Why Marlow?

On a boat the size of ours, the J/46, the loads are big, especially in heavy air. With only two people aboard, it is critical that we don’t have failures in halyards or sheets and possibly loose control of our sails which would cause damage to the boat, or even to people or pets. We have seen this happen: a broken sheet causing a flogging headsail or swinging boom can be extremely dangerous, and a broken halyard can be impossible to fix at sea leaving you down a sail for hundreds or thousands of miles when you really need it most. We want to go fast, and performance is important to us, but hands down, safety offshore is always #1.

The importance of the running rigging makes us choose our suppliers carefully. Marlow was the only rope company we reached out to as a sponsor, if that tells you something. We choose the items we purchase or use on our boat very carefully. When it comes to recommending products to our viewers and followers, we will only promote products we would actually choose to purchase and use ourselves aboard Sweet Ruca.

It is important when trusting your life to a rope that you know its origin and quality. Marlow Ropes is perhaps some of the best quality rope on the planet. Marlow’s manufacturing is top notch and meets or exceeds international standards, including CE, cordage institute standards, DEFCON’s, MIL specs, ANSI, NFPA and many others. It is depended on not only by some of the worlds best round the world racing teams but also by climbers, militaries, and those that work at terrifying heights (think rappelling from helicopters or dangling from a giant windmill).

Why Dyneema?

Many cruisers’ first thought about Dyneema is that it is just for racers. We disagree with that and believe that the benefits to racers of high strength, low stretch and creep translate to making our cruising experience better. Stretch and strength aren’t the only benefits though. Dyneema has excellent resistance to chemicals, it is lighter than polyester double braids, and is highly resistant to UV. This all translates to the lines on our sailboat lasting longer.

Aside from the obvious performance improvements of lighter weight and lower stretch, Dyneema offers another huge benefit aboard our boat. Its higher strength allows us to choose a smaller diameter for many of our control lines. This translates to lines that fit better into our winches, allow more wraps on a winch, and run more easily through our blocks. This makes hoisting, dropping, and trimming sails easier, safer, and faster.

Working with Dyneema lines is also incredibly easy. Have you ever tried to splice a double braid polyester line with a cover? It is not fun! Dyneema is very easy to splice, in some cases it is faster to splice a line than it is to tie a knot in it. This cuts down on rigging time and cost, increases the line strength vs knots, and in an emergency one can use Dyneema to replace steel wire rigging. We carry some spare Dyneema which can replace our standing rigging in this way. By the way, you can find complete instructions and videos showing how to splice all of Marlow’s lines by clicking here.

Because the lines are lighter and smaller, this also translates to less weight aloft and less windage. These benefits are often overlooked on cruising sailboats. Our thoughts on this, which have been cemented from our racing experience, is that every little bit counts. When sailing 30,000 or more incremental gains add up. The low stretch and creep of the lines also leads to less trimming and less heeling. Less movement of the lines contributes to lowering chafe, the enemy of an offshore sailboat. Less stretch means that sail shape stays more consistent, especially in big breeze when this matters most to keep the helm neutral and the boat flat and fast. Less trimming means more sleep and more time to focus on other important things such as weather routing, cooking, etc. Racing aside, the simple cruisers takeaway: increased safety, leisure time, and sailing enjoyment!

BLUE OCEAN & Sustainability Initiatives

Another reason we chose Marlow, and perhaps one of the biggest reasons, is their environmental initiatives. As sailors we feel a responsibility to leave as little wake as possible when it comes to the environment. Now, let’s be realistic, we are sailing a fiberglass boat, with a diesel engine, and composite sails made of carbon fiber and mylar film. We aren’t going to lie to ourselves and imagine because we use mostly solar and wind power on our journey that we are somehow fossil or carbon free. It is almost impossible for anyone to live day to day nowadays without using some oil based products, and we wouldn’t have the amazing civilization and quality of life without these products. However, we want to improve where we can, by making good choices.

That is where Marlow’s Blue Ocean and bio-based Dyneema initiatives come in. Like saving weight aloft, if we all can make small incremental improvements it is good for the planet. As a rope-maker, Marlow recognizes that our activities will have an effect on both the local and global environment and they are committed to ensuring that the negative effect is minimized as far as is practical. Since 2018, they have been developing products using sustainably sourced fibers in all of their standard synthetic rope ranges.  Most significantly Marlow is reducing reliance on fossil fuels by using fibers either manufactured from waste plastic or natural sources in the lines they manufacture for sailing yachts. We think this is a great thing!

A 5000 Mile Test!

We put our Marlow Ropes and new running rigging to the test when crossing the South Pacific Ocean. We have sailed well over 5,000 nautical miles so far and our lines are holding up brilliantly. We have noticed all of the benefits listed above. We also learned something new, which is yet another benefit to cruisers, the boat is quieter offshore. Once set in place, there is little movement that contributes to creaks and groans in the rigging. It is rock solid!

We noticed a few other things about these lines. First, how nice the covers felt in our hands. Most of the time we don’t wear gloves when sailing, so the “hand” or feel and grip of the lines cover is very important to us. Next, the wear and chafe resistance of the covers has been phenomenal, as is the grip on our winches. Last, the twists and hockles of our old lines are gone. We can have confidence that when we let our lines run that they won’t jam in our blocks, yet another thing that adds to safety and sailing enjoyment.

Overall, we couldn’t be happier with our choice of Marlow Dyneema lines for our running rigging. The handling, strength, and durability are top notch! Even though, in full disclosure, Marlow sent us these ropes at a great discount in exchange for featuring them in some YouTube episodes, know that we are writing this article because we want to, not because we have to or are paid to! We would choose these lines again, and can wholeheartedly recommend them to other boat owners and sailors!

What Lines Are We Using?

10mm D2 GP SK78 – Mainsheet (90 Feet) Black/Grey

10mm D2 Club SK75 – Mainsail Reef Lines (3x)

10mm D2 GP SK78 – Jib Sheets (2x 70 Feet) GP 78 Black/Blue

10mm D2 Club SK75 – Furler Line (92 Feet) D2 Race Grey

8mm Excel R8 – Main Traveler (60 Feet) 

8mm Excel R8 – Cunningham (20 Feet) 

6mm PS 12 Blue – Lazy Jacks (150 Feet) 

4mm D12 Yellow – Jack Lines (100 Feet) 

7mm D12 SK78 MAX – Mainsail Preventers (2x 60 Feet) 

6mm D12 SK78 White – Mainsail Preventers & Soft Shackles

6.5mm D12 SK78 – Miscellaneous Spare & Soft Shackles & Loops

More About Our Partnership with Marlow Ropes

The team at Marlow wrote a wonderful article about us which they featured on their website, click here to read it. Of course you can find the complete selection of Marlow Ropes available to your cruising sailboat by clicking here. In our opinion, companies that give back to the sport of sailing and assist with passing on information to encourage the next generation of sailors to get on the water should be supported. We encourage you to support those that support the sport! We are very grateful to be able to represent Marlow Ropes aboard Sweet Ruca on our circumnavigation and want to take this chance to say THANK YOU!!!!

The post Why We Chose Marlow Ropes to Rig Our Sailboat appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

Is Starlink Worth It For Offshore Sailing

The addition of Starlink has been a game changer for offshore sailing. Previous to this only large boats with huge budgets had the capability to access this level of data while offshore. Gone are the days of waiting 15 minutes to download a grib. Welcome to the connected world where you can view weather radar in real time, live weather stations and bouys, and pull up to the minute gribs in seconds.

As a huge bonus it allows for full connection for everything else, including to other boats near by but out of radio range. You can now text and VOIP just like on land. The internet connection on board our boat is now better than it was at my office on land just a few years ago! We haven’t turned on our IridiumGO! since installing the Starlink, it is that good! (We still keep our GO as a backup though for true offshore work, just as we also have on board an SSB radio.)

DIY Starlink 12v Conversion Steps for a Sailboat

We will add step by step instructions at some point, but we found the hardest part of the process was obtaining the correct parts to do it as there is some confusion out there.

Here is what we used to install and convert Starlink RV to 12v on our sailboat.

Parts to Replace Your OEM Starlink Router

Starlink Ethernet Adapter

The Starlink ethernet adapter is required if you wish to be able to do the conversion without cutting the cable to the Starlink dish, essentially allowing you to easily revert to using the original Starlink power supply and wireless router if you wish. We suggest this for beginners. Of course, advanced users, or those that are more confident in their wiring skills can save money by just cutting the Starlink cable and connecting it directly to the POE.

