Envoy In The Med

ROLL ON SPRING

2022-08-18T01:50:00.003+01:00

Harsh, unrelenting winter weather has continued bar an interlude last weekend when we had a few days of relatively fine, but still chilly weather. At least this gave all the keen fishos a chance t get out on the water.

Rapport has lain forlornly in her marina berth until we pulled her onto the hard stand early last week for her annual out of water check. We had noticed Rapport wasn’t pulling her full rpm – only reaching about 2,550 when she usually reaches about 2,800. In one sense this doesn’t matter as we normally only cruise at around 1,600-1,800 rpm. However if a diesel engine doesn’t reach her designated WOT rpm it’s a sign of problems such as dirty hull and/or running gear, turbo issues or cooling issues in the case of an overheating engine. We weren’t running hot indicating that a fouled hull was the problem. Sure enough when we pulled Rapport out the hull was quite fouled, the props had a bit of growth and the shafts also had some growth and small mussels growing. Anti foul was last applied Feb ‘21 so we guess this is not surprising. New anti foul was applied plus Propspeed on the props and shafts. Also removed some fishing line tightly wrapped around both shafts near the props. This had to be burned off. Some paint imperfections in the cockpit also rectified.

Rapport was booked to be re-launched Thursday morning 18/8, however on the preceding Tuesday it was apparent we were in for a real blow so we delayed this a few days. Sure enough on Thursday there was a NE wind in the high 20 knots, gusting 40 with heavy rain. I’m glad we postponed.

Now all we need is some good boating weather or even half reasonable would be OK.

AUCKLAND'S EAST COAST CRUISING GROUNDS BATTERED BY EASTERLIES

2022-05-31T07:15:00.000+01:00

How right were NIWA late last year when they forecast the 2021/22 North Island summer would be dominated by easterlies with more gales, thunderstorms and wet weather than normally expected. We’ve lain at home in bed during quite a few nights in the last few weeks listening to wind and rain thankful to be ashore. There’s certainly been some nice sunny days, but on the water we’ve rarely had the settled predominantly south-west conditions we normally expect, the exceptions being a settled period in January before Cyclone Cody arrived and some nice periods in April. In fact we can rarely remember a period of such sustained south to north-easterlies occasionally tipping over into north-westerlies.

This significantly changes summer cruising dynamics, firstly because the east coast becomes exposed rather than sheltered and secondly because we’re all mainly used to anchoring for settled south-westerly conditions rather than for strong easterlies.

Of course this has also opened some opportunities for cruising the normally exposed west coasts of Great Barrier Island, Kawau Island and Coromandel Peninsula, but you do have to get there and back safely and easterlies often bring large ocean swells and larger than usual wind-generated waves.

We last got out for 6 nights in mid-May anchoring around Onetangi including very pleasant Piemelon Bay on the east side of Onetangi when the wind went south-east.

Fortunately it’s nearly always possible to safely return home from the inner Hauraki Gulf islands, nearly all of which provide some secure anchorages during easterlies. Some of our favorites during E to NE winds are Rakino Island’s West Bay, Waiheke Island’s Putiki Bay, Ponui Island’s Shark Bay and Rotoroa Island’s South-west Bay.

Anyway our Winter solstice is now only about three weeks away on 21 June and from there our dark mornings and evenings will very gradually lengthen out. Roll on settled SW conditions.

THREE KINGS FISHING CHARTER TURNS TRAGEDY

2022-03-29T04:45:00.000+01:00

This is an edited version of an article I’ve written for Pacific PowerBoat magazine.

The public in general and the boating community in particular were stunned by the tragic loss of five fishermen from the vessel Enchanter which capsized off Northland’s east coast on the night of 20 March.

At this early stage many details are still not clear, but they will surely emerge as investigations are carried out by the Transport Accident Investigation Committee, Maritime NZ, Police and possibly WorkSafe. However some information is available from media reports, particularly from NZ Herald and Stuff.

Enchanter is one of three rugged vessels operated by Enchanter Fishing Charters, established by skipper Lance Goodhew in 1995 and who according to their website are “the Three Kings specialists”. She is a twin diesel engine powered 17 metre vessel designed by Erwin Hagg for deep sea fishing and constructed from glassed over double diagonal kauri with a displacement of about 30 tonne. She was on a five day fishing charter out of Mangonui to the Three Kings Islands, a group of 13 small islands located about 30nm NW of Cape Reinga in an area where the South Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea. Despite their remoteness and reputation for strong currents and rapidly changing conditions the Kings are regularly visited by fishermen and divers taking advantage of an abundance of fish life from snapper to marlin. Overnight anchoring options are limited and regular visitors say that even a good night can be uncomfortable.

Enchanter is certified and skipper Lance Goodhew is qualified and highly experienced, reportedly having spent 250 days each year at sea for the last 20 years. He with one deck hand and ten clients were already aboard Encounter at the Three Kings when a weather warning was issued by MetService on the morning of Saturday 19 March. Due to the reputation of the vessel and her skipper those aboard had every reason to feel safe although one client, Mark Sanders, did mention reservations about the weather to his family prior to departure.

After some great fishing Enchanter headed back to the mainland on Sunday to complete her charter on schedule. Having owned, managed and skippered a 12 metre Oliver Royale charter vessel in the Hauraki Gulf myself some 15 years ago I can say there is some pressure to stick to the charter timetable because clients generally want to get home on time, a new charter awaits for which the vessel needs to be prepared, refueled and provisioned and there is often some maintenance to do.

Presumably the most challenging part of this trip would have been across the open waters between the Kings and the mainland, but Enchanter reached the mainland safely in early evening - Mark Sanders phoning his wife around 1800hrs with no concerns expressed. As Enchanter powered her way south towards overnight shelter she would have had the NE wind and breaking seas on her exposed port beam or port quarter. The tragedy unfolded when Enchanter activated her two emergency beacons south of North Cape at about 2000hrs. It is believed the incident happened too quickly for any radio contact to take place.

Maritime NZ initiated a full response including Whangarei’s Northland Helicopter Rescue, Auckland’s Westpac Rescue Helicopter, a RNZAF P3 Orion aircraft, the RNZN vessel Taupo and Houhara Coastguard. Two charter vessels over nighting at the Kings, Florence Nightingale and Katrina also left for the search area. Apparently some other local vessels also responded. After refueling in Kaitaia the Northland helicopter arrived on scene about 2340hrs. By the time five survivors were located and rescued in two groups near Murimotu Island, south of North Cape they had been in the water for about 4 hours. Apparently they had been located from lights visible in the water as they desperately clung on to a large pice of floating wreckage. The daring pilot with 30 years experience, Lance Donelly, reports there was a fierce storm in progress and that this was “the most extreme, most challenging rescue I’ve ever done”.

The remaining five were unable to be found and their bodies recovered later.

Clues to Enchanter’s fate come from a survivor who had been in the cockpit at the time of the incident later reporting “nobody was to blame. It was a freak wave that came out of nowhere” and from Lance’s mother who reports her son told her they were hit by a gigantic wave over nine metres high. The wave’s force ripped off Enchanter’s flying bridge and capsized her.

Metservice estimates the wind would have been averaging 35 knots with 2.5 metre waves at the time of the tragedy and if correct this hardly seems conditions that would cause many problems for a well found 17 metre vessel such as Enchanter, let alone rip her flying bridge off and capsize her. However Metservice’s assessment of conditions appears at odds with those reported by the helicopter pilot (fierce storm in progress) and by Florence Nightingale’s skipper who reports “absolutely horrendous” conditions with 55 knot winds. With such a wind out of the NE with a long fetch it is likely the waves would have been well in excess of 2.5 metres, quite possibly with average waves in the vicinity of four metres or more. However this is my opinion, not known fact.

Nevertheless Mangonui Harbour Warden Steve Smith says “the Enchanter had been in similar conditions many times before with no issue ....... it has to be a freak accident.”

So the question is – is it feasible for a wave around a frightening size of nine metres to occur?

The answer is absolutely yes.

As wave trains roll across the oceans, the peak of one wave eventually synchronises with the peak of another, and the resulting wave can be much larger than either of the two waves that coincided.

The UK’s National Oceanography Centre determined that about one wave in 23 is twice the average height, one wave in 1,175 is three times the average and one wave in 300,000 is four times the average. Of course such waves are not only large but generate tremendous energy. Fortunately the largest of these monster waves are rarely encountered because they appear quite suddenly in a small area, possibly something like 50 to 100 metres long and lasting only a short time before dissipating.

Most marine tragedies result from a series of events and in this case they appear to be severe weather conditions, an unexpected large wave, darkness, heavy rain and spray causing poor visibility and remoteness from rescue resources.

UPDATING RAPPORT WITH DECK CRANE, RHIB AND OUTBOARD (PART 2)

2022-02-04T06:31:00.001+01:00

How quickly time flies as I see it's over 2 months since our last post detailing how we’d selected an ADC deck crane and Seafarer 3.4m RHIB. Meantime we've had nearly 3 weeks of cruising around the Waiheke / Ponui area since Christmas, selecting here due to the ease with which our kids and grandkids could join with us. Weather was mostly fine and sunny, though as seems common now the wind was up a bit. We caught plenty of fish and had a great time. Now we continue with the saga of our new RHIB.

Bring on the power

My friend Frank and I put Honda, Mercury, Suzuki, and Yamaha on our list of 15hp 4-stroke outboard power options. Over the years I’ve been a “Yamaha man”, but have also owned Honda and Suzuki while Frank has a lot of experience with Mercury and Suzuki, so we’re happy that any of these engines will meet our needs and turn our focus to points of difference. While some dealers were very helpful we’re frustrated getting good information from others.

Question: “can we have a catalog showing all the features and specifications?”

Answer: “naa mate all that stuff is on the web these days”, or in one case “naa mate but there’s another dealer just up the road and he might have that stuff”.

Fact 1 – all of the manufacturers print expensive, comprehensive glossy brochures and spend a fortune on advertising.

Fact 2 – they may be horrified to learn some of their dealers don’t have brochures available for serious buyers and in most cases make no effort to inform us about product features.

Fact 3 – yes most of the information is on the web, but have you tried printing it? And yes if I’m going to spend around $5,000 on a product I want a nice glossy brochure.

We finally get our brochures and start an analysis.

Dealer prices offered to us range from $4,895 for the Suzuki to $5,339 for the Honda, but we’re buying on features not price. Several dealers cite supply issues, but in reality all options are available if not immediately.

We build our spread sheet noting that each brand has some unique features, but become increasingly impressed with Suzuki:

-It’s several kilograms lighter than all other options and we feel this weight saving is significant aft of the RHIB’s transom where it counts (Suzuki advertise as being “lightest in class”).

-We prefer electronic fuel injection (EFI). Some dealers say this is a disadvantage citing reliability, but EFI was first introduced in 1987 (by Mercury) and in our view that’s long enough to be well proven.

-It has a unique Lean Burn Control System offering increased fuel economy (Suzuki claim an incredible 45 per cent).

-We like the non-start fresh water flushing system (which Yamaha also has).

With Suzuki also offering the lowest price we decide for this option.

Choosing our accessories

Chandlers supply storage covers and engine covers in various sizes and these are essential for protection against harmful ultra violet rays and the elements.

Seafarer fitted a set of Beachmaster pneumatic wheels plus two stainless steel rod holders. We also add a universal tiller extension.

Frank used his Quicksilver for expeditions and carried all his equipment aboard. Our Seafarer will primarily be used as a tender, so we’ll only carry basic equipment of buoyancy vests, anchor, chain and warp, length of line for towing or other emergencies, orange safety square, bailer, sponge, telescopic boathook marked for depths, knife, inflation pump, basic first aid kit and spare kill switch. Secondarily we’ll use it for exploration or fishing expeditions when we’ll carry additional safety and other gear as appropriate, for example hand-held vhf, mini binoculars, air horn, water and snacks. We’ll also carry aboard Rapport a spare propeller (of a different pitch) with nut and split pin, sea water pump impeller, water pump kit, spark plugs and puncture repair kit.

The Suzuki didn't arrive in time for our post Christmas cruise so we use a 6HP Mercury 4-stroke we had spare. This had enough power to plane with one aboard and almost plane with two. Since our return we have the Suzuki installed and look forward to trying it out. The Seafarer RHIB is great - plenty of room and very stable and dry.

UPDATING RAPPORT WITH A NEW DECK CRANE, RHIB AND OUTBOARD (PART 1)

2021-12-02T01:50:00.005+01:00

Cruising update

It’s been great to get cruising again and with summer now underway this can only get better.

It’s now official that La Nina weather conditions are expected this summer, bringing warmer than average sea and air temperatures (the sea temperature off Kawau is already 20.5d). The downside is La Nina also brings NE winds, increased rain and potentially some cyclonic conditions with the probability of increased thunderstorms. These can be problematic due to sudden and sometimes severe wind direction shifts, so anchor with care to allow for this.

We’ve done two week-long cruises recently, one to the Ponui area and one to Mahurangi and Kawau.

Diane landed this monster 72cm snapper in 35 metres SE of Kawau

You can’t always get what you want

We’ve owned our 16 metre Salthouse SportFisher, Rapport, for two years now and after 177 nights aboard find her a capable and comfortable cruiser. But when you buy a pre-owned boat you inevitably make some compromises and a major one for us was not having a large RHIB. We really enjoy exploring areas around our anchorage and ideally wanted a RHIB at least three metres long with a 15hp 4-stroke outboard and able to be lifted aboard using a crane. Rapport came without a crane and with an old Chinese built Takacat inflatable that we rubbished after a few weeks as it had too many pontoon air leaks to be economically repaired. In any case we didn’t like the Takacat’s inflatable floor limiting movement in the RHIB.

