Following are the latest posts on the FPB 64 program. This section covers systems, how the FPB 64s perform in the real world, along with data on why we do things the way we do. For more information be sure to check out SetSail.com/FPB64.
Even though we have dual isolated hydraulic steering systems we still want to have an emergency tiller aboard. Its primary purpose is to secure the rudder amidships if you are disabled and hove to behind a parachute anchor.
The upper of the two valves shown here controls the flow to the two diesels and boiler (through their respective filters). Note the bellcrank with attached Morse cable opposite the handle. The Morse cable runs to the bulkhead in the aft starboard cabin where it is in close proximity to the air vent shut off and manual fire extinguisher controls. Should the need arise in an emergency fuel and air can be quickly shut off.
How big should your raw water strainer(s) be? We are not sure, but we have two of these enormous (and very costly) Hayward strainers on the FPB 83 Wind Horse, and they have served us well.
We have never seen more than a quarter of the baskets filled, even in debris filled waters after hundreds of hours of operation. The same pair of overcapacity strainers is being used aboard the FPB 64s.
We have always been amazed at how much space it takes for electronics installations. Not the control heads, but the black boxes and various interfaces. Although we have continued to add space for this over the years, the quantity of gear aboard has grown even faster. With the FPB 64 we have finally caught up.
Systems details make a big difference in longevity, trouble free operation, and security.Over the next few weeks we will be bringing a series of these to your attention, so check back often. We’ll start with the raw water manifold in the engine room.
We have previously mentioned the hard anodized aluminum weldment fabricated by Circa for the raw water manifold. What we want to show you here is one of the two inspection and/or clean out ports.
Small details like this won’t come into play for a few years. But as the boat ages they become invaluable.
Designing an engine room air intake system is a complex process, full of tradeoffs. Before you start you need to have a clear goal for the system. For us this is simple: we want a system that minimizes water incursion through a variety of weather conditions with the boat upright, knocked down, and inverted.
How do we accomplish this?
You are looking at a chafe section on the high modulus dock lines we have been using aboard Wind Horse. After 45,000+ miles of cruising, much of it in rough surroundings when docked, this original inventory is still going strong.
The outer cover is polyester and their primarily as a first line of defense against chafe (it contributes little to overall strength.
We’ve discussed the advantages of high modulus dock lines before, but to recap:
Batteries and DC power systems are a subject of discussion wherever cruising yachts meet. The system we are using in the FPB Series is based on industrial quality traction batteries (so called because they are used in forklifts, railroad systems, and other heavy service applications). Our first experience with traction batteries was in 1988 with Sundeer. Every yacht we have done since has used these wonderful batteries.
Last night we were going through an old stack of yachting magazines and came across a write up on a well known yacht builder’s latest offering. This sixty five footer came with everything, even a tool kit (with a photo in the article). That tool kit was one of the small plastic cases with a variety of basic tools. We had a good laugh, and then thought you might like some ideas on what should be aboard a well equipped cruising yacht.
The basic stuff is easy. It is the specialty items which often make the difference between success on your own or needing outside help. You can have the greatest spare parts inventory in the world, but without the right tools you are helpless. (For a look at the spares which come with the FPB 64 click here).
As the tools for the first FPB 64 have recently been shipped we have a few photos and some comments to share. This selection is based on what experience has taught us over the past 30 years.
Nothing in yacht design and cruising evokes such discussion as anchors and their related gear.One anchor or two, chain or chain + rope, CQR, Danforth, or Rocna anchor type, electric or hydraulic power? We’ve fitted just about every combination you can imagine, and after 40 years of testing here is what we have learned.
We’ve just had some photos from Greg Weekes at Berthon’s where Wind Horse is patiently awaiting our return. We left them with a short list of projects to fine tune some details that have been bugging us (the list is very short). We’ll start with a new exhaust extension for the Kabola diesel heater.
We wish you a peaceful, healthy, and prosperous New Year – The Crew at SetSail & Dashew Offshore.
Big alternators require substantial air flow to keep them cool.This requirement is often at odds with the need to protect the drive belts.
We have a few photos of the electrical panels on the first FPB 64 to share. We’ll start with the AC panel shown above.
This is one of three sacrificial zinc anodes on the first FPB 64. They work in conjunction with the paint system to protect the aluminum hull. Over time they wear away. Wind Horse has her original anode after five years. They have two or three more years of service left.
