Aboard Dignity

Future Upgrades

2008/9 upgrades

Here is a list of upgrades we are performing on Dignity

• Inverter/Charger.  In June 2008 CatCo installed a 3kW Xantrex inverter/charger.  This will allow us to run 110V appliances from the house supply as well as being able to directly charge the house bank when connected to shore power.
• Solar Power.  Ordered in US to be shipped to St Martin will be 4 135W Kyocera solar cells plus an Outback Flexmax 80 MPPT charge controller.
• Navigation/Radar.  Similarly ordered in US is a Garmin 5012 chart plotter and a GMR 18HD radar.  I bought these from emarinesupplies.com who were very helpful.
• AIS.  We'll be installing a Smart Radio SR162 AIS Receiver in to receive telemetry from nearby big shipping.
• Watermaker.  A Spectra Catalina 300 or Spectra Newport 400 Mk II.  Decision still to be made on which and whether or not to order in St Martin or on US mainland.  Through-hulls have already been fitted during the haul-out in 2007.
• Washing Machine.  We've ordered and will ship a Bosch WFL2090UC washing machine.  It is smaller than a normal machine but will fit the space we have in the bathroom in Dignity.  Bosch are known for their reliability which is essential for us.
• Head sail. We need a good downwind sail.  I'm still making my mind up on this but the current favourite is a Parasailor.
• SSB/Tuner/Modem. Already bought and tested will be a SSB setup comprising an Icom IC-M802 SSB, an Icom AT-140 auto antenna tuner and a Pactor modem to allow data / email transfer over shortwave.
• Hooka.  To make underwater work/exploration easy, we'll be placing a Brownie Explorer 390 aboard.

I will be doing a lot of the installation of the above items but I will use help/advice to make sure the work is done well.  Doing much of the installation myself will greatly assist future troubleshooting.

Things we have decided not to put aboard right now:

• Dive Compressor.  Went for the Hooka instead.
• Dryer (as part of washer).  Additional complication.  Not too many good reviews.  And we have plenty of lifelines for drying.
• Wind power.  When we're sailing we get wind power via regeneration - lot's more than a wind-gen will ever give.  When we're stationary we'll often be sheltered from wind.  We're going to see how we get on with 540W of solar and figure out if/where our energy gap is and how to close it.
• TV.  We have laptops for the odd DVD.  Don't need any more than this.  At least we don't think so.  These days, it would be easy enough to carry a flat screen back from one of our mainland visits if we decide this has been the wrong decision.

Still to determine is an autopilot backup.  In the islands a failed autopilot scenario will never be critical so we can wait on this.

For the record - here is what I wrote about future upgrades a year or so ago ....

Watermaker

One of the early items to add to Dignity will be a water maker.  Our current preference is the Spectra Catalina 300.

Rationale:

First, the Spectra manufacturer seems to provide a client focused service as evidenced by a number of cruisers logs.  Given the variability of service levels offered by the boating industry (that I have experienced) a good mark on service is exceptionally important.

Second, it runs of the 12V supply.  When we're regenerating and have topped of the drive tanks, no reason we should not make water.

Third, the output is just about right.  We can produce a days worth of extravagant water usage in about an hour.  That is about the time I figure I'll have for surplus regeneration on short hops.  If we're ever stuck somewhere and have to resort to running the genset to top up our huge supply of Ah, we can make water at a decent enough clip from the surplus genset supply to catch up from days of non production.

Fourth, It's one of the quietest water makers on the market.  This fits in with the whole "Going Silently Green" philosophy.

During our September haul out in year 0, I will have through-hulls fitted.  I intend to fit the water maker myself during the first month aboard.

Navigation/Electronics

I have a better idea of my requirements / wishes / constraints than I have for a solution here.  Here's what I want :

• Navigation / Charts / autopilot controls at the helm.  This could be either a standard chartplotter or a weatherproof display for a PC based system.
• Radar with the ability to overlay on charts.
• Laptop based navigation fully integrated with helm station.  I want to be able to set routes, waypoints from within the boat and have this integrated with the helm station.  Ideally, real time control of the autopilot as well for those rainy days on long passages.
• Wireless would be awesome so I could work from anywhere.
• Integration with my existing Raymarine instruments / autopilot.

