It is now nearly the end of winter in New England, I am finally finishing more tasks than I am adding.  This winter, I kept the boat inside a heatable shed, completed some long-pending projects, and pursued several areas of decay in the hull and deck.

• I converted the electric distribution panel from a hodgepodge of Marinetics panels to a single, unified, custom-designed Blue Seas panel, which swings out to allow maintenance on its breakers and meters.  All of the loads on the panel have been tested  to the extent they can be before stepping masts and launching the boat.
• I have replaced the RD218 analog radar, from Raymarine, with a digital one, RD 418HD, and the analog chartplotter with a lovely new one, Raymarine A95.
• I have replaced the NMEA 0183 bus, with its multiplexor and complicated connections, with a SeaTalk(ng) bus, and replaced the sensors for wind, depth and speed.  I have removed the three Datamarine sensor displays, and installed a Raymarine i70 multi-function display in the compass binnacle.  
• Some rot was found near the stem; Wade Smith, from T&S,  repaired it with several dutchmen.
• During the summer, I found some deck leaks into the cabin.  The cabin roof top developed a split between planks, which eventually opened, from the fiberglass deck covering to the Monel partner reinforcement plate under the deck.  Geoff, from T&S, removed the deck covering, and found that the galvanized nails securing the planks had given way near the mast partners.  The deck was repaired with a large plywood dutchman and recovered with fiberglass.
• There was also some evidence of water intrusion between the cabin and the deck.  T&S routed a seam at the base of the cabin wall into which they payed 3M Number 4200 caulk.  They also payed similar seams above and below the cabin eyebrows.
• Wade Smith, from T&S, rebuilt the icebox to make it more efficient.
• It became clear that the opening portlights on both port and starboard sides were leaking, so I removed them for rebedding when the finishing of the cabin sides is complete.
• The frames around the fixed cabin windows were made of lead and their paint was spalling away. Upon careful inspection, we could see some of their nails were being exposed by the erosion of weather and sanding; several checks were developing in the wood around the window; and the bedding compound behind the lead had deteriorated.  Removing the lead for repair broke it and exposed the fact that the window glazing was broken as well.  T&S suggested replacing the lead with commercial colored silicon caulking compound, selected to match the cabin sides.  We selected tempered laminated glass for the new windows in the forward and after cabins.
• Splines were inserted into eight checks around the frames of the cabin windows.
• The exterior walls of the cabin have been stripped and are being refinished.
• T&S removed, welded and reinstalled the genoa tracks damaged in the Classic Yacht Regatta.
• The toe rails, sheer strake and deck are being repainted.
• Joel, from T&S,  installed a filter in the vent tube for the retention tank, and replumbed it to a hollow cleat in the foredeck.
• I replaced the engine alternator with a larger capacity unit, to meet the power needs of the static inverter and refrigeration system.
• I also replaced the shore-power battery charger with a larger one and installed its remote control in the Navigator's station..
• I installed a relay to transfer cabin AC from the inverter to shore power when available.
• I installed another relay to combine the two batteries when the alternator is charging them.
• I designed and installed a self-test matrix to verify engine alarm operation.

First week's summary

We hauled Rune on 10/29, after several delays due to high winds.  The mizzen mast was taken to 22 Mechanics Street to replace the internal radar cable, and we set up the main mast for work on the rigging dock.  Rune herself was moved into the center shed on the North end of the Frank Hall Boat Yard.
In the first week of November, I removed the wiring from the DC distribution panels, the battery control switch panels, the positive ship's service bus and the main ship's DC ground bus.  The refrigerator chest, which was installed behind all of those components, is now ready to be disassembled and removed.
Replacing the wind sensor wiring in the main mast was difficult, because two cables had been glued into place near the head of the mast when a spline was used to repair a split between segments just below the openings for the internal wiring. Wade, from Taylor and Snediker, was able to break the wind sensor wiring free by removing the anchor lamp cable, so we replaced them both.
Wade next replaced the water speed sensor, installed aft of frame 13 on the starboard side of the hull.  The new sensor fit nicely into the same hole as the old one, so he just trimmed its through-hull to match the width of its plank and installed it there.
Wade scraped the paint off the port sheer strake near the bow, just below the port anchor chock.  Two years ago, we identified some decay there, and I wanted to inspect it again.  Little has changed; we still see moisture incurring there, and we cannot identify its source.
We inspected all the planks nearby, and they were completely sound. To replace that one plank, all the bronze castings on the stem must be removed, and it seems possible that some of the beautiful fitted parts would be destroyed in the process.  On balance, then, we have decided to repair the existing rot, seal the crevices between the metal pieces covering the stem as best we can, and inspect it again in five years.
After the boat came out of the water, I could remove the pipe for the centerboard pendant, which had been blocking me from replacing the alternator.  After disassembling the binnacle which held the pendant pipe in place, Wade easily disconnected it, and I attempted to install the new serpentine belt for the new alternator. I removed the old alternator, and replaced the pulley for the engine fresh water pump, but I was unable to remove its crankshaft pulley.  I have hired a diesel mechanic, with an impact driver, to help me remove the nut at the end of the shaft.
After checking the fit of the new alternator onto the bracket on my engine, I called the technicians from Electromaax. They questioned whether the kit I had been sold was the best one to go on my engine.  I shall speak to them next week.

