The fitting out continues and this time we had the hydrovane, hydrogenerator, generator, air-conditioning units and water maker to play with.
The generator is a FischerPanda 8000i, fitted in the transom locker. Starting her up revealed how quiet a machine she is and able to provide all the power we need. The air-conditioning was useful as temperatures outside were a little warm - so we had comfort while watching the TV!
The Inspiration team and Aztec on the electronics have been working hard, and so quite a few additions.
Here is the Nav station and you can see;
Top left, Navtex, with fusion stereo system under, followed by VHF and the SSB Radios. SSB is fitted with a Pactor blue tooth modem and so email is now live. On the right top is the Satellite phone, which proved to work well, still working on the email though…a job for the next trip. At the bottom, the generator controls and 1200 Watt inverter panel. ON the left is the iPad which links to the chart plotters wirelessly….and has a bunch of movies loaded of course!
Below we have the fan in the main cabin (we have two fitted) along with the air conditioning controls. There are a total of three aircon units, one for the main cabin, one for the fore peak and one for the quarter berths. All cabins have fans fitted.
Below is a view of the Port side quarter berth with water maker controls for the unit under the berth.
We tested the unit at berth and found it to work well with 40 - 50 liters per hour freshwater production. There is a taster tap fitted at the galley to ensure good quality water before sending to the water tank.
The all important TV and DVD system…..
Outside the hydrovane looked neat and trials over the weekend showed that it works well and is extremely easy to use, even with the offset. Here is the unit without the wind vane mounted.
The other important kit mounted was the Watt and Sea hydrogenerator, shown below, off its mount. Insiration arranged for a mid mount system to be installed which worked well and fits well under the bathing platform when lowered. In use, we found battery power to be maintained pretty well. We anticipate power usage on the ARC will be about 320 amp hours and the Hydrovane at 8 knots should cover this usage.
So, fully loaded with Kit and crew we set sail early on the Saturday (20th July) to undergo sea trials of kit and crew…
Well, the wind was light and cyclonic, at one point we saw two ships running on the same tacks in the opposite direction! We tried to launch the parasailor, but the winds were so variable that we had to bring it straight back down again!
So we practiced reefing and emergency drills and slowly made our way to the Newtown creek, at least the bay outside where the crew had a refreshing swim, and Rob took the award for the most dramatic dive….I hope you have healed by now Rob! I think the tsunami warning has just gone off in Hawaii…..
The evening we made for Yarmouth harbor where Miss Liz II and the crew made a perfect entrance. On arrival we tested the water maker (worked well), before heading into town to buy a block at the swindlery, sorry, the Chandlery…
In the evening an indian take away worked well.
Miss Liz II being spruced up at Yarmouth….Rob and Jon trying to look useful…..needs some work..
View from the Harbour wall;
Yarmouth Harbour, Isle of Wight.
Boys working hard on the saturday night……
Sunday arrived and we found that light winds had now moved to no winds. So no rush, we headed for coffee and cakes in the town. On final departure more reefing practice and then we launched the storm Jib. An odd sight with a bright orange sail on a calm day! This was followed by launching the drogue and practicing steering with the Unit. It gain worked well. So a good run through of all of our safety gear.
Then we let Jon loose in the galley with the new kitchen knife…..a very bad move as he quickly managed to take off the top of his thumb! Well, at least everyone knows where the first aid kit is now!
Jon's thumb…after the blood had stopped flowing..
We arrived safely back at berth on the Sunday afternoon after another 50 NM or so of sailing, the Log now reads over 1000 NM.
That evening the sea water pump for the aircon failed, as had a spreader light so Inspiration are on the case.
The next weekend is August 8th when we set sail for Plymouth, a good initial and final shakedown for the crew and Miss Liz II before we head across the bay of biscay later in August.
Hopefully Inspiration and Aztec will have everything ready by then!
Oh, and did I mention the Gennaker? The furling Elvstrom Gennaker arrived….but with no wind testing was difficult!
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