It was December and we urgently needed a dinghy that two of us could easily lift onto our foredeck cradle, so bought a new lightweight (33kg) Aquapro SLR 2.6m rigid-hulled inflatable and Honda 2.5hp 4-stroke air cooled outboard. We used the same outboard during our Med cruising years and found it very reliable and easy to start and lift. But for Rapport this was always a temporary solution and so aided by our best friend and long time boating companion, Frank, we started researching deck cranes and larger inflatables.

We knew this was going to be an expensive project and that making improvements to a boat doesn’t necessarily add value. A trusted marine broker’s thoughts were that future potential buyers of Rapport would expect a vessel of this size to carry a substantial RHIB and crane, so adding these would increase her sales appeal and value. We didn’t need too much convincing and reassured by his advice and the prospect of lots more fun ahead decided to proceed.

Finding a suitable crane

It would be possible to lift the new outboard from the RHIB using a simple transom-mounted hand-operated winch, unload the other gear and then pull the empty RHIB onto the foredeck by hand, but we’re getting a bit long in the tooth for that and want to be able to launch and retrieve the whole rig with minimal effort.

The RHIB with its outboard, fuel and gear will weigh about 150kg so we need a 24V DC powered crane with a safe working load of at least that. We find plenty of options for large cranes but few for smaller units.

Motor Yacht Services (MYS) are the New Zealand agent for Brisbane-based Australian Davits and Cranes (ADC) and we find them very helpful having fitted many ADCs with good results. MYS’s owner Dean Ryder checks Rapport and quotes $13,973 plus installation for their 350kg capacity crane mounted on our starboard side with its standpipe passing through our master berth’s wardrobe down to the keel to support the load. Delivery was quoted as 8 weeks ex factory.

Oceanlift cranes are produced on a bespoke basis in Rotorua and we find owner Mark Thomson also provides lots of information. Coincidentally the boat owner next to us in the marina is very happy with his Oceanlift. Mark visits Rapport and quotes $13,711 plus installation for his 200kg capacity crane with 6 weeks delivery.

Both units will suit us however the ADC’s additional capacity will provide an extra safety margin, more future flexibility and enhanced resale value. These factors combined with the fact that MYS install their ADC cranes whereas we need a separate contractor to install the Oceanlift lead us to choose ADC. We expect the installation to take around three days and to cost to around $6-8,000.

Which RHIB will suit us best?

We’re looking for a rugged rigid-hulled RHIB about 3 metres in length with room for four adults, able to plane with at least two adults aboard using a 15hp outboard, with generous beam for lateral stability, a snub rather than pointed bow for greater internal space forward, a false flat deck for easier internal movement and to keep contents dry, a high bow to deflect spray, robust pontoons with three separate air compartments, paddles rather than oars and rowlocks, internal lifting points, rubbing strakes, storage for anchor and accessories and handles on the pontoons and bow. We’ll also fit top-of-the-line Beachmaster pneumatic wheels and two rod holders. We have a preference for a powder coated alloy hull (being lighter and easier to repair), but will accept GRP all other things being equal.

We eliminate centre console options as in our view they take up too much room in a 3 metre RHIB and add too much weight, complexity and expense.

I’ve had good experiences with Aquapro and Frank has with Quicksilver, so we make a short list including these plus Southern Pacific and Zodiac. Initially we weren’t aware of AB and Seafarer and later add these to our list. All sellers we speak to are able to provide a complete package including outboard and are willing to negotiate deals.

Frank and I discuss design with Neil at Seafarer

Ruggedness largely relates to selection of pontoon material and the current four mainstream offerings are plasticised polyvinyl chloride (commonly known as pvc or vinyl), blends of pvc with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), blends of polychloroprene (commonly known as Neoprene) with chlorosulphonated polyethylene (commonly known as Hypalon) and lastly straight TPU.

In each case these materials are used to coat a polyester or polyamide (commonly known as nylon) fabric. Although there’s lots of debate about the pros and cons of each material due to different product qualities and variations in design, manufacture and quality control, the above list represents an ascending order of technical excellence. Manufacture and quality control are vitally important and we’re aware of two successful New Zealand brands that encountered major problems when they switched production to China, eventually reverting to New Zealand manufacture.

Until recently the Neoprene/Hypalon blend was considered the gold standard, but opinion has largely turned towards TPU taking that spot, in fact the US Navy conducted a study of pontoons in 2001 concluding “tubes constructed of TPU exhibit better key physical properties than tubes constructed of Hypalon ... better tensile strength, tearing strength, puncture resistance and abrasion resistance.” It also has superior air retention, chemical (ie fuel) resistance and seams can be welded whereas Hypalon can only be glued.

Despite the above Frank and I have both experienced good results previously with RHIBs having pvc pontoons and their life can be maximised by always using a storage cover and fitting chaps to provide the pontoons with extra ultra violet, abrasion and puncture resistance.

We’d been inclined towards Zodiac, their brand being synonymous with RHIBs, but they only offered us RHIBs built in Indonesia with GRP hulls and pvc pontoons and availability appeared to be an issue. Of the imported brands we’re most impressed by AB, produced in Belgium with an alloy hull and using a Neoprene/Hypalon blend for tubes. However wanting a few custom features added we visit local producer Seafarer Inflatables, based in Dairyflat north of Auckland where we’re immediately impressed by owner Neil Curtling’s enthusiasm and willingness to share his extensive knowledge based on 35 years in the industry. Seafarer use a unique hot air welding process and their product incorporates all of the features we’re looking for and more, such as U-Deck providing a great cosmetic appearance and underfoot feel. They also produce for another well-known brand as well as repairing all types of inflatables and can produce pontoons using either a PVC/TPU blend, Hypalon or TPU. We’re also impressed by their 10 year warranty. After discussions with Neil we decide to go a little larger than 3 metres and buy their SF340R, 3.4 metres long with a generous beam of 1.8 metres. Although we would have been happy with pontoons made from PVC/TPU we decide to go with the top of the line TPU, largely because this is the ultimate in durability and our RHIB is our life boat in a worst case scenario. This costs an additional $755 bringing the price to $6,992. Neil’s attention to detail continues to impress, for example suggesting that he drill the mounting holes for wheels and rod holders in the alloy hull prior to its powder coating to minimise future corrosion.

Look for Part 2 shortly covering outboard and ancillary equipment selection and then Part 3 covering crane installation and RHIB performance.

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE - SLOW CRUISING ABOARD TWIN-ENGINE PLANING VESSELS PART 2

2021-10-09T07:54:00.001+01:00

Our last posting detailed how cruising at around displacement speed dramatically decreases fuel consumption and increases cruising range. It also highlighted the problems which can be encountered through cruising consistently at low rpm. Running diesel engines for long periods at idling speed is particularly detrimental and engine “wear” is said to occur at about double the rate compared to running them under normal loading. Ideally for that reason engines should only have 3-5 minutes of idling following start up and then be brought up to around 1,200 rpm with some load applied.

Not only can idling cause a build-up of carbon in the engine but also causes mirror glazing, which is the creation of a mirror-like surface finish on cylinder bores, eventually allowing more oil to pass the rings and creating more blow-by (the adverse effects of which were detailed in Part 1 of this article). Mirror glazing can also be caused by constantly running engines at the same rpm, so this should be avoided. Before shut down a diesel should also be idled for 3-5 minutes to allow the turbo to cool down. In practice this is catered for when entering your marina or approaching your anchorage.

Now let’s consider some options for low speed cruising and their relative merits.

Option 1 – run both engines at low rpm

If you’re wanting to do this, avoid running below 1,200 rpm and it’s recommended to at least run at 60-75 per cent of WOT for about 30 minutes after reaching full operating temperature, then again for about 15 minutes every 4 hours and then for about 30 minutes about 1 hour before shutdown. This last one is considered to be especially important to reduce soot formation and to clean the turbocharger and it’s better to spend less than optimal time at higher rpm than none at all.

Pros

There will be a considerable reduction in fuel usage and increase in range.

All ancillary equipment driven by the engines such as power steering, refrigeration compressors, hot water manifolds will operate (unlike Option 2).

Both gearboxes and drive trains will be cooled (unlike Option 2).

Full maneuverability is maintained and there is no rudder bias (unlike Option 2).

There is no potential problem with prop shaft couplings (unlike Option 2).

In practical terms this option is easy to manage.

Cons

Some monitoring and planning is required for the periods at higher rpm and it is difficult to achieve on short cruises.

May cause issues with alternators.

Hours-based service costs may increase because you are using more engine hours to run a given distance.

Option 2 – run on one engine at a time at higher rpm

Under this system only one engine is used at a time, alternating periodically (eg every one to two hours).

Pros

It will take more rpm on the one selected engine to reach your chosen speed than it would be using two, thereby eliminating or at least minimising the problem of light loading.

Fuel saving and range increase will be considerably less than Option 1, but still in the order of 10 to 15 per cent.

Higher rpm will make your in-use alternator run more efficiently.

The process is relatively east to manage.

The frequency of hours-based engine servicing is reduced thus saving service costs.

Cons

Maneuverability is considerably reduced using one engine, particularly at low speed so this option should only be considered in open waters and not for example coming into or out of marinas.

There will be a slight steering bias in the direction away from the in-use engine ie using only the port engine the vessel will veer slightly towards starboard.

The not-in-use engine’s prop will still turn or “windmill” causing drag and the gearbox to operate. The inactive engine’s gearbox must be kept in neutral so that the engine doesn’t turn over. Most gearboxes are water-cooled using its engine’s heat exchanger, so without the engine running this cooling will be lost and gearbox damage can potentially occur. Consult your installations Owners’ Manual to ascertain for how long you can windmill. They normally suggest running your engine for about five minutes before wind milling and will advise the allowed time interval before it needs to be started again to activate the heat exchanger and circulate gearbox oil. My Caterpillar manual recommends idling the engine every 12 hours for five minutes, however the Twin Disc gearbox manual recommends idling the engine for a few minutes every hour, so I will follow that guideline.

If initiating this procedure it would be a good idea to check the temperature at the rear of the wind milling prop’s gearbox using an infra-red thermometer to see how long it takes for the temperature to rise. The lower the boat speed, the less the wind milling engine’s gearbox temperature will rise. Bear in mind there’s a good chance that some time in the future you’ll have a problem with one engine and need to run just on the other one, so this is not a wasted exercise.

Take into account that engines often run ancillary equipment, for example Rapport’s port engine runs our refrigeration compressor while her starboard engine runs our power steering and heats our hot water supply.

Some stuffing boxes have no cooling system beyond the sea water coming into it, others have oil or grease lubrication to keep temperatures down, while others and more particularly most dripless shaft seals are cooled with sea water supplied from the engine’s sea water pump, so for this latter category no cooling will be supplied if the engine is not running.

Note that some vessels have a system where either engine can supply cooling water to both shafts. However if this is not the case it is best to compare the temperatures of the not-in-use shaft seals with the in-use shaft seals using an infra red thermometer to determine for how long you can allow wind milling. A temperature up to about 40dC should be OK, in fact as a general rule mechanics say if the stuffing box is not too hot to touch it’s OK (be careful doing this though). Another measure is that stuffing box temperature should be 7-22dC above sea water temperature.

Note that some cruisers have adopted measures to eliminate wind milling. At an extreme level one cruiser crossing the Pacific decided to remove one prop until half way across, then replace the prop and remove the other one so the in-use engine could be changed. This was done at sea using a block and tackle to support the prop’s weight. At a less extreme level it’s not uncommon for long distance cruisers to install a mechanical or hydraulic system enabling either prop shaft to be locked so it cannot rotate. I have discounted the use of such a system based on the inconvenience and practicalityof changing over engines and the compromise to maneuverability in the event of an emergency.

When an engine is driving your vessel it is trying to push the prop shaft and coupling flange towards the engine, therefore not putting any load on the securing bolts. When the prop shaft’s wind milling it’s trying to pull away from the engine and therefore your coupling flange, so connections should be checked initially and at regular intervals thereafter.

Option 3 – run both engines with one engine at higher rpm than the other

Another option is to run one engine at high rpm and the other at low rpm so that all engine-driven equipment is operating, then interchange every couple of hours or so. If adopting this option avoid running the low rpm engine below 1,200 rpm for the reasons outlined in the opening comments.

Pros

The issue of light loading is eliminated.

Economy gains similar to running two engines at low rpm are achieved and range is increased.

There is little loss of maneuverability.

There is no issue with cooling of gearboxes and shaft seals.

There is no issue with prop shaft flange connections.

The process is easy to manage.

All engine-driven ancillary equipment will operate.

Cons

Both engines are still ramping up engine hours, so no servicing costs are saved.

There will be a very slight steering bias in the direction away from engine operating at higher rpm.

The alternator’s efficiency is compromised for the engine running at low rpm.

Conclusion

As mentioned early on Di and I prefer to cruise much of the time off the plane, even when cruising long distances, so considering all of the above options here’s a practical solution based on Option 2 for Rapport.

-Start both engines and leave the marina using both at low rpm (although preferably above 1,200 rpm wherever possible) providing maximum maneuverability.

-When in open waters shut down the starboard engine and as temperatures rise, gradually increase rpm on port to about 1,850 = 66 per cent of WOT. This will operate refrigeration and efficient alternator operation and battery charging at higher rpm. The power steering will not operate so hand steering will be necessary, however this is not much of an issue in open waters. Any time that power steering and autopilot is wanted I can start the starboard engine.

-When the freezer reaches its operating temperature (after roughly three hours on first day out and on subsequent days after about an hour), run the starboard engine at about 1,850 rpm and shut down port

-Then continue to alternate engines as required about hourly.

