Launch Day

The weather was kind, wind and rain promised a few days ago got delayed and it was dry with a moderate breeze so no problems getting out of the lift or onto the berth single handed.

The timing was not good for those going to work and a good number of cars backed up behind when she turned off the road after a couple of hundred yards with no passing place.

And more that wanted to come in were released

from the holding area.

Turning towards the slipway.

On to the slip way, no more pics as I had to climb 

aboard at this point.

Installing a powered USB hub and why

Another post to while away some winter hours, and incidentally to keep the boats documentation up to date.

I use an iPhone and iPad, everything here should also apply to Android devices but I am not familiar with them.

I have had a powered USB hub on the boat from the beginning, why will become apparent, the reason for the upgrade is my increased use of the PC on the internet. For reasons of economy I have generally restricted my internet use to the unlimited (but "throttled") data only sim in my iPad occasionally using the laptop through its wi-fi hot spot, this year with prices dropping I put a meaningful amount of data onto the iPhone account (and that is from now also unlimited), the problem then became the wi-fi connection drooping when briefly inactive which was a pain in the neck.

To solve that through 2024 I tethered the laptop to the phone using a USB cable which works well and also gives easier data sharing between the laptop, phone and chart plotter, the problem is then remembering to reconnect the phone to its USB charging point or, without power from the PC, the battery will run down, that only happened once but that is one time to many so to sort that the phone needs to connect to an always on powered USB hub that can also provide charging. 

I was also using an unpowered hub daisy chained to the 4 port powered one and there were lots of wires in inconvenient places.  It was time to upgrade.

Installation is all straight forward although choosing and getting power to the hub needs some thought and research, see below.

Click to view.

Connections and Services

For a lot more detail on integration see SV Sancerre: Wi-Fi networking and application integration on Sancerre remembering this was written before the upgrade to a 7 port device, tethering the phone etc.

iPhone (or any smart phone)

• Connects the PC to the internet when a 3 or 4G connection is available.
• Using Garmin Active Captain and wi-fi, transfers routes from the navigation software plus software updates and community notes from Garmin to the plotter.
• Smart notifications such as SMS texts, Facebook notifications, etc. are transferred to the plotter by Bluetooth.

AIS

The Garmin AIS unit only puts AIS information onto the NMEA 2000 network and keeps its GPS data to itself which is annoying as with its external antenna it has the most reliable and most accurate GPS position on the boat (although the internal aerial in the plotter has not lost a signal yet). 

However there is a USB port for set up and diagnostics and when I installed it I suspected that it would use standard NMEA 0183 protocols; why invent new ones when standard ones exist and you already have code for dealing with them? And so it proved, so the USB cable is permanently connected to the hub, the Garmin USB driver presents a logical COM port to applications and those that are capable can use the differential GPS / EGNOS fix (& Glonass), I use mainly use SeaPro 3000 and Memory-Map but is can also be useful for Google Earth and other applications.

GPS

As backup I have an old USB GPS device (they are less than £10 with support for GPS, GLONASS, WAAS, EGNOS, etc.), either would allow the PC systems to take over position fixing if the plotter and NMEA2000 network failed. It is also occasionally useful when switching between SeaPro and Memory-Map, perhaps to use the Antares charts or to check a route on the standard Admiralty raster charts. The AIS com port can not be shared between applications and even if you close one application down the PC is likely to think the port is still potentially active and the newly launched software gives an error. 

I set Memory-map to use the USB GPS and SeaPro to use the AIS output and I can then have both active at the same time or switch between them without problems. In the event of a failure I can easily change the configuration to allow SeaPro to use the dongle.

GND

Some of the many re-sizable windows available
on a connected PC with Nexus. They can be moved
around to fit with or on top of other windows.

Is a bridge between the wind instruments and NMEA200 but also runs as a server for Nexus software providing most of the information from the NMEA 2000 network down a USB connection, unfortunately that is not usable by SeaPro or Memory-Map but free software allows you to display it on the PC. I can't remember when I last used it but it is free so it might as well be connected.

NAVTEX

I rarely use it as the met office forecasts are readily available on their website and navigation warnings from the Admiralty website and they are also broadcast by the coastguard but venturing further afield it is a useful backup or replacement for IridiumGo (which does not carry the nav warnings).

USB-3 connection

I use this to connect various ancillaries such as a card reader (not included on my new laptop) or DVD or to plug in an iPad. This is also a powered port so will do a better job of supporting an iPad.

