Crusing - What Works and What Doesn't

May 30, 2013

What works and what doesn't (In no particular order).

Some statistics on our 2012-13 Cruise:

   Days
             Anchored/Moored       168        81%
             Docked                          40        19%
                   Total                      208

   Miles (nautical)                   1534

   Fuel (gals)                             232

   Water (gals)
            Watermaker              1869         91%
            Shore Sources             175           9%
                   Total                   2044

              9.8 Gal/Day (all uses - drinking, cooking, washing)

Following are some details on our boat and equipment. It contains numerous opinions about issues upon which reasonable sailors may disagree.  It is offered for your information - your results may vary.

Boat
We cruise in a 1994 Island Packet 40 - an ocean-capable cutter-rigged sailboat with a 50 HP Yanmar auxiliary engine.  We have been extremely pleased with the boat. She is wonderfully balanced under sail and the sail plan is very versatile; we can easily sail at 6.5+ knots with a moderate wind. She motors well; we can cruise at 6+ knots using about 0.7gal of fuel per hour.  She is big enough to be comfortable, but not so big in length or draft to constrain where we go.

Shortly after buying her, we had the chain plates and standing rigging (stays and shrouds) replaced.  This was not cheap, but it improves sleep when off shore.

I won't get into makes or models, but to wanna-be cruisers, make sure you get an ocean-capable boat. Off shore in any weather, you want a boat built to handle that type of sailing; many 'coastal' cruisers, just won't cut it.

We carry a significant amount of spares for the engine and other essential equipment.  When evaluating spares for a system, we ask - what would be the impact of a failure - could we work around it, or would it be significant loss of vital functionally. 

Communication
Our boat has two fixed VHF radios (one with a RAM mike at the helm station) and a handheld VHF for dinghy/liferaft use.  We carry an 406 EPIRB which can be used to send a satellite  'Mayday'.

Although I am a licensed amateur radio operator and was so sure we would have a SSB (HF) radio installed that I had a Dynaplate installed at our first haul out, we have settled on an Iridium 9555 satellite phone with an external antenna for our remote communication purposes.  It allows us to get email from our weather router, other weather information like GRIB files, and provides emergency communication.

Stateside we use a Verizon 'MiFi' for Internet access and we both have data phones.  International  roaming and especially international data is VERY expensive, so we suspend our Verizon service before we leave the States. This year we got a Bahamian data phone that could be used as an access point for our other devices which has worked very well. We did end up getting a post-paid (annual) contract for the most access per cost,  but it can be suspended just like our Verizon service, which we will do over the summer.

Emergency Equipment
We carry a Winslow 6-person offshore life raft. This year it has been stowed in a hanging locker in the aft cabin.  Accessibility there is not bad, but you still would have to carry it up the companionway to the cockpit in an emergency.  Our intent, and in many way the ideal, would be to lash it to the stern pulpit when on significant passages, but that never seems to happen.  We are looking into a Pelican case, which will be located on the cabin top; Winslow maintains that is not the best location for the raft, because you have to go forward to deploy, but it may be the best option from an accessibility and storage point of view.

We carry a significant inventory of medical supplies including prescription antibiotics, pain killers, blood thinners, etc for medical emergencies.

We have a ditch bag on the aft cabin wall near the companionway that contains our EPIRB, handheld VHF, portable GPS, flares, handheld compass, small first aid kit, and other emergency supplies.
We carry a 5-gallon Jerry jug of water on the port rail, which we would attempt to take on the life raft in an emergency.

Electrical
    Batteries - all Lifeline AGM
            House Bank                         3 Grp 27's and 1 8D for a total capacity of 550 amp-hours
            Dedicated Starting Bank     1 Grp 27

   Charger/Inverter   Magnum MS Series
           ME-BMK Battery Monitor
           ME-ARC Remote Control
    Solar        
           2 Kyocera 135 watt Panels
           Blue Sky Solar Boost 3024i Controller

     Wind
            Eclectic Energy D400 Generator & Diversion Controller

     Alternator
              Balmar 100 amp with ARS-5 regulator

Since we spend the bulk of our time away from the dock and off the energy grid, batteries and charging systems are critical.