Late season summary

I have spent some time in September redesigning the DC electrical system.

Heavy electric usage, charging the dinghy motor battery from the static inverter and operating the refrigerator while cruising this summer, pointed up the fact that the alternator and the shore power charger were both undersized.

I had already purchased a new charger, so I installed it early in September. I intended to install a remote monitoring panel, but I had bought the charger so long ago that its model is now superseded, and I couldn't find the panel at any distributor.  The panel has been back ordered, and I shall install it in mid-October.

I found a new alternator which could be bolted onto the Westerbeke engine, from Electromaax, a company in Canada.  Its capacity is 120 amps instead of the 50 amps of the Mitsubishi alternator originally installed.  Of course, the larger alternator will need better cables, because its currents will be larger.  It will call for a new ammeter for the engine control panel, because the scale of the present one is limited to  60 amps.  I think it needs an external regulator, to protect the batteries from overheating and premature failure; I will install temperature sensors on the two batteries and alternator.

In addition to the expanded electrical demands, the alternator is a substantial mechanical load on the engine, so it cannot be driven by the single 3/8" belt used by Westerbeke.  I found a serpentine belt conversion kit from Electromaax, so I shall replace the pulleys on the engine crankshaft and its coolant pump with serpentine pulleys.

All of the alternator modification is very simple, except that the centerboard pendant runs in a pipe only about 3/4" from the coolant pump pulley.  Removing that pulley will require disconnecting the pendant and moving the pipe, which can't be done while the boat is floating. Therefore, the alternator installation will have to be deferred until after the boat is hauled.

The one job I completed in September was to replace the single-circuit battery selector switch with a dual-circuit one.  With the dual-circuit switch, the engine battery is connected to its starter separately from the circuit from the house battery to its loads.  I hope that this will prevent the radar and GPS from being rebooted when the engine is started.

Charging the batteries could be a problem since they are now not on the same circuit.  The shore power charger can charge both batteries independently, so they will be brought to full capacity alongside the pier.  When using the engine the alternator is connected only to the engine battery, but I have an automatic cross-connect relay, which connects the two together when the voltage applied to one or the other exceeds 13.6 volts.

I also installed the fuses now required to be within 7" of the batteries on clever fuse holders designed to be bolted onto the battery terminal clamps.  I selected 200-amp size, because the starter is supposed to require 150 amps.  The documentation of the engine starter capacity was quite vague, though,so it's not completely clear that these are large enough.

Engineering plans for Autumn

This Autumn, I intend to redesign the shipboard electrical AC and DC systems:
1. Improve the DC power Sources:

• New battery Charger
• Xantrex TrueCharge 2 40A
• Remote operation panel
• Battery temperature monitoring
• Wires #8 or better
• if I use #14 wires, 14 feet long, their R is 38 mOhm, and the power loss is 60 watts!!!
• New alternator
• Electromaax 120
• Serpentine belt kit
• Alternator and battery temperature monitor
• External voltage regulator Balmar 614
• New wires #2 or better
• Automatic Crossconnect Relay (ACR) BlueSea 

2. Improve the wires:

• Connection between Battery and starter will be all #1 or better; probably should be #1/0
• Includes battery switch and ACR connections
• Automatic inverter transfer relay for the AC power outlets.

3. Improve circuit protection:

• Terminal fuses for batteries
• New breaker panel
• New wire barrier strips

4. Improve system Measurement

• Battery monitor
• Digital multimeters on the breaker panel for AC and DC
• Note that Blue Sea has a Vessel Systems Monitor, the VSM 422. It's not really as good as I'd like; it only monitors state of charge of one battery; it only handles 2 tanks; and it has a simple bilge sensor.  The Command Connect system seems another approach; but it requires a subscription.

When I was younger, so much younger ....

