We have now seen these wind generators at work on three cruising yachts and can attest to their amazingly quiet operation. We discussed the output with one user and he indicated that this unit from eclectic-energy.com performs in accordance with its output curve. However, it does not have overspeed protection and must be tied off or feathered in high winds.
The crew of Wind Horse are starting to read the manual on the Panasonic combination oven. This little oven does some amazingly efficient things.
Biscay and the United Kingdom are in our wake and new territories await discovery. As you will know by now, this short passage blessed us with light airs in a locale not known for its kindness to mariners. For an otherwise boring passage (which is what we like) there were still a few interesting things to note.
1730 local time and we’ve got fourteen hours to go. The barometer us still at 1020mb, breeze is seven knots from the north, and if we were aboard Beowulf we’d be debating whether to carry the two spinnakers, or be conservative and stay with the code zero headsails. We’ve slowed down to 9.5/10 knots (depending on current) so as not to arrive too early on Sunday morning. The forecasts, both computer generated GRIB files and the UK Met Service faxes, show the high dominating for another 24 hours. However, this morning we had hooked cirrus clouds from the southwest and now there is a southwest swell, occasionally running four meters / 13 feet. The cirrus are a depression leading indicator and the swells a wind velocity warning. If we were just leaving the UK with these signs we would keep the heavy sails ready (regardless of that the forecasts said).
The lack of wildlife has been a surprise. A land bird has stopped by for a rest, three sea birds have cruised over for a look, and a small pod of dolphin played in our bow wave. On the other hand, there does seem to be some debris in the water and last night there was a loud thump around 0200 (we put engines into neutral on all thumps, just in case). We are debating today’s highlight; being buzzed by what we assume is a border patrol jet, chomping chocolate chip cookies, or changing one of our Separ fuel filters.
SailMail, using the station in Belgium, continues to work great – data transfer speeds are faster than Iridium. Nice to see the Icom SSB getting a work out.
6/5/2010 4:38 PM (UTC) position 45
The 140 foot Frers designed ketch, Rebecca, lying here in Falmouth, has to be one of the prettiest mega-yachts afloat. She has a unique look combining “traditional” deck houses with a modern bow and old time stern. Normally, alamalgams like this do not turn out. But she is stunning, and the low freeboard helps to pull it together.
The last time we saw this yacht was in Bermuda, in 2002. We ran into Paul, the skipper, clearing customs, and as we were both headed to Newport, Rhode Island, and informal race was arranged between Beowulf and Rebecca. Paul asked how much time allowance we wanted.
Wind Horse and crew are having a lovely passage. The barometer remains high, 1020 mb, indicating the glassy calm on hand at present is likely to continue. We have turned the traffic separation corner off Ouessant, France, and are now aimed directly at La Coruna in the northwest corner of Spain. Both GRIB files and weather faxes indicate conditions should remain pleasant for the next 48 hours, then it might get ugly, which is one of the reasons we are believers in making quick crossings.
The little John Deere diesels are turning 1700RPM and Wind Horse,at full load, is doing 10.5 to 10.7 knots through the water. Fuel burn, measured with the graduated sight gauge on the day tank, indicates about 5.5 USG/hour is being consumed, including the fuel burned for hydraulic and electrical power. The new props continue to look like the right choice.
The new galley appliances are working fine, and it does not appear the crew will go hungry (or lose weight on a passage) any time soon. Ship traffic is minimal, we’ve seen maybe 30 ships in eight hours – we’d see that many in half an hour in the English Channel! Need we add that it feels really good to be at sea again.
This message is being sent via SSB radio using SailMail.
6/4/2010 7:32 PM (UTC) position 48
It is Friday morning in the UK and the weather over Biscay is looking good for the next 48 hours. The fax segment above is for 000GMT tonight, and shows a high building in Biscay. The Met office is forecasting low pressure to develop Sunday/Monday with strong southwesterly flow. Easy answer, go now.
But there are complications.