12v to 48v Converter

This is required to step-up the power on your boat from 12v to the 48v that the Starlink dish requires. It goes between your 12v battery power source (usually the breaker and fuse) and the POE power supply.

Tycon POE Injector

We used this simple, lightweight and cheap POE injector. POE stands for Power Over Ethernet. This allows the 48v power to be inserted into the Cat6 cable, replacing the power supply that is internal, inside of your now obsolete OEM Starlink router.

inHand 305 Router (Cellular Sim Card & Wifi)

You will need some type of your own wired or wireless router. We chose this industrial router for our boat. It is powered by 12v, which makes it plug and play into our existing electrical system with no need for an inverter, which is why we are also converting the Starlink anyway. This router is handy as it can be configured for wired and wireless routing, as well as a failover WAN to two different 4g SIM cards. This type of redundancy is excellent if you are using Starlink for work, or if you are switching to local cellular networks to save money on Starlink ocean pricing while near shore.

Starlink 12v Wiring

Shielded Cat6 Plug Ends (Field Installable)

These connectors make it easy to install new ends in your Cat5/Cat6 cables. It can be done on board with no special tools or crimpers. The best thing is, if you make a mistake, you can take it apart and re-use it. They are also clearly numbered and color marked for wire positions, allowing you to be sure you have the Starlink wire arrangement correct.

Cat5/Cat6 Cables

Of course, what network would be complete without cables! You will need one standard Cat5/Cat6 cable to run between your POE and your WAN port on your router.

15 amp Breaker

Some boats use different systems, but this fits our existing electrical panel, allowing us to turn on and off the power to our 12v Starlink conversion on our boat easily from our navigation station.

12v 10 amp Fuse Holder

We try to fuse everything. An ounce of prevention is great insurance. The Starlink 12v can consume up to 6amps at 12v so you should insert a 10 amp fuse in this.

14 Gauge Marine Wire

Always use marine grade wire of proper guage for the length of the run on board to prevent voltage drop and fire risk.

Heat Shrink Wire Connectors

No boat venturing out cruising around the world should be without a kit of these on board. We used these to connect our breaker and fuse to our 12v to 48v step up converter.

Other Starlink 12v Conversion Parts Options

Now there is another really slick option out there from YAOSHENG. We weren’t able to get these in the remote corner of the world where we are sailing, but it is a nice and slick way to do the conversion. We would surely try this if we were closer to home, but it is slightly more expensive.

Of course, the last option is the direct wire from the Starlink dish to a lightweight router. Of course, going direct without the Starlink adapter is a little more wiring intensive, but completely doable. It worked fine on board the racing boat and saved a few ounces and a few bucks.

We installed Starlink on a racing sailboat in this way and it worked very well. We used a small USB powered TP Link wireless router which worked like a charm.

Easy Starlink Mounting Options on a Sailboat

Rail Mount Fishing Rod Holder for Starlink RV

This is what we used on board our boat, as we already had several on board. It fit almost perfectly, but required drilling out a bit of the plastic bottom to accommodate the insertion of the Starlink wire. It is almost a direct fit. A little bit of tape is all that is required around the top to seal it from weather and stop the Starlink from spinning inside as it looks for satellites when you are in motion.

Cable Clam

This is needed to seal the Starlink wire going through the deck for a permanent installation. We think the BlueSea stuff is pretty good quality, and the .83″ version was just large enough to pass the dish end of the OEM Starlink cable through. Yes, this will require drilling a hole in your shiny fiberglass, but it is well worth it for the game changing level of internet connectivity your boat will now have, plus it will look like a pro install and be water tight!

The post Starlink On Our Sailboat (12v Conversion How-To) appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

Boat Heater

We survived with 3 heat sources, but we could have had some better solutions had we intended to stay longer at high latitudes. We could have made it with no heat, especially in the Austral summer, but it would not have been pleasure cruising.

Our primary heat source was a cheap Chinese forced air diesel truck heater. After an installation learning curve, this heater performed flawlessly for us throughout our trip. The 5000 model was enough to keep our boat warm enough inside but was underpowered in below-freezing temps and icy waters.

We also carried two small plug-in electric heaters (one 110v and one 220v), which we used on rare occasions at a dock. Ushuaia, Puerto Williams, Puerto Aguirre, and Puerto Montt, are the only places where plugging in is available, and prepare for unstable power supplies and long cords.

A note on wood heaters. It is possible to use a wood stove. We know of at least one sailboat in this area that does this. This is what heats all of the old fishing boats down south. There is a special type of wood in the fjords that burns when damp, but you will need to be able to identify it, and all the fishermen carry chainsaws. It does add an element of risk of a blowdown fire, which is the #1 reason for house fires in Southern Chile. As romantic as it sounds, we would stick with diesel.

Sleeping Bags

We consider a 0-degree sleeping bag for each crew member a must. We have four on board, two as spares. They are small and light to carry and make for a welcome cocoon on cold nights when it is blowing 40 and hailing outside. We also consider them important for safety. In case of injury, hypothermia, or heater failure.

There are a variety of options on the market to suit all types of different preferences and budgets. Ours are mummy type bags, but keep in mind that though warmer, they do restrict the movement of your feet just a little. Depending on how extreme your cruising will be, you may be able to compromise a bit in this area. No doubt though, a 0 degree sleeping bag of some type on board your boat in this weather is a must!

Jet Boil

You won’t find this in any cruising guide, but we loved making coffee, tea, and ramen noodles without Jet Boil camping stove while sailing in Patagonia.

The gas bottles can be found in Ushuaia, Puerto Williams, and Puerto Montt. It saves on our main stove propane supply, and lugging the larger propane (gas or gaz) for refills.

Most of all it helped keep condensation at bay. We made our coffee in the companionway with the hatch open, allowing the steam to escape the boat out of the open hatch.

Yeti Cups

We aren’t brand loyal here, consider the term Yeti used by us like Xerox for copy machines. We recommend some stainless steel vacuum double-layer mugs with sipping lids. We use these Yeti Rambler Tumbler / Coffee Mugs pretty much every day.

Not only do they stop spills on the boat, but more importantly, they keep the steam in the cups. This keeps it off of your ceiling and from raining back down on you from your through deck fasteners.

They work well for hot drinks, and they are also a stable and spill-free platform to enjoy your Chilean Carmenere red wine on a gusty evening at anchor.

Insulation

Since we touched on the topic of condensation, you are beginning to see how much of a problem it is. Our boat is not insulated (we would highly recommend an insulated boat, or installing boat insulation, if intending to spend many seasons down south) but we did take some steps to control heat loss and minimize condensation.

We used foam mats which we cut to fit our windows and hatches. We also covered two of our windows with foam and shrink-wrap tape. This was a cheap and temporary solution that worked well for us.

We would consider more foam mats inserted above our headliners and against our outer hull, especially in cabinets with little ventilation or clothing.

Most long-term boats had added a second lexan layer to the interior of their hatches and windows, making them essentially double-pane windows. For a one-time pass-through, we would say this is nice but not required. If staying for a while, it would be a good idea to do. Keep in mind though, it is important to be able to open your hatches and ports to ventilate and dry out the boat on the rare nice sunny days.

Ventilation

As one can imagine, a heater, large temperature fluctuations, condensation, and dampness are a nasty combination that can ruin the wood interior of a boat and cause mold growth.

As tempting as it is to load the boat with provisions and spare parts, don’t pack all of your cabinets so full there is no airflow. Make sure there is room for the boat to breathe.

We would encourage vents in damp lockers and bathrooms. The marine solar vents work well, but get the sealable type for extreme conditions.

Dorades are also wonderful. Our boat has 4 huge dorade vents which give the cabin excellent airflow. Don’t forget to vent your anchor locker and aft Lazerettes. This can be done by just opening the hatches on good days.

Our fans we used all the time in the Caribbean, we thought would have little use in the cold high latitude sailing climates. They came in handy to move air around the boat.

If you can’t tell by now, condensation is really the worst enemy of your boat in these parts.

Shore Ties

This may be the first thing most picture when thinking of sailing in this area, and most cruising guides cover this topic in more depth. We originally arrived hoping to buy them in South America….forget about it! Just buy your shore ties before you leave.

Mooring line reels were awesome (we only had one). We suggest buying two or having some fabricated.

Our two primary shorelines were each 100 meters long. These were 3/4 inch 3-strand polypropylene floating ropes. This worked well.

Our secondary lines (we used these for the bow) were 1/2 inch 3 strand polypropylene, each 110 meters long.

This setup worked well and seemed a good compromise of weight and strength for our boat. There were only two anchorages where we wished for more shore ties (6 ties in total) and in those instances we strung together some old Jib sheets and dock lines.