You are looking at the business end of a Spurs propeller shaft line cutter. These are a part of the standard specification on the FPB64. In 45,000 miles of cruising on the FPB 83 Wind Horse we have yet to permanently wrap a line around the props (and being outboard they are at more risk than the centerline prop on the FPB 64) so the combination of full protection from the skegs and the Spurs line cutters is working.
There is no more complex subject in yacht and ship design than propeller engineering. It is hard enough that the US Navy has spent billions of dollars on the subject. Yachts are even more difficult as they have to operate in a wider range of conditions relative to their size.
We have extensive experience with sailing designs and feathering, folding, and controllable pitch props used thereon. We’ve also been able to do real world testing with several of our sailing designs to establish baseline data. All of this is covered in detail in Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia , so we won’t elaborate here.
Powerboat props are easier to dial in – at least in theory – than those for sailboats. Where the loads vary substantially with a sailboat, from motoring in light air, to motorsailing, power boats have only the extra drag of waves and wind with which to contend.
Still, there are a host of issues to consider. As we are presently reevaluating the props on Wind Horse (FPB 83), we thought you might like to share in the reasoning.
We want to chat about thruster tunnels. We’ve mentioned these before, but this series of photos will help us to elaborate.
This straight on the bow photo allows the eye to follow the lines of the hull. You can just make out the aft edges of the bow thruster tunnels. The intersection of thruster tunnel and hull are faired to reduce turbulence.
Circa have just sent us photos of the first of the upholstered headliner panels. Note the reveal between the panels.
This is a detail we first employed on the 78 foot ketch Beowulf back in 1995. We used it again on the FPB 83 Wind Horse and love the aesthetic it helps to create. This is not easy (or inexpensive) to execute, but we and Circa think the end result is worth the effort.
If you click here you can view a slide show with lots of interior shots of Wind Horse which will give you a feel for how the headliner design works.
Modern yachts have a bewildering array of electronics wiring and black boxes. These tend to get hidden away making installation and fault checking a challenge. The basement design offers us the potential to solve this problem for the builder, and make the Owner’s life easier when he wants to add or update his electronics.
Circa is starting to connect the inside bridge controls and electronics on the first FPB 64. The cables which connect to the control heads (we’re looking at the underside of the bridge desk here) are pretty simple. It is wear these connect to their black boxes that it gets complex (when we show you the finished wiring in a couple of months this will be neat and orderly).
The design of the flying bridge seating, table, and instrumentation is something we wrestled with on Wind Horse (FPB prototype). There were dozens of drawings, and numerous mock ups in our office and on the boat. With the advantage of 45,000 miles of experience the FPB 64 design was much easier.
We’ll start with this series of 3D drawings, and then show you photos of the real thing now going together on the first FPB 64.
A large percentage of the propulsion noise on most engines comes from the exhaust system being in contact with the structure of the boat. This is a particularly difficult problem to solve on most designs. However, if you have an aft engine room achieving a favorable result is easier.
On the FPB 64 the exhaust system is totally isolated from contact with any structure. This starts
We don’t worry about heavy weather, or hitting debris, but the concept of fire has always scared us. We do everything we can think of in the boat to mitigate the risks, and have yet to experience a problem. But this is still the one thing that really concerns us.
The engine rooms are, of course, fitted with fire suppression gear. There is a manually operated fire dampener in the air intake for the engine room, and this Morse cable controlled fuel shut off valve. The control handle for this, the fire dampener, and the manual trigger on the fire extinguisher are located next to the engine room door.
When the fuel supply valve is closed fuel is cut off to the diesel heater, genset, and main engine.
A cruising yacht needs to carry lots of lube and sometimes hydraulic oil. We like to have enough for at least four changes. We assume that the FPB 64 will carry the following as a minimum:
These items could be stored in the basement, but it is more convenient to store the majority of them under the swim step in the engine room in this area between the reinforcing structure, and in the next bay forward.