USB-2 connection

The only difference to the USB-3 connection is the spec of the cable but the lower speed is not an issue as it is normally used for the security dongle required with SeaPro.

Power

This might be the tricky bit. Powered hubs are intended to run from the mains, using an inverter, even if you have one installed, does not make a lot of sense - converting 12V DC to 240V AC and back to whatever DC voltage the hub uses.

However all is not lost, over the years makers have been standardising many PC related items to run off of 5V DC as used by USB devices, even my latest lap top when on mains uses a 3 Amp 5V supply connected to the PC by a USB-C plug (for some reason the car 12V lead and converter uses a different socket). 

My original 4 port hub came with a 240V 13Amp USB charging plug and a USB-A to centre pin lead, I just replaced the 13A plug with an off the shelf 12V to USB socket available from the chandlers and elsewhere.

 

The 7 port powered hub. Preferred to others as it is small and does
not have unwanted switches or lights. It is USB-3 so fast and
2 ports will provide additional power with automatic detection.
The voltage is marked by the socket on the end.

This time I could not find one like that and online suppliers don't seem to specify the intermediate voltage of there units, but if they have a detachable lead the voltage should be noted beside the socket and it should also be on the power supply; usually in almost microscopic lettering with the rest of the spec. So the trick is to expand photos to read the info from there. I found that the Kingston units were definitely 5V, the power cable is captive to the power supply so in a worst case I would cut the cable and splice it to a USB cable, fabricate from scratch (but there is an easier route, see below) or look for one, but the cable on my old hub does the trick. 

12V to 5.1V step down unit with
sensor for fast charge.

Using an off the shelf USB socket for the power source does have a down side, all of the ones I have seen working from 12 volts deliver 2 Amps, useable but not that good for recharging a phone or iPad and could be marginal if an iPad was connected as well. The solution is a step down unit, these are readily available on eBay and elsewhere, most deliver 3 Amps for 15 Watts nominal costing £5.89 including postage and is available with USB or  bare wire output that would be easy to connect to the power lead that comes with a hub. I found one that delivers 5 Amps through up to 4 female USB-a sockets @ £6.91.

I prefer things fused and switched so the step down unit has both, getting power from the low power switched bus behind the electrical panel. It will normally be left switched on at the panel and will go off when the master switch is off, but if I am a long time at anchor (quite likely) and short of power (unlikely) I can switch it off.

Winter work - November & December

14th November: 

All work is on hold at the moment and has been since shortly after my last visit, first bad weather with humidity over 80% - too high for painting, then my wife's fall alarm stopped working and it took a fortnight to get a working new one, then I badly hurt my back and it is still not fixed, hopefully next week I can get down to at least do the work necessary before relaunch in four weeks time.

Tuesday 26th November:

Still with back problems but I went to the boat today, primarily to take down the antifoul etc. so that I could have the work done for me if necessary. 

Wednesday 27th November:

The paintwork it not as good as my last effort,
in cool weather the new Toplac+ definitely
needs thinning as you can't brush it out enough
 to avoid curtains. Also, in my view it needs
"tipping"/Laying off so when single handed you
 may as well use a brush as I did on the port side,
 the starboard, done in warmer weather with
 a roller is OK but I'd have done it better
with a brush.

It is necessary, I managed to get the second coat of paint on the port side which I could just about do standing up on a walkway but decided that the antifoul would be too much for my back, also I currently need a soft bed to sleep on or my back gets worse.

I also got the Blakes Seacocks back together after cleaning the removable parts at home. And I fitted the new aluminium prop anode, aluminium to help with the Brackish water in the marina, I now have one of each. So in a worst case she could go back in the water as she is to avoid charges for storage (she is currently in the "free" 10 weeks ashore I get with the marina berth). However with less than three weeks to do I have placed a work order with Windjammer Marine for them to:

• Put 2 further coats of anti foul to the hull and shaft.
• Fill irregular depressions along boot line - most identified with primer and most on port side. These were the result of my problems with weed getting into the Awgrip above the boot line during lockdown when the boat was unattended and heeled most of the time in the current. I had hoped that repeated applications of antifoul would hide them but they haven't.
• Put 3 or if necessary 4 coats of white to the boot line.

