Lithium Battteries

Some may remember when I replaced my 400 Amp hour AGM battery bank with a single 130 Amp hour lithium battery.  The port hull came a 1/2" out the water with the removal of the weight.

I heard all kinds of criticisms. 

- that is way too small of a battery bank.  Answer:  With a lithium battery the voltage remains at 13.2 VDC until the battery is nearly depleted.  With a lead acid based battery, the voltage immediately starts to drop as charge is removed.  Once you exceed 50% loss, you are permanently damaging the batteries.  Not so with lithium. 

- Lithium batteries will start on fire and sink your boat.  Answer:  Marine batteries are a cross of lithium, phosphate and cobalt.  The Valence batteries have been tested, under full load, in a fire and shot with a 50 caliber bullet.  Still no explosion.   

- You need to change all of your charging equipment.  Answer:  Nope.  With the chemical makeup, listed above, the same charging parameters can be used.  Just need to change the acceptance and float voltage level.  On that note; it always amazes me the number of people who just replace their batteries, with similar type, and never check to see what the new batteries require for charging parameters.  When their batteries last 2-3 years, they don't question the cost to replace them again, but question me on the cost of lithium batteries.  

- Too expensive.  Answer:  My first battery, including the BMS (battery management system) and safety relay, cost me about $1500.  That may seem like a lot, but based on the 10,000 cycles (minimum), the battery will last longer than I will have the boat.  As noted above, no one seem to complain about spending $700-$1000 every 2-3 years.  I have had, my single battery, for 6 years.  Zero degradation in static voltage or capacity.  Three years were spent living aboard on a mooring ball with 60-100 amps drawn out every night (unless the wind was blowing).   

This past summer, my old starting batteries finally bit the dust.  Instead of replacing them with standard batteries, I rewired the boat to use my house bank to start the engines.  I then purchased an additional lithium battery (same model number), to double my house bank to 260 Amp hours.  Not really needed, but figured the extra capacity would ensure enough starting power after a night on the hook.  Found the battery, used (1year old), for $400.  Total battery weight is still under 50lbs. 

Since I was adding to the load of the BMS, I contacted Valence and they sent me the programming files to update the BMS.  I had to purchase $160 worth of stuff to do that.  When I had issues getting it to take, I called the engineer directly and he modified the program, on the fly, and we were successful.  That is customer service! 

Being an ABYC certified tech, I get first crack at their webinar's.  The latest Lithium batteries if what prompted me to write this blog.  I am sold on Lithium for boats, and have 6 years of use to prove their worth.  Don't just take my word for it.  

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21Ql6n7nndQ



We are still enjoying Marathon.  Opening the keys have doubled our COVID cases, but there are still less people to contend with.  We plan to stay through the end of July at this point. 

Christmas photo, but with the 4th coming up, we plan to hang up the American Flag again. 

   
   

Head Space

A favorite topic amongst boaters and RV owners.  Seems like every blog has one of these posts, so I figured I should ante up.

Yasmine Ann came with the standard 2 electric macerating heads and 15 gallons on holding tank on each side.  Our first year, we replaced both heads with our favorite from Raritan, the Marine Elegance.  It is a full size toilet, like in your home, and uses a programmable control to save water and holding tank space.

The following year, we switched to fresh water rinse and added a in-line deodorizer.  Yes, our toilets flush with blue water.  The main purpose is to lubricate the valves so they last longer, but the deodorizer is a plus. 

This past summer, my project was to make our holding tank capacity larger.  Everyone knows that is a major hurdle on a sailboat.  Most of us, sailors, have water makers and we burn hardly any fuel.  To base your cruising destinations on where you can get a pump out is "shitty" way to plan your cruise (come on I had to do it).

On our catamaran, the tanks are housed in the wall.  On the port side (guest) head, we were able to increase our tank size to 25 gallon from the 15.  On the starboard side (master) head, we were able to increase the tank size to 28 gallon from the 15.  All this with a just a few modifications to the existing enclosures, without encroaching on any other space.

Along with that we replaced the bronze thru-hulls and seacocks with an all new Marelon setup for the overboard discharge and the sink discharge.  All new hoses.  We added a remote controlled wash down that rinses the tank from the top down, while your getting a pump out.  We also added the new SCAD tank monitoring.  This uses foil strips on the outside of the tank to avoid fowling.