... I  never needed any body's help in any way.
--John Lennon

I have looked for help from a number of sources in the last two weeks.  I asked Hansen Engineering and Westerbeke for help in finding a bracket to hold a new larger alternator, or the CAD script for making it, or the drawings for it. They refused me any help at all.

I asked Raymarine sales engineers at the Newport International Boat Show for help in validating the design for a SeaTalk(ng) installation of new wind, water speed and depth measurement, integrating it with a new radar and chartplotter.  They told be to post a note on the Raymarine forum and someone will probably answer it.

I asked Garmin for help in reusing the depth, speed and wind transducers I have with a NMEA 2000-compliant network system, and they said it can't be done; I have to buy all new transducers, and figure out how to install them.

...Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Labor Day Summary

It's now after Labor Day, and I would like to summarize the season's issues.

First, the PDQ WiFi extender system is absolutely non-functional.  It appears to have components which could be usable, but there is no technical support whatever.  Not recommended in the least.

The early-season failure in the Raymarine radar turned out to have been in the main console.  It was repaired by the manufacturer, after about 6 weeks in  their shop, and worked for the rest of the summer.

The transducer for the depth sounder was replaced in early July, and I can't have been more pleased. Depth soundings are consistent, and frequent, although they are still often disturbed by wakes.  Without a new set of electronics, using a different signal processing, I don't think its performance can improve.

Rune's wind sensor failed on our cruise to Cuttyhunk.  When we returned, I sent a technician to the top of the mast, and found that the sensor connector was loose.  Connecting it again solved the problem.

For the first time in seven years, we raced in the Classic Yacht Regatta, in Newport, RI.  For the race, I removed the self-tacking jib and its boom.   We raced without spinnaker, and the rules prohibited our Mylar genoa.  Incidentally, the rules also would have prohibited our square-topped mizzen if it had been a mainsail.  They also prohibited a flying sail change, which we were able to do with our experienced crew; if we had placed we would have had to protest ourselves.

We took 6th out of 14 boats, which was quite respectable.  As always, we found things to improve.

The genoa track on the port side was lifted and bent by the load of the #1 jib.  The primary reason seems to have been that the genoa car was positioned above a scupper in the toerail, which forced the shipwrights to use a short screw to fasten the track.  The screw gave way, and the rail bent.

Fixing this issue is a matter for some thought.

The sail prefeeder for the headstay foil  track was lost in the confusion of setting or changing sails, so I replaced it after the race, and changed the lanyard to a steel one.

I also found that the lanyard I had added to retain the headsail feeder was wrong. It turns out that when we wish to change sails during a race, we need to hoist them independently of the roller furling mechanism.  To get the masthead swivel out of the way, we must drop it down to the bottom of the headstay foil, past the sail feeder gap, and stow it just above the roller drum.  Then the swivel is below the feeder gap, and we can feed the sails into the foil above it.

I had fixed the sail feeder in its place in the gap with a short lanyard, which encircled the headstay.  It was too short to allow the swivel to drop below the feeder, so I cut it and replace it with one just long enough to pass the swivel.

Andrew believes that the 150% roller-furling genoa, which was our most useful sail in  this and most regattas, is past its worthwhile life.  It can't be set with a firm trailing edge because it stretches away from the mast if set at its optimal tension, and tangles with the upper mainmast spreader if it is set too tight.  He suggested I try to get Doyle Sails to make one with a modern loop attachment at the clew, instead of a grommet.

The #2 genoa,which is really about a 105% sail, worked well for the windward legs.  We could perhaps have used a reef in the mainsail for about 15 minutes, but the course changed down wind, the relative wind moved aft and we were able to carry the sail comfortably.

It seemed that the mizzen staysail flew better when tacked to the base of the #5 and #6 main mast shrouds than when tacked to the loops on the cabin roof we have been using since we began racing.   When I looked at the photos taken by North Sails from their regatta support boat, I thought the base of the windward forward gate stanchion might be even better.  It is  adequately reinforced, and does not need the awkward redirection of load on the turnbuckle when the sail is tacked to the shroud.

Radar scanning, continued.

The radar scanner, a Raymarine RD218, came back from their repair facility.  The diagnosis was--there is no problem.  The scanner worked when put on the bench, and was checked out for more than six hours of run time in New Hampshire.
Therefore the problem has been isolated to the inter-unit wiring.  The cable run from the display to the scanner has four multi-pin connectors and eight butt connectors in it.  I received a list of expected pin-to-pin resistances as measured at the end nearest the display, and I have been checking them.  They are failing, but in annoying ways, seeming to shift when I separate and reconnect the mast-base connectors.