Although the Brits have had frightful weather the past few summers they have been kind enough, for the most part, to spare us the unpleasantness. Now they must know our time here is drawing to a close and want to send us off with a good impression – the weather has been simply lovely.
Good clouds and sunshine lead to nice photos, and the past two days have been excellent. So we are going to test another slide show on you, this one with captions where required. Read the rest »
The Bay of Biscay, that infamous indentation in the coasts of France and Spain, lies in our immediate future. Although this will be our first time across, we’ve been hearing tales about Biscay events for as long as we can remember. It features in many of the tales our Surviving the Storm and other heavy weather books, and we have immense respect for this small body of water.
With the power of our new slide show server we are going to test something new. A simple slide show of what catches our attention, in this case at anchor for three days in the backwaters of Poole Harbor. No distracting commentary. Read the rest »
We’re in Plymouth, UK, walking the docks to check out where they want us to move Wind Horse in the morning, and we came across some details we could not let pass. Consider the following photos and comments in the following context. You are peacefully anchored in a tranquil cove – you pick the location. The sun has just set, there is nary a ripple on the water. Three hours later a swell starts to roll in. You wake up, wonder about the fuss, wind is still calm though, so back to sleep. Two hours more and it is blowing – pick a number fro 35 to 70 knots – straight in from the sea. You are now on a lee shore. The shore happens to be – another choice – steep too tropical reef, rock bound coast, soft mud (feeling lucky with that one). Do you have enough power to get out? Can you get the anchor up? Is there room to slip the anchor and beat to weather to the open sea?
And between you and destruction – a few items we will now discuss in more detail.
We are on our first “passage” from Poole to Plymouth in the UK. While short, it is giving us a chance to run up some of the systems and electronics. In particular we wanted to test our five year old Village Marine NF800 watermaker which has been in storage mode for eight months
This duct taped vent on the foredeck of a new 80 footer caught our eye, and got us to thinking about the subject of keeping water out of the interior when vents are used. The design principles are quite simple, if somewhat costly to execute.
Wind Horse had been closed up for the better part of eight months when we stepped through her entry door last week. Dorade vents and hatches had been sealed, and no outside air had circulated inside. Yet she smelled fresh, most would say new (and this after five years of cruising). How is this possible?
We’ve been testing a few of our AC items with the Kill A Watt meter and have some interesting findings to report. The data which follows is on the 115VAC side of our power system.
One of the things we like best about cruising is the surprises. They come in all forms, often unexpected. New friends that will be cherished for years, wonderful sunsets out of gloomy skies, whales joining us for dinner in an isolated anchorage. To this list we now add a secret garden.
Now here’s a yacht to get y our heart beating a little harder. She is a steel yawl, 45 feet on deck, with a very traditional gaff rig.
We’ve just paid our bill at Berthons in the UK, said our goodbyes, and are awaiting a delivery of charts and groceries after which we will head south. The lead photo speaks volumes about this business and its owners’ concept of dealing with their clients. These are without a doubt the nicest boatyard bathroom facilities within this galaxy. But wait, it gets better.
Here is an extremely handy tool. a combination amp/volt/hz, and Watt meter.
Hi.
I just purchased a 1980 50 ft. Gulfstar Ketch. It has a Stoboom Main and I have no idea as to the best way to remove the sail for inspection, repair and refit. I could really use some advice or direction.
Thank You
Everett
We really liked the lines of this pilot house schooner, including the junk rig.
You are looking at a modern miracle. In the upper left hand corner is the ubiquitous Apple Computer symbol. This is a 17″ Macbook computer running Windows and Mac programs at the same time.
1. My boat buying budget has been reduced substantially by the crooks on Wall St. and the financial crisis they caused………….therefore my dream boat in the 100-150K range is now only a dream. I have my eye on the Tayana 37. I am 6’4″ and a single hander. I think this boat is a good choice considering my price range of 50-75K. I actually have an agreement on a very well found Ty37 for 63K. Any thoughts?
