In my last post here, I talked about my new Simrad NSE and the BR24 radar. Some of you asked me how I mounted the BR24 and I said I'd write about it a bit. Here we go…
After reviewing a bunch of options, I found ScanStrut to have the best quality and most options from me to choose from. I visited a couple of marine stores and looked at their design, as well as wandered around my marina to see what others used. I knew I wanted it stern mounted because of the wiring headaches of trying to get it up the mast.
The three choices I had left were: pole mounted, backstay mounted, self leveling radar pole mounted. My preference initially was backstay mounted, which ScanStrut has a very nice kit for. Unfortunately, I have a swim ladder and split backstay, so making this work was either going to require major modifications to the kit, or losing my swim step's functionality, and drilling holes in the stern of the boat, which is angled a bit and would have been somewhat more difficult.
So I chose the self leveling radar pole mounted option. In addition, I added the GPS/VHF mount so I could mount my new Simrad GPS antenna here as well.
I mounted it on the port side of the boat right near the stern. It turned out really well.
The main attachment point at the bottom of the pole is a ball and socket joint with very tight connections once you tighten things down. It's also connected to the railing for additional lateral support, and you can see the forward facing support pole as well. It doesn't obscure any lifeline areas.
One side benefit is that I was able to mount a bracket on the lower portion of the pole for my VHF handheld extension for my Icom radio. Far better than having it in the pocket nearby where it's hard to hear.
The ScanStrut kit was extremely well designed – detailed plans for installation with very clear instructions and options. The quality of the pole and mount was excellent at every level. From the snap on caps to protect the screws, to the obvious quality in the head unit that provides the self leveling.
Cables run through the side of the pole and are covered well, and easy to access at the bottom of the pole. The self leveling part of the unit has worked very well so far, and the radar performance is great having it always level even while sailing. GPS accuracy is good as well since the antenna is away from all of the other junk and interference and is also always level.
I would highly recommend the ScanStrut product – it's a bit more pricey that some of the other options out there, but the quality is well worth the extra cost, especially for something this important.
ScanStrut Self Leveling Radar Pole
Climbing the mast
Over the last few weeks, I've had to climb the mast of my sailboat to get at some things that were broken, and also to install a new system to control my mainsail. I'm afraid of heights, and so doing this was no small task.
A few years ago I bought a system that ran up the track in the mast and it had foot loops in it. It came with a belt to hold you around the mast as you went up, sort of line a lineman's toolbelt. It really didn't work all that well. The foot loops were amazingly uncomfortable – very little support in them. Your feet would get stuck in them since they flexed so much, and that wasn't a good thing since you would be fighting getting your foot in and out of the loop. Add to that the somewhat supportive belt, but still requires another rope connected to it for you to go up.
A friend of mine tried to go up, and he's not afraid of heights, and he didn't want to go all the way up on this thing. I made it up to the first set of spreaders on my boat, and gave up.
About 6 months ago, I saw an ad in some sailing magazine for a product called the ATN Topclimber. It is a different concept – rig a static line, attach this enhanced bosun's chair and foot loops to it, and up you go. Oh, and it can be run by a single person, instead of having someone hoist you up, etc. Obviously the more folks, the safer, but if I had something I needed to do and didn't want to coordinate a whole party of folks…
I ended up purchasing one, along with a good length of high quality line as recommended (1/2"). Many folks recommend just going out and purchasing climbing equipment, as it's likely cheaper, and very similar. I opted to purchase this since it was designed for this purpose to begin with, and didn't have lots of extra stuff to contend with or learn. It also packs up very small in an included bag, which happens to also turn into a bag to carry items up with you.
I'm happy to say I've been up the mast a number of times, and even all the way to the top, which I never thought I'd get to. It's so easy to just work your way up, and at least for folks who are afraid of heights like me, I found that looking out, and not down, while you're going up, makes it much easier. It also, in some weird way, is much more comforting to not be attached directly to the mast itself – having the static line very tight is key. I've also found that having the static line angled away from the mast is key so you don't bump into it on the way up. Plan your angle to come within 1 foot of where you want to stop to work.
The other big benefit of this system is being able to go up on your own, say in an emergency. I don't know if I would do that, especially in a dire emergency. I'm not one to be hanging around on the mast with a big storm going, unless it's that or death I guess… Regardless, it's compact enough that you could take it on a trip away from your normal marina, and if something happened, like a lost halyard or clipped VHF antenna, you could go up and take care of business without having to wait to go back to the dock.
It's still somewhat disconcerting to be at the top of the mast, but it's much safer feeling being strapped totally into the chair, and having the foot straps that you can push off of as well to gain more strength/force, as well as move around.
The only thing I think could be improved are the instructions. The only details are a single laminated card, and the pictures are very hard to see and understand. It's a pretty obvious setup, and I didn't have any problems, but it would be nice to see the pictures larger.
Overall, I'm extremely happy and I think it's well worth the money. I saved already having to pay some local marine folks to climb my mast and fix three things!