Watermakers are the most unreliable gear you will find on a cruising yacht. The electronics, solenoid valves, sensors, pumps, and filters make for a complex mix. They also tend to make a mess of other gear if they leak. On the other hand, we, and our clients love abundant fresh water. It is a conundrum, our answer to which is as follows:
You are looking at a propeller shaft brake on the FPB64. This device uses an eccentric cam to apply clamping pressure to the shaft coupling. This makes the job of checking coupling bolt torque easier, and assists in changing the flexible coupling should this ever be required at sea where the boat’s motion otherwise would be moving the prop. It will also come in handy should the emergency sailing rig be required.
There are two schools of thought on spare parts. One is that international courier service is so wide spread that you just need the minimum in spares, and can order what is required when the time comes. If you are cruising with crowds, and don’t mind waiting for parts, and then dealing with the courier services and Customs, this makes sense. The other approach is to be fully equipped, prepared for almost anything, which is a requirement when you are off the beaten path (and an advantage in civilized cruising areas).
The photo above exemplifies our approach to this conundrum.
We’ve been aground in the office in Arizona for six weeks, enough time to get caught up and start thinking about next year’s testing afloat. All options are on the table. Returning to the US East Coast via Iceland and Greenland sounds intriguing, as does the South Pacific via the Canary Islands, Panama and the Galapagos. There is also the Med. option.
Lots of factors play into the decision. We are used to this of course. But what is surprising in this decision making cycle is the part which comfort at sea seems to be playing.
It didn’t used to be this way.
Valves in the exhaust system of diesel engines are a mixed blessing.
You are looking at the ultimate execution of a plumbing manifold. These are for various exhausts (two bilge pumps, two sump pumps, water maker brine) in the engine room of the FPB 64. The details are as follows:
You are looking at the business end of the FPB64 hot water heater. This unit allows long hot water showers (something possible with the huge fresh water capacity these boats have). This system is a refinement of what has served us well over many years.
One of the reasons we like aluminum construction is that it is simple to build in extra factors of safety precisely where they are required. In this case, we are looking at the cutwater (bow stem) which is potentially the most vulnerable part of the boat. On our fiberglass designs we always add lots of extra laminate here. For work in ice and debris infested waters extra metal is the optimum answer.
The stem bar which forms the cutwater is a massive chunk of solid aluminum.
The basic steering system, manual and electronic, is now installed in the first FPB 64 and perhaps some discussion is in order. To begin with there are several important details in view in the photo above:
Last week we were discussing Murphy Gauges and forgot to include this photo of the oil level gauge. This unit performs three important functions:
A small but important plumbing detail is shown above. Note the beveled edge on the double hose clamps. This reduces the tendency for hose clamps to cut into pluming. These are standard throughout the FPB 64s.
We’ve been fitting mechanical (non-electric) Murphy gauges to our yachts for 30 years. In this era of electronic controls, and the NMEA 2000 backbone, why it this necessary?
We continue to be impressed with the John Deere use of poly-V belt drives for accessories. You are looking here at a belt with 2400 hours of hard use, up to 10 horsepower of load with an average of probably six to seven horsepower. If it weren’t for the fact that we have lots of spares, we would continue to use these as they are showing very little wear.
Dual B belts of the highest quality, with precision engineering of pulleys, might go for 500 hours in this application.
For those of you who readItalian, click here for a new review in the magazine Y&S Yacht & Sail.
We have put Wind Horse into sleep mode for the winter. Following are a list of items to which we attended. This looks long, but takes us about two days, plus a day of work by one of the mechanics at Berthon’s. Most of this is preventive in nature, so when we launch in the spring we are ready to go as soon as we do a quick systems check.
When we launched Wind Horse we a single 19″ monitor for the radar. Then we switched to 17″ and added a second monitor for sonar. Finally we added a third so the PC based charting system was aligned with the sonar and radar.
We have lived lived with the temporary installation for two years, and now we have a permanent solution.
Wind Horse is hauled out and we’ve been inspecting the bottom prior to hydro washing. This bottom paint was applied in Ventura, California, in March of 2008. Since then it has seen 18,000 nautical miles slip by.
We’ve just hauled Wind Horse at Berthon’s in Lymington, UK. Time is short, but we will try and share a few photos. This blog is about the sacrificial zinc anode system.
The photo above is one of the two zincs (out of four total) placed amidships. It has now been in the water 3.5 years, for 4400 hours of engine time, and in excess of 45,000 miles of water flow.