Along with our shorelines we also had 2 cables, looped at each end, for wrapping around rocks, which we used a few times and came in handy. These are easy to source locally and can serve a secondary purpose of a dinghy lock when traveling in more “civilized” areas.

Small Sails & Reefing

We were very glad to have our staysail set on an inner forestay. it was used often here. The third reef in the mainsail is also a must-have in Patagonia. We suggest addressing these items before you leave your home port, as sailmakers are few and far between in these parts.

We also had a 4th reef in our mainsail and carry a storm Jib.

We haven’t had to use each (we used the 4th reef once to test it and set the storm jib to practice and learn), as we are careful with weather routing, but we are happy to have these at the ready. Think, if we do our weather routing jobs correctly, we should never have to use these items, they are an insurance policy.

Our storm jib was made by Andy @ Evolution Sails Chicago, give him a ring and tell him the crew at Sweet Ruca sent you. He has extensive experience discussing our specific needs for high latitude sailing aboard a performance cruising sailboat. Both our 4th reef and our storm jib were sized specifically for our boat, our existing sail plan, and the conditions we would likely have to use them in (real storm conditions).

Keep in mind most “storm” sails on the mass market are normally designed for racing minimum sizes, or for wind conditions the majority of cruisers will see. In the cold air and big storms of the deep south we found things a bit different, we put together a well balanced and usable setup to allow the boat to sail well off a lee shore in sustained winds above 45 knots. https://www.evolutionsails.com/sail-lofts/usa/chicago/

Anchoring

We only used our primary anchor here, and never used a stern anchor in the fjords. We do carry a second spare anchor, just in case. There have been reports of lost anchors due to deep snags in some anchorages.

We chose an oversized Rocna  33kg anchor for our boat (the maximum size recommended by Rocna on their website, which Peter Smith personally confirmed was adequate when he saw it on the bow of our boat). We think any similar modern anchor will fit the bill as well.

Our primary anchor also has 200 feet of 10mm G4 chain, and 200 feet of nylon 5/8” 3 strand rode spliced on the tail. We are prepared to anchor in up to 200 feet of water in an emergency. Twice we anchored out in the big ship anchorages in 90-100 feet of water, and we were very glad to have this ability when needed.

Our secondary anchor is an Aluminium Fortress FX-37 anchor with 50 feet of 10mm chain and 150 feet of 5/8” nylon rode.

Lastly, get yourself a sickle or tree pruning saw to cut away any kelp that comes up on your anchor. We aren’t joking! We had so much kelp on our anchor once, our big Rocna floated in the patch of weeds! We used a small folding saw, locked at a 90 degree angle, and lashed to an extendable boat brush handle, this worked great. We also had a machete on board, which also comes in handy if you need to get through the thick brush on shore.

Jerry Cans

If southbound fuel is less of a concern, but if northbound, against the prevailing wind and current, be prepared to carry more fuel! We bought our extra cans in Uruguay and Puerto Williams, but if buying in South America be prepared for slim pickings, and don’t expect to see a Budget Marine or West Marine! Parts for yachts are hard to find. You can find some cheaper options for jerry cans than those marketed for boats, such as those containers used for bulk oil sales or industrial chemical shipments.

We wished for more built-in fuel capacity (we have 90 gallons of tankage, but would have loved another 30 built-in). Another option we have seen used is fuel bags, dedicated expandable tanks which can be strapped down on deck for extending the yachts range. We opted for standard 20 Liter (5 Gallon) jerry cans, 19 of them to be exact on board our boat! We purchased O rings for our Jerry cans to seal them better and stored them below why sailing (make sure to secure them). We aren’t a fan of cans on the deck while sailing for multiple reasons: better sailing performance, trip hazards, lines, stability.

You will need Jerry cans to shuttle fuel as fuel docks for yachts are difficult here. If you are coming from the USA, make sure not to get the EPA nozzles, as they are a real pain to fill with large boat nozzles (think buying your fuel from the same hoses as huge fishing boats) because of the little plastic piece inside. Once out of the USA, no one cares what color your jugs are.

Navigation & Weather

With the advent of Starlink, this game has changed. It worked for us throughout the fjords, and we were perhaps the first sailing yacht to go through the area with it. We did find that many of the local fisherman were using it as well.

Access to weather information is the key to a safe and fun trip here. Predictwind offshore app worked well and also allowed us to download satellite AIS which was handy.

C-Map charts were junk here, except for in the main shipping channels of the Magellan Straight and Puerto Montt.

We used mostly the iSailor app which was recommended to us by multiple Chilean Armada captains and by the Antarctic charter boat crews. We supplemented this with Navionics and Sat2Chart in OpenCPN. We didn’t touch our paper charts with the exception of Cape Horn, and that was just for nostalgic purposes.

Patagonia Cruising Guides

There is only one you need, the Bible. The Patagonia & Tierra Del Fuego Nautical Guide. Some of the information is a bit dated at this point, but for the most part, all of the anchorage information and depths are pretty spot on (we always used caution and worked slowly in uncharted waters using our depth sounder and suggest you do the same, there are keel crushing sized rocks down there).

The tide and current information was OK, but we never quite found an extremely accurate source of data for this, as even the Navy here acknowledges that the tides running between all of the small islands are too complex to forecast. The data in the two guides though gives you a good overview and we never had any problems timing the tides with a careful eye and a wrist watch.

Any others we consider supplements, many carried the Imray and the RCC guide, which have some details on a few anchorages not covered in the Bible.

Spare Parts

Getting parts in South America is a pain in the bottom! Expect a minimum of 2-3 weeks to receive anything offered online (even if you next-day air it) and sometimes up to 2 months. Just throw out any ideas of ordering what you need and getting it in a few days. Bring what you need from your home port or somewhere like St. Maarten.

Here is a short list of maintenance items to bring:

Water Pumps
Water Filters
Fuel Pump
Fuel Filters
Oil Filters
Engine Fluids (oil, trans, coolant)
Alternator
Exhaust Elbow
Engine Belts
Heater Repair Parts
Head Repair Parts
Hoses
Wire
Wire Connectors
Fuses
Rope Clutch Spares
Winch Rebuild Kit
Furler Repair Items
Mast Cars or Bearings
Sail Repair Kit
Dinghy Repair Kit
Epoxy (We like GFlex in the mixing tube)
Snatch Blocks

We didn’t use most of our spares. We did go through an engine impeller, a set of fuel filters (primary and secondary), and two oil changes (oil and filters).

We would possibly consider adding windlass spares to this list, especially if yours has some miles on it already. We suggest going to Amazon.com and creating a cart or a wishlist, searching for your needed spares, and adding them to your cart or list. Save it for later and you will always have it at hand to quickly go back and order from. This has saved us quite some time over the years.

Safety

Make sure your safety gear is up to snuff. One should have all the offshore gear already on board if venturing to these parts.

The only special item we added for safety while sailing here was immersion suits (some call them Gumby suits). This is true cold-water sailing, and help could be days away in the remote areas of the canals. We didn’t have to use them, but we were happy to have them on board.

Conclusion

As with sailing in any new place, there is always a learning curve. The bottom line is to be prepared. Don’t expect help from others, but do have the ability to help those in need. That is the way we travel and the mantra has done well for us. Safe and fun sailing to all!

Affiliate Links: Links to products in this article may contain affiliate sales links. We do this to pad our cruising kitty so that we can offer this information at no charge. By clicking the links and buying items from Amazon, we earn a small commission. In our opinion, Jeff Bezos’ yacht is plenty big, and we aren’t fans of sending more customers that way, especially over small businesses, but this way we can take a little from his boat fund and put it toward our grocery, diesel, boat maintenance, and web hosting costs we we can keep creating inspiring content for you!

The post 14 Essential Items For Outfitting Your Boat To Sail The Patagonia Fjords appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

This is our 3 reef setup. We added a 3rd reef line sheave to the boom. It fit in the existing box with no modifications.

Grey line is reef 3/4. Our new main has 3 larger reefs rather than 4. We almost never use the 1st reef. We have only used the 4th once. 2 and 3 seem to be the cruising sweet spots.

Ideally one would add rigging for lines back to the cockpit to accommodate additional reef tack/clew lines and vang while maintaining the spare halyards. We have pulled our second jib and spin halyard to use those jammers/blocks for reefs.

We also have a cunningham and strop for tack attachment points.

Our setup could be optimized and likely will get to that project at some point, but works just fine as it is. 

Hope that helps. Don’t mind the coffee making setup! It saves a lot of propane and keeps the steam out of the interior.

