The second FPB 64, Sarah Sarah, is bound for the Pacific Northwest. As it is late summer in the Northern Hemisphere, there is pressure to get the sea trials wrapped up, and be off to the north. So, we have not been able to get the time required onboard for a complete set of photos. However, we do have some interesting details to share and over the next week we’ll do a series of posts.

We’ll start with the owner becoming familiar with his new cruising machine. Note the back up manual wheel. The wheel is removable, but at this point the plan is to leave it in place (there are two auto pilot systems as well which are the primary steering systems).

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The best way to check fuel consumption is by filling the tank. Ideally this is done before and after a passage so just the underway hours are used in the calculations. When you are in coastal mode, as we have been, some interpolation is going to be required. As we have just topped off with diesel in Gibraltar we thought you might be interested in the figures.

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Realizing that the cost of operating a yacht like the FPB 83 Wind Horse is probably of interest we thought we’d recap the various links to articles on this subject with a few comments thrown in.

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The water injection elbows on the exhausts of Wind Horse’s engines and genset are fitted with temperature sensing bands supplied by AquaAlarm. If these exceed a preset temperature they close a circuit which triggers an alarm. In theory, this is an early warning of salt water flow failure. We are also fitted with sensors on the water flow itself upstream of the engines. None of these devices has ever given us a warning signal.

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Avatar and crew are now happily basking in the Southern Hemisphere winter warmth of Vila in the island nation of Vanuatu. We sent her skipper, Rod Bradley, a list  of questions about the passage which we was kind enough to answer. Rod’s comments provide an interesting look at how the first of the FPB 64 series performs on an ocean passage. Follow Carol and Mike Parker’s adventures with Avatar on their website by clicking here.

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It is now officially warm, we are using our awnings, and even running the air conditioning on occasion. All of which brings to mind the subject of air con capacity. If you are going to have a air conditioning, and it is very nice in some situations, it needs to be looked at in an overall systems context. Typically the major power consumer aboard, if designed without thought for overall efficiency, the penalties can be substantial. The industry norm is to maximize capacity, for the worst possible situation, and then run the air on a low duty cycle. This forces you into big generators because of starting and running loads, which are loafing (bad) when the air is not running.

We think there is a better way.

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We’re told open roadsteads, with bouncy sea-states, are not unusual from here on out. For most yachts it can get down right uncomfortable when the wind is at right angles to the chop. Wind Horse is very stable with ocean swells coming into the anchorage. They barely move her. But the short period chop from ferries and dinghies are another story. Which is one of the reasons for her big booms.

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We’re anchored off the beach at Sanxenxo. This is an open roadstead, exposed to the Atlantic from the south, which right now is quiet. There is a long period small swell sweeping in which does not affect us. But the shorter period power boat wakes, of which there are a multitude, excite our hull. Hence the booms are deployed with flopper stoppers for the first time in two years.

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We have finally found a windless day with flat seas in which to test our new props. What we know so far is that at a little over full payload we can achieve 2400RPM at wide open throttle. Our original target was 10.5 knots at 1600 RPM, at three quarters payload. Lets see how we did on the calculations:

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We have just spent three days at anchor. For at least eight hours a day the portable computer and the desk top Imac with its second monitor and three exteral hard drives have been in use. There are two freezers going, a big fridge, and we are cooking electrically. We also don’t overly concern ourselves with power consumption for lights.

The amp hour meter says 930 amps or 310 amps per day average (at 24 volts), and the battery capacity is listed as 50%. If we were to sit another day we’d probably run the genset tonight to do a little battery charging. But as we are moving 38 miles, the engines will do a pretty good job of charging while we are under way.

The following question was posed by the Owner of FPB 64 #3. We thought the technical minded amongst you might  have some helpful suggestions.

“We are building a new boat and intend to put a WiFi signal booster on board for routine in port use.  In addition, for offshore, we intend to install a Fleet Broadband 150 satellite phone and internet system.  As part of the process

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Circa have been working with several of the FPB 64 Owners to come up with what they all think is an efficient, long lasting cruising tool. The first of these is show above sitting above ready for its chocks to be patterned.

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We continue to be impressed with  our Panasonic NN-CF778S combination oven. Capable of using microwave, convection, and broiling to the same dish, automatically if desired, it is also working well in a straight baking (convection) mode, as attested to by the photo above from last night.

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The crew of Wind Horse are starting to read the manual on the Panasonic combination oven. This little oven does some amazingly efficient things.

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