2. The often asked question is monthly budget. In your Offshore cruising book you discuss the issue but I’m sure things have changed since the book was last updated. Do you think a monthly budget of $3000US will be sufficient? Will I have to be careful? I would like to believe I can live quite well on that amount if I eat frequently on board and stay out of marinas most of the time?
I should also mention I would expect to begin my cruise in the Caribbean.
Best regards and thanks in advance,
We’ve wrestled for years with the issue of a back up propulsion system, and have covered this in detail in previous blogs. Simply put, the odds are if you lose power the odds are it will be due to fuel problems or damage to the drive line, both of which put get home engines out as well.
So we have concentrated on a system which could, under the right conditions, get us across an ocean without using fuel or a prop.
Here is a welcome sight after eight long months – Wind Horse hanging in the Travel Lift slings at Berthons in the UK, ready to launch. Notice anything different?
Hi Steve,
First, I want to say thanks for the great website and books you and Linda have done. They’ve been very helpful to me.
I’m designing the rig for my boat now, a 42′ steel cutter. She has a genuine loaded for cruising displacement of 34,000 lbs.
I am doing a large roach main (80%)with swept spreaders and no standing backstay. Doing the rig stress calculations has made it clear that the large majority of the stress on the rig is from the shroud tension required to counter the jibstay and cutter stay tension. A reduction in tension on the forestays causes a great reduction in shroud and mast loads, but at the cost of increased forestay sag.
I’d greatly appreciate your thoughts on an appropriate sag percentage to use for the 30 degrees of heel stress calculations.
I am going to fit masthead runners to help tighten the jibstay and take some load off the rig, but am designing the rig to not require them.
Best Regards,
Paul
Spring is in the air and for us this is a welcome change. The past four years we’ve been away at this time of year, testing the FPB prototype, and have missed this part of Nature’s cycle. For those of you who think the Sonora desert is bleak, we have put together a slide show of what it presently looks like in our Tucson, Arizona, neighborhood. All of these photos were taken either on our property, or within a ten minute walk.
One of the areas we survey each year before starting to cruise is communications. There are a variety of approaches to this question, and the correct answer depends on cruising grounds and the need to stay in touch.
In our case there are several requirements:
We’re putting together a package of FPB 64 photographs for magazines. The images have to be culled, which is hard because we like them all. Read the rest »
We’ve been wrestling with the route west for Wind Horse and crew. There are good reasons for each of the options we discussed back in February. The decision has been simmering in the background, and only started thinking about a route decision a few weeks ago.
In the last few days the question of heavy weather has come up a couple of times. Would we rather get caught in a Sundeer 64 or an FPB 64 in a really bad blow? Lets put this in the context of a passage across Drake Channel, between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica which we were just discussing.
By those who voyage this is considered the worst stretch of water on planet earth. So which boat would we prefer in an ultimate storm?
Hello, I note on your web site that someone was inquiring several years ago about more information on the Dvorak technique. Apparently at that time, the booklet was not being printed by the government. I searched yesterday and found several different publications available online on the Dvorak technique…just thought some of your site users might like to know.
I’ve enjoyed several of your books over the years…Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia, Bluewater Handbook, Circumnavigator’s Handbook, Surviving the Storm, and Mariner’s Weather Handbook. Even though I’ve owned sailboats for fifty-five years now, and can, I suspect, be reasonably called competent, each of the books has stimulated new thought; or, more often, reinforced
already held ideas and opinions.
I’ve gotten a sense over the last year or so that you have less interest in your books and their readers than you once did; but that is, perhaps, a misapprehension.
In any case, thank you for all the pleasure your books have given me.
Best regards,
John
No aspect of how the FPB Series handle offshore conditions elicits more surprise than their ability to surf. For most powerboats, and all displacement type configurations, surfing brings with it visions of lack of control, broaching, and risk of capsize. Yet the FPBs surf under control, adding speed, reducing fuel burn, and kicking up the needle on the fun meter.
How is this possible?
We’ve been sifting through photos which Carol Parker has been kind enough to send along to us.
Carol is a gifted photographer, and links to her cruising and photography websites are below:
Carol’s photographic website can be visited by clicking here.