After taking my surveying classes, and seeing the effects of corrosion on boats, I went with Marelon thru-hulls and seacocks.  They are ABYC approved and eliminate metal underwater.  I plan to replace more bronze thru-hulls at every haul out.     

All part of making our vessel feel more like a home.  At the same time we are updating old hardware and systems.

The reason why all boaters worry about their black water and how long they can last until the next pump out. 

      

Still Loving It

It has been awhile since we redesigned the interior of Yasmine Ann.  We have been enjoying it everyday.  A few tweaks, but it basically remains as shown in the video. 

Since it is such a big part of the boat, figured I should bring up the link again. 

 https://youtu.be/1ZvvKhlHNw4

Helm Update

We updated the helm 3 years ago, but had stopped blogging by then.  The main reason, we did the upgrade, was due to the removal of the electronics during our interior update.  It was also time to update all of our electronics to the NMEA2000 standards. 

Everything in the new dash is new, except the hour meters.  We added inductive sensors into the diesel fuel tanks, so we finally have fuel gauges that work.  New Stereo, GPS, Autopilot w/Electric Drive, Wind, Depth and VHF.  Everything is connected through the NMEA backbone.  We also sent the wheel out to be dipped in a vinyl covering. 

The other purpose of the design was to get the instruments up from behind the wheel.  The original design required you to reach through or over the wheel to instruments.  Now everything is right at the level needed to for quick viewing and access. 

For the new design, the dash was built out of Nida-Core and then Hydro-Dipped.  This is the color and design you see.  We dipped the throttle assembly to match.  It is clear coated, like a car, so now it just gets waxed once a year.

To make the upgrade properly, all of the old wiring was removed before new wiring went in.  Wouldn't want to be one of those boaters who leaves the old mess and just adds to it.

  The chartplotter is a 9" display, but I left room for a larger one if desired.

Been Awhile

Hello to anyone who is still registered to our blog.  With Yammy using Facebook, we dropped from the blogging world.

We are back because we are looking to sell S/V Yasmine Ann.  Being so successful with Yumsuch, we thought we would first start posting here. 

If anyone is still watching, we will be posting some selling information, upgrades, pictures and videos as time goes by.

Feel free to contact us if you are interested.

Stay safe and virus free!

 

                                                              Our Marathon Home

 

Miami Boat Show

In the last blog, I promised to share with you our pick of the boat show lineup. 

We are winding down here in Marathon.  Plan to haul the boat on the 29th to do the bottom.  That will be up in Cape Canaveral, so we'll start heading that way the end of next week. 

Because of our remodel, our taste keep changing in what we would want in a boat.  Yammy was actually mad at me when I was looking at other boats.  She said I finally gave her what she wants, so why are we even looking.  I guess if we win the lottery, we need to keep abreast of what's on the market. 

Yammy's pick:  Privilege 5 Series.  It is a 50' with a large salon and master suite.  I didn't like the 5'2" draft, but everything else they said they could modify to my liking.  Just have to fork over $1.6M.

My pick of new catamarans was the Balance 526.  This was the company that designed boats based on what cruising couple said they needed in a catamaran.  The 45 was a disaster, but this larger platform gave them the room they needed to create a masterpiece.  No changes needed for me at the $1.2M price tag.

 
Our broker friend, Peter (Catamaran Company), has been wanting me to see a used catamaran that has been on the market for awhile.  It is a 55' Dix Harvey hybrid boat.  Built like a gunboat and extremely roomy.  It was there at the show and we had a chance to board it.  I liked it, but Yammy did not.  $1M takes it away.

 

 



    A dollar and a dream.

Strange Weather Everywhere

Still here in Marathon.  The winter to remember as we started by setting record high temperatures, now we ware setting records in consecutive low temperature days and record rainfalls for December, January and February. 

I just got back from traveling to PA, NJ and NH.  The first day saw 60F, then it dropped to the 30's and snowed.  At my office in PA, it is back up to the 60's, but a snowstorm is expected by the end of the week.