The post J/46 Reef Lines appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

As boat owners, we are all in search of #ThatFeeling when we set sail, but first, in preparation for our voyages, we must spend time researching and choosing products to prepare and protect our boats properly. Choosing the protective coating system for our beloved boat is one of those big decisions from which there is no turning back. It is a time-consuming and expensive process with lots of variables, especially when planning to venture far from your home dock on extended long-distance cruising adventures. Things like water type (salt, brackish, or fresh) and temperature, sailing speed, itineraries and layups, hull construction (fiberglass, aluminum, or steel), and paint compatibility and availability, polishing vs hard paints, all have to come into play. 

Our Experience With SeaHawk Antifouling Paint

We originally chose the AkzoNobel’s SeaHawk Islands line of ablative paints as our paint of choice to complete our circumnavigation when we repainted our bottom in April of 2021 in Carriacou, Grenada. We also re-faired our keel at the time using Interlux 2000e. SeaHawk is widely used and available in the Caribbean and was compatible with our boat’s existing paint system at the time. It also works very well on all types of growth, and its self-polishing chemistry means any growth and slime wash away and refresh to a new layer as the boat moves, making for an excellent low-maintenance cruising bottom that does not require constant diving and manual cleaning. With five coats applied, we expected to be able to complete our circumnavigation before returning to the Caribbean for a refresh.

After over 6000 miles of sailing and halfway through our second Transatlantic voyage in a year, our bottom was still clean, and fast, and had lots of life left in its antifouling and self-polishing layers. There was a problem though, we struck an unidentified floating object about 800 miles off the coast of Sierra Leone, Africa, nearing the doldrums, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Our Worst Fear – A Collision While Far Offshore

It was a rainy cloudless night, the Autopilot was driving, and Kate was working hard to keep the boat moving at 3-4 knots in very light air. It was impossible to see anything on or in the sea ahead. The strike made three loud thumps, the last, impacting our rudder, spinning our boat 180 degrees, and tossing her onto her side. Our boat weighs about 30,000 lbs when fully loaded, so whatever we hit had to be big for it to toss us as it did. Luckily, it did not cause us to take on any water, but it would cause some damage hidden from us at the time, which would be revealed later in our voyage.

Fast forward to Brazil. After winning 1st place in a double handed regatta in Ilhabela (a testament to our SeaHawk bottom after over a year and thousands of sailing miles) we sailed south towards our goal of Cape Horn. It was 75 miles offshore though that we noticed water ingress into our hull behind the rudder. Our hull was cracked!

Connection With Ocean Racing History

We knew it had to be leftover hidden damage from our earlier collision and immediately headed to the closest place we knew of with a travel-lift in this foreign land, Itajai, Brazil. As racers and aspirational ocean sailors we have long followed The Ocean Race, an evolution of the Whitbread Race, the images of which we gleaned at for years in the sailing magazines inspired our own journey. This is why we knew about Itajai, as it is a stopover for The Ocean Race. We knew the city would have the resources we needed to complete our repairs.

© AkzoNobel – Source: akzonobel.com

Facing A Big Problem

There were two other problems though, our visas in Brazil were running short on time and could not be extended, and we had not budgeted for a collision, haulout, repair, repaint, etc. All very expensive stuff, we had already blown through our emergency funds weathering the pandemic for over a year as so many others have, plus we had no collision insurance coverage available while sailing so far offshore. We were in a bind and our long-planned for and dreamed of around the world voyage was in dire jeopardy.

Finding A Solution

We decided to make a long shot and reach out to a brand we knew and trusted for help. We sent an email to AkzoNobel asking if they would assist by sponsoring our repair and repaint project. Amazingly we heard back and after a few conversations, we realized that this was a great chance for us to get back onto the water and get the wind back in our sails all the while sharing the process and materials, and experience with others.

We hauled out in Brazil, repairing the rudder, and hull, but the Marina has a small working yard catering to big yachts with a long waiting list. We were thankful for Marina Itajai to fit us in for emergency repairs, but we would have to go in the water and wait in line to complete a longer project. Along with the clock ticking on our visas, we had to make other plans for the next stage of repairs, which was removing all of the paint to the barrier coat to inspect and repair other areas potentially damaged by the strike with an unknown object at sea, and properly apply a new barrier coat and antifouling.

Overcoming A Giant Hurdle

We had to move the project to another country, over 600 miles of sailing away, through the cold and dangerous waters offshore of Uruguay in a Southern Ocean winter! Being forced out of Itajai though was a blessing in disguise, we made our new destination Piriapolis, Uruguay. Yet another South American port with sailing history tied to the famous Whitbread Race! We would now be hauling our boat in the same travel-lift and working in the same yard of the great ocean racing machines of the past! The lift still bears the plaque from the original Whitbread Race.

AkzoNobel saved the day yet again, helping us overcome the logistical problems involved, and we were able to secure top-quality International paint and get product application knowledge from their local retailer in Montevideo, Todo Sailing. Now, it was time to get to work!

Preparing The Boat For Paint

The first step was to haul the boat, wash the bottom, and remove all of the old layers of paint. Because our boat is 22 years old, it had quite the buildup of old layers of bottom paint. All of this needed to be removed so that we could inspect the underlying epoxy barrier coat, which is the important layer that protects the underlying fiberglass from damaging osmosis.

Once the paint was removed we found a few small areas which were damaged from the impact. Luckily it was nothing major but did need to be addressed properly to ensure our boat would remain seaworthy for years to come. We made repairs to the fiberglass via vacuum bag and faired them back to the original shape, maintaining the lightweight and strength of the original construction. It was now time to seal the boat’s bottom and rudder completely with a new watertight epoxy layer.

Applying a Complete Protective International Yacht Paint System

First, we applied two layers of International Galverette, an epoxy primer, to seal over any remnants of old coatings and to adhere to the underwater metals. After this, we applied two layers of International Intergard Yacht, an epoxy barrier coat, and primer. The combination of the two works similarly to a product we had used in the USA and Caribbean, Interlux InterProtect 2000E. Because of AkzoNobel’s global reach and production, different products are available in different markets with different names, but compatibility and product data can be easily identified.

Normally we would apply the International Micron Premium directly onto the Intergard layer, however, the boatyard’s operating hours and the unique old fashion wooden stands (locally called sticks or tacos) did not allow this to be done efficiently. We decided to use another International product as a tie and fairing coat to accomplish a smooth bottom in this case, Intertuf. Intertuf is a one-part vinyl-based layer that is easy to sand and offers good adhesion and additional hull protection. It was also highly regarded by the local professional applicators for this purpose.

The Finishing Touches With Micron – A Performance Cruising Bottom

Next up, after a light sanding, was the airless spray application of International Micron Premium polishing antifouling paint, in blue of course, to achieve the smoothest finish possible for a cruising boat. Micron is an excellent paint choice for performance cruisers due to its excellent antifouling chemistry and polishing properties. It also requires no extra sanding or burnishing to achieve a smooth finish, acceptable to us with an eye for racing-level bottoms. The application was easy enough for us to DIY, but we didn’t have spray equipment (it is possible to roll on to a good finish as well) so we enlisted the help of Cris, from CrisMar Servicios Nauticos, to assist with the application which turned out beautifully.

Lastly, after re-installing the rudder and steering system, it was time for the storied lift to once again lift us up in its shadow and place us back into the water, ready, with our boat now repaired and protected, to venture into the challenging southern ocean and around the infamous Cape Horn, just like the Whitebread Boats, The Ocean Race, and in the footsteps of the great and storied sailors of yesteryear.

What This Means To Us As Sailors

We want to take a moment to give a special thanks to AkzoNobel for supporting us, and all the sailors that work so hard every day to get #ThatFeeling: when the wind fills your sails after many long hours of hard work preparing your boat, #ThatFeeling when the boat leans over and begins silently gliding through the water, #ThatFeeling of release when you leave the troubles of land behind as you move into open water, #ThatFeeling as you sail in the shadows of the great men and women that have forged a path through the oceans ahead of us, #ThatFeeling of camaraderie and respect for the ocean between sailors and mariners in every harbor all around the world.

We invite you to share your stories with us and join us on our journey across oceans. We want to hear what gives you #ThatFeeling and drives your passion for the sea?

The post Why We Chose Micron Premium Bottom Paint & How We Applied It appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

We installed a 5000-watt (5kW) Chinese diesel heater on our boat and it has been a lifesaver during our voyage. Compared to the cost of the name brand heaters, the Chinese version is a fraction of the price, which means we were able to purchase two units for less than the cost of one high-end heater. We even carry an extra complete unit onboard as a spare.