The Avatar logs are here.
I was just looking at your website and if I understood correctly,
you went to a mono-hull for cruising, after using the multi-hulls for some time. I prefer multi-hulls myself.
I am wondering why did you go for a mono-hull instead of a little bigger multi?
Gilbert.
We’ve been working on the get home rig for the FPB 64. Carol Parker sent us the photo you see above of a rough prototype sail, cut from PVC tarp material.
We’ve been watching video brought to us by the Owners of Avatar, the first FPB 64. It has long and steady shots of Avatar heading upwind with waves on the bow quarter. In discussing what the video shows with current Owners, it was suggested that a recap of the design of the FPB Series and how this impacts comfort, and safety might be in order. Now that we have the ability to embed video within these blogs it will be a lot easier to illustrate the design concepts.
This is a long article, with lots of video, so make yourself comfortable and prepare to do some passaging with us aboard Wind Horse and Avatar.
We’re on a roll with this new photo server. So, for our third offering here are one hundred and one details. You will find everything from
Greetings!
We are a couple from Alaska heading out this summer for a two or more year long cruise. We’re thinking of upgrading the anchor system on our 38′ steel Waterline cutter to something stout enough for exposed anchorages in places as extreme as Antarctica or Greenland. Currently we have 100 meters of 5/16 BBB with a 70# Bruce-type anchor and a 45″ CQR as backup. A fellow at Rocna anchors is advising us to go to G40 in 3/8″, and upgrading to a larger, 33kg or 40kg main anchor. My question, other than any comments/suggestions you might have regarding what you might advise us to go with, is do you think we can keep our 3/8 system (mostly our hydraulic anchor winch) by going to a G70 chain? I understand that Steve Dashew has gone to stronger, lighter 3/8 G70 so I wonder how you would think I could best apply this variable for our needs. Also, can you direct me to sources where chain higher in strength than G40 could be purchased?
I would appreciate any thoughts/suggestions you might have as we move towards making our final decision. Your expertise is very appreciated.
Kind regards,
Fred Hiltner
FPB 64 – Theory & Reality
We are two weeks removed from sea trials on the FPB 64, Avatar, the Arizona desert is abloom with spring foliage, and the reality of the FPB 64 is slowly coming into focus.
The subject of where to put communications gear comes up often. With its formal office area the FPB 64 has the option of mounting this gear other than at the bridge where space is always at a premium. But does this make sense?
We used to think that having more than one VHF radio was a waste of space, weight, and money. But our thinking has changed.
You may have noticed the posts have slowed down. We’ve been working on a high definition online slide show and video of the FPB 64 sea trials. They are now live.
The video be accessed by clicking here.
Click here for the slide show.
Enjoy…
What is the optimum height for a radar antenna? It is a debate that goes on 40 years after radars started being installed on yachts.
Lets review the issues:
Thirty-three years ago when we started working on the perfect cruising yacht design we quickly realized that we needed a way to get back aboard if we fell over. The design configurations we were considering were simply too high to pull ourselves up from the water. In an effort to solve this dilemma the swim/boarding/rescue platform was born which has graced the transom of all our yachts.
Both Wind Horse and the FPB 64 Avatar share the same systems logic when it comes to AC and DC power. They are engineered to minimize genset time, running mainly on traction batteries at anchor with power supplied by a pair of 150 amp/28VDC alternators under way. On Wind Horse we have just 550 hours of genset time since launching in 2005, 100 of which came during sea trials when we were breaking in the little diesel and another 50 in Alaska when we were heating the boat with the reverse cycle air. That leaves 400 hours over five cruising seasons.
How have we managed this?
There are all sorts of ways of calculating fuel burn and range under power. You can use just the power requirements of the boat, add in (or not) requirements for electrical and hydraulic, consider adverse weather (or assume smooth water), and allow for the boat getting lighter as it burns its fuel load (or keep it heavy as a fudge factor). The data we presented in the previous post was based on smooth water and no wind. We’ve now massaged this further to show range with different allowances.
