substituted when the mast is mounted on BELLE’s stern in due course.

The regulator has been mounted into an existing electrical equipment cupboard in BELLE’s stern.  This regulator is quite large when compared to competitor products  and achieving a tidy installation was a bit of a challenge.  This regulator is built like the proverbial ‘brick sh1t house’ – built to last.

Those wanting to learn more can mail me.

When BELLE was first built she had sand applied to most of the ‘walked on’ painted surfaces whilst the paint was still wet – the intention in this respect was to create some ‘slip resistance’ and in so doing lessen the risk of one ending up in the cut and / or bashing or impaling ones anatomy onto something undesirable, etc.  In BELLE’s case, sanded surfaces featured along the tops of the gunwales, around the edge of the counter and most of the cabin roof.  This is a common approach and pretty much every boat you see on the cut will have some walked on surfaces sanded.

Unfortunately, regularly standing on these sanded surfaces and weathering, etc. erodes them and it does not take very long for some of the more frequently walked on surfaces to erode to the extent that their slip-resistance is compromised.  Additionally, the underlying steel is exposed and this starts to rust and things get, well, unsightly.  Reaching this stage took about 4 years around BELLE’s counter and the tops of the gunwales at the bow end.  The roof and the gunwale tops elsewhere are still OK, but this really has more to do with their relatively infrequent use.  The roof and gunwale tops have been re-painted once since first build.  There are alternatives, e.g. applying rubber treaded sheet and dri-deck matting , etc., but it is not practical / economical to apply these everywhere.

Folks that wish to ‘tread carefully’ might be interested in our latest modification to BELLE, i.e. we have fitted aluminium tread plate to those areas that are used most frequently.  This picture shows one of the tread plates that we have shaped and then mounted to the counter.

Two coats of zinc phosphate primer have been applied to the underside surface of each tread plate and then they have been ’bonded’ into place using 2-part epoxy glue.  This avoided a need to drill holes through the top walls of the diesel fuel tanks and/or any having to weld on any mounting features.  They are certainly securely fixed.  We anticipate that the application of the zinc phosphate primer, in conjunction with the painting of the top wall of the tank, will avoid any electrolytic corrosion between the aluminium plate and the steel tank – time will tell of course.    We have also fitted some shaped aluminium tread plates to the top surfaces of the gunwales at the bow, but in this case the plates have been fixed in place using stainless steel countersunk head fasteners.  We have also fitted aluminium tread plate to the upper surface of the step at the stern doorway because this gets hammered as well.  We elected to use aluminium instead of steel because steel would need painting and this paint would inevitably chip off with use, thus allowing the steel to rust.  Whilst aluminium does corrode, the process is effectively halted once the first layer of oxide has formed on the surface – it does not look so unsightly either.    

All in all, once you have obtained the materials, it’s an easy job to carry out yourself, or if you are having a boat built, your boat builder should have no trouble incorporating similar tread plates (at a price of course).  I recommend that you use the relatively slower curing 2-part epoxy glue so as to allow some re-positioning during installation.

Get in touch if you want to learn some more.

……. can be caused by things like this, i.e. a chunk of wood that managed to find its way through the grilles on the ends of our bow thruster tube and lodge itself between the propeller and the propeller housing.

Unfortunately, no amount of rapid port-starboard thrusting was going to shift it.  Within an hour though, the thruster had been removed, cleared and re-installed.  This was almost as easy as exposing the main propeller via the stern weed hatch.

In our case however, the entire thruster, complete with propeller can be removed whilst afloat so there was no need for an expensive dry dock!  This might serve as a timely reminder to folks having a bow thruster installed as part of a new boat build (or having one retro-fitted), i.e. they might want to quiz their boat builder about how their bow thruster will be readily cleared and/or repaired?

I thought that my eyes were deceiving me earlier today when I spotted what I thought to be a ‘bent’ boat approaching us.  Most boats ‘sheer’ from bow to stern in a uniform manner, but this one had two sheer angles, giving the appearance of it being ‘bent’ part way along its length.

It was not until it was much closer did I realise that this boat; Alice was effectively two boats in one.  Alice’s bow section can be separated from her main section, leaving the latter to be operated independently if so desired.  The owner explained to me that the bow section could be a workshop, office, or extra berth, etc.  I thought that this was an excellent innovation – allowing, for example, the shorter locks in the network to be navigated whilst still effectively providing 70′ worth of boat.  Steering Alice would surely be much easier than steering a craft whilst towing in the usual manner.