Installing Our Diesel Heater

The installation was a bit of a learning curve, but once we got the hang of it, it was a relatively easy process. There are a few problems to overcome when installing it on a boat, and a few extra parts you will need to purchase to do it right:

• A fuel pickup was required to run the heater off of our boats diesel tank.
• The fuel filter that came with the diesel heater was cracked, we replaced it with a more robust marine grade filter.
• The hose clamps that come with the chinese diesel heater are junk, just throw them away and replace them with marine grade stainless steel for a few extra dollars.
• We had to buy a separate stainless steel exhaust outlet for our boat. We also did not use the included muffler, as they are not sealed and not safe to use inside the boat.
• The heater only included a few feet of hose, and one outlet, so we purchased high temp heating duct and more outlets to run throughout the boat, and also had to drill holes in bulkheads for this.
• To have the controls at our navigation station, we needed to extend the wiring harness, so basic electrical wiring skills were required.

All in all these hurdles and extras were easy to overcome and really did not cost that much. The biggest challenge was converting our heater to run off of our boats built in fuel tank. We ran into some slight challenges here as the fuel pump could not pull adequate fuel through the larger tanks fuel pickup, we had to modify it to accept the smaller tube that came with the heater. We also learned a lesson about placement of the exhaust and had to create a piece to deflect deck runoff and rain when underway. 

Once we ironed out the bumps and added some marine grade accessories the heater has been reliable, easy to use, and has been great at maintaining a comfortable temperature on board. We’ve also found that the fuel consumption is very efficient, with a full tank lasting us several days even with the heater running 24/7.

One thing to keep in mind is that our boat is a sailboat, and while we’re cruising at heeling angles, the heater can continue to work well, with no issues or interruptions. We’ve found that the Chinese diesel heater has been more than capable of keeping up with our needs, even in the extreme conditions of Patagonia.

Are We Happy With Our Heater on Our Boat?

While we’re currently happy with our Chinese diesel heater, we understand that if we were to spend more time in high latitudes and make that our permanent sailing location, we would want to add additional redundancy in the form of a Refleks or Dickinson heater to our boat, and likely a hydronic system. However, as we’re just passing through and headed to warmer waters in the Pacific, our current solution is more than sufficient.

To summarize, when it comes to boat heating solutions, the options can be overwhelming. The Chinese diesel heater has been a great choice for us, with its low cost, efficient fuel consumption, and reliability. While there are more expensive options on the market, we’ve found that the Chinese heater has performed just as well, if not better, than some of the high-end name brands.

However, installation can be tricky, so be prepared to do some research and troubleshooting. We highly recommend the Chinese diesel heater to anyone looking for a cost-effective heating solution for their boat, especially for those who plan to sail in high latitudes. One quick note, we do carry a complete second heater kit as a spare. At least consider carrying an electronic control board, glow plug, fuel filter, and fuel pump at the bare minimum for spare parts. Stay warm and cozy, fellow sailors!

Here is a list of popular choices and alternatives:

Forced Air Diesel Heaters

• Chinese diesel heaters: These heaters are often cheaper than other diesel heaters, making them an attractive option for many boat owners. However, quality and reliability can be variable, and installation can be challenging. The benefit? In true Made-In-China style you can buy 3-5 of these for the cost of one name brand equivalent, and if you have a problem, just throw one away and pop in a new one.
• Webasto: These heaters are known for their high quality and reliability, and are a popular choice for many boat owners. However, they can be expensive, and repairs can also be costly.
• Eberspacher: These heaters are another high-quality option, and are known for their energy efficiency. However, like Webasto, they can be expensive to purchase and repair.

• Wallace: Another high quality and more expensive option of a slightly different design than the Webasto and Eberspacher.

Drip Type Diesel and Solid Fuel Heaters

• Refleks: These heaters use diesel or kerosene to heat a metal stove, which in turn radiates heat into the boat. They are popular with sailors because they don’t require electricity to operate, and can be used in a wide range of conditions. However, they can be expensive to purchase and install, and require regular cleaning and maintenance.

• Dickinson: These heaters are similar to Refleks, but use solid fuel like wood or charcoal. They are popular with sailors who prefer the traditional look and feel of a wood-burning stove. However, they can be difficult to regulate and control, and require regular maintenance. These heaters really are the prettiest of the bunch in our opinion, and can add a touch of class to the interior.

Propane Heaters

• Force 10: These heaters are a popular choice for many boaters because propane is widely available and easy to use. They are also relatively inexpensive to purchase and install. However, they can be less efficient than diesel or solid fuel heaters, and require a good ventilation system to operate safely.

• Sig Marine: These heaters are another popular propane option, and are known for their quiet operation and low power consumption. However, like all propane heaters, they require proper ventilation and can be less efficient than other fuel types. Keep in mind burning propane generates water vapor as a byproduct and can increase humidity inside the boat.

Hydronic Heating Systems

• Hydronic heating systems use hot water or coolant to provide heat throughout the boat. They are often used in larger boats and yachts, and can be very efficient and comfortable. However, they can be expensive to install and require a lot of maintenance. The big advantage is they can distribute heat to the far ends of the boat in smaller water hoses which can be run through existing passages, rather than drilling large holes for air ducts, and water has better thermal efficiency than air. Most diesel heater manufacturers also make hydronic compatible units.

Bus Type Heaters

• These heaters are often installed in the engine room or another compartment. They work by blowing hot air through ducts and vents throughout the boat. They can be efficient and comfortable, but require a lot of power and can be noisy. These are great for trawlers and motor sailors that are running their engine often, or as a backup to another system such as a Refleks for use while underway.

Electric Boat Heaters

• Finally there the the good old electric heater. They aren’t much use at anchor, as using a generator or engine alternator to run one is incredibly inefficient, however they work great at the dock when plugged into the marinas shore power supply. We keep a small one on board for emergencies, which we can also run from our invertor. Boats which spend more time at the dock can benefit from larger units.

Don’t forget with the purchase of a heater for your boat, be it diesel, solid fuel, electric, or propane, as every boat is different, you will likely need to purchase some additional equipment to install and run it properly on your boat. They can be installed DIY, but be careful, and if your skills are not up to the task it is best to call a professional, as there are serious risks of fire and carbon dioxide poisoning if installed incorrectly. In fact, you should also purchase a smoke detector and CO2 detector for each cabin, and as always, make sure to have fire extinguishers aboard and have a safe exit plan.

Each of these types of heaters has its own advantages and disadvantages, and the best choice for you will depend on your specific needs and circumstances. It’s important to do your research and consult with experts in order to make an informed decision.

As always we wouldn’t recommend something we would not use ourselves, and we do get a small commission from the affiliate links in this post. If you enjoyed this article and would like to help support our journey at no cost to you, please make your next Chinese diesel heater purchase through one of our links. Wishing you warm sailing!

The post Patagonia on a Budget: Why We Chose a Chinese Diesel Heater for Our Boat appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

If you’re looking for an efficient, reliable, and maintenance-free battery solution for your boat, a Drop-In LifePO4 battery system might just be the perfect choice. Here are the top 10 reasons why we love our Drop-In LifePO4 battery system on our boat.

1. Lightweight: Compared to lead-acid batteries, LifePO4 batteries are much lighter, making them a great choice for boats where weight is a concern.
2. Long lifespan: LifePO4 batteries have a longer lifespan than lead-acid batteries, which means you won’t have to replace them as often.
3. Fast charging: LifePO4 batteries can be charged much faster than lead-acid batteries, which is great for those who are always on the go and need to charge their batteries quickly.
4. High energy density: LifePO4 batteries have a higher energy density than lead-acid batteries, which means you can store more energy in a smaller space.
5. Maintenance-free: LifePO4 batteries are maintenance-free, which means you won’t have to worry about checking fluid levels or replacing water.
6. Eco-friendly: LifePO4 batteries are environmentally friendly and don’t contain harmful chemicals like lead and sulfuric acid.
7. High reliability: LifePO4 batteries are more reliable than lead-acid batteries and don’t suffer from issues like sulfation and acid stratification.
8. Wide temperature range: LifePO4 batteries can be used in a wide range of temperatures, making them a great choice for boats that are used in different climates. Newer version include heated options, even though we have used our early non heated versions as far south as Patagonia in summer with no issues.
9. Safe: LifePO4 batteries are safe to use and don’t pose a risk of explosion or fire.
10. Cost-effective: Although LifePO4 batteries are initially more expensive than lead-acid batteries, they are more cost-effective in the long run as they last longer and require less maintenance.