Sailing … slightly cold but still nice
In the last two weeks I've been out on the water twice, once only for a short sail (about 2 hours) and today for about 4. Last week it never got above 40 degrees, and there was ice on the deck when I left. Today it was a little warmer, but still only got up to 50 degrees. As I always do when I'm sailing, I used my SPOT Satellite Tracker to send notes to my crew on shore to let them know I was OK – and also so I could get a neato map like below.
My Tacktick wind instrument isn't working, and I'm working to get it repaired, so I ended up having to spend a lot more time paying attention to the wind and steering more manually, which is fine with me, at least every once in a while. At one point there were some sustained winds of at least 25kts for about 45 minutes – very fun!
The new Nauticast AIS transponder is working great – I removed my SR 162 AIS receiver and took it home (more on this later) and directly wired the Nauticast into my chartplotter and multiplexer a few days ago. I'm hoping others are seeing me too – the whole reason for broadcasting it in the first place.
Hopefully I'll get some more chances to sail even in these cold months!
Boarded by the Coast Guard
Yesterday I was out sailing with a friend in Elliott Bay, well I guess we weren't really sailing because there was no wind…. anyhow, we were trying to figure out what to do next, and hadn't planned on being out very long.
We'd seen one of the smaller Coast Guard boats running around near us for a while, and when it came straight towards us, I figured something was going on.
Sure enough, they politely asked if we had been boarded and inspected recently by the Coast Guard, to which I replied that we hadn't. They then asked, again very politely, if they could do so. It didn't really seem like a question that had an answer other than "sure", so that's what I said. They asked permission to come aboard, and two of them transferred, rather adeftly, to my boat to start the inspection.
They looked at life jackets, bilges, wastewater pumpouts, toilets, fire extinguishers, flares, and engine compartments. They found a couple of things wrong, but since it was an inspection, they just asked me to fix them. I suppose they could have fined me, but they were extremely nice and courteous.
We both asked some questions of them, about the process and regulations, and about their fast boat and strange weapons that they were more than happy to explain.
Overall, it was a very pleasant experience, and at no time did I feel uncomfortable or anything at all. They were so super polite and efficient, and very courteous, as well as even a bit joking at the end. I'm glad they try to make it as stress-free as possible.
I'll be changing my fire extinguishers and zip-tying my pumpout valves here in the next few days just in case they decide to check up on me, and because it's apparently the law.
The only bad thing was that as a result of being below during very barfy waves, I got really motion sick and we had to abandon sailing about an hour afterward, and I barely made it to the dock. I was shot the rest of the day…
SPOT Satellite Messenger Shared Page
I've had a SPOT Satellite Messenger for about 6 months and really like it. I use it primarily when I sail to keep my friends updated on where I am, and if I'm safe.
I have always been a little annoyed that the only ways they could keep track of my course were to save the individual SMS'es or emails that were sent, or I had to give them my password to my private online account at the SPOT home page.
Recently, the folks at SPOT came out with the SPOT Shared Page to solve this problem. It's still a little rough around the edges, but it's far better than the previous solutions. The page contains a list of the last 24 hours worth of messenger check-ins on the left, and a Google Maps layout of the track on the right. You can click on the track to see more details.
Seems to be pretty reliable – does seem to be browser picky right now – Firefox doesn't seem to work sometimes, and Safari doesn't work at all. There are some annoying formatting issues as well as images that are missing in some areas. Hopefully they'll spruce some of this up as more folks find it – it is in beta as far as I understand it.
Here's an example:
A larger version of the image is available here.
Everyone is after me….
Above is a screen shot from my chart plotter at the end of the day when I was sailing/motoring back into Elliott Bay here in Seattle. The larger boat icon in the center with the compass wind indicator around it is me, the rest of the smaller boats with red lines emanating out of them are all of the AIS targets my system is warning me about.
I had 3 Washington State Ferries closing in on my area – two car ferries and one fast passenger ferry, one tour boat, and eventually 2 tugs, one of which was going faster than I was, and on a similar course. AIS here only showed 2 of the three ferries, the tour boat, and the tug.
I couldn't take any more pictures of the system becaue I had to pay attention at that point, but it was pretty nice to be able to sit in the cockpit hatchway and glance down to see what else was coming around the point behind the bluff.
I still haven't figured out a great way to use the notification system within the Garmin unit for AIS. It goes off far too much and alerts when there are boats nearby on AIS sitting still. Other programs that are software based have more granularity and allow you to only fire off an alert when specific conditions are met, such as intercept within a certain amount of minutes. I'm hoping Garmin will get to that soon.
Rule iL500 Portable Pump
I'm always looking for a good pump, since the nature of having a boat is having to stave off water being in the boat at some point. I have a couple of manual bilge pumps, and of course a couple of powered ones permanently installed in the right places. But you can always use something more portable.