The drawer stack in the galley performs a number of valuable functions.
I am absolutely fascinated by your boats. Initially, the look was very unappealing…but as I started reading the beauty came out.
While I have a while to go until I am ready to stop practicing and begin my life of cruising with my wife, (my youngest is 13) my current boat of choice is the Marlow. But reading about your boat may change all of that.
I would love to get any info that you have with respect to these 2 boats.
Thx,
Tom Conroy
Hi, Steve
For years I have enjoyed reading about your ships and now the FPB 64. I have a couple of questions, if I may.
1. With respect to the engine room air intake (and exhaust), do you have a way of closing the vent(s) in case of an engine room fire?
2. On the Get Home Conundrum, have you considered using a retractable thruster with rotation or azimuthing bow pump-jet thruster. Something for example offered by OYS thrusters. In addition to helping with close-in maneuvering, a continuous duly system could have a Get Home capability assuming the gen-set continues to run. If equipped with a closing plate could increase hull efficiently compared with a open thruster tunnel.
Stephen
Engineer in California
Hi Steve,
My Linda and I have admired your evolving burly long legged design philosophy for years. We sail out of Marion, MA on Buzzards Bay with trips up and down the New England Coast.
This year our good friend John Herzog has just acquired “Cloud Nine”, a lovely vintage Allied Seabreeze 35′ yawl, which he will be keeping this year on our helix auger mooring in Marion. The Bay is very open to the SW, and notorious for Hurricane surge. NOAA says this will be a very lively summer as you know.
I have suggested before launching John consider fitting a massive cable attachment point in the stem just above the waterline with added heavy blocking in the chain locker to accept a shackled 1/2″ steel cable or chain storm pennant. Length to the mooring top chain would be set to allow appropriate stretch of the two cafe protected 1″ nylon mooring pennants while applying most of the load to the eye at the waterline. John’s mizzen should help to somewhat reduce tacking on the mooring caused by the lovely sheer of the Seabreeze rail.
I have seen people attaching a steel storm cable to a single eyebolt in the stem, and feel that this may be vulnerable to side loading expected in storm surge.
Do you have any thoughts about such a rig? Have you ever seen a commercial fastener that would be a suitable stem shackle attachment point for a storm cable to secure a 13,400 lb designed displacement vessel, or do we need to have something custom made?
Thanks much and safe cruising,
Bill Bowers,
SV “Iteration”
Dear Linda and Steve,
Could you share the name and source of the non skid product you are using on FPB 64?
Do you know the life span of this product?
Can it be adhered to a steel deck painted with two part epoxy coating like Ameron?
Thank you in advance for your response.
Sincerely,
Remek Czarnecki
Hello,
I am the recent purchaser of a 1962 P-Class Catamaran. “Mahitabel” is a 28 ft long/ by 12′ Beam Designed by Bud Platten / R&D builder for Hobie Catamarans.
It is to my understanding that boat designers Platten, Eric Witte, Ron Holder were fighting for a 1-man design, I am inquiring to see if Mahitabel is just in fact the Hull #1 that resulted.
She is a fiberglass/ kevlar reinforced hull with steering 3′ forward of AMA’S. Foiled foam Dagger boards forward, and 300 sq ft of sail!
Mahitabel is currently under rebuild in an owner/ repair shop Finleys in Oceanside.
If you could provide any knowledge of this beautiful machine,
It will help give me strength in each sanding stroke!
Mark Pasquale
We’ve got a few more hours of experience in waves with the FPB 64 and it is becoming apparent that she will benefit comfort wise from being at the heavy end of her displacement range. This means making fresh water as fuel is burned to keep her heavy if the sea state is uncomfortable. As the previous information we have posted was at half load, we thought this update was due.
We’ve previously shown you the engine room as it came together during construction. Here is an overall look after completion, now being “lived in”, with tools, manuals, and supplies on hand.
This is what you see from the engine room door.
