On getting stuff...

Pop-tart mayhem, about that common good stuff, and some folks call me irresponsible...

I just had to buy a new 48V charger for my propulsion bank...

Of course, there are not a lot of 48V chargers floating around the Caribbean so, like many things, it is something you have to buy in the States and ship down.

The charger I'm buying is not expensive as such things go (a kiss over $300) but, like a lot of boat part problems, the issue is not the cost of the item but simply the hassle of finding someone willing to sell you something outside of their same old same experience...

I often wonder about the American educational system when I constantly have to explain to folks that the U.S.V.I. (that would be the United States Virgin Islands) is actually part of the United States and you really can just mail something down to us and it will get here.

For instance, the other day I needed a new rudder pin for our Hobie Mirage kayak which is a little piece of nylon and weighs a lot less than an ounce. The fact that it is a little piece of nylon, it also does not cost much at a grand total of $3.99... Which, when you think about it, you have to seriously wonder why one of the shops up in the US of A mainland were telling us it would cost in excess of $60 to ship it down here by a non US Mail shipper...

When we pointed out that...

      A. It could be put in a envelope with a 66-cent stamp on it and it would get here finest kind in about a week...

      B. That it would fit quite nicely in a USPS Priority flat rate box for $5.80 and we'd get it in a few days...

They said they'd only send it via FedEx for something like $60...

Now, let's do that math... $3.99 item that weighs a few grams shipped for $60 = Way Too Fucking Much!



Used Cars makes a whole lot of sense...

Obviously we didn't  buy the rudder pin from folks who refused to send via the good old US Mail and the folks we did buy it from mailed it and, hey presto, a few days later the new pin was in our kayak and we had steering again.

Anyway, back to the battery charger... Same drill as some folks will only send via FedEx, UPS, and those Dropped Hard & Lost folks but we're not stupid (cheap yes, stupid no) so we held out for a supplier who'd ship it via Mr Zip for $15 instead of over $100 and, I expect, in a couple of days we'll have a brand spanking new charger waiting at the Post Office for us to pick up. Life, as they say, is good!

By the way, I'm sure you're hearing a whole lot of negative but bogus stuff about the US Mail and 99.9% of it is wrong. For a good explanation about what's going on you can read all about it here. I've mentioned it before but it bears repeating that the US Mail is a cruiser's friend whether you're in the Caribbean (the USVI and Puerto Rico are covered by the US Mail) or even in the Pacific (Hawaii, Guam and other US territories) so well worth keeping in mind when you need to get stuff in a safe, affordable, and timely manner.

Listening to Chris Ardoin & Double Clutchin'

So it goes...

Electric propulsion goes prime time... Well sort of

Some days it just gets weird...

My friend Mike (oops that's Captain Mike these days!) over at Bianka Blog just pointed out that West Marine now has two electric propulsion systems in their catalog. Now, I'll be honest, being something of an electric propulsion cheerleader and long time user, that I should be doing the happy dance that electric propulsion has finally become accepted. But instead I find myself just a bit worried...

The fact is while electric propulsion is not exactly rocket science, it does take a certain mindset and slightly out of the box attitude to work and the folks who sell electric propulsion systems really should have their act together and make sure that folks do not have unrealistic expectations about what electric propulsion can do for them.

Throw in the fact that an electric drive on a boat does create a near rocket science need to get the most bang for the buck out of batteries and charging systems and you have a situation that requires some serious guidance and education. I'm not real convinced that a big chain/catalog store will be able to give the same level of service, knowledge and after care as someone like Electric Yacht who really know their stuff. Truth be told, more often than not, I can't get even basic information on something simple like a block or shackle from a marine chain store these days...

So I guess you can color me somewhat happy that West is selling electric drives since that will mean my electric drive quits being a freak show, but also color me just a bit worried that the very possible bad experiences some people may have may just set back electric propulsion in the long run...

Future fare...