For subsequent days we normally use the genset every morning so the batteries are fully charged at that time and the alternators don’t need to run at high outputs. Every several engine hours I’ll run both engines at about 2,200-2,400rpm for 15 minutes or so as well as doing this for about half an hour an hour before shutdown.

Happy Slow Cruising

LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE - SLOW CRUISING ABOARD TWIN-ENGINE PLANING VESSELS PART 1

2021-10-03T05:34:00.000+01:00

Although five of the six boats we’ve owned since the 1980s have been planing boats a large chunk of our cruising has been in the Med aboard Envoy at around 6 knots. During that time we really grew to enjoy life in the slow lane and now find that even though our current boat, Rapport, is capable of about 20 knots we prefer to cruise mostly around 8-10 knots.

Most our time aboard Envoy we cruised at about 6kn. Max speed was about 8kn

Most cruisers we speak to own twin-engine planing vessels and many of these choose to cruise on the plane when going some distance to their destination, but then cruise off the plane in the general area around their destination. There are some good reasons for this philosophy including some of these:

- You’re on the water to relax so why not enjoy the journey as well as the destination

- Helming at slower speed needs less attention so you can leisurely enjoy the scenery at your leisure and have more time to navigate safely, especially in what may be an unfamiliar area

- Many skippers prefer to tow their RHIBs at slower than planing speeds

- You’re often close to shore where in any case speed is limited to 5 knots (within 200 metres)

- At slower speeds you generally don’t have to move gear around as you often need to in all but calm conditions when going on the plane

- At slower speeds you’re not generating so much engine noise or causing so much wake

- Slower speeds are generally more comfortable for crew and it’s easier to undertake activities like making cups of coffee, using the head or having lunch under way

- At slower speeds your journey will take longer allowing more time for battery charging, for engine-driven compressors to reduce your refrigeration temperatures and for manifold hot water heaters to heat up. This is important because if for example we leave our marina for Oneroa and cruise at planing speed after the engines are up to temperature the journey will take about 90 minutes and this is insufficient time for the refrigeration to become fully effective. At 8 knots or so the cruise will take about three hours which allows plenty of time. This is not so much of an issue on the following days when refrigeration is already cold

- At slower speeds you can troll and catch a kahawai or kingi on the way (good luck with that one!)

- Due to lower rpm at slower speeds you’re saving a considerable amount in fuel costs and increasing your cruising range between fueling stops

In addition to these factors by nursing your engines along at low rpm you’re looking after them right? Actually NO - this is quite wrong so read on.

Although Rapport's top speed is about 21kn fully-loaded, we prefer to cruise at 8-10kn

So let’s focus on reduced fuel consumption and increased range even though we and most people we know aren’t greatly concerned about fuel costs, understanding this is one of the cheapest of boating costs.

Here are four examples of fuel savings and increases in range (taken from Pacific PowerBoat magazine boat reviews). Note that fuel usage expressed in litres per nm is more relevant than litres per hr as the former takes into account the shorter distance traveled due to slower speeds.

1. Nimbus 405 13.3m LOA planing vessel with twin 200hp Volvos and shaft drives:

At 3,000 rpm = 17kn, 95.9 litres/hr, 4.4 litres/nm, 200 nm range

At 1,000 rpm = 7.3kn, 6.5 litres/hr, 0.9 litres/nm, 1,000 nm range - so fuel usage per nm decreases and range increases by a factor of about 5x

2. Absolute Vavetta 14.9m LOA semi-displacement vessel with twin Volvo Penta IPS650 “Pods”, each 480hp:

At 3,000 rpm = 18.7kn, 112 litres/h, 6 litres/nm, 272 nm range

At 1,500 rpm = 7.3kn, 21 litres/hr, 2.9 litres/nm, 564 nm range

At 1,250 rpm = 6.1kn, 9 litres/hr, 1.4 litres/nm, 1,137 nm range – so fuel usage per nm decreases and range increases by a factor of about 4.2x

3. Maritimo S55 17m planing vessel with twin Volvo D13 each 400hp and shaft drives:

At 2,100 rpm = 23.8kn, 226 litres/hr, 9.5 litres/nm, 430 nm range

At 900 rpm = 8.1kn, 26 litres/hr, 3.2 litres/nm, 1,280 nm range – so fuel usage per nm decreases and range also increases by a factor of about 3x

4. Circa 24 - 26m LOA displacement vessel with twin Scania DI 090, each 250hp @ 1,800rpm and shaft drives:

At 1,500 rpm = 12.3kn, 39.2 litres/hr, 3.2 litres/nm, 3,234 nm range

At 1,000 rpm = 8.7kn, 13.3 litres/hr, 1.52 litres/nm, 6,809 nm range - so fuel usage per nm decreases and range increases by a factor of about 2.1x. Note that at 6.5kn the range increases to over 10,000nm

These examples include displacement, semi-displacement and planing vessels and similar results apply to all standard vessels including single engine vessels and yachts under power (however I’m not sure if this applies with foils.)

The above results are based on running both engines and we can see that reducing rpm results in a substantial decrease in fuel consumed per nm combined with a substantial increase in range as a result of cruising closer to the vessel’s displacement speed where the boat’s hull becomes wonderfully efficient. That’s why long distance cruisers are nearly always displacement vessels or faster vessels cruising at displacement speed. The figures would be even more impressive if I’d compared maximum rpm with idling rpm, but I wanted to compare realistic speeds.

However there are some downsides to cruising at low rpm and I want to mention these as well as suggesting several alternative options to minimise their effects. These thoughts are based on our own experiences and some internet research as well as discussions with four diesel mechanics over the last several years.

Diesel engines are not designed to be run for long periods at light loading, which is defined as rpm less than 40 per cent of wide open throttle (WOT). On the contrary the suggested rule of thumb is to run engines at 60-75 per cent of WOT for 60-75 per cent of the time, this 60-75 per cent range being the range of mechanics’ varying opinions.

So what happens if you do consistently run at light loading rpm?

At low rpm and therefore lower than optimum engine temperature the piston rings don’t seat so well resulting in faster wear, additional blow-by (more than double the normal), oil fouling of components such as turbos and carbonisation. Blow-by is the phenomenon whereby combustion chamber gasses consisting of unburned fuel and water vapour as well as soot bypass the rings causing a harmful sludge to build up on the rings in the process and to enter the crankcase. Some blow-by is normal, but increased levels can contaminate lubricating oil forming a sludge that can partially block lubrication feed lines as well as acids that attack engine parts, often resulting not only in later engine problems but in significantly reduced engine life.

This is one of several reasons why engines used in commercial vessels generally have a longer life span than in pleasure vessels, that is their engines are mostly selected according to their intended operational speed and therefore rpm.

Another cause of increased blow-by is over filling lubrication oil so never add oil beyond the dipstick marking.

Additionally alternators don’t operate so well at low rpm. For example aboard Rapport which has 24V battery banks our approx 50amp alternators charge at 23 amps at 1,170rpm and 36 amps at 1,510rpm – a 57 per cent difference. At low engine rpm alternators’ cooling fans also run more slowly causing alternators to overheat particularly in the early stages of charging when the battery banks need for charging is greatest and the alternators are working their hardest. Leaving the marina this should not be too much of a problem as most vessels have shore powered chargers.

A negative for running slower is it results in more engine hours accumulating for the same distance cruised theoretically resulting in an increase in service costs, though practically many vessels have an annual service without reaching their hours of service threshold.

But don’t despair as there are several options available to run vessels at lower speeds without compromising engine wear or longevity, each option having its own pros and cons.

Read about these options in our next posting.

PONUI ISLAND MAGIC

2021-09-18T00:15:00.005+01:00

As I write this we’ve been in Level 4 lock down for nearly five weeks now and hopefully we’ll be going down to Level 3 next week and 2 the week after. So let’s hang on in there.

From a boating perspective we haven’t missed out on too much as until the last few days the weather has mostly been miserably wet, windy and chilly. Roll on Level 2, warmer weather and the resumption of boating – we can’t wait!

Here’s an edited version of an article to appear shortly in Pacific PowerBoat re cruising around the Ponui Island area.

In Auckland we’re spoiled for choice of great cruising destinations with about 1,200 square miles of the mighty Hauraki Gulf and dozens of islands on our doorstep, explaining why Auckland is said to have the largest number of boats per capita in the world.

One of our favourite inner Gulf islands is Ponui. Maori were the island’s first inhabitants during the 1400s and evidence still remains of 23 separate pa sites. The island was purchased in 1853 by the Chamberlin family, who remained through the generations and still farm the island to this day. Ponui translates as “long night” and judging from the number of cruisers who frequent this area we’re sure there’s been many an enjoyable and long night spent here.

Ponui is about four miles long in a north to south direction, one to two miles wide and indented with numerous bays and coves offering at least 20 good anchorages, well spread around the island allowing cruisers to find safe shelter in all wind conditions. The highly informative Royal Akarana Yacht Club Coastal Cruising Handbook (a must have on board for cruisers) provides excellent information on most of these anchorages, so we’ll focus on just three of our favourite areas.

By far Ponui’s most popular anchorage is Chamberlains Bay (also called North Harbour) bordering the northern coast’s Ruthe Passage separating Ponui and Rotoroa Islands. This large bay offers great shelter in westerlies through to southerlies and for light north-westerlies and south-easterlies, although in stronger south-easterlies an uncomfortable fetch comes into the bay from the Firth of Thames. You’ll notice that Coastguard have a mooring for their rescue vessels in the bay’s north-west corner. Chamberlains Bay (note spelling of this bay is different to that of the Chamberlin family name) has no particular hazards except for its muddy bottom gradually shoaling towards the southern shoreline. Immediately to the east are two great sandy beaches easily reached by dinghy. If anchoring off these beaches watch out for the rocky outcrop between the two beaches and monitor your depth. Part of Chamberlains Bay’s appeal is that if the wind shifts to the north or east boats can easily move less than a mile across to Rotoroa’s South-West Bay to shelter. This bay also has three moorings available to rent by prior arrangement at $25 per night. The Salvation Army ran an alcohol addiction treatment centre here from 1911 until 2005 and during that time no landing was allowed. It’s reputed that sometimes desperate alcoholics swam out to boats moored here trying to score a drink. Nowadays visitors are encouraged, but no dogs are allowed as Rotoroa is a wildlife sanctuary with kiwi and weka abounding. It’s well worth visiting their interesting Exhibition Centre and your kids will certainly love the nearby brick jail house. You’ll have to avoid the temptation to leave them there! Take a walk over the island for spectacular views of the Firth of Thames and visit Men’s Bay and Ladies’ Bay on Rotoroa’s east coast - great anchorages in settled westerly conditions. Formerly cruisers could only gaze at these near-perfect beaches from afar, but can now enjoy their white sand, crystal clear waters and gnarly shade-providing pohutukawa trees.

Shark Bay on the island’s western side bordering the Waiheke Channel isn’t mentioned on the NZ 5324 Chart for this area, but it’s the bay to the north of Oranga and Poroaki Bays. Oranga Bay is too shallow for anchoring, but take your dinghy in to see the shipwreck on the shoreline with its impressive propeller and the nearby remains of two boilers. You’ll also see plenty of rays gliding across the seabed searching for kai.

Shipwreck in Oranga Bay on a great early July day

Close up showing the wreck's huge propeller

Poroaki Bay can be recognised by its several homesteads and protruding western headland providing protection from the prevailing south-westerly wind. Very often there’s also a large powered barge moored close to shore. Between Shark Bay and Ponui Head to the north are two unnamed bays with excellent sandy beaches and shelter from southerly through to north-easterly winds, but be aware of an unmarked rock south west of Ponui Head (marked on chart). The only negative for this area is wakes produced by large motor vessels travelling at speed through the Waiheke Channel.

Stunning unnamed bay south of Ponui Head

Barge at Poroaki Bay

Bryants Bay on Ponui’s north-east coast is a settled weather anchorage suitable for northerly through to south-westerly winds. It’s well protected by Scully Reef and consists of three small bays, two of which are really stunning, together with a large anchoring area outside these bays. This is an area where we’re often happy to anchor for several days and holding is good, but be aware of close to shore rocks. About half a mile south is another well sheltered bay with a fine sandy beach.

Fishing is generally good around Ponui, particularly on the eastern side in the Firth of Thames and we’re always able to feed ourselves, however on the north-western side be aware of the Te Matuki Marine Reserve extending across to Awaawaroa Bay on Waiheke Island’s south coast.

There are large signs on Ponui Island’s foreshores advising the island is private property and that no dogs, fires or camping are allowed. I spoke to one of the island’s three farm owners who advised boaties may land on beaches provided they observe the above limitations. Ponui is home to nearly 2,000 brown kiwi, descendants of just 13 released in 1964 and dogs and ferrets are their main predators so there’s good reason to ban dogs. While most dog owners are responsible a minority apparently think leashed dogs are not a problem and that rules don’t apply to them. However even leashed dogs can upset farm animals and wildlife while their scent is an issue in bird breeding areas sometimes causing birds to abandon their nests.

There is no fuel, water or supplies available in this area, except for wine at the very pleasant Man O’War Vineyard. On a fine summer’s day you’ll find dozens of inflatables ashore here enjoying the sandy beach and the selection of winery beverages and snacks. Closest groceries are at Rocky Bay while for fuel and water you’ll have to make the eleven mile trip to Pine Harbour marina.

We really enjoy anchoring in these areas around Ponui and hope you will too, but remember if going ashore to act responsibly by taking no dogs, lighting no fires and taking your rubbish away with you.

Next Post will be about cruising at low rpm without compromising your engines’ performance and longevity.