With the time lost I'll have to abandon some cosmetic interior painting which I probably can't do whilst sleeping on the boat but she can go back in on December 15th and I can start putting things back together after the big varnishing effort. Hopefully before launch I'll have time for a few jobs:

• Repack the stern gland, tightening would almost certainly be fine but it has been a while so some new cord would be good.
• A fresh coat of silicone on the propellor.
• Refit the cable locker clam shell drain guards.
• Refit the SeaFeather servo blade now revarnished, I would rather do that just before sailing but that would mean putting the dinghy in the water which, now I am on a berth, is safe and dry in it's bag and will stay there until needed, probably somewhere in Scotland next spring.

Tuesday 3rd December

Windjammer have put 2 coats of antifoul onto the hull and hopefully today filled and faired the boot line for a coat or two of anti-fouling tomorrow.

A nice job on the anti-foul and the boot line looks a lot better smooth!

They queried the launch date as being a Sunday and on checking there looks to have been a typo on the email sent to me, launch is now on Monday 16th, first in (starting?) at 08:30. I'll be travelling down on the Sunday, the hotel room is down to £54, in early October I could not get one for less than £180! If my back is up to it and the weather not to bad I'll then stay down on the boat for a night or three to start the next phase of work.

Day trips to the boat to carry out maintenance are no longer an option and  to reduce the number of long car trips I'll likely be staying on the boat for several days at a time in the early part of next year so, as it is almost Christmas, I have bought myself a present - a "meter maid" electricity meter (not required at Deacon's or Hasler where I previously berthed as they have meters built into their systems) so I can go onto power and run an electric fire and / or the diesel heater and stay toasty warm without worrying about batteries if it is overcast and windless.

Next cruise.

Another attempt at Shetland is pencilled in to start the week before or the week after Easter for the best tides; but the weather may well change that, it usually does.

Two nice options for the tide for a quick passage to the Inner
Hebrides, if the wind and weather cooperates for once.

Winter work - October 2nd Visit.

I managed quite a lot of work in about 21 very full hours over three days (plus 9 hours travelling), the weather was good enough to stay another day but I had had enough, I was out of blue gloss paint and a load of logs delivered at home needed putting away before rain on Sunday night; which were good excuses.

• Paint and filler on the forward few inches of the keel hull join that was blasted off during cleaning in March replaced: Fertan, primer, epoxy filler, grind, primer.
• 1st coat of anti-foul below boot line applied.
• A replacement rope / weed cutter belatedly installed after all of the problems this year with weed and plastic bags around the shaft and prop.
• Two coats of gloss applied to the starboard side of the hull and one on the port side after finishing the prep work - about 1.5 sides not done on my last visit. Painted largely with a roller without laying off / "tipping" as per the instructions, quick but I may revert to a brush which I think gives a better finish with less chance of "curtains" below the top of hull profile and avoiding changing from roller to brush to paint the profile with the previously applied paint already drying, or dried.
• The engine box front, drawer surround, steps and the after part of the cabin sole replaced after varnishing at home with a new hidden fixing piece of timber replacing a damaged piece. A few brass and stainless screws replaced with bronze so they all match with those already in place. The attached fire extinguisher and mount was replaced with a new.
• Movable parts of the heads Blakes seacocks removed and taken home for cleaning / polishing (done), fixed parts yet to be done.
• Fuel tank filled (fuelling is not allowed in the marina except at the fuel berth or I would have done this sooner) and extra fuel treatment added for the winter to hopefully prevent "diesel bug".

My 1976 Seagull 40+ at  Swanage in 2017.
The same age as the boat.

One 3 or 4 night visit should have all the work required before re-launch on Dec 15th completed, the bilge cleaned and some odd painting jobs done topside that are not allowed in the marina.

At home some repairs have been made to the dinghy, it's transom painted and most of the varnishing of pieces removed from the boat completed. Otherwise only servicing the outboard, cleaning and re-lacquering of the barometer and the standby marine clock are outstanding. 

As an aside now that Sancerre is in a marina and I don't need to keep going out to a mooring, I am considering reverting to the old, lighter, now repaired, 2 stroke Seagull outboard rather than cart around the 4 stroke motor that is about 50% heavier. 

Away from the mooring the outboard was only used three times this season, in Tobermory on my first visit and on the Truro river to Malpas and Truro, at other locations it was easier to row ashore rather than rig the derrick and put the motor on the dinghy.

If it were not so noisy, smelly and had a clutch it would be a done deal.

7th November: I had the Seagull out this morning, not run since I fixed it in May 2019, new fuel, new spark plug - probably unnecessary but I had one to hand - and it started first pull. Now have to track down the air intake cover that has gone AWOL.