I cannot recall seeing an arrangement like this before.  I expect that there will be more examples to be seen on the water as the idea catches on though.

Driven by a growing need to be more environmentally friendly as well as escalating diesel fuel costs, etc., we are seriously contemplating installing a wind turbine generator, e.g. a Rutland 914i (or something similar).

Installation should be fairly straightforward but there are a couple of potentially troublesome issues that need sorting out beforehand:

Noise and Vibration

Should we mount the wind turbine generator on our cabin roof or should we mount it adjacent to BELLE on the bank side at our home mooring?  Our main concern in this respect is the associated noise and vibration if the generator is mounted on the cabin roof.  For sure, our preference would be to mount the generator on the cabin roof so that it can readily travel wherever BELLE goes.  However, we still want to hear the TV and we do not want our teeth fillings rattling out when the generator is whizzing round in a stiff breeze!  Has anybody out there come up with a cabin roof mounting method that effectively mechanically decouples the generator from the boat structure?

Charging Control

We already have two 130w / 7.5 amp solar panels fitted on BELLE’s cabin roof.  These solar panels are connected to BELLE’s domestic batteries via a Steca PR3030 controller.  This is a very nice compact controller that is simple to use, but unfortunately it can only control one electrical input, i.e. it is not suitable for controlling the output from the wind turbine generator as well as the solar panels.  When we purchased this controller we opted for a 30 amp version in anticipation that we might well add some more solar panels, but at that time we did not take into account  a future need for a wind turbine generator.  Does anybody out there know of a controller that will simultaneously manage the output from a wind turbine generator, say 20 amps  and at least 15 amps worth of solar panels?

Any comments and suggestions, etc. (positive and/or negative) would be welcomed.

Our anchor spends most of its time stowed in the bow locker and only comes out on deck when we are planning to go on any rivers.  As such, we have not bothered to install an anchor bracket.  This boater on the other hand has come up with a rather novel idea for stowing an anchor nearer its place of use.

…, well there would be some sun worship going on if the trees were not in the way!

Spotted this row of boats in the Fradley linear the other day, all of which were seeking some bright sunshine for their solar panels.  Unfortunately, like our solar panels for most of the time, theirs were being denied access by the row of trees to the left of the picture.  Whilst out  and about in BELLE we have actually encountered periods where our panels are stuffing out 15 amps, but this requires that they be bathed in full sunlight.  This is not possible on our mooring though because of the trees here too.  So, if you are contemplating fitting one or more solar panels to your boat, you might want to bear this sort of thing in mind.  A quick check on the Internet today has highlighted to me that the price of our solar panels is more or less the same as it was a couple of years ago (~expensive!) - my hope was that the price per panel would have significantly reduced by now.  They must still represent an attractive proposition though because we are seeing many more boats with solar panels on them.

One other observation hereabouts is that the repair of the wall alongside the water point has commenced - you can see the progress highlighted in bright sunshine to the right of the picture.

Our Ecofan packed up a week ago after about 2 years of service, whilst each of its two predecessors only lasted just under a year each.  Some argue that an Ecofan is not worth having, but we disagree - we believe that ours does a good job by helping to circulate the air above the stove and in so doing it helps to draw the relatively colder air towards the stove for warming up.  It also reduces the ’scorching’ of the timbers on the ceiling above the stove.  All other things remaining equal, you certainly do notice a significant difference in the saloon temperature distribution when one packs up.  Basically, it does do what it ‘says on the tin’.

Our most recent Ecofan developed an annoying ‘ticking’ noise and the fan speed reduced a little.  Our experiences with its two predecessors suggested to us that it was just a matter of time before the fan would stop rotating altogether.  On this occasion, it took about two months from ‘tick to stop’, whereas it only took about a week or so with the other two.  They were replaced no-quibble by the BWML shop at Sawley Marina under the statutory warranty.  In this case though, mindful that the statutory warranty had expired, we wondered if we could source any spare parts and effect a repair instead of forking out £100+ for a new one.