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE LOCKDOWN TUNNEL

2021-09-06T08:32:00.001+01:00

Great to see the days are finally starting to stretch out a bit and it's now light from about 0630 until about 1815.

Although official Spring started on 1 September, true astronomical Spring occurs with the Vernal Equinox on 23 September while Daylight Saving commences a few days later on 26 September - bring it on!

Good to see NZ except Auckland going to Level 2 giving the impression the Government is committed to returning us to normality as soon as safely possible. Dare we hope that next week Auckland will go to Level 3 and a week later Level 2? Roll on the Level 2 day so we can get back out on the water and enjoy Spring! The on water boat show due to take place early October has been canceled – another casualty of the lock down which will disappoint the boating community and be a blow to exhibitors.

As we all know there are no qualifications needed in NZ to skipper a boat used for leisure. Personally I’ve never thought this is a good thing and that skippers of boats over a certain size – say 10 metres LOA or thereabouts should require some qualification, such as a Boatmaster Certificate. Nowadays there is a noticeably increasing trend towards much larger power boats and it’s not unusual to see newer vessels in the 20-25 metre range. Unlike displacement vessels, planing vessels of this length put up sizable wakes, particularly at slow planing speeds and we’ve noticed some skippers seem oblivious to this and the mayhem they cause at anchorages for example in the Rakino Channel. I was in contact with Maritime NZ recently who confirmed there is no requirement for any skipper qualification regardless of the vessel’s size if used for leisure. I must admit to finding this surprising as it means that somebody with no boating experience could potentially buy and skipper a 25 metre vessel and while it’s safe to assume most would act responsibly there will always be some that don’t.

We’ve started making our post lock down cruising plans including another trip to the Kawau area hopefully based around Labour weekend, another to the Coromandel Peninsula, Mercury Islands and Mercury Bay basing ourselves at whitianga marina, plus a trip of several weeks duration to Northland and the Far North. Before we finalise timing for the latter two trips we have to await a confirmed installation date for our new deck crane, hoping to have it plus our new RHIB by early-mid November. Even thinking about this gets us excited.

I also have a new writing brief for the annual Pacific PassageMaker magazine due out early next year - an article on what tools, spare parts and chandlery the well equipped coastal cruising vessel should carry. I've started researching this, finding it a very interesting subject and already adding a few items to my Rapport shopping list.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

2021-08-21T00:38:00.005+01:00

So we’re back in lockdown again from Weds 18 August and it appears this could last a few weeks. From the boating perspective it’s better for this to happen now than later, as we move into Spring next month. It seems it was inevitable that the delta variant would hit our shores and while it’s all too easy to criticise aspects of how NZ has handled the situation (eg the way in which rooms for quarantine are allocated) our infection numbers are remarkably low. If we had the UK’s infection and death rates, then based on the population difference we’d be having 2,665 new infections and 8 deaths daily. While there are sad stories about people having problems returning to NZ, haven’t these people largely created their own problems?

Back to the subject of Cruising and firstly engine servicing.

We’ve used TerraCat for servicing our Cat 3208 10.4L V8 diesels as they’ve had a very knowledgeable engineer who knew our boat well. However he recently left TerraCat and after considering our options we decided to change contractors to Marine Propulsion (MP). The main reason for this is it’s highly desirable to have the same person doing your servicing as they get to know the peculiarities and history of your boat. We weren’t convinced TerraCat could offer this continuity. So far we’re impressed with MP. The engineer who’s now doing our servicing is actually one of MP’s directors (so unlikely to be leaving) and he suggested coming on board a week before the service to familiarise himself with Rapport and discuss our expectations – impressive service. We wanted somebody who will not only change oil and filters, but proactively look for potential issues and provide advice on preventative maintenance. So far we’re very satisfied with our move. For example he found that two pencil anodes in our heat exchangers have not been getting replaced because access is restricted and standard anodes can’t be used. Solution: he’s going to cut some standard anodes down so they fit and then some protection will be better than none. He made suggestions re filter changing frequency to save us cost without compromising performance as well as suggesting we use our spare filters first and replace them with new ones in order to turn the spares over. That’s the kind of engagement and service we want.

Useful tips

1. Barometers

Most of us have nice shiny brass barometers on one of our bulkheads and these should certainly be considered useful beyond ornamentation. So how should we use them?

The barometer’s indicator needle should be reset each morning in order to monitor changes.

If pressure rises or falls 1.6 to 3.5Mb over a 2 hour period it’s warning of a depression.

If pressure rises or falls 3.6 to 6.0Mb over a 2 hour period it’s warning of Force 6 winds.

If pressure rises or falls more than 6.0Mb over a 2 hour period it’s warning of Force 8 winds.

A drop in pressure of 15 or more Mb in a 24 hour period indicates a weather “bomb” is imminent.

As a matter of interest the world’s average atmospheric pressure is 1013Mb

2. Protection from sharp hose clips

Have you ever cut your hands or fingers on the sharp ends of stainless steel hose clamps? I sure have and to avoid this have fitted Clamp-Aid hose clamp safety guards. These are flexible silicone sleeves that easily fit over the ends of hose clamps to provide protection. Cost is about $32 for a pack of 20.

3. Mounting fittings on gelcoat surfaces

At some point we all need to add fittings such as an aerial mount to a gelcoated surface. What most of us do is drill a hole in the gelcoat, put some silicone in the hole and onto the screw and Bob’s your uncle right? Wrong. Silicone has a limited life of around 5 years, so at best water will eventually find its way in to the cavity and migrate into the substrate beneath the gelcoat. The correct way to do this is to drill a hole much larger, in both diameter and depth than what is required for the screw, fill the hole with epoxy and then drill the screw hole in the epoxy. This will ensure that moisture doesn’t get into the substrate beneath the gelcoat. In any case silicone sealants are not suited to marine applications and we should use marine sealants like Sicaflex 291, 3M4000 or Bostik Simson MSR Construction Adhesive.

4. Paint aerosols

You normally have some paint left in the aerosol after completing your job. In order to re-use the aerosol hold it upside down and press the nozzle until all residual clears out of the nozzle. Then store aerosol upright.

We weren't planning to do much cruising during August, but hope the lockdown is over so we can start serious cruising again from mid-Sept.

STORM DURING NIGHT OF 2 AUGUST

2021-08-05T19:42:00.000+01:00

,During the night of 2 August there was a massive blow in Auckland causing quite a bit of havoc ashore including fallen trees and downed power lines. I recall lying in bed listening to the gusts thankful not to be out on our boat.

Hobsonville marina emailed us the next day advising of gusts up to 67 knots in the marina with some vessels suffering damage to canopies and hatches. Di and I went there to check on Rapport, fortunately finding everything was fine.

Sir Peter Blake’s former 36 metre alloy expedition yacht Seamaster, now called Archangel, which has been anchored for a long time off St Heliers Beach dragged her anchor, but fortunately beached with apparently no damage. Her current owner says Archangel had a heavy anchor and 100 metres of chain out, but there are two issues of interest here:

1. Her owner was not aboard, but able to tell remotely that Archangel had dragged and therefore able to go and investigate. I don’t know what technology the owner was using, but see our last posting re Anchor Watch HD as it shows how valuable this free app can be.

2. Her owner says Archangel dragged her anchor due to a 180 degree wind shift. This is a point I have mentioned many times, that is with adequate ground tackle set (as Archangel had) you are most unlikely to drag in a consistent wind. However when you encounter a 180 degree wind shift – which often happens during storms and/or as fronts pass through, all bets are off. This is because your boat’s movement following the wind shift can pull your anchor out from its set position and just drag it across the seabed. In other cases as your chain moves in the opposite direction it may foul the anchor and drag it across the seabed preventing it from resetting.

But wait there’s more. You have almost certainly anchored on a weather shore, that is with your bow pointing to the shore and no matter how hard the wind blows you are unlikely to see wavelets more than about 25cm high. After the wind shift you will be on a lee shore, that is with your stern pointing to shore and in shallower water. Now the wind has much greater distance to create waves and these can quickly rise to a metre or more. Waves cause a jerking motion placing further strain on your anchor and compromising your security.

Lesson: a 180 degree wind shift is always a case for concern and for close monitoring of your situation.

Four great products to enhance your winter cruising

2021-07-30T23:37:00.000+01:00

Here’s an edited version of an article to appear in Pacific PowerBoat's next issue.

FOUR GREAT PRODUCTS TO ENHANCE WINTER CRUISING – AND ONE’S FREE!

We really enjoy our winter cruising, but when it’s dark from before 1800hrs until first light arrives about 0700 the dynamics are quite different to summer cruising when we’re still on the beach or BBQing until much later. These four products have helped keep us safe, warm and entertained during those 13 hours of darkness aboard Rapport.

See the light – Techlight hand-held spot

In days gone by our hand-held lights were usually a 12 volt spotlight with a halogen bulb connected through a cigarette lighter socket and a trusty battery powered Dolphin . When using these during night searches as Coastguard volunteers we often found the boat’s wiring to the power socket was too light for sustained use of the spotlight, due to the heat generated, while the Dolphin had limited range and runtime plus expensive batteries to replace. Also if the Dolphin hadn’t been used for a while we needed to remove and replace the (same) battery, presumably to provide a better connection.

But a technical revolution has been occurring during the last 15 years or so not only with LED bulbs, that provide brighter light, give a higher quality beam and consume less power, but with rechargeable lithium batteries that continue to improve as well as becoming lower cost. I can distinctly recall when I first became seriously aware of this. Technical guru Chris aka MacGyver, our most frequent visitor to Envoy made his first visit in late 2010. We were sitting in the cockpit after sunset in a bay near Bodrum when Chris showed me a black aluminium flashlight about 130mm long, with an LED bulb and powered by a rechargeable lithium battery. This compact light easily illuminated trees on the foreshore, which I guess was about 250 metres away. By comparison the light from my largest flashlight – a clunky unit with 4 x D cell batteries and conventional bulb couldn’t even reach the shore. Flashlights using conventional dry cell batteries lose their brightness early on as the batteries start to lose their charge, however lithium battery powered lights can lose much more charge before their brightness reduces. We now carry one of the new generation MK 7 Dolphins with an LED bulb aboard as one of our low cost general purpose flashlights together with a rugged, no-nonsense looking Teklight ST-3329 we bought from Jaycar Electronics for $159. The Techlight has an incredible 480 metre range and its 4,500 lumens of light (the Dolphin has 200 lumens) provides amazing brightness. It’s waterproof and floats, has a convenient wrist security strap and its lithium battery pack is rechargeable using either a mains charger or USB cable, both supplied. Its full power option provides 75 minutes use while its still very bright low power option increases this to 150 minutes. If the proverbial hits the fan the unit can also emit a continuous SOS signal. In essence the Techlight provides the power of a hard wired spotlight with portability and we love it.

User tips: it takes about 40 minutes for human eyes to completely adjust to darkness so using low level red lighting at the helm and reducing brightness on navigation screens helps maintain night vision. Don't try to use any spotlight through windows and avoid directing the beam on reflective surfaces.

Have we moved - Anchor Watch HD app for devices

When the wind is howling at 40 knots with the boat moving around during squalls as we encountered during early July’s “weather bomb” it can be difficult to tell if your anchor’s dragging during the night, especially as distance is far more difficult to estimate during night time. Most plotters incorporate anchor alarms, but as with our boat these may be on the flybridge and difficult to hear below. Enter Anchor Watch HD – a free app allowing you to maintain anchor watch from below or even while away from your boat.

When you open the app while connected to the internet it shows a Google Earth view of your current location and while Google Earth is not essential to use the system, being able to see your position on a map provides additional reassurance. This view is historical, so boats shown on the map will not be there now. You can change the scale using normal two finger zoom.

After your anchor is set press the anchor button and an anchor icon with an orange circle around it appears at your position. Now while the anchor icon remains in the original anchored position a blue/white/blue circle shows your current position. There are two on screen buttons to the right of the anchor button that increase and decrease the alarm range, which would typically be about 15 metres to allow for some sideways movement. The actual range displays on top centre of screen together with the distance and bearing from your current position to the original anchored position. If your vessel moves outside the set alarm range a volume adjustable (seriously loud at full volume) siren sounds and a dialogue box appears allowing you to ignore the alarm for 30 seconds while you adjust the scale or “raise the anchor”. The app can also send an alarm message by sms or email allowing you to monitor your anchored position while going ashore.

User tips: the app consumes a lot of power so keep your device charging when it’s using this app. Make a note of your GPS position after anchoring so that if you suspect dragging you can compare that with your current GPS position.

Stay warm as toast - Gasmate heater

Even on cold nights, once we start cooking the boat warms up quickly and when using our generator we can also run our 2.4Kw electric fan heater. At other times we use our Gasmate portable heater with its ceramic burner providing an atmospheric warm glow. We bought ours from Bunnings costing $140 and using disposable 220gm butane gas canisters costing about $1.40 and lasting about 90 minutes. It’s very safe as a simple lever disconnects the butane cartridge when not in use and gas supply automatically stops if the unit should be accidentally knocked over, the oxygen level becomes too low or the flame goes out. It’s piezo ignition works well and it’s compact and smart with the butane cartridge housed within the casing.

User tip: when using the Gasmate allow some fresh air into your boat and never use it while sleeping.

Gasmate butane cartridge heater and Techlight spotlight

Entertainment during those long nights - RSE Mini-Lite Plus

We promised ourselves our next boat would have Sky TV capability to watch favorites such as Super Rugby. When we bought Rapport she already had an Avtex flat screen and a TracVision TV5 satellite dish enabling us to watch free to air TV. Our friend Chris suggested buying an RSE Mini-Lite high definition digital satellite receiver enabling us to plug in our Sky card from home. The unit is easy to install, attaching to the rear of the flat screen and wired to our AC power supply. It’s performed well and accesses Sky channels wherever we are, except for some unknown reason Oneroa. The RSE unit costs $199 and can be bought through RSE in Takanini or providers of caravan accessories.