We have been satisfied with the Lifeline AGM batteries.  They have some great positive attributes: no maintenance; low self discharge rate; high acceptance rates.  On the negative side, they are sensitive to charging voltages, so you have to make sure your regulators/controllers are appropriate and adjusted properly or you will have reduced service life.  In fact, we replaced a perfectly good charger with the Magnum, because the old unit lacked an appropriate AGM charging routine.

Contrary to some convention wisdom, we have found, and Lifeline recommends, that their AGMs be periodically equalized or conditioned under cruising conditions. This is required because while cruising, you rarely charge the batteries fully or at a high enough rate, so sulfation builds up; the equalization helps remove it.  We try to equalize every time we dock.  Also it is critical that your charging sources are temperature compensated  - Lifeline flatly states that this is mandatory.  This is required since optimal charging voltages are dependent on temperature.  All of our sources (except the wind generator) are temperature compensated.

We have been very happy with our solar panels.  They were the first alternate energy we installed and based on our initial experience (largely in May) we thought they would be enough to run the boat.  But even in the tropics, the days are shorter and the sun weaker in the winter and last year we found they were not providing enough power.

So this last summer we had a D400 wind generator installed.  It has been sweet!  It is exceptionally quiet and produces great power in 10+ knots of wind. There have been times when we have had to turn off the solar panels because we were fully charged.

We had to replace our Balmar 100 amp alternator this year and the new unit really puts out!  However, we rarely run the engine just to charge (probably only a handful of times all year).

We replaced our perfectly good Freedom Charger/Inverter with a Magnum because the previous unit did not have a good AGM charging program. Furthermore the Magnum  has a 'Battery Saver' mode that is great for maintaining batteries over the summer.  Once it has completed a full charging cycle, the charger goes into this mode where it does not charge at all (not even a float). If the voltage falls below a set level it will initiate another full cycle. 

However, we have had a few disappointments with the Magnum. I researched the unit extensively and bought the up-level monitor because it offered the option to 'rebulk' manually. This feature is relevant when the batteries have been in 'Battery Saver' mode for a while and are less than fully charged and you want to leave the dock fully charged.  The 'Rebulk' feature allows you to 'command' another charging cycle. After installing the unit and looking in vain for this option, I called the manufacturer and was told that it is a feature of the monitor, but not supported on my model of charger - I wish the manual made that clear!.  I have learned a work-around - just disconnect the shore power for a minute and then turn it back on - the unit will start another charging cycle.

The most important 'problem' has been that the unit 'qualifies' the available shore power before closing the transfer switch and allowing the power to flow to the boat.  This is intended for applications where the unit is used as an emergency power supply - if the grid power comes on, but is of unacceptable quality, the unit continues to invert to supply emergency power.  We had one marina (Highbourne Cay) where the unit refused to accept the power.  We had a friend with a Magnum unit that had the same problem at that same marina the previous year.  It has not reoccurred at any other marina.

We have not regretted our decision not to have a diesel or portable gas generator.  While it would be nice at times, we manage quite nicely on solar and wind. Diesel generators are expensive, take a lot of space,  and are high maintenance items; portable generators create gas storage and potential carbon dioxide issues.

Water
We have a 170 gallon water tank which I clean and sanitize annually.

We have a Seagull high efficiency water filter at our galley sink, which we use for all drinking water.

We have a Spectra 200T watermaker with an MPC-5000 controller.  It will produce a modest 7 gallons per hour with about a 12 amp DC draw. If there was one piece of equipment you would have to 'pry from our cold dead hands', so to speak, it would be our watermaker. We have cruised (not full time) for over 25 years and we have consistently found that fresh water is invariably your most scarce resource - the one that constrains your trip.

Our water usage has remained a modest 9-10 gallons per day over the years for ALL uses (drinking, cooking, washing) with or without the watermaker.  This is higher than some 'extreme' water conservors, but still relatively modest in our opinion.  It is an important point that this usage includes virtually all our drinking fluids.  We carry only trivial amounts of beer or soda and and use powdered drink mixes for 'flavorful' drinks.