In conclusion, the Drop-In LifePO4 battery system is a great choice for anyone who wants a reliable, efficient, and maintenance-free battery solution for their boat. These batteries offer many benefits over traditional lead-acid batteries, including a longer lifespan, fast charging, high energy density, and eco-friendliness.

Our boat, Sweet Ruca, is a J Boats J/46 that we’ve been sailing since 2019. One of the major upgrades we made to our boat was the installation of a Drop-In LifePO4 battery system. Our boat is equipped with 6x Renogy 12v 100ah LifePO4 batteries connected in parallel. Charging is done via a Balmar Alternator with 614 Regulator, D400 Wind Generator, and 750 watts of solar panels, fed through a Renogy 60 Amp MPPT charge controller.

Since we have completed the project in early 2019 there have been many advances in LifePO4 technology. We were early adopters, but now many additional products exist to simplify the charging and monitoring of these types of batteries.

With 600 Amp hours of LiFePo4 batteries on board for 4 years, we’ve been able to enjoy all the benefits of this reliable and efficient power source. Whether we’re cruising for days or just taking a quick spin around the bay, our LifePO4 batteries provide us with the power we need to make the most of our time on the water.

*A few notes on LifePO4 Safety. The benefits of this battery technology is its ability to take in and release power at a rapid pace. This same benefit, when misconfiguration or shorted can release a dangerous amount of power very rapidly. With great power comes great responsibility! The term “Drop-In” should be used only to describe the batteries fit, it is imperative that your electrical system be designed and configured for this technology and that your boat is operated with care. We have completely redesigned the electrical system on board our boat to work with this new battery technology, and our plan and work was reviewed an approved by a professional marine electrician. We have had a great experience with LifePO4 because we know what we are doing when it comes to electricity, if you don’t, please enlist a professional for your installation.

The post Top 10 Reasons Why We Love Our Drop-In LifePO4 Battery System on Our Boat appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

As you have likely watched our latest episode on YouTube, you may have some more questions about how and why we made these fiberglass repairs to our sailboat. Here we will try to give you all of the dirty details.

What Caused The Fiberglass Damage?

In mid-November, during our sail from Tenerife, Canary Islands bound for Mar de Plata, Argentina, we struck an unidentified floating object (UFO) about 800 miles off the coast of Sierra Leone, Africa.

We were only moving at about 3.5 knots in very light air as we approached the doldrums. It was raining and there were intermittent squalls. Kate was on the helm, and I (Curtis) was sleeping off shift down below in the aft cabin.

There was a very loud set of bangs as the boat heeled and spun 180 degrees. Kate yelled that we had hit something, but she could not see anything. More about this in Episode 71 on YouTube.

We immediately made ready our life raft and ditch bags and commenced inspecting the boat for damage. That night, we could find none and the boat was able to continue sailing. We inspected the boat in the water when conditions allowed, also finding no damage.

Quite some time went on, and we sailed over 2000 miles since, dove on the hull with SCUBA gear twice, and even won a race, but we finally found damage from a small hole made by the aft edge of our rudder contacting and cracking the hull many months later while sailing the coast of Brazil, as evidenced by salt water entering through the laminate.

What We Did After Finding Damage

After docking in Itajai, where we knew from following the Volvo Ocean Race that there were good facilities and a travel lift available, we moved all of the weight forward to minimize water entry and sent a professional diver into the murky brackish water to do yet a 4th inspection. He also found nothing.

At this point, we knew we had to haul the boat out to find the cause. We also contacted the manufacturer, J-Boats, to gain a greater understanding of the fiberglass hull construction in the affected areas and enlisted the help of a local professional boatbuilder and naval architect at Magma Yachts to inspect and consult on the repair.

We determined that the UFO collision we had months ago was likely the cause. It had flexed the rudder shaft some, which allowed the rudder tip to contact the hull. We also learned that the rudder shaft was designed for this and that this is a common occurrence in boats with spade rudders. It was also determined that the boat should be hauled immediately and the rudder pulled to inspect the surrounding area and rudder bearings as well.

Planning For Fiberglass Repairs to Our Sailboat

We formulated a few plans to haul the boat, and even had a contingency plan to haul at a different location if need be, with the help of Gabriel @ Magma Yachts, whose help was instrumental throughout the repair process!

Despite his company producing his own brand of yachts (check out their 38’ racer/cruiser which IMO has fantastic build quality and awesome options like a lifting keel) he is also part of the J-Boat family, as he races J/70s in international competitions.

Lifting Our Sailboat & Removing the Rudder

Luckily we were able to schedule a haul out at Marina Itajai. We had to wait for almost a month at the dock though, to make room for us, as their boatyard can only accommodate a limited number of boats on the hard.

We were able to remove the rudder before setting the boat down onto its keel during the initial haul and blocking process. Before moving the boat to the travel lift, we had already removed the autopilot components, loosened the bolts for the steering quadrant, and had the tools at hand to complete the job. It is important to do this quickly to save from having to pay for an extra lift.

Inspection – Looking For Hidden Fiberglass Damage

With the rudder out of the boat we could finally inspect the hull, keel, rudder, and rudder shaft, visually and by tapping it out. We also inspected the rudder bearings, luckily finding no damage to our Jefa bearings which we replaced way back in Episode 12!

We did find delamination and a small, fingernail-sized hole in the outer laminate just above the aft tip of the rudder. This was a cored area, so we knew we would have to dig out and replace a substantial section of the core to make a proper repair.

The good news is, we could find no further damage to the boat except for a few scrapes in the paint.

Sourcing Project Materials – Where To Buy Fiberglass & Core?

If we were at home in the USA we can source almost everything we need online, included are some links to similar materials we have used on Amazon.com so you can easily obtain items similar to what we used to make these repairs.

Instead, a few excellent new friends in Brazil helped us out by allowing us to place the transactions using their information. Brazil actually has some excellent composite providers, one of which is E-Composites. We were able to arrange delivery through Gabriel. We purchased fiberglass, epoxy resin, core material, and vacuum bag materials. Gabriel loaned us his portable vacuum pump which was a huge help and cost saver!

Fiberglass Repair Steps

It was now time to make the fiberglass repair. Here are the steps we used to complete it.

Step 1 – Grinding

Step one is the removal of all of the bad material. To get to the bad core, we would first need to remove the skins on either side. We started from outside the boat and drilled a hole using a cordless drill and standard drill bit through the punctured area. This gave us a good location on the inside to start.

Next, we started cutting, grinding, and peeling away anything on the inside laminate that was at all questionable, cracked, or delaminated from the core itself. This turned out to be approximately a 1.5-square-foot area.

We used an orbital saw and grinder with sanding pads for most of this part of the process. Sanding disks mounted in a grinder or drill were also helpful. The key takeaway here is to grind away anything that is compromised, delaminated, cracked, or unattached.

Step 2 – Core Removal

Now that we have access to the core itself, we can start to determine what parts of the core have been affected by the damage. There are two parts to the core damage. The first is impact damage and crushing of the core from the collision itself. The second is damage to the core from water intrusion, which softens the core and if left alone will rot the balsa core in our boat.

Just a note, there are many types of core. Depending on the way your boat is constructed you could have solid fiberglass with no core, wood or plywood core, end grain balsa core, foam core (of which there are several types and uses), or other composites like a honeycomb.

Any damaged core, either by impact or water needs to be removed. We do this by carefully using a hammer and chisel, as well as our orbital saw to remove it. You can also grind out the core, but we find in large areas such as this it is easier and less messy to extract with a sharp edge.

The key here is to make sure to remove all core that is compromised and keep digging until everything is dry and firmly attached. This may be a mentally painful step, tearing into your beautiful and loved boat, but it must be done to make the repair like new later.

Step 3 – Prep for New Glass & Scarf

Now that we have ground away all of the damaged fiberglass and removed all of the questionable core material, it is time to finally begin the actual repair steps.

Because we are going to be applying new epoxy and fiberglass to the old, there will be no chemical bond, only a mechanical bond. It is important to give the new repair a large area to grab onto, so to speak. The technical term for this is called “scarf area” or “scarfing.”

Scarfing means sanding or grinding an angle in the old fiberglass to which the new fiberglass is attached. The normal scarf angle is about 12:1, or for every 1 unit of thickness of the repair, you need to sand away at an angle from it 12 units. Another way to think of this: if your fiberglass is 1” thick, you need to grind or sand away an angle 12” from the hole.

Since our fiberglass outer skin is only a few thousandths of an inch thick we only need to scarf a little more than 2”. After this is done the area should be cleaned of dust and wiped down with acetone. This step is perhaps one of the most important to achieve a strong bond for your repair.