User tip: the power to the Mini-Lite and screen must be off before you insert and remove the Sky card. If you don't do this the Sky card will no longer work until after it's used again in your box at home.

Enjoy your winter cruising!

Envoy to resume cruising

2021-07-27T20:13:00.000+01:00

We sold Envoy in late 2019 and her new owners, Larry & Catherine Wood from Queensland, planned to start some cruising in Spring 2020.

However the world changed in early 2020 with covid and that plan changed along with it. For one thing Greece closed up and pleasure boating was banned and for another Australian residents needed permission to leave their country. This year things have opened up a bit and cruising is allowed once again. Larry contacted me to advise he's finally heading over to the boat in August, planning to stay for about 10 months. He still had to get permission to leave and has this. After getting Envoy operational and back in the water he's planning to do some cruising in Greece and then cruise to Southampton in UK where he'll be basing Envoy. Southampton is where Nordhavn UK are based and they can undertake virtually any type of maintenance required. Also living nearby is one of Larry's close friends who is a competent yachtsman and who will be joining Larry in Greece for the cruise.

Diane & I are really delighted for Larry & Catherine and look forward to following Envoy's progress.

THIS IS ADVENTUROUS BOATING

2021-07-02T21:54:00.000+01:00

I’m always impressed with people living their adventurous boating dreams in small vessels.

My younger brother Charles is a yachtsman who’s done lots of daunting sailing adventures. Among others he cruised from Perth around the northern coast of Australia to Sydney, sailed from Sydney to Lord Howe Island and back and then sailed from Brisbane to Scotland via the Med over several years while altogether racking up 14 years living aboard his 34ft van de Statd sloop, Acrobat, with his then partner, later wife Marie for.

Charles was our inspiration to embark on our own Med adventures following a visit to Turkey and a short cruise aboard Acrobat. He’s a very practical guy being a qualified builder, cabinet maker and shipwright as well as being able to undertake many mechanical and electrical projects. Consequently Acrobat is immaculately fitted out to the high standard needed for ocean passages. But she’s quite basic by our standards having only hand-pumped fresh water, no hot water, no refrigeration and only a cockpit shower. I can’t imagine how Charles and Marie spent all those years living aboard in the Med without cold beer! He jokes that with Scotland’s cold climate lack of refrigeration is not a problem. As Marie is still working Charles does solo voyages from his home port of Lossiemouth in the Firth of Forth (close to Loch Ness and the Culloden battlefield) and is currently on a month long trip North Sea cruise north to the Orkney and Faroe Islands. This is serious sailing – The Orkneys are about half way from Scotland’s north coast to Iceland and the Pentland Firth between Scotland and the Orkneys has some of the planet’s strongest tides – up to 16kn. Quote “the force of the tides gives rise to overfalls and tidal races …. and often give rise to extremely violent sea conditions …. the races are highly visible with overfalls and whirlpools.”

Imagine Charles’s surprise when anchored at Fair Isle a Wayfarer sailing dinghy with two POB comes alongside for a chat. A Wayfarer is a popular UK 4.8m open sailing dinghy and they had sailed about 70nm from Wick to Fair Isle. Then they sailed about another 40nm north in open seas to Lerwick in the Shetland Islands.

That’s what I call adventurous boating. As I write this we’re sitting aboard Rapport on a very chilly but fine Saturday morning, safely anchored at Waiheke’s Owhanake Bay – and that’s adventurous enough for me.

ENJOY YOUR WINTER CRUISING

2021-06-14T21:49:00.002+01:00

We’ve owned Rapport now for a year and a half, finding her to be a great cruising vessel, however when you buy a pre-owned boat you inevitably make compromises compared to your perfect desired boat. In our case there were three compromises, which I’ll discuss.

1. Rapport has a large flybridge with full headroom and our compromise here was having plastic clears as opposed to glass. Particularly facing forward, glass is a big plus especially in heavier seas when there’s a lot of spray reducing visibility. However Rapport’s clears are exceptionally good being polycarbonate which appears to retain its clarity for longer than vinyl and we’re just about to treat these with RainX-Plastic which should considerably increase visibility with rain or spray. In general we’re pretty happy with these clears and won’t consider glass as an option until it’s time to replace the clears.

2. We prefer gas cooking to electric. There’s a lot said about gas safety issues, but we’re perfectly comfortable with professionally installed lpg systems with gas detectors. The main plus with lpg is you can cook without running a generator. Rapport has electric bench top hobs and a convection microwave. It took a while to get used to the convection microwave and while Di says she would still prefer a “proper oven” we find it adequate, supplemented by an electric frying pan. To avoid having to start the generator just to make a morning cup of tea or coffee we bought a small bench top single hob “Gasmate” stove. This uses disposable lpg bottles which only cost $1.35 and last one or two days. We also use this for boiling vegetables etc. There’s no problem using electric cooking while the main engines are running and charging the batteries, in fact for any electrical device that uses heat like kettles, toasters and hair driers an engine or generator needs to be running due to high current draw. Using the generator for cooking in the evening is also not a problem as we often need to run it to charge our house battery bank, particularly if we haven’t run the main engines that day. In the summer most of our cooking is on a lpg BBQ and we really enjoy using that. So in conclusion we’ve adapted and will continue with the present system.

3. As you will have read in our last posting we really enjoy using our dinghy and ideally wanted a 3m rigid-hulled inflatable with a 15hp 4-stroke outboard, lifted on board by crane. Rapport came with an old TakaCat inflatable that after a few weeks we literally threw away as it had so many air leaks. In any case its 6hp Mercury outboard was too heavy for us to comfortably lift on and off the dinghy.

Our current small Aquapro

As Rapport came without a crane and we needed something in a hurry that the two of us could lift onto the foredeck cradle we bought a very lightweight (33kg) Aquapro SLR 2.6m rigid-hulled inflatable with a Honda 2.5hp air cooled outboard. We had one of these Hondas in the Med and found it to be super – very reliable and nearly always starting first pull. This package has worked well but was always a temporary solution. We’re now going to sell the Aquapro/Honda and upgrade to an approx 3m rigid hulled inflatable with a 15hp 4-stroke outboard. This will give us planing ability with at least two adults, more room when we have often have four adults aboard, longer range and better rough water capability. Not to mention much more fun! Bear in mind that on a typical coastal cruiser your inflatable is also your life raft in a worst case scenario. In order to lift this dinghy aboard Rapport we’ll need to install an electric crane and we’re researching whether we can store the dinghy on a new rack to be built behind the flybridge (preferred option) or on the existing foredeck rack. Also researching which inflatable to buy and whether to fit a Honda, Suzuki, Mercury or Yamaha outboard. However our choice may be be influenced by what is actually available - watch this space.

ENJOY YOUR WINTER CRUISING

In many European and North American boating locations Autumn is time to winterise your boat and leave it until Spring, however in Auckland there’s no reason not to swap shorts and tee-shirts for jeans and sweatshirts and enjoy most of what cruising has to offer throughout our winter.

Average weather statistics will surprise you. For example Auckland’s average daytime winter temperature is 14-15dC while by comparison popular cruising destination Scotland has an average summer temperature of only 15-17dC. Also surprisingly, on average January is Auckland’s windiest month while the least windy are March and May through August. In Auckland showers are more prevalent than constant rain and the weather out among the Gulf islands is invariably sunnier than on the mainland. For example we often look back from Waiheke basking in the sunshine to see the mainland shrouded by cloud.

Auckland is New Zealand’s most populous boating area where the Hauraki Gulf’s Mahurangi Harbour and Kawau Bay to the north-west, Great Barrier Island to the north-east and the string of islands from Rangitoto to Ponui in the south offer safe shelter in most weather conditions all year round.

Cruising in winter offers less crowded anchorages, good fishing and also means using your boat regularly, thereby reducing the chances of unexpected problems. I often see owners starting their diesel engines at the marina during winter, however engineers tell me there’s no substitute for using your boat regularly and working your engines under load at normal operating temperature, which can’t be achieved in the marina. In fact I’ve been told that starting your engines without loading them can do more harm than good.

The winter nights are of course longer from around 1800 to 0700 hours. We find keeping warm not an issue with heat from the galley, an electric fan heater powered from our generator and a portable gas heater. Other systems such as diesel heaters are also available. Ensure adequate ventilation when using gas heaters to avoid dangerous build ups of carbon monoxide.

We had planned a ten day family cruise for late May and as departure approaches we watch the forecast with some consternation. The approaching weather system is so unusual that the media describes it as a “weather bomb,” caused by a ridge of high pressure in the eastern Tasman Sea combining with a deep low pressure trough north-east of the North Island to cause south-easterly winds in excess of 40 knots and exceptionally high swells in excess of four metres. A gale warning is issued for the Hauraki Gulf, but only a strong wind advisory for the Waitemata harbour, so we modify our plans to avoid the outer Gulf and enjoy the Waiheke area.

We leave on a Friday afternoon in a light south-easterly breeze and cruise to Owhanaki Bay on Waiheke’s north-west-coast. Here is perfect for the forecast strong south-east winds and we find only a handful of boats anchored here providing us with plenty of all-important swinging room. We’re cautious about this as having anchored many nights over the years in adverse conditions our only problems have ever been caused by other anchored vessels coming adrift and hitting us. The rocks either side of the bay’s entrance are awash with a larger than normal swell, but where we’re anchored there’s just a gentle lift. With the wind predicted to increase to 25 knots we elect to stay here for the next couple of days finding it perfectly comfortable and secure.

Winter rainbow in Chamberlin's Bay, Ponui

By Tuesday it’s a beautiful sunny day, albeit a bit colder as the wind increases and temporarily shifts a bit to the south. We anchor off Oneroa Bay, slightly further east, where our family members join us having arrived by ferry at Matiatia. We want to cruise east to the Waiheke Channel and it’s decision time. Do we take the route to the north of Waiheke enjoying the sheltered northern coast, but risking heavy south-east seas when we turn south into the Firth of Thames, or do we cruise east along the Tamaki Strait on the southern side of Waiheke expecting a large wind-driven chop for most of the way but no heavy seas? We elect the latter and cruise south down the west coast of Waiheke in tranquillity before turning east at Park Point into the full brunt of a steady 35 knot south-easterly gusting into the 40s. Although the wind-driven chop is about two metres high it’s directly on our bow so Rapport’s 16 metre hull handles the conditions well at about 8 knots with plenty of spray but little discomfort and with conditions gradually improving as we approach the Waiheke Channel. Normally with a south-east wind we’d anchor in Ponui Island’s Chamberlin’s Bay, but with the exceptionally strong winds we find residual swell from the Firth of Thames so anchor slightly further to the east in the more sheltered Te Kawau Bay.

During the next few days the south-easterly is far too strong to venture out into our favoured fishing areas of the Firth so we seek out new fishing spots in the more sheltered waters of the Waiheke Channel finding two locations that provide plenty of action.

Faced with the “weather bomb” it would have been all too easy to cancel our cruise, but we enjoy ten great days away confirming that winter cruising even in poor weather can be enjoyed.

EXPLORING IN YOUR DINGHY

2021-04-06T23:18:00.005+01:00

After owning Rapport for 16 months we now know her pretty well and have plenty of confidence in her cruising ability and reliability. Although we bought her as being “ready to cruise” that turned out to be not the case and the first three months or so were spent adding equipment and bringing up to our high standards. For the past several months we’ve cruised extensively and clocked 129 nights aboard and 329 engine hours.

A huge surprise for us has been Rapport’s remarkable economy. She’s powered by twin 375hp Caterpillar 3208s and we generally cruise around 1,400rpm giving us about 8 knots. She’s capable of the 21 knots we achieved during our pre-purchase sea trial with full water and fuel plus five adults aboard, but Di and I prefer the more sedate 8-10 knots although we do regularly run her faster for up to 30 minutes in order to load up the engines. We’ve found that we’re averaging about 15 litres/hour each engine for a total of 30 litres/hour and this includes running our 7.5Kw genset for an average of three hours daily. I had honestly expected a figure nearing double this and combined with Rapport’s huge 2,800 litres diesel tank capacity we have a big cruising range with refuelling being a rare occurrence. For example since our last refuel on 27 December we’ve spent 58 days cruising clocking 133 engine hours, only refuelled once and still have over 500 litres in the tanks.

Here is an edited version of an article shortly to be appearing in Pacific PowerBoat.

You can easily miss a lot when sitting aboard your boat anchored a couple of hundred metres offshore, but if you take the time to jump into your dinghy and explore the nearby coastline you’ll be well rewarded and gain a better appreciation of your anchorage, for example knowing where any rocky outcrops and shallower patches begin (keep a lead line in your dinghy to check depths).

If you have young children aboard you can make your dinghy trip a real adventure for them too as well as letting them drive the dinghy and teaching them about about “messing about in boats”. Last but not least, surprisingly large snapper can be caught close to inshore rocks in just a couple of metres of water using floating lines and large baits, especially in the subdued light of early mornings and late afternoons although I must add that we don’t like fishing from inflatables as they are too prone to being punctured by spines.

If we’re going ashore on Hauraki Gulf island beaches we often take a small rubbish bag to gather any unsightly litter. As my background is in the plastics industry we’re a bit sensitive to the inaccurate negative publicity related to what is really an issue of littering, not technology. I must say that despite publicity about littered beaches we rarely find more than the odd plastic bag or container, a few bottle tops and an old jandal. Sometimes we literally can’t find a single item of rubbish. Maybe other folks are regularly cleaning up beaches too?