There is not much to go wrong with an Ecofan, i.e. aside from the top and bottom heat sinks, there is only a motor, a fan with either two or three blades on it, an ‘energy cell’ and one or more bi-metal strips on the base and a few fasteners to hold the job lot together.  It was going to be either the energy cell or the motor we thought.  The ticking noise more or less confirmed to us that it was probably the motor, so we sought a replacement motor.  Much to our amazement in this ‘throw-away world’ we live in these days we discovered that replacement motors are available, as are replacement fans!  We obtained our replacement motor at a reasonable price, i.e. £16.50 (of which £5.05 was P/P) from The Stove Company.  Delivery was only a few days.

The repair was straightforward and took about half an hour.  Stripping and re-assembly is simple and the spare motor comes complete with detailed instructions for carrying out the repair.  Note that there is a bit of soldering involved (for the motor electrical connections) so you will need a small soldering iron.  Our Ecofan is now working at peak performance again – which is just as well because it still has some work to do before Spring 2011 arrives!

No, not computer or mobile phone jargon, but High-Speed Poo & Pee Pumping.  That is, as opposed to the relatively slow process of manually pumping the stuff from BELLE’s waste tank into plastic containers and then barrowing these containers to the nearby Elsan.  Those that live in a house who depend upon the stuff being efficiently whisked away on demand via a hole in the floor need read no further.  Those interested in boater’s toilet talk should read on.

There has been a lot of manual pumping and barrowing going on hereabouts for the last 6 weeks or so whilst the canal has been frozen over.  I shall admit to you that having to cope with all this barrowing has given me an incentive to advance my motor driven waste pump project some more.  Sadly, the motor driven pump and sundries (pipes, fittings and wiring, etc.) that I purchased for waste tank emptying about a year ago have sat around doing nothing other than collecting dust.

My plan was to have a tubular frame fabricated for this pump, the idea being that this frame would also carry the associated motor start / stop unit.  This frame was a nice touch, but arguably not really essential.  Getting around to sorting out this frame however (in conjunction with us being able to get to the nearby marinas for pump-outs with ease for most of the time) delayed things.

No more delay though.  I am pleased to report that, whilst the fabricated frame idea has been ditched for a while, the motor driven pump and start / stop unit have been wired together and all of the hoses and connectors have been configured and they are all now earning their keep by performing some HSPPP.

It’s a simple arrangement that is easy and quick to to set up whilst moored alongside an Elsan (or some other suitable facility) and it takes about 4 minutes to empty the tank from full (about 340 litres in our case), followed by about 10 minutes worth of rinsing out.  If the canal is frozen this arrangement could still be used to pump waste into plastic containers instead of using the manual pump, thus reducing the manual graft a bit, but there would still be the barrowing to cope with.  Of course, this also represents an opportunity for us to save ourselves typically around £15-£20 a time for a pump-out at a marina.  It is not going to take long before the pump, start / stop unit and the wiring and piping etc. have paid for themselves (about 2 years I reckon).

You have probably gathered from this photograph that our pump is heavy duty and a far cry from the stuff usually on offer at the chandlers.  It is actually a Jabsco pump but that is where the similarities end.  As well as the aggressive liquids involved, this pump is suitable for managing the the soft-solids (don’t you just love that term) of the size and consistency produced by a macerator toilet.  The motor is 230v ac with a FLC of 4.2 amps.  You could wire the motor so that the start is DOL (risky).  In our case, connecting the motor via the start-stop unit will limit the motor start-up current and in so doing lessen the risk of blowing BELLE’s 230v ac system asunder.  The pump inlet is connected to the waste tank outlet via 1.5″ bore flexible plastic hose (sanitary grade) using several domestic waste fittings, whilst the outlet is connected to approximately 10 metres of 1.5″ bore ‘lay-flat’ plastic hose (which reduces  the stowage space requirements significantly).  If you want to know any more tekkie stuff, drop me an email.

Had we known then what we now know, we would have probably had a motor driven pump like this one integrated into BELLE’s waste system when she was built.  It is of course possible to retro-fit and there is just about enough space under the floor and in the engine bay in BELLE’s stern to accommodate this pump.  Connecting to the nearby waste tank could be tricky and would probably require some hacking and carving.  If I ever get around to doing this, I shall let you know.  Don’t hold your breath though, because there are too many other things higher up the list at present, including some more relaxation!