We did get to sail to Miami for the boat show this year.  It was challenging sailing with cold temps and high winds.  In Biscayne Bay we saw 35 knot wind gusts with sustained winds of 25-28 knots.  First time reefing the main, we were able to point to 35 degrees in that blow and only have 8 degree leeway.  During the wind gusts, we were actually breaking 9 knots.  A fellow Lagoon 410 owner could not point high enough and had to motor the 25 miles up the bay.  Thank you again Haarstick Sailmakers!

Learned more about the boat on the way back.  The winds were expected to be high again and out of the SE.  That would make the Hawk Channel rough for anchoring overnight, so we took the inside route for the first time.  We actually enjoyed it.  It reminded us of sailing on the Indian River, but with a few narrower channels.

On the second day, the wind was blowing a steady 30-32knots with gusts up to 42 knots.  We sailed with just a single reefed main from 60 degrees to 120 degrees and making in the 7 knot area.  With all of the lobster and crab traps, we had to hand steer most the day.  Usually there is no feel to the helm and impossible to keep a steady track, but with the weather helm (which I didn't know cats could get), from the unbalanced sail plan, we effectively steered all day. 

The other thing was that sterns squatted every time the wind gusted up.  It felt like the equivalent of pushing the throttles forward and having the bows rise from the prop thrust.  What this created was a standing wake that was big enough to actually touch the bottom of the dinghy.  Because of this phenomenon, no matter how high the wind gusted to, we could not get above 7.5 knots.  We sailed the same speeds whether the wind was blowing 30 or 40 knots.  This is below 90 degrees.  Something new to ponder.    

I'll talk about our boat picks, from the show, in the next post.  



   

 Sailing through one of the narrow cuts on our first day on the inside (Jewfish Creek).  Freaked out many of the fishermen anchored along each side.  They were staying in here to hide from the high winds.     

 All to common site in Florida.  Someone's dream just rotting away on a shoal.

 Never saw a flock of cormorants before.  They were all sitting in a long line on the water before I stirred them up.  

Sunset at Tarpon Basin in Key Largo.

 

Happy New Year!

Been a crazy start to the New Year with record breaking weather and record breaking stock market.  Guess we'll wait out both.

We had the pleasure of spending three nights at Friend Key.  That was our way of getting away from the hectic New Year's Eve crowd and enjoy an anchorage without a sole around.  On new Years' Eve, we had our own light show with jelly fish lighting up the water all around us.  We just wish we could have caught it on camera ( never came out).

 This picture was taken from the internet.  It is the same type of jellyfish we saw, bit the light was more like a ball traveling around its body.  I always think of an electron traveling around the network of nerves in its body.  Really cool to experience.  I read it happens as a defense mechanism or to attract prey.

 New Year's Eve at Friend Key

Got caught drinking a beer in Boot Key.

Merry Christmas

I know we have been silent for a few weeks.  It has been one of the rainiest Decembers on record here.  So, a lot of time spent reading during the off work hours. 

We have been to the reef  twice and sailing twice.  Hope to do more cruising when we get back from our Christmas trip to see the grandkids. 

 Yasmine Ann lite up for the Christmas

 One of the boats in this year's boat parade.

Gulf view from our walk on the 7-mile bridge.

 

 

Weight Loss`

It is official.  We had two goals with our remodel.

1.  Comfortable and functional salon and galley.

2.  Shed weight, as all multihulls are faster the lighter they are.

You have seen the pictures and # 1 was definitely hit. 

Now after a few weeks of getting things put back to their proper locations, we have seen exactly what we hoped for.  The whole boat has lifted 1.5"-2" out of the water.  Good news is that it is down the whole length.  So, we shed weight without becoming bow or stern heavy.  When you consider everything we added, including a washer/dryer combo, we are very happy.

Based on the lift, and experience of hull lift with the battery replacement, we estimate somewhere between 800 - 1000 lbs. of weight taken out.  The immediate effects are .3 knots faster motoring speed.  I am sure this translates to sailing speed as well, but that is harder to track. 

 Notice the thru-hull.  This is the galley drain, located aft of mid-ships.  It used to be completely submerged.  You can see the old waterline down the whole hull and even where the bottom cleaners used to scrap of barnacles is now above the water.  Charles, a multihull enthusiast here, noticed we were sitting higher the moment we pulled in the harbor.     