Here’s some examples of dinghy trips we’ve enjoyed.

Rangitoto Island’s Islington Bay is one of the Gulf’s most popular and sheltered anchorages and we’ve anchored here countless times during 40 years cruising. It’s sheltered from all except S to SE winds so generally like the proverbial millpond except for some residual wakes from passing ferries and large launches. From out in the bay Rangitoto’s rocky coastline looks much the same, but as you cruise close to shore a different world opens up of small coves and the remains of small jetties and launching ramps not visible from afar. At the northern end of the bay Rangitoto is separated from Motutapu Island by a narrow estuary heading north under a bridge into Gardiner Gap, a shallow bay separating the two islands. Within about two hours or so each side of high water this estuary is completely navigable by small dinghy, but be ready to duck going under the bridge. Unlike Islington Bay itself the estuary has clear water and is a good place to have a swim, though watch out for rays which often glide across the bottom searching for small fish and shellfish. Likewise Gardiner Gap is good for swimming close to high tide. If you beach your dinghy near the bridge you can walk east over the farm lands of Motutapu or follow a track around Islington Bay’s coastline. There used to be dozens of baches here built mainly in the 1920s and 30s and these were rustic simple dwellings unlike many of today’s small mansions that people rather ironically still call baches. Many were later removed after disputes about land leases, but you can still see where they were located along with remaining chimneys and foundations. Fortunately a few baches remain reminding us how people then travelled here by ferry to enjoy their simple holidays at a slower pace of life.

Another very popular anchorage is Kawau Island’s Bon Accord Harbour. This is particularly sheltered in easterly winds and the harbour’s depth allows anchoring well up the bay’s head between Emu Point and Moores Bay. Take your dinghy on a trip into Swansea Bay on the north eastern corner up to a couple of hours either side of high water, passing through the mangroves and into the creek. It’s possible to navigate several hundred metres up this creek into a delightfully tranquil valley of bush where the only sounds are birds singing and jumping fish splashing. The water is clean and easily clear enough to see any obstructions such as submerged branches. Kids love it if you pretend these logs are in fact crocodiles and embellish the story accordingly. Up this creek are several fresh water pools, ideal for a dip to wash the salt off.

If you’re visiting Coromandel Harbour a great dinghy trip is navigating the creek to Coromandel township. Anchor your vessel south-west of the Coromandel wharf and set off about an hour before high tide. Be aware the sea can become choppy in strong westerlies so don’t overload your dinghy. In this area life jackets must be worn, not just carried aboard and this requirement is enforced by particularly vigilant authorities. The channel is evident and you’ll see some fairly large fishing vessels moored alongside makeshift jetties either side of the fairway. After a few hundred metres you’ll come to a bridge carrying the main road across the creek and a large area where you can beach your dinghy. The township has an eclectic mix of people (read as people who became hippies in the 1960s and got stuck in the groove) and ranks as one of the most picturesque we’ve seen while providing all the cruising supplies you may need. In the old days we’d often go into the pub for a cold beer, but we’re now more inclined to have a doughnut and coffee at the bakery. There’s also a very good takeaway offering tempting fish and chip lunches. Don’t lose track of time though as the creek does get shallow as the tide recedes. On our very first trip here we moored our 6 metre runabout to the wharf and were shocked to find it high and dry when we returned, giving us no choice but to return to the pub.

A trip we want to do soon is to anchor off Arkles Bay and do a dinghy trip up the Wade River to Silverdale. Enjoy your dinghy exploration and find your own favourites.

REFLECTING ON RAPPORT'S SUMMER CRUISE

2021-02-22T22:33:00.004+01:00

This is an edited version of an article shortly to appear in Pacific PowerBoat magazine.

We set off after Boxing Day for a seven week cruise, our first stop being Motutapu Island at our favoured anchorage of Waikalabubu. We love that name – sounds very exotic. Here it’s very sheltered in south-westerlies and only minutes away from great fishing in the Rakino Channel.

After collecting Di’s sister, Sharon and her husband, Doug from Gulf Harbour marina we head to Mahurangi Harbour. The popular anchorage here is Otarawao Bay on the port side as you enter, but it’s often used by shore-based jet skiers breaking all the rules so we head a further mile up harbour to anchor off Oaua Point at the entrance to the Pukapuka Inlet. Here it’s more sheltered and quieter, the only sounds being the splashes of some large fish jumping.

Spending a few days around Kawau Island we enjoy good fishing on the island’s north-east coast around Fairchild Reef. In strong westerlies a good anchorage at Kawau is difficult to find, the best one being Harris Bay in Bon Accord Harbour if you tuck close to shore. But that’s generally crowded so we anchor at Goldsworthy Bay on the southern side of Kawau Bay finding excellent shelter and only two other boats for company. In northerlies our preference is the very picturesque Bostaquet Bay with its great sandy beach.

A visit to the Kawau Boating Club is a must with diesel and water at the wharf, basic provisions, laundry and shower facilities available and an excellent licensed cafe where we enjoy a perfect lunch of seafood chowder and smoked fish pie. In fact we like it so much we join the club.

Most of our time is spent at Aotea / Great Barrier Island and overall it’s hard to beat, providing a huge number of varied, safe and interesting anchorages and some great sandy beaches. It’s well supplied with fuel (although $1 per litre above mainland prices), water and stores and offers superb fishing. We regularly caught good feeds of snapper up to a 72cm, 7kg specimen that we returned to the sea and even caught legal snapper in five metres of water at one of our anchorages.

There must be a few crays around too as the skipper of a nearby boat gave us the rare treat of one to enjoy. We offered him a bottle of wine in return, but he preferred a loaf of bread, something we’ll be happy to trade for a cray any day.

The Barrier also has many great walking tracks taking you to scenic vantage points, hot mineral springs, kauri dams, waterfalls and the remains of a whaling station. If the arts are your thing you can visit the studios of several local talented painters and potters.

Our preferred Barrier anchorages are Kiwiriki (“Two-Island”) Bay and Wairahi (“Ghost”) Bay in Port Fitzroy, Nagle Cove and Karaka Bay (where laundry facilities are available at Orama Oasis) in Port Abercrombie, the Broken Islands in settled weather, Bowling Alley Bay in north-westerlies through to easterlies and Whangaparapara in easterlies or light westerlies.

Port Fitzroy’s Smokehouse Bay is very popular and it’s well worth going ashore to see the bath house, where you can also do some laundry, exchange books and most often chat with other boaties. Fresh water is available here at high water from a hose on the grid. Incidentally water is no longer available at Forestry Bay and while there is usually water available from Whangaparapara the supply has been turned off due to low supplies.

Nearby Smokehouse Bay in Ghost Bay Barrier Gold sell manuka honey and related products from a rustic barn where you can also catch up on the local news.

Recycling can be disposed free and garbage $5 per bag near the Port Fitzroy wharf where fuel, water, ice and bait are also available. Take a short walk up the hill where a store offers basic supplies, beverages and lpg bottle refills. However stocks are intermittent here and the best place for supplies is Tryphena where virtually everything is consistently available from the Stonewall Store at Puriri Bay, one of the island’s nicest sandy beaches except in strong westerlies.

The Barrier has its own private radio station working VHF channel 01 with weather forecasts at 0745 and 1745 while Coastguard can be contacted on channel 60.

In most of the anchorages we visit there are roughly 60 per cent yachts and 40 per cent motor vessels. Among the yachts it’s noticeable there are less traditional designs and more imports, including catamarans. When we started cruising in the 1980s 12 metre vessels such as Marklines, Corsairs, Rivieras and Vindexes were considered large and Kennedy 46s were enormous. Now these are small by comparison with many of today’s newer vessels and it’s not uncommon to see vessels in the 20-25 metre range. Unfortunately some of these large vessels cause enormous wakes of around 1.5m, a fact that seems to escape the notice of some of their skippers.

Despite exceptional numbers of cruisers predicted to enjoy this holiday season we didn’t notice areas we visited being any busier than normal. Maybe people had less annual leave available or was it the relatively strong south-westerlies prevalent for much of the time - in all of our time away there were only a handful of days with light winds.

The subject of sharks has been widely covered in the media since Waihi Beach’s tragic fatal attack in early January. We hooked and released six small sharks while snapper fishing and saw several others swimming near us or other anchored boats including three large bronze whalers just off Port Fitzroy wharf, one in Whangaparapara and one in Tryphena. On the homeward journey we also see a large shark inside Kawau’s Bon Accord Harbour. The experts say sharks are more noticeable because the water’s clearer and there’s more people around to notice them, but we’re not convinced and others aren’t either judging by the noticeable drop in numbers of swimmers off anchored boats. There’s a strong case for not filleting fish where people are likely to swim as sharks are certainly attracted by the scraps. It’s much better to bag the frames and scraps and dump them later in deeper isolated waters, something we’re now doing and encourage others to do the same.

From the Barrier we make a side trip to the stunning Mercury Islands (25 miles from Tryphena) and Whitianga (43 miles from Tryphena) and wonder why more cruisers don’t make this relatively short trip down from the Barrier. Our close friends Frank and Marie are staying at Whitianga’s Simpsons Beach and join us for a three day trip to the Mercurys.

We find Whitianga’s Mercury Bay tough going for fishing, although Great Mercury Island provides us with snapper, kahawai and grandaddy hapuka.

Mercury Cove is snug in all winds except strong south-easterlies while Coralie Bay is great in westerlies and the various sandy bays along the south coast are delightful in northerlies. Another option in strong westerlies is Kennedy Bay about eleven miles to the east on the Coromandel Peninsula. There are many other glorious beaches on the Coromandel’s east coast but most of them are only suitable for anchoring over night in very settled weather due to swell.

Around Whitianga overnight anchoring in south-westerlies is good off Wharekaho (“Simpsons”) Beach or Cooks Beach, but there are no good anchoring options in easterlies.

Whitianga is a perfect place to re-supply and it’s generally possible to use a mooring in the harbour for this purpose, while diesel is available from the marina at mainland prices. In town is the amazing shop called Pinky’s – something like an up-market $2 shop offering a huge range of useful products and we challenge anybody to come out of there without buying something.

On our way home we backtrack our outward voyage via Great Barrier and Kawau and cutting our planned time away by three days due to a forecast of winds around 50 knots and heavy rain. When this weather arrives Rapport is safely on her marina and we’re home once again, planning our next trip.

CRUISING WITH OTHERS ABOARD

2020-12-19T22:16:00.001+01:00

Our cruising plan is to head up to Kawau, across to the Barrier and down the eastern side of Coromandel to the Mercury Islands and Whitianga area.

Here is an edited version of an article we wrote appearing in the latest version of Pacific PowerBoat.

After a difficult covid 19-dominated year and with lockdowns hopefully behind us, the summer cruising season finally upon us and overseas travel options restricted for the forseable future, unprecedented numbers of boaties are expected to head out to enjoy the delights of their local cruising area and beyond.

While a few old salts enjoy the seclusion that boating can offer one of the great joys of the cruising experience for the majority of us is sharing our adventures with family and friends (guests). We really enjoy showing guests around and not only are they great company, but give old destinations new life as they often discover new aspects and notice different features of interest.
But while there’s nothing quite like mates filleting the catch together over a cold beer at the end of a great day and telling tall stories about the one that got away, there can be a different sort of a catch. Guests may not be used to boats and you may not have previously have all spent so much time together in such close confinement.

Some guests may be experienced boaties, but even they need to know the peculiarities of your boat (yes and even those of the skipper). So cruising with guests is made all the more enjoyable for all if they know what to expect and after being welcomed aboard are made fully aware of safety procedures, how things work, and the skipper’s basic “rules”.

If you’re planning to meet guests mid-way through your cruise consider that it’s generally much easier and cheaper for you if they come to where your boat is located rather than you needing to make major detours to meet them. It's a funny thing that we seem to baulk at spending hard earned dollars on a ferry or taxi, but not even more for diesel.

With space limited on boats you don’t want guests arriving with bulky suitcases so discuss in advance what they should bring. Do they need to bring their own linen and towels? If you don’t like guests wearing shoes aboard your boat you need to provide guidelines on suitable footwear as well as clothing for the cruise (experience-based tip: guests always bring far too many clothes). Discuss food supplies to avoid duplication and to ensure any special requirements (which seem all too prevalent these days) are met.

Find out if your guests are prone to sea sickness. If they are it can be a problem for you as well as them so make some suggestions for medications to bring along. If they are bringing children do you have suitable life jackets?

If you intend to share costs it might be wise to mention this from the outset. For example we generally share costs for food, drink and fuel for the time guests are on board.

Particularly on a larger vessel it’s all too easy to overlook a safety briefing as being unnecessary, but a briefing demonstrates your competence as their skipper to guests and shows you are serious about their safety. Tailor your briefing to your guests’ experience levels and at least cover the location of life jackets, use of fire extinguishers, man overboard procedures and any hazards specific to your boat. For some of our experienced guests I extend the briefing to include all aspects of taking command of the boat and use of the tender.

Most guests like to feel they’re part of the crew rather than passengers, so it’s often a good idea to encourage them to help with anything from anchoring to cleaning up after fishing to manning the barbecue. In open waters give them a spell on the helm.

Guests can be rightly concerned about weather patterns and sea conditions, so it’s best to fully explain each morning over breakfast the intended cruising plan for the day and relevant weather situation.

Two major challenging areas with guests aboard can be the heads and water conservation. Explain clearly to your guests exactly how the heads operate and what not to flush down them; dismantling a blocked head is not the ideal way to start a great holiday together! Also explain how your boat has limitations with fresh water compared with life ashore and the need to conserve water during showers (yes this particularly applies to the ladies).