Step 4 – Repairing Outer Layer

Because our hull is cored, we have to repair 3 different layers, making the repair much more complex. We could repair all three layers at once, but we find it easier to repair the outer later in this case first.

• Pre-Measure, mark, and cut your cloth before mixing your epoxy.
• Use the same cloth and thicknesses as the original layup if possible to maintain the designed structural strength.
• Stack your repair layers in a pyramid shape, the largest in the first layer touching the old fiberglass and the smallest as the last layer.
• Wet out your cloth and the scarfed area before applying if possible.
• Use peel-ply cloth to smooth out the repair and remove any air bubbles.
• A vacuum bag is not needed, but using it will increase the strength of the repair.
• Repair from both inside and outside if possible.

Step 5 – Inserting New Core

After we completed the repair to the external skin we moved on to the rest of the repair, of which the most important part is the insertion of the core material.

The core material gives the laminate most of its strength. In our case the core in our boat is made from balsa wood, cut, dried, and arranged on a backing material in an end-grain fashion, increasing its stiffness and strength when laid up properly. The core material on our boat in this area is 5/8″ end grain balsa core.

The core needs good adhesion to both the outer skin and inner skin. It is important to sand the repair to the outer skin smooth and use structural epoxy and filler to aid in its attachment. In our case we also filled the core sections with epoxy to mimic the original SCRIMP construction done by J-Boats as we found it was beneficial to the original structure.

Step 6 – Apply Fiberglass for Inner Skin & Using Vacuum Bag

Vacuum bagging our fiberglass repairs was probably not a requirement in this case, but to us, we felt it was needed to obtain the greatest strength and contact between laminate layers. Using the vacuum bag technique does add a level of complexity, but once learned it can make repairs stronger and less messy.

After we had our core in place, we wetted out and applied our inner skin layers. Now we apply our vacuum bag tape to allow the area to seal when the other layers are applied, in a pinch one can also use butyl tape, or even duct tape (this does not work as well and is just a field patch). After this we applied a layer of peel ply, then breather material, then absorbent material.

The breather material allows the air and excess epoxy to flow to the vacuum. Spreading out the area of suction amongst the entire repaired area. It also acts as an absorbent material sucks up any excess epoxy drawn out by the vacuum. It is important to remember that the fiberglass is what gives the structure strength, extra epoxy beyond what can be absorbed by the fiberglass actually weakens the repair. This is where vacuum bagging has a great advantage over conventional wet layup repairs.

Step 7 – Fiberglass Finishing and Painting

The last step in the progress is finishing the repair to make it pretty. This can be as simple as removing the peel ply and moving on with your day, or more steps of sanding, fairing, sanding, priming, sanding, and painting to achieve a show quality perfect gloss finish. In our case, we finished the outside portion of the repair nicely, but left the inside repair bare epoxy. This way we could monitor the repair (the dried epoxy is clear), and we could paint it later to match the rest of our bilge.

Balsa Core vs Foam Core

Many people have asked us, why not use foam core instead of balsa core? This is an excellent question. Before we answer it, we need to give you a little background on core materials.

Balsa sometimes has a bad wrap. This is because many boatbuilders have taken shortcuts in construction using this core material. When balsa gets wet, it rots. That is well known. If it is sealed in epoxy and fiberglass, it will last almost forever, and it is stiffer than its foam cousins.

Most people don’t realize that foam cores can also get wet and delaminate, so choosing foam as a core material does not necessarily isolate you from the problems caused by poor construction and water intrusion, it usually only delays the damage. For the most part, any core when damaged and infiltrated with water will eventually begin to delaminate and lose its strength.

Because foam has a different density than balsa core, it is also used in different thicknesses in layups. For us to achieve the same stiffness, we would need to use a thicker foam core. This would change the internal shape of the hull and make for a more complex repair. We could use the same thickness of foam as the original balsa, but that would also mean our repair would not have the same strength as the original hull in this area.

We firmly believe that a balsa core that is well taken care of is just as good, if not better than foam. In our case, using the same size core, and restoring the boat to its original design and layup specifications was the best course of action.

Professional opinions may vary on this. Many fiberglass repair persons will just fill the area with epoxy rather than re-core or may fill in with foam, wood, or whatever is “on hand.” This happens in boat yards around the world and most consumers or yacht owners would never know the difference. It is much cheaper and faster, and some of these repairs are OK depending on the use of the boat, for example, if she will be a dock queen, appearance may be of more value than strength.

Basically, there are many ways to accomplish a good fiberglass repair, so discuss these options with your repair person if not doing it DIY. We prefer to take an engineering-based approach rather than a patch repair approach and like to do things the right way one time, even if it takes more time and costs a bit more.

Tools Used For Our Fiberglass Repair

Chisel
Hammer
Screwdriver
Knife
Orbital Saw
Grinder
Cordless Drill
Shop Vac
Vacuum Pump

Materials Used For Our Fiberglass Repair

Tyvek Suit
Respirator
Mask
Masking Tape
Duct Tape
Plastic Sheet
Fiberglass Cloth
Epoxy
Core
Sandpaper
Grinding Disks
Grinding Pads
Drill Disks
Peel Ply
Breather Cloth
Absorber
Butyl Tape
Vacuum Bag
Hose

The post This Is How We Repaired Our Fiberglass Boat & What Tools and Materials We Used appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

Here we want to share the way we have the current panels mounted as well as at the end, reveal what mistakes we think we have made and what we would do instead. For now though, we want to talk about how we mounted both the old and new panels on our bimini. We have learned a lot over the last 3 years about off the grid solar setups and how to mount them on a boat, and we want to share that knowledge with you.

About Our Flexible Solar Panels Which Failed

We had 3 Renogy 100 watt Flexible Solar Panels that failed us after 3 years of excellent service. (Note: We are really happy with our Renogy flexible panels overall. Renogy did honor their 5 Year Warranty and sent replacement panels for us to an address in the USA, but they could not ship them directly to Brazil.) More on how we tested them and determined they were failed in the video here: https://youtu.be/bqlGqlyJ4cA

Their power output was excellent, and they were super light weight. We actually replaced a single Renogy 160 watt (now a 175 watt) flexible panel (which also failed but was not eligible for the warranty because we drilled holes to mount it) with these 100 watt panels while in St. Thomas, USVI.

How We Mounted Our Flexible Panels on Our Bimini

Our flexible panels were mounted to our bimini and dodger in two separate ways, via sewing attachments and via rails and rail mounts.

Our Renogy 50 watt flexible solar panels are all sewn on. The sewing attachments were sewn into our existing bimini and dodger by sailmakers in Middletown, RI and in Grenada. They use Velcro on the panel, and Velcro sewn into flaps on the dodger and bimini. Also sewn on are small tubes closed by Velcro to hold and organize the wires.

Cons: stitching and velcro adhesive wears over time, can cause dodger or bimni top to sag a bit, sometimes catch rain water

Our 100 watt flexible panels were all mounted with tube clamps and aluminum c-channel bar stock. We used some House Tuning 1″ Off Road Light Clamps to secure the panels, along with bolts and zip ties.

Pros: Cooling airspace underneath, super lightweight, cheap (er…cost effective)

Cons: Looks DIY, not as solid

How We Mounted Our New 155 Watt Solar Panels On Our Bimini

Our new 155 watt solar panels are mounted in a similar way, but we used actual solar panel rail to mount them to. The solar panel rail is then mounted to the 1 inch bimini stainless tubing with the off road light clamps. This is a really strong setup and we are really happy with it so far. It looks and feels much more substantial than our 100 watt flexible panels, but we haven’t been in an area like the Caribbean in summer yet we we are able to see the full output. Note, we only went with 155 watt panels at 19% efficiency because that was the best we could reasonably get at the time while in a remote anchorage in Brazil. We would likely use 22% efficient 200 watt panels if we were in the USA doing this project.

What Would We Do Differently?

If we could do it all over again we would create a completely custom solution for our boat, not just tag onto the existing dodger and bimini.

We would create a hard dodger with either laminated in panels or glued on flexible panels. Custom embedded laminated panels would be best as we could maximize the space available in this area and control the voltage to match in parallel with our system for less loss in shading.

For the bimini, we would likely remove it, as well as the wind generator and radar poles. We would create a custom (but still removable) arch to hold all of these items but maximize our solar real estate without more aerodynamic resistance. We would also be able to integrate our dinghy davits into this arch and it would be much more substantial so it would not flex in big seas and be safer. We would still want it mounted in a way, with waterproof connectors, that we could remove the whole thing for racing and place it on the dock. Our preferred material would likely be aluminum, similar to a wakeboard tower.