Winter work - October 1st Visit.

Tuesday 1st October

Down to the boat today to start the serious winter work; but the weather is not helping, it should be OK through Friday when the the boat comes out, then the forecast is for rain pretty much continuously until the middle of the month so instead of staying through the weekend to start work on antifouling, painting etc., I am now planning to return on Friday or Saturday so there will not be much progress on the paint work.

2nd /  3rd October

Work Done:

• 800 hour engine service (except the water impeller that will be done in March), including replacing both replacement of fuel filters, both of which are a pain to do. But glad that I did as I clearly picked up some iffy fuel at some point as both were dirtier than I normally see.
• More painting in the area of the heads and hanging locker.
• A lot of the pieces varnished at home refitted.
• Anchor locker, chain etc. hosed down ready for some painting.
• Started work cleaning the bilge but did not do much due to the difficulty of getting rid of the waste when at the end of a pontoon.
• Removed more items for varnishing at home including the table which also requires a minor repair, engine box, companion way steps and the floor section below.

Spurred on by my work last time I replaced most of the in-line 
fuses with blade fuses that are easier to identify & replace. When
I have a few spare hours the in-line AIS fuse will be replaced
by the spare panel fuse and the NMEA backbone & Engine DVSR
override fuses will be replaced with blade fuses. and individual
blade fuses will be put in for the interior lighting and power sockets.
The remaining few in-line fuses would require a lot of work to replace,
so will be left as they are..

Update 17th December:

Upgrade to fusing complete. Some work on the USB hub
remains, hence lack of cable ties top left.

Friday 4th October

I woke up very early to the sound of a strong wind that would make getting off of the berth and into the hoist tricky as the wind would be blowing me into both.

At 08:30 there was a bit of a lull and the hoist was on route to the slip with a boat to be launched so I called in to say I wanted to move out during the next lull in the wind, "pierhead" were fine with that and just then the owner of a nearby boat who lives aboard appeared on route to the showers so I asked him to give a hand with my lines so I did not have to worry about being pushed forward onto the pontoon and I was away without any drama to hang around in the main dock until they were ready to lift me 15 minutes later.

Getting into the hoist and stopping was
not easy with a strong tail wind, the engine was
running astern for the last 50 yards or more
and that does not help the steering.

Turning out of the slip area onto the road.

The boat yard is about 100 yards past past the hotel. A small queue
built up both ways, it was just after 9 o'clock, earlier might have
been worse.

Past the hotel and almost there.

Blocked off waiting for the power wash - the dock has little flow
though it so boats are washed in the yard when practical.

Cleaner than I thought she would be but the hammering I took
off the Lizard probably knocked a lot off and the Mullet had
been grazing - you can see their tracks on the keel.

I was very pleased with the state of the propeller, this after I
had removed the remains of a plastic bag wrapped around it 😡
and gave it a gentle wipe to remove some growth.

With all the agro I have had this year with weed etc. on the prop
and / or shaft I will be fitting a replacement rope cutter this winter
that will hopefully remove most of it.

The cutlass bearing is just fine (having the propeller rebalanced
has clearly sorted previous quick wear of the bearing) so one or
more fewer jobs to do, no need to remove the propeller or do
anything more than putting on a coat of the silicone left over
from the last pack. 

One anode has gone AWOL, fortunately no damage to the hull.

Looking better after her wash, some Fertan applied at the hull
keel join, some of the antifoul and filler had come off when
I power washed her in March but after clearing the surrounding
area I found not a lot will need to be done, prime, some filling
and prime again before anti fouling.

Almost 5 hours to get home but I was lucky, 2 closures of the M4 ahead of me when I left had cleared by the time I got there and another partial closure happened behind me; but, as is frequently the case traffic on a Friday can be a real pain but I was home by 20:00. 

Of course the forecast was wrong and I could have stayed down and got in a day or so's more work in reasonable conditions, but it is probably for the best I came home as, climbing onto the staging for the first time to do some sanding, I had reached out to steady myself and pulled something in my back and it is still causing me problems doing lighter work at home. 

Varnishing at home, Batch 7, coat 1. I need this and the next batch
 done quickly so I can have steps into the boat on the next visit,
and both are likely to need 2 coats.

The companion way steps with new anti-slip
strips, a shame to have to cover up the wood.