Most guests find it important to be able to charge their devices - mobile phones, iPads, laptops etc and you need to explain how they can do this. We also ask guests to leave their phones off or in silent mode overnight to avoid interrupted sleep for others.

When having guests for more than a few days it can be a good idea to encourage them to do some exploring by themselves to provide some “time out” for all. Diane and I often take an early morning walk by ourselves for this reason.

By adopting some of the above suggestions your cruising experience with guests can be made a whole lot more enjoyable for all and with memories of a great cruise they will still be friends when they disembark.

RECENT CRUISING ABOARD RAPPORT

2020-12-06T22:03:00.000+01:00

In early October Tommo from Caterpillar spent most of a day servicing our twin Cat 3208 engines and I spent this time with him, learning a lot in the process. They’re supposed to be serviced annually or every 200-250 hours and although they’d only done about 140 hours since the last service we needed to get the service done before the summer holiday rush. Half the cost of service is the multitude of filters, oils, anodes and other service parts replaced.

Due to covid we hadn’t used the boat since June, so in mid October did a three day shakedown cruise around Rakino & Waiheke Islands. The fishing was surprisingly good and we caught one snapper 62cm long.

Nice snapper caught northern end Rakino Channel

We also found a few issues not related to the Cats service.

The windlass deck switch wasn’t working so replaced that.

Rapport has a NEMA 2000 network information sharing system and we found some elements weren’t working properly. Subsequently the Furuno agents, ENL, came to the boat and quickly found the problem caused by two faulty network cable connectors which they replaced.

But the biggest issue was the recently serviced generator kept shutting down after about 30 mins operation. On return to the marina we found the 5 year old start battery had gone flat and replaced it, but that didn’t help. Our regular contractor called in a genset electrical specialist who after a couple of hours investigation found that during the service the oil pressure switch had been replaced with an incorrect type. The switch is supposed to send a signal to shut off the glow plugs after working oil pressure is reached, but this switch wasn’t doing that so the glow plugs were staying on and sucking 10 amps from the battery. Once the correct oil pressure switch was fitted all was OK.

Over Labour Weekend we took out John, Alice and our grandkids Lily, Veida & Axel. Again the fishing was good and the kids all caught their first ever fish, but what sizes. We spent an afternoon ashore at Waiheke's Man O’War vineyard and although enjoyable was way too crowded with long delays for food.

Not a bad snapper for 4 year old Veida's first day of fishing

We had another two weeks aboard during November, including on week with Chris. The weather wasn’t great with winds up to 30 knots and many showers, but everything ran well and again we had an abundance of snapper.

After a year of ownership we’ve logged 70 nights aboard and that’s not bad considering all the time we couldn’t go out due to covid restrictions.

We've postponed our Whitianga trip to around March-April.

A LOGICAL APPROACH TO MANAGING CRUISING INFORMATION

2020-10-10T22:44:00.001+01:00

This is an edited version of an article we wrote shortly to appear in Pacific PowerBoat magazine.

Covid-19 cruising update

No sooner had we mentioned New Zealand’s return to unrestricted cruising late July in PMB’s last issue than the new Auckland level 3 lock down commenced on 12 August, lasting until the 30^th before going to level 2.5 and finally to level 1 on 7 October. This time around there was no room for confusion about boating under level 3 being not permitted and now with lock downs hopefully behind us and Spring here cruising can only get better.

In other covid news there are many cruisers in various Pacific island locations highly disappointed at not being able to come to New Zealand for the summer to avoid the cyclone season and a German crew who arrived illegally have been deported leaving the future status of their yacht unclear. I guess many of these crews assumed they would be allowed entry and didn’t think to make alternate arrangements. Obviously there is sympathy for these crews, but potentially arriving at various locations at different times could have represented a logistical nightmare for our authorities, although I guess their time at sea cruising here could have counted towards quarantine. Sympathy also for the various marine facilities and other businesses who normally benefit from the spends of these crews, reported by media as averaging $50k per vessel.

Managing cruising information

Cruising is all about maximising the enjoyment of our leisure time and the last thing we want to do out on the water is paperwork right? Absolutely, but consider these scenarios.

You call an electronics technician about a problem with your radar and he needs to know its serial number. You think it’s about time to get your engines serviced but can’t recall how many engine hours passed since the last one. You know you wrote down the weather forecast this morning, but where’s that piece of paper? You decide to sell your boat and need a comprehensive list of its features and onboard equipment. You’re in bed when your bilge pump alarm sounds – do you know how to access each seacock and through hull for inspection at night?

A simple Information Management System can easily answer these questions as well as making the operation of your vessel easier and enhancing its resale value. The elements of the system we’ve successfully used during nearly forty years cruising include an Operating Manual, a Logbook, a Daybook, a To Do List and a Receipts File.

Operating Manual: when we bought Rapport last year there was no Manual and the broker’s advertising sheet lacked detail and missed much of the equipment. Now we have a comprehensive Manual comprising about forty pages describing all equipment aboard and covering subjects such as safety equipment, location of seacocks and other through-hulls, location of electrical isolation switches, functions of circuit breakers, how equipment operates, service intervals and spare parts carried. A multitude of systems makes boats complex and it’s impossible to remember everything about them, so when we do a job for the first time (eg adjusting an alternator’s vee belt tension) we note procedures in the Manual to make it easier next time. After owning our previous vessel for 12 years we were still adding information during our last year, maintaining it on Microsoft Word and periodically printing an updated copy for easy referral.

Logbook: This is where we note information of lasting interest that you might look back on. For example with great friends Bill and Sue you cruised to Man O’ War bay and had an enjoyable afternoon ashore at the vineyard. The next day you crossed the Firth of Thames catching some nice snapper mid-way, anchored off Coromandel and all went up to the township in the dinghy for fish and chips, nearly getting caught out by the tide on the return trip. We note down engine hours each evening, but only mention weather in the Log if it’s unusual and memorable for example a still sunny day in the middle of winter or a wind shift that causes an uncomfortable night.. If you want to (and you’re brave enough to) keep a record of money spent on the boat, the back of the Logbook is ideal for this.

Daybook: We use this instead of writing information down on different scraps of paper that always seem to get lost. Information included is weather forecasts; route planning; fuel and water tank levels; refuelling details; engine oil pressure, water temperature and charging voltage; notes about maintenance and information about planned boat projects. For example we’re researching an improved bait and filleting station so we’ll do our internet research noting relevant points in the Daybook so our information is all in one place.

To Do List: I guess most boat owners would use such a list and it’s really self explanatory. A cruiser’s dream is to have nothing left on their To Do List.

Receipts File: Keep all your receipts together in date order for ease of reference. When you eventually sell your boat many prospective buyers would want to see this and it helps reassure them that you’ve used an organised approach to maintenance.

Using a system like this is not burdensome and on the contrary adds to the joy of cruising.

REFRIGERATION FOR CRUISERS

2020-09-11T22:19:00.001+01:00

Our last post prompted a question about refrigeration from a reader in France, so here’s a few comments on that subject.

When we were in the Med meeting fellow cruisers (the vast majority of whom were aboard sailing yachts) one of the most common discussion threads was the difficulty of keeping house battery banks charged. In virtually all these cases the cruisers with these issues had battery powered refrigeration. Modern technology has certainly reduced refrigeration’s power requirements, but there’s no doubt it’s still likely to be your biggest current draw.

Boat refrigeration is powered in one of the following ways:

1. An engine driven compressor – this is very efficient, but only operates when your engine is running. Usually the same compressor powers both a refrigerator and freezer. There can be issues with controlling temperature as in some installations items in the refrigerator section will freeze if the system is run too long.

2. DC power from battery bank - is efficient but results in heavy current draws,

3. AC power from generator and/or inverter. Very efficient but note that quite a large inverter is needed due to refrigeration’s high start up current draw.

4. A combination of above - is ideal.

I haven’t included LPG powered refrigeration as with a pilot light it’s regarded as unsafe for marine applications.

Whatever system is used stainless steel lined appliances seem to work better than plastic lined ones and those with built-in brine plates make them even more effective. A big advantage of systems 2 and 3 is they invariably allow for continuous operation on shore power using a battery charger in the case of DC or an inverter generally passing current directly through to the appliance in the case of AC.

On our last boat we used AC power from our genset or shore power and found that worked extremely well. Depending on the ambient temperature and the number of people aboard (more people = more “drain” on refrigeration) we ran the genset for about 60-90 mins morning and evening. During that time we’d also charge the batteries and often do some washing, heat the hot water tank and use the water maker.

Rapport has an Engel refrigerator (with a small freezer section) in the galley powered both by AC and 24V DC plus a combination refrigerator / freezer powered by an engine driven compressor. The latter works fine if you are cruising every day, but if anchored or staying in a marina for several days we had no freezer without running an engine for a couple of hours a day, so we decided to install an AC powered freezer on the flybridge. On boats we prefer chest to front opening freezers. The latter are more convenient to use but in our view not as effective. Where possible and mainly due to price we believe it’s best to use standard household appliances so we chose a 220V powered Haier HCF101 chest freezer with 101 litres capacity costing only $439 (about 242 Euros). We installed a double AC power point in the flybridge and the freezer is protected from weather by the flybridge's vinyl screens. When on shore power our inverter passes incoming AC current directly through to connected AC appliances. Underway with the engines charging the batteries we use the 4.1Kw inverter to provide AC power and at anchor we also use the inverter while using the genset to periodically boost the batteries. We find the refrigerator and freezer combined draw less than 5 amps. Since our cooking is electric we need to run the genset during the evening in any case and can then also heat our hot water and sometimes use our water maker.

This is the compressor driven chest freezer located in the cockpit

The compressor driven refrigerator is in the saloon (the freezer is on the other side of the bulkhead)

The Haier AC powered freezer on the flybridge with new power supply to left

A few tips we've found useful:

1. Pack your refrigerator and freezer as full as possible to make them operate more efficiently. Use different sized bottles of water to use up any spare space.

2. Turn them OFF or down during the night to conserve battery power. When not being opened they lose little temperature overnight.

3. Use your thermostat - when you have charging power available turn the thermostat down (ie colder) so the appliance runs more or less continuously and when you have no power turn it up so it runs less.

4. Use your freezer to freeze bottles of water. Each day or two put some in your refrigerator to help keep its temperature down. As the water bottles thaw use them for cold drinking water and replace.

5. If you have more food and drink to keep cool than your refrigeration capacity allows use your freezer to freeze a few bottles of water and freezer pads, then store additional supplies in an Esky, changing the bottles over every couple of days. This is particularly good for bulky vegetables and salads as well as wine and soft drinks (beer needs to be colder!)

6. Cans of drinks store more easily, are easier to dispose of and seem to get colder than glass or plastic bottles.

RAPPORT UPDATE

2020-09-05T23:11:00.001+01:00

Our last post spoke too soon as no sooner had I mentioned NZ’s return to unrestricted cruising than the Auckland level 3 lockdown commenced on 12 August until the 30^th. This time there was no room for confusion as all forms of boating were clearly identified as not permitted.

Well Spring is here if you go by 1 Sept, or nearly here if you go by the Equinox of 23 Sept. Regardless the cruising is going to get better.

Di and I rarely do cruises under several days and prefer cruises of ten days or more. With this in mind our next project is to cruise for about a month from mid October to re-visit one of our favorite areas, the eastern side of Coromandel Peninsula including The Mercury Islands and Mercury Bay. For part of this time we’ve rented a berth at Whitianga Marina for a very reasonable $40 per night (in the Med we’d pay three or four times this) making it easier for family and friends to join us. I plan to cover that trip extensively in the Blog and we’ll also be publishing an article in the Pacific Powerboat magazine about it.

I want to talk a bit more about our new Salthouse 52, “Rapport”.

When we bought the boat we definitely knew she had “good bones” and presented extremely well with extensive upgrades including engines and gearboxes removed and rebuilt 900 hours previously, new Furuno electronics, recently added water maker, new house and start batteries and exterior repaint. The survey confirmed her good condition, but as they invariably do it also identified a few issues needing attention.

Over the last few months we’ve attended to these issues as well as a host of other improvements to convert her from a full-on game fishing boat to a comfortable cruising boat. Much of this process has been making existing equipment work correctly.

Some of the more major projects have been:

1. Projects we expected to do:

-Purchase of new Aquapro SLR 2.6 rigid alloy hulled inflatable with Honda 2.5hp 4stroke outboard to replace the poor condition RHIB that came with our purchase

-The pulpit was poorly mounted and attached only to the teak decking rather than being through bolted.