I've been spending some time working on a minor revamping of the electric drive on "So It Goes" trying to make it a somewhat more integrated system which has been the stuff of much gnashing of teeth and banging head against bulkhead. The hard part of electrical propulsion is not making the boat move ( that is surprisingly easy) but the sorting out the various voltages, charging systems and storing of energy in a way that makes some kind of sense instead of the Rube Goldberg sort of mess that most boats tend to become when electrical propulsion gets added to the mix.

Of course I put a lot more demand on my boat system than most in that we live on the hook and are mobile so shore power is never an option and when you add in the three computers for video editing, running a charter business with all of its communication needs and all of the other stuff that living aboard 24/7/365 entail...Safe to say we take the electrical system to the max.

There is however hope and I've spent the last couple of days sorting though catalogs and spec sheets looking for some kind of break through that will make the idea of an integrated system come closer to reality and am happy to say I have found some very promising widgets that show a lot of promise. Hopefully over the next few months I will be able to report some in depth tests and reviews as I slowly revamp the system while meandering towards Trinidad and Venezuela for the "H" season.

While we are down island we will be shooting several film projects on various aspects of cruising, living and working aboard...More on that soonish!

The other project on the list is to finish the book project which has now grown into two books, one on boat building from the keel up and the other on the refurbishment and improvement of older boats and classic plastic. I'll admit that I am enjoying the process of writing and covering some new and different territory than what is already out there ...

Upgrading the poor mans Hybrid system...

I hate to say it but all good things have an end and in this case I'm sad to say that our much loved Honda EU2000i generator expired a couple of weeks ago. Well not exactly as the motor still works like a champ but the electric side is no longer with us. Now considering that the sucker has been pumping out electricity for about six years without a fault while we did everything we could think of to abuse it. In the six years it more than paid for itself many many times over.

So we'd like to welcome the new poor man's hybrid system to the boat and it is... A Honda EU2000i as looking at what else is out there it is still the best thing going. Not perfect as I still find the changing oil problematic (has no one in Japan ever heard of a drain?) both in pouring out the old oil and the filling with new... But hey I never do it very often, so no big deal. The other thing is that due to the geometry of the gas tank interior I found it quite easy to overfill the tank from time to time. Another hassle which has nothing to do with Honda is that it would seem that whenever I filled the tank some big power boat with a humongous wake would come by just as I was starting to pour and I always wished there was a better way.

As it happens there is a better way. Unlike a lot of small generators the Honda EU2000i has a fuel pump which I realized just might be strong enough to pump gas from an external tank. With a brand new Honda what better way to begin its life on So It Goes than taking a bit apart and drilling holes!

The modification needed is really very simple...

First you find a 5/16" brass hose barb ($1.80) with a thread in one end then remove the vent (simply take out the retaining pin on the inside of the cap) drill out the vent hole and tap for whatever thread size your 5/16" hose barb requires.



Screw the barb into the tapped hole.



Add some 5/16" ID gas hose ($1.20 a foot) with a outboard tank connector of your choice (I used OMC as it was the cheapest at Island Water World in St Martin at $6.95) that will connect to whatever outboard fuel tank you have laying around.




That's it. Real simple and real cheap! It even works!



Now I can run the motor for 25 hours without having to refill (I used a three gallon gas tank) and no more pouring gas over my toes when some idiot with a big wake drives by.

A Fischer Panda saga...

One of my pet peeves is so much stuff labeled "Marine" simply is not up to snuff. Too often the folks who make and sell it after the fact admit quite freely that the ratings or specs really don't mean what they say and it is YOUR fault for using the gear as advertised...Far different than the promises and come ons at the boat shows, advertising and brochures.

Case in point department... A Fischer Panda Genset saga An eye opening story (Thanks Sailing Anarchy for the heads up!)

On the other hand I have a Honda 2000 which cost under $1000 when we bought it and has given us six years of flawless, trouble free use in spite of lots of use and abuse. (sitting uncovered in the elements for all of that time on the back deck of So It Goes) Now I'll admit that the Honda does not have the same sort of output as the Fischer Panda in question but it does bring up the question..."Why is it that cheaper non marine items seem to work and perform so much better?"