One of the design aspects which requires careful attention is the water flow towards and then off the stern. A hull like the FPB 64 can handle a certain amount of immersion of the transom and still be efficient, but if the water release isn’t clean excessive drag is the result.
The photos in this blog were taken at full load, running at 1600 RPM at about 9.5 knots. The FPB 64 has a out eight knots of true wind behind her and a four to six foot (1.2 to 1.85m) swell adding a little push.
One of the items on the sea trials check list was to test our “steering jib” concept.
Docking a new boat for the first time in a tight marina is always going to increase the blood pressure a bit. Doing it in a 65 foot / 20m yacht in a fairway less than two boat lengths wide with a beam wind makes it even more interesting. Mike Parker is at the controls, and while he is an experienced boat and sailplane driver, the tension shows (the public was watching).
Having had a practice photo shoot with Avatar’s great room we tried again yesterday morning with better results. A few of these photos are attached (we’ll have a high resolution slide show online later this week).
We’ve been experimenting to find the center of lateral resistance (CLR) around which the FPB 64 pivots. Laying against a piling is the perfect way to establish CLR location.
Last night we had a chance to photograph the great room aboard Avatar for the first time. This is a test run – we’ll do better with practice – but we know there are a lot of folks waiting on these photos so we are going to post them anyway.
The Bar BQ/sink cabinet which is integrated with the engine room air intake structure has been the source of substantial dialog on the Dashew Offshore team. Todd and Linda were heavily in favor and wanted a large Bar BQ. Steve was inclined to have the smallest unit possible.
We’ve been using a bow pivot spring for years to rotate off the dock when the wind is holding us on.
One of the design goals for the FPB 64 was a space that would function as an office. Having just spent the last 24 hours cruising aboard Avatar and using this space we can tell you it works really well.
The flying bridge controls have been getting a work out the past week.
We’ve had several e-mails this week asking about the flying bridge. Time is short today so we’ll just load the photos for your viewing pleasure before we head down to the boat.
The sea trial process is designed to insure everything works as planned, and to ferret out problems that may be hidden. Most of this will have been done in the shop, before launching. But with custom builds, or the first in a series, the schedule often slips and this work ends up happening afloat (and there are some things which have to be done in the water).
The photo above says something about this process in the 21st century. Count the computers, all of which are in use for commissioning. Todd and Deon are fine tuning the inverter chargers, and have two computers connected to the inverters while Ruben from Furuno is using his PC to initialize the Nav Net 3D system.
The life lines forward at the mast on the port side and at the forward end of the port dinghy are lashed rather than pinned. There are two reasons for this:
We are starting to work on the Owner’s manual, the first section of which is about the fuel system. As we have been taking photos we thought you might like to see the completed system.
We are always amazed at how much cordage it takes for rigging a yacht. The FPB 64 is proving no exception. That’s Rod Bradley on the foredeck of Avatar, getting ready to stow dock lines and extra rope. Here is what is aboard in the standard specification:
The basement area under the great room on the FPB Series is key to the entire systems approach, not to mention storage. It allows us to position gear so it is easy to inspect and maintain, while providing a huge amount of bulk space.
We will start this tour in the forward port corner looking at half of the ship’s battery bank. Note that the fuel tank tops which provide the basement floor are above the waterline with batteries being a further 800m/32″ above this.
Sunday we commented on the time it had taken to program the Maretron system. The data indicated was in error. It appears that Circa has spent around 40 hours so far on the programming.
There are a lot of reasons we enjoy what is a very tough business. The creative process is of course a part. But equally important are the relationships established with our clients. Watching their expressions as they see a dream afloat for the first time is a great pleasure.
We have all four sets of FPB 64 Owners here now, plus three visitors who are thinking about joining us, all of whom have flown long hours for the experience. It has been a busy time for all of us.
Yesterday we concentrated on learning about close quarters maneuvering and checking motion characteristics in short chop.
We’ve been learning about the NMEA 2000 Maretron system fitted to the FPB 64s for data management. Our decision to use this system was based on its ability to help the crew process information and make decisions, particularly in an out of the ordinary situation.