It was removed and tidied up, an access hole made in the fore peak so the pulpit could be bolted to the alloy deck, the teak deck was thoroughly dried and the pulpit was properly and rigidly bolted down in a bed of sealant

-Paint blisters under the beltings (where the hull meets the deck) on both sides were opened, the alloy underneath ground back, treated for surface oxidation, filled, faired and painted

-Replacing cutless bearings

-Installing a high volume sea water wash down pump in the cockpit

-Sourcing new spare pumps for fresh water circulation, sewage holding tank discharge and grey water holding tank discharge. We always prefer to have critical spares like these on board

-Upgrading safety equipment including extinguishers, flares, lifejackets, EPIRB, hand held vhf, binoculars, smoke detectors and horseshoe buoy

-Installing Venetian blinds in saloon to protect furnishings from sunlight and provide more night time ambiance

-Installing a 101L capacity electric freezer on the flybridge so that we’re not totally reliant on the existing freezer with its engine driven compressor and have an operating freezer while in marinas

-There were no tools aboard so we put together a very comprehensive tool kit including some power tools plus a wide range of chandlery items for undertaking on board R&M

2 Unexpected projects:

-Installing new Maxwell 3500 VWC windlass complete with spare electric motor

-Replacing a non-working alternator

-Replacing PSS prop shaft seals with Kiwi seals including replacement of all bearings. At this time the prop shafts were also crack tested and straightened by Henleys, then realigned. The props were checked and found to be in good shape

-Comprehensive service of genset including installation of primary filter, recondition of heat exchanger and some electrical work. Supply of 220V charger for genset battery

-Replacing all Teleflex hydraulic steering hoses and many fittings

-New batteries for second house battery bank mainly used for powering 12V equipment

-There was a large amount of electrical work to make existing equipment function correctly, rewire breakers that didn’t perform their correct function, instal new power outlets etc

Apart from the above PSS shaft seal issue we’ve not encountered any problems during our ownership except for a leaking fresh water circulation pump (solved with a new outlet fitting), a loose wire on our genset’s starting circuit and a failed high voltage shunt which turned out to be redundant and not needing replacement.

So now we’re down to a final few projects including an exterior sun shade for saloon bow facing windows, cockpit canopy, safety rails around flybridge access hatch and gas assisted struts for an extremely heavy lazarette hatch. Then hopefully all set for 2020/21 cruising.

CRUISING UPDATE

2020-08-10T00:05:00.002+01:00

When New Zealand moved to lockdown Level 1 on 14 May we became one of the few countries to allow unrestricted cruising once again, while the Australian situation continues to vary by state with some restrictions still in place.

More recently several other countries, mostly in the Med, Caribbean and South Pacific have followed suit, but there are various restrictions in place relating to isolation, quarantine and screening.

For example Fiji has opened Nadi’s Port Denerau, but visiting crews must have had a minimum of 14 days quarantine at sea, have tested negative for covid-19 before departure to Fiji and be screened on arrival.

Most Australasian cruisers owning vessels overseas have chosen to forgo this year’s cruising because of confusion about regulations, difficulties booking return travel and the need to quarantine on return. There is also a general concern that circumstances can change very rapidly and cause major issues for those in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We continue to enjoy cruising aboard our Salthouse 52, Rapport and since purchase in late November have logged 50 nights aboard, despite staying off the water during lockdown Levels 3 and 4.

We’ve spoken to several cruisers who went out to Waiheke, Great Barrier, Kawau and the Bay of Islands during lockdown and while most of them were approached by police none of them were required to return home or stop cruising, so it seems the only real issue would have been a question mark over insurance cover.

Our most recent trip has been eight nights in early June to Waiheke’s “bottom end”.

We arrive aboard at Hobsonville marina with our friends Frank and Marie on a dismal Saturday morning and head to Westhaven to refuel. We mainly use the flybridge helm and after berthing at the fuel dock and going below I notice the bilge pump warning light activated at the lower helm.

After lifting our bilge hatches I find sea water coming in sufficiently to activate the pumps.

At this point we have no idea where the water is coming from and as a precaution contact Coastguard in case additional pumps are needed and it turns out Paul, the Coastguard skipper is also a marine surveyor. We can’t definitively find the source of the leak, but Paul finds a loose hose clamp on the outlet side of one the bilge pumps and we can see some water back flowing into the bilge.

After we tighten the hose clamp the leak stops and we clear all of the water from the bilge – problem solved right? Well, no.

We refuel and depart for Waiheke with a bilge hatch left open to monitor the situation. After about ten minutes Frank appears telling me there’s sea water in the bilge again. Damnation or words to that effect are said as we head back to moor alongside the fuel berth to have another look. We agree the problem must be related to the engines as there was no water ingress when they weren’t running.

Sure enough we find the port “dripless” shaft seal’s plastic water lubrication fitting has broken and water intended for lubrication is going into the bilge. Frank suggests a temporary repair using Selleys “Knead-It” fast-setting epoxy putty, usable in wet conditions (every cruising vessel should carry a tube or two of this) and 30 minutes later the repair is complete.

By now it’s late Saturday afternoon and with a gale warning in place and heavy rain predicted we decide to spend the night back on our marina monitoring the repair and awaiting better conditions. Two days later we head off for an excellent six days cruising with our temporary repair lasting well. One highlight was drift fishing in the Firth of Thames finding plenty of hungry snapper at most times of day and states of tide. Another was Waihehe’s Mawhitipana Bay, better known as Palm Beach where set back from the beach’s eastern end is the delightful and relaxing Arcadia cafe reminiscent of the rustic tavernas we enjoyed during our Med cruising and having a superette next door selling most supplies.

After our return I organise repairs to our shaft seal. I’ve never been a big fan of dripless shaft seals with a rubber bellows because if the bellows fails the consequences can be catastrophic.

However to be fair I’m told they’re widely used commercially.

Our shaft seals are about six years old and the manufacturer recommends installing a replacement service kit after this time. It turns out that for not much more than the cost of the service kits we can instal the very robust and low maintenance Kiwi shaft seals, so we go down that path.

These seals incorporate an electronic alarm to detect a high seal temperature – normally caused by an issue with the supply of cooling sea water.

I’m also unhappy with our bilge pump monitoring system and instal a loud audible alarm so we’ll know immediately a pump is activated and can then turn the alarm off while we check its cause.

Hopefully these problems are now resolved, but no doubt others will follow!

CRUISING ACTIVITY GRINDS TO A TEMPORARY HALT

2020-03-31T01:16:00.002+01:00

CRUISING ACTIVITY GRINDS TO A TEMPORARY HALT

How quickly situations can change. Just a few weeks ago we all watched TV news in amazement as parts of China went into total lockdown and thought that could never happen here. The humorists among us joked that if it happens we could all go boating, but sadly it seems not.

The first affects on boating were overseas, as when international borders were closed to travel this applied to pleasure boaters too. By mid-March some countries including France and Greece had placed a complete ban on all movements of recreational boats and closed harbours and marinas except to ferries. Cruisers with boats located overseas started canceling their overseas travel as there was no point in traveling if they couldn’t use their boat and soon after that travel became virtually impossible anyway.

This applied to the very disappointed Queenslanders who bought our boat Envoy based in Greece and who will now probably have to wait until next year for their maiden cruise.

In mid-March people aged over 70 were asked to stay home and on 27 March New Zealand went into lock down.

At first many people thought this situation may provide an ideal time to go boating and fishing but this has since received some clarification.

We were aboard our boat Rapport in Coromandel Harbour when the lockdown was announced commencing a few days later. We decided to head home to comply. A strong north-westerly had built a boisterous chop in the Firth of Thames, so we set out when the wind dropped early on the last morning before the lockdown when the conditions were perfect.

Arriving back at our marina we found many boat owners busy loading supplies and intending to head out before the lockdown started. Several of them commented to us that they “don’t know if this is allowed or not”. One person says he’s loaded his boat with supplies so “has to go”. Another says that his and other families intend to “group isolate” in their boats on the water. Generally there was a festive atmosphere, like Boxing Day when boaties load up and depart for their holidays.

On 24 March Coastguard sent an email message to their members and part of this reads:

“We have has a lot of calls and messages from the public asking if they’re able to go out on the water during the lockdown period; our answer is no”.

This is based on the fact that by going out on the water you could potentially get into trouble and require assistance, putting Coastguard or other authorities at risk during the lockdown.

In Marlborough the harbour master has declared that boating is not permitted during the lockdown and that patrols will ensure this is adhered to.

The situation was further clarified a day or so later on TV news when fishing and boating were specifically advised as non-permitted activities. Several boating clubs have advised boating is not allowed and one of Auckland’s biggest trailer boat launching areas the Outboard Boating club, has closed its facilities for the duration of the lockdown.

Just today our marina emailed berth holders saying it has noticed an increase in people coming to the marina to do maintenance or just to visit their boats and stating it is not permitted to come to the marina for any reason during the lockdown.

Even as of 31/3 I can’t find any information online that expressly forbids boating (except for trailer boating), but my view is boating now would be irresponsible – why?

- It ignores the advice of Coastguard, other SAR authorities and boating clubs

- If we are over 70 it’s a no brainer, we are required to stay at home

- We are only permitted to travel for essential purposes including to and from designated essential work, buying food and obtaining medical services - so travel to and from the marina does not qualify

- It’s not practically possible to pass by other people on marina berth fingers and maintain a social distance of over two metres and this risks spreading infections

- To attempt to go boating would contravene the spirit of the lockdown (as well as possibly the law)

It will be interesting to see if people attempt to treat this Easter as a normal one and head to their marina to go cruising.

Anyway one week of the period has almost passed so it hopefully won’t be too much longer before boating returns to normal.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR DIESEL

2020-03-17T01:32:00.000+01:00

The corona virus issue will have a major effect on cruisers and many will be canceling their plans to join their vessels overseas for the northern hemisphere summer. Their major concerns are the risk of contracting the virus, the relative inadequacy of medical facilities in some destinations, uncertainties about medical insurance and repatriation in case of illness, difficulties for their visitors to travel and return to their country of origin, the difficulty in returning should any emergency occur at home, the large scale closure of cafes, restaurants and tourist areas of interest, possible difficulties in obtaining technical assistance should the crisis worsen and the general uncertainty during what is currently an escalating phase.

This is an article we wrote published a while back in Pacific PowerBoat magazine.

Since a large number of diesel engine problems are fuel-related we should always follow best practice procedures in managing our fuel supply; the key areas to consider being monitoring, filtration and rotation.

Fuel Tanks and Filtration

All tanks require an air breather to equalise internal pressure during changes in fuel level and should ideally have a removable inspection port enabling access for periodic inspection and cleaning. The tank's outlet should be situated as low as possible to avoid the accumulation of water and contaminants in the bottom of the tank.

Filtration starts with a “primary” filter to separate any water present and clean the fuel before it reaches the engine, where a replaceable on-engine “secondary” filter provides a final clean before fuel is supplied to the injection pump. If water accumulates in the primary filter's clear inspection bowl we need to identify its cause and resolve the problem.

Many primary filtration systems have a vacuum gauge to indicate when the replaceable filter cartridges should be changed. In any case they should be replaced about annually as the paper filter media can deteriorate after long term diesel immersion. Sometimes it's hard to tell if this gauge is working (Envoy’s needle rarely moved) and you can check this by slowly closing the engine's fuel supply valve (not the return valve) with the engine idling in neutral. You should see the gauge's needle begin to rise confirming a vacuum is present. Every boat should carry several spare filters and every skipper should know how to change them.

While diesel sold throughout Australasia is generally high quality and contamination is rare, this is not always the case in other countries and long range cruising vessels often have a further filtration (or “polishing”) system to polish all fuel into one designated tank (often called a “day tank”) which solely supplies fuel to run the engine(s). The excess fuel from the engine(s) also returns to this tank. Most commercial vessels also use this system.

A long range cruising vessel also generally has a dual primary filter installation so that a filter cartridge can be replaced underway.

Diesel contamination

For a boat owner the mention of diesel “bug” invokes about the same amount of consternation as osmosis. All diesel carries bug to some extent and the presence of water encourages growth, hence the need to reduce condensation in fuel tanks by keeping them as full as possible. The bug is a fungal organism called Hormoconis resinae (H.res) and is a bacteria not an algae (which would require light). It can normally be seen in filter bowls as black spots or stringy matter. Water and/or hazy, cloudy fuel is also a sign of possible pending problems.

Another issue is asphaltenes (sticky black tar-like particles) which can start to form after about 90 days in unstabilised fuel. You can tell the difference between asphaltenes and other contaminants by collecting a black particle from the fuel filter and putting a drop of acetone or thinner on it. If it begins to melt it’s an asphaltene particle from old, degraded fuel. Bacterial particles also emit a sulphur dioxide (rotten egg) smell.

Aboard Envoy we had a New Zealand-made De-Bug unit installed in the polishing system's fuel input to reduce the chances of diesel bug and either by good luck or good management we never encountered the problem.

Fuel Stabiliser

We always used a fuel stabiliser when refueling to reduce oxidation, increase lubricity and reduce fuel injector pump and injector wear. It's important to add the correct levels of stabiliser and especially not too much. While stabilisers act as antioxidants they also gradually break down any asphaltine particulates and it's important this occurs only gradually and not suddenly as could happen with excessive additions. Also if too much stabiliser is added any water present may emulsify in the diesel and pass through the filters into the injection pump and injectors where it could cause damage and corrosion.

Additives that deal with water fall into two categories:

The first encourages its mixture with, or suspension in fuel so the water is captured by a water separator or goes to the engine to be vaporised in combustion. These are known as emulsifiers or dispersants or suspension additives. The second category encourages its separation from fuel so it can be drained from a tank or filter. These are demulsifiers.

Some engine manufacturers prohibit using the first option, so only use additives recommended by your engine supplier.

What about bio-diesel?

New Zealand's bio-diesel has a 5 per cent “bio” content (sourced from tallow) and isn't generally sold at marine outlets. Bio-diesel is slightly more hygroscopic than standard diesel although at the five per cent level it is very similar to standard. An industry source informed me that while bio-diesel should preferably be used within six months of purchase it contains additional antioxidant and shouldn't be a problem for up to twelve months. Some commercial operators regularly use bio-diesel and report less emissions and longer periods between filter changes, however unlike privately owned vessels theirs are in frequent use and constantly turning their fuel over.

Maritime New Zealand recommends checking with your engine manufacturer before using bio-diesel. In the Med the commonly sold fuel is 15 per cent bio-diesel and we've used this up to two years after purchase without any issues.

The key point is whatever fuel you are using, monitor it and always use your oldest fuel first.