  

Back to our amazing sunsets here in Boot Key!

Home

Winter home that is.  For those who don't know, we have made it down to Marathon.  Finally had some sailing with 3 great days of sailing from anchor up to anchor down.

Some oddities of this trip:

The gulf stream seemed to be within a 1/2 mile of shore going from West Palm Beach to Miami.  Thermal imaging confirmed it, although NOAA had it out 11 miles.  The water temps were in the ,mid 80's, so that is another indicator.  Marathon locals said the stream is moving slower than usual and spreading out this year. 

We are just 3 hours shy of the our winter season engine hours.  With the ocean rolling everyday, we  motored most of the way.  Since we got the last end mooring ball, in our favorite spot, it was worth getting here early.  We are just too picky!

 Found a stowaway yesterday.  He dropped down when I opened the rear lazarette and immediately went into this defensive position.  It kept lunging at me like a rattlesnake.  From what I could find out, it is a grey rat snake.  They have the same defensive characteristics as a rattle snake.  Either way, it was only about 20" long and swam away.  Not sure if it is from around here.  It may have been aboard since the flood in Myrtle beach.   

 

From our anchorage in Cocoa Beach.

New Video Link

Had to upload the video again. 


https://youtu.be/1ZvvKhlHNw4

We made it to West Palm Beach Today.  Wind still looks good for a sail to Miami tomorrow.

Code O reaching on the flat waters of Indian River. 

Long Awaited Remodel Photos

We are on the hook at Ft. Pierce today.  We spent 2 days in Vero Beach waiting for the wind to turn easterly.  It is still blowing on the nose today, but it is supposed to switch and we'll sail from here to Lake Worth tomorrow and then down to Miami the next day.  We had a our usual great sailing on the Indian River. 

While in St. Augustine, we hade our broker friend, from Catamaran Company, come out to the boat.  He was in awe and did an impromptu video to show around at the office.  Everyone liked it so much they want to do an article for Multi-Hull magazine.  We'll let you know if that happens.

The photos will show a before and after of each section. 

We also made our own YouTube video, with proper staging.  The link is:  https://youtu.be/1ZvvKhlHNw4


As of this posting, YouTube was still processing, but it should be up soon.

 OLD

 NEW - Eliminated a never used nav station and added storage with green acrylic doors.  There are also two large storage areas behind the couch.  We actually store our beach chairs there.

 OLD

 NEW - Custom couch designed to be lightweight for boats.  There is storage below the entire thing and we have tables that snap into the drink holders for working on computers and eating.  The tables store in the arms. 

 OLD

 NEW - Fully functional galley with the home sized 33' x22" sink.  Motion sense faucet for water savings. All storage in drawers on full length spring loaded slides.  No locks needed and no more kneeling down to find something in your cabinets.  Under the stove is a discrete 45 qt Engel freezer on the same type of drawer.

 OLD

 NEW - Countertops is a lightweight 1/4" thick granite and coarse composite made by Granite Transformations.  That was epoxied to our lightweight Coosa substrate.  All cabinets are gel-coated Nida Core.  Notice the separate oven and it vents outside.

 OLD

 NEW - Large, 6.3 cu. ft., two drawer refrigerator by Isotherm.

 Wanted to show you a lift feature we added.  This gave us access to space way behind the sink.  Lift is down.

     Lift is up.  We have power added for the coffee maker.  You can also stop it anywhere you want.  There is backlighting inside for when you want to display your party glasses.

Last, but not least, is the new floor.  Solid cherry 3/8" thick, tongue and groove planks.  epoxied down and varnished with 6 coats of Bristol Marine Urethane. 

First Sail of Winter Season

We went outside today from Cumberland Island to St. Augustine.  Reports were that the seas had calmed down.  Not too bad at the start, but they grew to 6' by the time we shot through the St. Augustine Inlet.  If the wind had stayed strong, we would of been fine under sail.  Wasn't the best first sail, but we feel the boat is definitely stiffer and more sound with the upgrades to the salon.  Everything held together perfectly with sailing speeds up to 8.5 knots.

We plan to spend a few days waiting for a front to go through and then it is off to Stuart to visit a friend before we continue down to Marathon. 