Water is generally available in the Bahamas. Marinas sell it for around $0.50 per gallon, but that creates the need for additional docking and route planning.  'Free' water is also available at many locations, but you usually have to transport it in Jerry jugs.  Also in many places (Black Point on Great Guana for example),  the majority of the locals do NOT drink the water from the water system - they buy bottled water from Nassau, so is this the water you really want to be drinking? In remoter regions, safe water is often unavailable and you take your chances.

Ground Tackle
When cruising you spend a lot of time at anchor, so ground tackle is very important

Our primary anchor is a 45lb Delta with 225' of 3/8" HT chain; our secondary anchor is a 35lb Delta on 35' of 3/8" HT chain and 225' of 5/8" three strand nylon rode.  We also have a Danforth type kedge anchor. We inherited all of these anchors when we bought the boat.  We have had great performance from the primary and seldom use the secondary.

We replaced the relatively small vertical windlass that came on the boat with a Lighthouse 1500 horizontal windlass.  It has dual chain gypsies, a rope capstan, and 'pull stumps'.  Some people say that a strong windlass is one of the things that will easily distinguish a cruising boat a day/coastal sailboat. 

There always seems to be an must-have anchor 'du jour', but all anchors have strengths and weaknesses.  The Delta is great except in soft mud where it has a tendency to 'keep plowing';  however, it has great holding in sand (even 'muddy' sand) and good penetration in grass.  The primary weakness in our ground tackle configuration is that we have two of the same type - it would better to have a second anchor of a different type, probably one better in mud. For a snubber, we use a 'chain grabber' with a bridle of 5/8" 3-strand nylon rode; each leg of the bridle  has about 40' of line, so although we only normally use only about 10', we can let out more in storm conditions.  We find that the boat 'hangs' better on a bridle, than a single-line snubber.

In the end,  successful anchoring comes down to three factors: the anchor, the type and quantity of rode, and your anchoring technique (setting it properly); the anchor is at best a 1/3 of the equation.  All chain rode and plenty of it makes for better sleep.  We always set/test our anchor with around 2000 RPMs astern - if it holds that, it probably will hold any wind or current.

Refrigeration
We installed a Frigoboat keel-cooled refrigeration system soon after we bought the boat, replacing the relatively old air-cooled unit.  The beauty of this unit is that the only moving parts are the compressor itself.  No fan as in air-cooled and no pump as in water-cooled. The refrigerant is circulated through a heat exchanger mounted under the hull - the heat gets transferred directly into the water, not accumulating in a space where the compressor is mounted  It also has a system that runs the compressor at the most efficient speed for the conditions.

We installed a simple evaporator, as opposed to a divider with a spill-over fan to create a refrigerator/freezer system.  This gives us a very small 'freezer' - think of the 'ice box' on your grandmother's old Frigidaire. We do not carry a lot of frozen foods and are happy we have retained the larger refrigerator.

We did not add any insulation to the box and it clearly is under insulated.  We may add some someday, but I am concerned that it will reduce our capacity and make our shelves not fit properly.

Provisions
Bottom line, provisions are scarce and relatively expensive in the Bahamas, so you will want to take as much as possible.  Many people with ample freezers, take a collection of frozen meats; we have only a modest freezer, so meats are carried on board only when we can buy some locally. We do take a large quantity of canned and dried foods and personal care products.

Stores in many locations have limited selections.  Fruits and vegetables are available in limited quantities after the 'mailboat' comes in. On a sailboat, you must either have a memory 'like an elephant' or have some type of inventory control system or you will go 'crazy'.  We use an Access database, but spreadsheets or even notebooks will work.  In fact since we don't want to start up the computer every time we make an inventory change, we have a small notebook where we record changes and then periodically update the computer database.

Lighting
We replaced all the incandescent bulbs in the Main Cabin and Galley with Sensibulb LED lights. These units are nice in that you can retain the existing fixtures and just replace the old bulb with an LED unit.  We also replaced the incandescent anchor light with an LED Anchor/Tricolor with a photo sensor; we really enjoy the photo sensor - just turn on the switch when you anchor and it turns the light on and off as required - no forgetting.  The LEDs use about 1/10 the current that a comparable incandescent bulbs uses, but they also cost about 20 times as much.  We would like to replace more of the cabin lights, but it is hard to cost-justify for the lesser used lights.