The saloon table quite possibly getting its first coat of
varnish on the underside in almost 50 years. It is the
first time I have had the table home or it would have
been done before.

Except for the tiller and self steering servo blade, the last of the
varnishing to be done at home, just a few bits of varnishing left
to done on the boat.

I'm now waiting for 3 or 4 dry days on the trot, reasonably warm and preferably with light winds to go down to paint the hull. It could be a while, the Beeb suggest w/c the 14th might be dry but possibly with very strong winds at times (winds going from 18 to 40 knots for one hour 10 days out does not look that convincing). I'll not hold my breath.

Winter work starting a bit early in September.

9th - 10th September

This was mainly a run to collect gear from the last cruise but I did a small amount of work and bought home a few items, mainly the tops of the the sink unit and storage bin, to varnish, plus most of the running rigging, dodgers, etc. for washing and over winter storage.

Bringing parts home for varnishing results in a better finish, is
usually a lot easier and may save a lot of masking up to protect
 the surrounding or both if the rest is to be painted. It also
saves days on the boat, much of which would be unproductive
waiting for it to dry. Only a small batch to start due to lack of
time and space in the car.

17th - 21st September

A lot of work done over 4 very full days, plus a 9 hour round trip, with a very full car on the way back with most of the remaining items to be stored at home including the headsails and all cordage.

Work done:

• Additional fuses added to the electrical panel to replace in-line fuses behind the panel for easy replacement or isolation.
• Added another fuse block behind the panel for navigation lights - previously protection was by 20 Amp CB's integrated with the switching but 20 amps was very marginal for the wiring, now 2 amp each which is plenty for the LED bulbs. 
  
  

  

  The panel now with easily accessible fuses for the low power
  switched and low power non switched bus bars and the Gas alarm,
  that previously relied on the low power bus fuse, now it can easily
  be isolated if it goes off and I am sure it is a false alarm, such as
  when using aerosols below deck. One is spare - I have not yet
  decided which other in line fuse to replace. Switches on the three
  panels each have an integral 15A circuit breaker. Shown with
  blanking piece to the left removed.
  
  

  

  Click image to view. The 200 amp fuse is to support staring
  from the domestic batteries, the starter motor takes over 100A.
  Diagram from my boats documentation.

  
  

  

  The back of the panel, not as tidy as I would like but it has been
  reorganised several times when upgrading and there is not much
  space. The new fuse block for the Nav lights mounted on the
  acrylic shield over the solar power blocking diodes (pic is missing
  the fuse block covers and before the default fuses were replaced).

  
  
• Removed redundant cables ex the electric toilet pump, tidied up and better secured cables in the hanging locker.
• Locker behind the cooker partially disassembled, the loose base secured, varnished components taken home for re-varnishing, inside painted with Damboline.
• Varnished sections of floor: 
• All eased for better fit,
• Forward sections taken home for re-varnishing. 
• Aft section: redundant water pipe removed from under, hull under painted with Damboline; the section will be taken home for re-varnishing when the boat is ashore.
• Facias under bunks removed & taken home for re-varnishing, probably for the first time in 48 years, and to make repainting the inside of the hull between there and the carpeted floor easier - a bigger job than anticipated at almost 3 hours grovelling in the small spaces each side of the table, I spent a lot of time in awkward places over these days.
• Damaged section of headlining aft of the fore hatch replace with timber - easier than trying to match headlining and it is neater and gives a tiny bit more headroom, being painted with the heads and hanging locker.
• Water system flushed, cleaned and sterilised.
• Damaged water filter replaced and relocated so it hopefully does not get damaged again.
• Lots of varnished components removed and taken home to be re-varnished and to facilitate painting.
• Chart table removed for the base to be repainting at home and a wobbly corner to be re-fixed.

Varnished: Navigation area, starboard side of main cabin including bulkheads, 1st coat on port side. 

Batch 2 of vanishing at home, the hanging locker door
elsewhere. Lots more to do!

Batch 3

 Batch 4a, ex the chart table base also newly painted.

Batch 4b.

Batch 5

Batch 6 - Bunk facias, 1st coat.

Batch 6 - Heads door, 1st coat.

Painted in white: 

• Hanging locker ex floor; that is a glass moulding and will be Ivory to match other mouldings I will be doing and the floor to which it leads.
• Heads: bulkheads and deck head.

The next visit will be on or about October 1st before the boat gets lifted out on the 4th and I can start on the antifoul and topside.