We think we could put almost 1000 watts comfortably in this area and another 200 on the dodger, bringing our total output up to 1200 watts from our existing 865 watts. That is a pipe dream (get the pun, you use pipes and tubes to make the arch) for now though, but if we were you and starting over from scratch 3 years ago, we would have done this before we started and have had a worry free super powerful solar system from the get go, instead of trying to save money and weight.

The post How We Mounted Our Solar Panels On Our Sailboat appeared first on Sailing Sweet Ruca.

We enjoy sailing in weather windows like this. Cruising in a big breeze downwind is really fun, but boat handling, especially with only two aboard, can become a challenge.

That is why most cruising couples and single-handed sailors put so much time and effort into their self-steering solutions. Not only is reliability and performance a concern, but also redundancy.

Old vs. New Autopilots

Our 20-year-old Roberson AP22 was incredibly reliable. Its performance wasn’t up to snuff when we were getting tossed around in large waves or sneaking along in light air swells. Its wind steering features couldn’t keep up, and it lacked speedy compass data and other important data that can help the boat steer.

This is where the new generation of autopilots and instruments comes in. The core is a more accurate compass, along with better processing power to react to wind and wave data.

We spent a year or so looking at a few different options, including NKE, Garmin, Raymarine, B&G, and DIY (do it yourself via RPi, etc.). We tried a hybrid B&G H2000 and NAC-3 system, but we couldn’t get the wind data to jive reliably. An update to the firmware helped, but I am convinced it has to do with the way B&Gs NAC-3 is coded to receive wind-related PGNs, as it did not like N2K data through the ActiSense NGT-1.

Pros and Cons

We finally settled on the B&G H5000 Hercules system. Here is why:

• Pitch and Roll Corrected TWA
• Works with our existing H2000 wind and speed sensors (no mast wiring and no haulout for a new thru-hull)
• Gust response
• Configurable performance levels
• Race-proven reliability
• Experience and familiarity with H5 from racing OPBs

The big con was we could not use our existing B&G H2 Hydra processor and displays with the H5 pilot. This meant going to an H5 CPU, which, because there is no way to back convert to Fastnet, also meant we had to upgrade all of our displays to NMEA 2000.

This is an expensive and time-consuming proposition. In my opinion, B&G should make a backward compatible converter to Fastnet. It would sell fewer displays initially, but it would surely help ease many into the upgrade vs a possible total switch to a competitor.

What we needed to buy

Once we decided the project was a go, we had to go all in. We spent quite a bit of time shopping and pieced the system together from multiple vendors. Here is what we removed, and replaced it with:

Removed

• B&G H2000 Hydra CPU
• 2 Fastnet 20/20 Displays
• 1 Analog Apparent Wind Display
• 2 Hydra Fastnet/NMEA 0183 Race Displays
• ActiSense NGW-1 (0183 to N2k)
• Robertson AP22 Autopilot & Compass
• B&G Halcyon Compass
• AirMar 800 Depth Sensor

Installed

• B&G H5000 Hercules CPU
• B&G H5000 Pilot
• 2 Garmin GNX 120 7” Displays
• B&G Triton Display
• B&G H5000 Display
• B&G ZG100 GPS
• AirMar 810 Speed/Depth Sensor
• B&G N2k Rudder Position Sensor

We retained our existing Zues3 MFD, 4g Radar, autopilot ram, Precision 9 compass, Bluetooth AP remote control, AirMar speed paddle wheel, and MHU wind sensor. We also kept the NAC-3, a second P9 compass, and hydraulic ram offline as redundant spares.

Installing the New Instruments

This would be a fairly big install. Although the displays are similar in size to the old ones, they were not exact and would require some cutting and minor fiberglass work. The existing rats nest behind the navigation station would be cleaned up in the process, but most of the old wires are all run through headliners and hard to get at. This required some minor disassembly.

The good news is, you can use B&Gs Fastnet wires and put N2k ends on them. This is a huge time and effort saver. Our friends at Twig Marine have the connectors on hand for special orders. Keep in mind that standard N2k wires may not fit through the old Fastnet conduits due to the size of the N2k end connectors.

Dealing with the J Boats Hood

The instruments in the standard J Boats style companionway hood were the only tricky part to deal with because of NMEA 2000s backbone and drop standards. Yes, one can pigtail a few instruments off of one drop cable even though it doesn’t meet the official standard. We could have just used a drop into the hood, but these are our primary visual steering aids, and our GPS would be there as well.

We couldn’t afford any electrical hiccups here, so we decided to change the backbone to end in the hood, rather than in the nav station. This gives the benefit of a more centrally located power source but makes the backbone longer and more risk of voltage drop. Fortunately, our total backbone length is well within the standards.

We mounted our GPS in the hood for two reasons. First, we just didn’t like any of the locations available at the back of the boat for hole drilling. Second, and most importantly, the view of the sky is sometimes obscured on the transom by solar panels, dinghy, liferaft, etc. Lastly, we felt the closer the ZG100 was to the boat’s center of axis, the better.

We placed the Triton display where the old analog apparent wind gauge was, right in the center. We liked the apparent wind in this position and wanted to replicate it with the Sailsteer feature.

Garmin and B&G Together?

One may have already noticed that we chose to use two Garmin displays in this system in the place of B&G 20/20s. There are several reasons. First, they are cheaper, saving us about 400 dollars over the 20s. Second, they are very readable, have big digits, and can display two lines of data each, doubling the possible readouts in this location. Third, unlike the B&Gs, which only read their own PGNs in the N2k network, the Garmins will read anything.

We can fire our Expedition Navigation Software PGNs from our computer, through the ActiSense NGT-1 to the GNX 120s to view any other data we want. We use our polars and Expedition software religiously for weather routing, so this is important to us.

Once we had the hood back together, we decided to retain the location of our existing Hydra race display near the main sheet winch. This is in a prime racing location for the driver, main trimmer, and tactician. It also gives a great view of lots of data from them helm.

We would have likely forgone this location for cruising, but filling this hole was easier, cheaper, and better looking than re-glassing and re-painting or putting a blank in.

Installing the CPU and Autopilot

Now that we had all of the new displays in place, it was time to untangle the macrame that was the Nav station wiring. This is pretty standard on an old boat that has received numerous upgrades and changes over time. It has been on our to-do list for a while.

We ripped everything out all of the old stuff and got to work making sense of the old wiring. We mounted the H5000 CPU and Raymarine AIS unit to the wall, along with securely mounting all N2k connectors. Now, it is far from the perfect glamorous wiring job, but we can quickly diagnose and fix any potential problems.

The H5 Pilot Computer was an easy plugin replacement in place of the NAC-3, which now resides next door in case of emergency. Installing the new RPS (rudder position sensor) was a breeze as it is the same size as the old analog version. We kept the analog version as it still works with the NAC-3 as another layer of redundancy.

Installing the Speed/Depth Sensor

The last thing we needed was to install our NMEA 2000 compatible depth sensor. H5 can’t use the old style, but fortunately, AirMar likes to make customers’ lives easy and the new 810 unit fits easily in place of the old depth sensor. They even give you the needed o-rings to fit the older thru-hulls. As a bonus, the new sensor has Bluetooth configuration and outputs additional data such as a redundant source for heel and pitch.

Once everything was connected and in place, we fired the system up for its final checks. Everything seemed to be working pretty well and initial calibrations were close (close enough for fair weather recreational cruising).

Calibrating the H5000 System

We did our dock calibrations but waited a few days to go sailing. Our next sail would be to an island about 50 miles south, but the weather window required us to leave the harbor in the dark. We did the at sea autopilot initializations and speedo calibrations under the moonlight, but we had smooth water, light winds, and little current, making calibration easier.

Sailing with the B&G, Expedition and Garmin Hybrid

We still have some advanced calibration and fine-tuning to do. We can report though, with just basic efforts that the system performed without a glitch, and Jeeves (our name for the autopilot) drove with a steady hand and laser focus!

We were sailing in 4-7 knots of breeze in a decent-sized leftover but well-spaced swell. We were using a #3 cruising headsail and cruising Dacron main, easily maintaining speeds in the 90% polar range. The H5 can certainly drive better than the other autos we have tried and will likely save us its cost in fuel over the long run.

We still have some more detailed tuning to do and heavy air testing, but we are pretty happy with the outcome so far. We are also looking at integrating a few more on-boat systems into the NMEA 2000 network in the future such as our engine and fuel data, fridge and freezer temps, and tankage levels.

We hope to revisit this and give more feedback as we put more miles on with this configuration.

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