 This is where the term "stick in the mud" came from.  Jekyll Creek on the ICW in GA.  I wonder about his thru-hulls.

We had 5 picture perfect days for our trip on the ICW from Myrtle Beach, SC to Cumberland Island GA.

Doing the Ditch

Yup, it has been since Yumsuch that we have headed south on the ICW, but we are doing it this year.  There is a stubborn low sitting off the northern coast of FL and it is causing a large swell all the way up to Charleston.  One of those things where the marine forecast looks perfect, but the buoy data shows a different story.  Seas over 5' from Charleston down and up to 8' near Jacksonville.

We are currently right near the Savannah River.  Still in SC in the New River.  It is just 2 miles from the Georgia border. Weather has been perfect, so we can't complain about motoring the ditch.

 First night on the hook, in Awendaw Creek, deserves a celebratory Walking Dead beer.  We got caught up on season 6 later that night.

 

First sunset of the winter cruising season.

On the Move

Water has come down, at Osprey, about three feet since last week.  That makes us comfortable going under the bridges again.  We left this morning and are hoping to be in Charleston tomorrow.  There, we will wait for the right window to go outside and sail to FL.

Besides a few details, the remodel is done.  We spent last weekend finishing teak, waxing and provisioning.  So, we'll finish things up as we move along.  Everyday, the new look still surprises me.  Makes the months of work worth it. 

Pictures will follow soon.

    

Living on the ARK

We are just about done with our renovation and have moved back aboard for the winter season.  Our new couches have shipped this week, so once we receive, we can take final pictures.  we are both working on a final cabinet, teak and waxing for our trip south.

It has been a long haul getting the boat the way we want it.  Looking forward to cruising and spending time together again. 

You all have heard about about the historic rainfall and flooding in NC and SC.  To be honest, Myrtle Beach was spared the worst. But, we still had road closures, water half way up the tires at our resort and docks approaching the limit at Osprey.  No damage to any of our properties, so good news there. 

The water still hasn't peaked here at Osprey. Osprey is a designated hurricane hole, but the water is now higher than any hurricane has ever brought.  Full flood isn't expected until for up to a week.  No one is sure. 

This may delay our couch arrival, as parts of I95 are still closed in SC.  In terms of departure, we are shooting for the 17th.  But, debris and lowered bridge clearances may delay that a few more weeks.  Only time will tell.  One thing for sure, we don't plan on any overnight sails when there will be so much debris floating out there.  One Active Captain comment was about witnessing water exiting the inlet during a flood tide. 

 You can see the weld seam right above the black collar.  that was where they added height after the last hurricane that hit here.  That seam is usually above my head, so we are 5-6 ft above normal water levels.

 This is the cart path that leads to the transient dock along the canal.  It is now completely under water.  Even though it stopped raining 3 days ago, the water is still rising about 2 inches per day.

           This is the transient dock.  We spent all last summer in the same spot as this cat.  The ramp, that is going up right now, is usually going down at a pretty good angle.   

Update

Countertops are going in today.  My first day off since June.  Nice to watch someone else do the fabricating for once. 

We are hoping to still finish by the end of the month.  Mid-October is our fall back time, but things seem to be falling place right now. 

The hardwood flooring material gets delivered today, so I hope to be cutting floor tomorrow and get it dry fit by the end of the weekend.  Then it's my favorite part.  Nothing better than the smell of varnish in the morning.   

Pictures to follow soon.

Buried in Details

Hello all.  Wanted to let you know the project is still moving forward.  All of the cabinets are built.  We had to change suppliers of the drawers we wanted and for the countertops.  Looks like we have finally made decisions, so that helps us move forward at a faster pace now. 

Don't really want to spoil the surprise by posting progress pictures.  But, I will tell you the granite is from Granite Transformations and we will have some copper flakes in the finish.  Some may remember our copper countertops in Yumsuch.  The granite is only 1/4" thick and will be epoxied to the Coosa composite that we are using for the substrate.  Total weight will be about 130 lbs for the 40 sq. ft. of countertop. 

Making the boat comfortable, while saving weight, so we can sail fast. 

  Thinking of the good times at Burdine's listening to Cory and Ty.