Waste Management
We have a modest 30 gallon holding tank, so we had an Electro Scan Marine Sanitation Device (MSD) installed.  This is essentially a mini sewage treatment plant that treats your waste to EPA bacteria standards.  Our experience has been mixed, and we probably would not repeat the investment.  You cannot use them in 'No Discharge' areas like the Florida Keys. Additionally there are significant additional maintenance requirements.  You have clean it every 6 months with a Muratic Acid solution and periodically replace the electrodes, a job that I need to do this fall that I am NOT looking forward to.

Instrumentation
When we bought the boat it had a fairly new Raymarine E120 chart plotter/radar and a mixture of older Raymarine instruments (depth, wind, speed). It also had an older Autohelm (Raymarine) autopilot.  All of these systems have been somewhat problematic.  The chart plotter has experienced significant screen flicker, which our marine technician has said is somewhat typical of these units. It is somewhat heart stopping (especially offshore at night) when you fear that you will lose your instruments.  The autopilot 'failed' last year when it spontaneously went into a 'Permenant Watch Mode' where it beeped every 4 minutes until you hit a button. Raymarine refused to re-flash the firmware saying the unit was obsolete.

Overall our experience with Raymarine has been poor and we are moving to other manufacturers.  We replaced the autopilot with a Furuno NAVPilot 700 and it has been working like a pro.  We plan to replace the chartplotter, radar, and other instruments with Garmin units this summer.

In general radar is very helpful, especially when sailing off shore at night. 

We have not had an AIS (Automatic Identification System) to date but are installing one this year with the new instrumentation. When you encounter large ships at sea (and you will) it is virtually impossible to raise them by radio to discuss passing if you do not know their name - they simply don't respond to "Hey big ship about to run me over" :-).  AIS gives you their name. Their radio channels are taped, and they would get in trouble if a clear call went unanswered.

Charting
Do NOT go to the Bahamas without the Explorer Chartbooks/Crusing Guides - they are excellent!

In the Abacos, the Steve Dodge Crusing Guide is also excellent. The Pavlidis guides have a lot of information, but they are often less up to date and we find them harder to use, but they are pretty much the 'only game in town' for the Exumas and Far Bahamas.

Our Raymarine chart plotter uses Navinonics charts.  We have found them to be very accurate in the States and even found them good in the Abacos last year.  However, they are VERY poor in the southern Bahamas - they show shoals where there are none and vice versa. The Garmin chart plotter we are installing uses Blue Charts which include the excellent Explorer chart detail.

Dinghy
When you are cruising, your dinghy is your SUV - you use it for transportation, carrying groceries, laundry, fuel, water, etc.  It is a very important piece of equipment.

We inherited an 11' Achilles dinghy with a high pressure inflatable floor and an 8HP 2-stroke outboard and have used it with mixed results over the last 4 years.  It is light and easy to raise and lower and store, but lacks the stability, speed, and carrying capacity of a Rigid Inflatable boat (RIB).  While our 'Yugo' of dinghies has been faithful, we will probably upgrade to a RIB sometime in the future. 

Conclusion
People cruise in boats that range from simple small sailboats with little equipment to mega-yachts with every toy.  We fall somewhere in the lower middle of the spectrum with a boat that is reasonable sound and comfortable for long-term full-time cruising. 

The shorter your cruising window, you can live with, and afford, less equipment.  Also, in general, younger bodies can handle the stress and strains of smaller, lesser equipped boats than us 'vintage' folks.
 
We cruised for over 25 years on vacation-length trips on chartered boats before we ever bought our 'big' boat.  If you want to go cruising, our biggest advice is to just 'get out there'.  Take courses to learn skills; read everything you can about boats and cruising; crew on other peoples boats; charter boats and go on mini-cruises; get away from the dock and learn to live at anchor.

See you 'out there'!

Tom & Joyce
S/V Barefoot
Currently docked Bradenton, FL