Right now I can't make up my mind as to what to get.  I have looked at solutions at boat shows, on manufacturers websites and on sailing forums.  Very hard to choose.  I have a slight tendency towards Furuno gear for the helm/GPS/radar coupled with MaxSea s/w but I lack real conviction.

I'm not in any rush for this.  None of this is necessary for sailing the Caribbean which we're reasonably certain we'll be spending the first six months sailing.  My preference right now is to use the first six months to hone our manual navigation skills (which I'll need for backup in the future) while taking input from other cruisers and their actual experiences to help us make a final decision.

Wind and Solar

I definitely intend to add wind and solar power but I haven't managed to determine which solutions I want yet.  These will only be used to top up the house batteries - not the drive batteries.

Communications

Once we live aboard we'll have a number of communications requirements which will require a number of different solutions.

For ship to shore and close ship to ship we'll have an on board VHF with controls at the navigation desk and helm.  Dignity comes with a Raymarine 54E VHF Radio which is probably going to be mounted at the nav station.  One possibility would be to upgrade this to a unit which allows controls at both navigation station and helm.  However, we would definitely want a couple of hand held VHF units to act as backups as well as give us a means for ship to short communications when we are separated.  I already own an Icom IC-M88 with which I am very happy.

For longer range ship to ship and ship to shore communications short wave radio becomes a necessity.  We very much want to make use of the Winlink email service which means we need to get HAM licensed as well as a HAM capable rig with a Pactor modem.  Right now my eyes are on the Icom IC-M802 unit but continue to keep my mind open to other rigs or new equipment if it comes on the market before we leave.

My current idea is to buy the shortwave radio and Pactor modem before we leave, set it up and gain some practise from land.  It would then become one of our early projects to install the unit aboard Dignity.  Right now I am studying for my HAM license.  I figure that with a bit more knowledge I will eventually make a more informed choice as to the unit to buy.

For emergency rescue situations EPIRBs are an absolute necessity.  I expect to have 2 aboard, one wrapped up in the life raft.  No idea of models yet.

That leaves the question of need for mobile phones and satellite phones.  There is a definite comfort factor in having a satellite phone but the cost versus real benefit is not attractive.  Having a couple of old multi-band mobile phones aboard could turn out useful.

Backup Autopilot

We will definitely need a contingency to our one autopilot.  This will either be a wind vane or another auto pilot setup so it can be easily switched in place of the original.  I can't seem to find much convincing data at the moment that shows that wind vanes are effective on a catamaran.  That's disappointing as I am very attracted to the concept.

This is likely to be another item we can defer, initially.  It is essential to have an effective backup prior to ocean crossing and manual helming for an extended period of time is fatiguing and puts our safety at risk.  Our plans could easily change before we finally set sail so the urgency of installing this option will be dictated to us by where our plans stand when we reach year 0.

Extra Sails

We will need extra sails, not only for backup but for improved downwind sailing.  Dignity has been ordered with the genaker rig option.  What sails we'll get and where and when we'll get them has yet to be decided.

Dive Compressor

We definitely want a dive compressor aboard.  I have a definite preference for an electrical compressor.  Originally I had hoped to power the compressor of the inverter and use regenerated power to get air in our tanks.  Having researched this, I found we would need a more powerful inverter and quite a change to the electrical configuration to make this happen.  So I'm resigned to running this off the genset.

I still prefer electrical power as this is going to be quieter than a diesel or gasoline powered compressor.  I have also realized that despite our best efforts to regenerate our own power, there will be times when we'll need to run our genset.  We opted for the larger 21.5 kV genset on Dignity so that when we do run the genset, we can make hay while the sun shines.  ie, when we turn it on, if we have a need to, on will go the water maker and on will go the compressor. 

Washer and/or Dryer

This is a definite wait and see.  We've agreed to defer on this and see how we feel about life aboard without one.

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