Nice to see that one of the best, and arguably most unlucky sailors, in Americas Cup modern history is back with a team. I’m a huge fan of the quiet Kiwi. The man is a class act. He will be a great coach, I’m sure. Might end up back on the wheel too, I’m guessing.
John's Tips, Tricks & Thoughts
Version 2.2, 9th August, Getting better
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Most “Drop In” Lithium Batteries Not ABYC Compliant
The way I read this, batteries with BMSs that do not communicate are now obsolete:
If a shutdown condition is approaching a battery system should notify the operator with a visual and/or audible alarm before disconnecting the battery from the DC system.
ABYC E13-7
I think ABYC should have required all BMS to be able to communicate with charging sources. This could be as simple as a set of contacts, but CANBus is better. More here on why. And here on ways to do that.
ABYC Publishes Lithium Battery Standard
The TE-13 technical note is now a standard: E-13. To me, a woefully inadequate one that relies far too much on the vendors to do the right thing, but it’s a start. Panbo has a good analysis, most of which I agree with.
Great BoreScope
How we knew what the problem is in our mast way out of sight:
Black and white messenger is for the main halyard. Deflection is clear. Sheave to left.
Make sure you get this one with the longer focal length.
Our Season Saved,
or at least extended by installing spectra chafe sleeve. Love the stuff. More here.
Not a permanent fix. That will take unstepping and some very tricky work.
Stupid Mast Errors
After just three day sails our main halyard is mangled. Turns out @sparcraft jammed the wiring conduit right up under the sheave on our brand new mast so it deflects the halyard and chafes it. Looked like end of season. We were gutted. No way to fix without unstep, but see next tip.
Great Credit Card For Cruisers
If you are a cruiser and need to manage multiple currencies and make payments in many countries you need @Wise. https://wise.com Originally posted this to old feed. Seems to have been useful.
Quote of The Day
Risk is what’s left over when you think you’ve thought of everything.
Morgan Housel
No Position
We were out sailing our new-to-us J/109 when I realized that neither of the default screens on the plotter or TZiBoat showed position. Pretty standard these days…and oh so wrong. Imagine a person overboard and we need to radio for help but first have to dig though a bunch of screens to find position. Two minutes to fix (above photo), but worth thinking about.
Brion Toss Rigging
Great to see that the incredible legacy of Brian Toss lives on after his tragic death in 2020. See the web site:
eWincher 2 On Test
Just received our new Ewincher 2. Why would I buy one for a little 35′ J/109? Is it because I’m an old fart? Not really, more to do with ergonomics.
Will be updating our three part in-depth on the Ewincher with that, and what we think of the improvements to the second generation.
Victron Chargers Rock
I’m loving this little charger I bought. I will write more in an upcoming article, but the ability to check out, on my phone, exactly what happened in the last charge cycle is amazing. Tells me a lot about battery health and how to set up the charger best for our usage.
iPad Clamp
Well, this is better than duct taping it to the companionway, but it still feels like a kluge. Probably OK for round the bay, but I need to make it more waterproof and improve power feed. Even then I’m glad there’s a plotter below for backup and offshore use. Nice clamp from Scanstrut.
White Paint Is Our Friend
Before and after shots of a small locker in our J-109. Way better to paint the water damaged ply than mess around with varnish trying to fix it. Brightens the boat up too. We like semi-gloss, not gloss. White is brighter inside the locker too.
Mast Climbing Harness
Just received a Spinlock Mast Pro Harness for evaluation and to use as part of a two part article on going aloft that Matt and I are working on. Big thank you to @spinlock_HQ