While doing some random searches, I stumbled across a great idea from the folks at Rule – the iL500 Portable Pump. It's a portable pump that is submersible, can be used in-line, has battery clamps for quick use, comes with hose and a nozzle for spraydowns, and can be used for both water and diesel.
I think it's a great pump to have around when you happen to be away from the dock and need to get water out of somewhere hard to reach, or if you want to use the included nozzle to spray down an area – my boat's not big enough to rank a dedicated spraydown system.
They also built it so you could use it in-line – connect a section of hose before the pump, and down inside, say, a tank or hard to reach area, and then the other side of the pump would be plumbed into wherever you wanted to transfer the liquid.
The included roll-flat hose, and convenient spray nozzle that clamps down on the flat hose are a nice convenience, as is the strainer for the non-in-line configuration. It would be nice if they had a kit or option to replace the battery terminal clamps with a standard 12VDC cigarette adapter for safer connections, and without having to find your battery terminals. You could always chop the cable and do that yourself I suppose.
I found it online at West Marine, but it's only sold in the "kit" version which includes all of the extras above. You can find it elsewhere as well, but I order so much from them it was more convenient to get it in the weekly shipment 
I'll let you know how it works in a few days…
I hate heaters
How many heaters have you gone through?
I use a West Marine 1500W cabin heater, the ones you can buy for around $70 that sit on the floor, to keep the boat heated in winter. I leave a door open to the engine compartment, and it also basically heats the rest of the boat without a problem. However, the last 3 years in a row, I end up having to buy a new heater. One year, I had to buy two. The problem is they're really cheap, and then the other issue I believe is the water and marine environment.
I found two major manufacturers out there who make bilge heaters, which is really what I care about. The best one with the smallest footprint appears to be Xtreme Heaters. I'm considering the 750W model, even though my boat isn't that large, I'd prefer that it kept the majority of the entire boat warm no matter what.
I don't like the temporary ones on the floor because of the potential for fire, movement, and because they seem to fail really easily.
I'd like to get one of these bilge heaters, and I know I have the room, but I would also like something that gives the rest of the cabin a little bit more heat – the bilge heaters I've found only kick in at 40 degrees, and then off at 55 maximum. Not a really warm temperature if you happen to be working on the boat in an evening. Of course, I know I could use one of the portable units when I'm on the boat, but if I'm wiring in something new, why can't it heat the entire boat?
I can't find anything but the bilge heaters that seem to have a decent enough warranty and design that they would last in a marine environment…
I suppose I could just install two of them, but again, it's still only going to get to 55 degrees at the most.
What I really would like to find is a marine grade heater that runs off of AC power and is simple to mount and install.
BioSok
My previous engine had a meltdown before I had it removed, and that included dumping a huge quantity of watery oil into my bilge. Ever since then, oil makes it's reappearance almost weekly within the bilge. I suppose I will never get rid of it completely…
I've tried all sorts of things, from absorbent pads, to simply sucking it out with a high volume pump, and disposing of it appropriately. Nothing seems to work that well, at least not until I found BioSok.
It's some sort of powdery looking chemical that reacts to oil and fuel, and pulls it into it, then uses some microbes to eat off the oil. I ended up buying two of the cloth socks, and one small bin of powder. I used the powder directly throughout the bilge on the surface to get the oil that had been in there for a while since the repower. I have the socks standing by to be used once the initial cleaning is done.
So far, the powder has been in the bilge about a month, and it has turned a nasty dark brown color. I don't see any oil in the water, or on any other surfaces of the bilge, which is good. I guess that means it's doing it's thing. At this point, I think I leave it for a while so the microbes can eat, or I could dispose of it appropriately somewhere. The stuff is the consistency of chocolate fudge – I'm sure it doesn't taste as good though.
I'm hoping in a few weeks things will dissipate more, and if not, I'll clean it all out. At that point, I'll drop one of those socks into the bilge in case there's any other problems during the season.
So far, these things look pretty convenient, and environmentally friendly.
Island Girl Products
About a month and a half ago, I bought a kit from Island Girl Products after having read some reviews online, as well as conversed with the owner via email. Their products are advertised in some of the sailing magazines I read, and seem to be well thought out from a chemistry perspective.
Unfortunately, due to the U.S. Mail, I didn't get the first shipment. After a few delays (both on U.S. Mail's side and Island Girl) I got my kit.
A few days ago I dissected it. The only bad part about their products is that there are so many of them! The kit I bought has at least 12 different unique products that can/should/may be combined to do something to some part of your boat. Included with all of these products are some nice microfiber cloths, scrapers, and such. AND, 5 CDROMs.
Since their products can be combined in so many ways, depending on how bad/good your gelcoat or other surfaces are, the CDROMS seem necessary. Diagrams and "flow charts" can be found on some of them, while others are plain old DVDs with interestingly produced movies showing how to use the products. I like the beach music used throughout!
So far I have not figured out exactly which products I need, and when. I hope to be able to do that over the weekend so I can use some next week. My topsides are pretty weathered, and I would like to restore them as much as possible.
More later!
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