Steve,
I had a question about the cruising alternators on the main engine. I have been reading Ken Williams’ blog and there was a significant amount of traffic on this subject. Bottom lime was concluding that they drew more power, hence fuel, then simply running there normal 20kw generator. They went on to suggest that Nordhavn as a company was no longer installing them on their boats. I know you area a big fan and I was wondering if you could shed some light on the subject
thanks
Scott
We have discussed in the past the advantages of bare aluminum topsides (no maintenance or worry, initial cost reduction, lower visual profile, etc.). And we have grown to love this look.
But, after three-plus years of cruising, mostly off the beaten path, rafting with commercial vessels and laying on rough docks, we were getting a little tired of the view from the dinghy.
Over the past year we have posted photos of various craft and their bow and stern waves as an indicator of efficiency. This is judged in terms of Speed Length Ratio (SLR) or the boat speed divided by the square root of the waterline length. In the photo above, sent to us by a cruiser in Scotland, Wind Horse is doing her normal eleven knots. She has an 81 foot waterline, the square root of which is nine. Dividing eleven knots by nine gives us an SLR of 1.22.
Here are a couple new Wind Horse magazine articles to check out:
Yachting Magazine, July 2009. “London Calling: Seasoned voyagers discover the magic of the historic St. Katherine’s Docks and England’s vibrant capital.”
Neptune Yachting Moteur, Summer 2009. This is a review in a French yachting magazine.
Wind Horse and the FPB64 have similar AC and DC systems, so we thought you might be interested in how this is working out in the real world.
The power consumption at anchor on Wind Horse comes primarily from the AC requirements which are satisfied with three 2500 watt Victron inverters. These AC loads are mainly:
We have just topped off Wind Horse’s fuel tanks in Ireland, and have been recapping our consumption and costs for the 2008 cruising season. With all the headlines about US$150 per barrel crude, if you are like us, you would expect this to have been an expensive summer.
Linda has an article in the new issue of Berthon Lifestyles.
“…The kettle is on the stove for tea. The smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies wafts across the salon. And we sit, transfixed by the beauty which surrounds us…”
Hungry for more? Click here to download a PDF excerpt from the magazine.
We’ve been doing our usual post passage inspection of the engine room, a part of which is writing up the engine log details with anything we find. This includes noting date and engine hours, which we are astonished to find now number 3010! That’s well over 30,000 nautical miles of cruising.
Wind Horse continues to surprise us with her ability to make voyaging comfortable. Add her cruising speed of 10.5 to 11 knots and you have a combination which invites usage – hence the mileage accumulated in 18 months of usage (which has taken place during the last three years). And we do not feel like we have been rushed. Rather, time feels like it is slowing down (we think this is due to fitting more experience into a given period).
Our yachts are designed to not require air conditioning at anchor. With just a few knots of breeze, the combination of hatches, vents, and awnings promotes good air flow. But at sea with water flying, if the wind quits, the bugs are hungry, or tied to a dock, a good air conditioning system is a blessing.
Over the years we have installed all sorts of systems. Everything from massive water chillers with auxiliary boilers for heating, to single compressor pallet gear. And we have learned a few “secrets”, which will be employed on the FPB 64s.
We were reviewing the weekly batch of photos from New Zealand today when we were interrupted by some cruisers wanting to chat. We traded sea stories for a while, discussed where they and we were headed, and generally got to know each other in the time honored cruising fashion.
They were astounded when we told them that we’d just turned the clock on 4000 hours of engine time. “But your boat smells so new” was their reply.
We hear the smell (or lack thereof) comment a lot.
We are so used to having a fresh smelling boat – we learned the secret years ago – that we have forgotten how nice it is.
We’ve received a lot of comment on the Motor Boating and Yachting story about their sea trial aboard Wind Horse. They have been kind enough to allow us to share these photos from their story and a few others. To see their story click here.
To begin with, as they describe in their text, this was a blustery day off the Needles in the Solent of the U.K. There was a four to six foot (1.2 to 1.85m) close spaced chop running, and Wind Horse was knifing through these waves with her usual ease. Not very interesting photos with hardly any spray.
In order to make things more interesting the photo boat, with its three foot (90cm) wake, cut back and forth in front of us,adding its wake on top of the wind waves.
What you see here is Wind Horse doing exactly what she is designed to do, piercing the resultant combined sea.
We have had several questions about our booms and how we launch and retrieve dinghies so we’ve done a photo series on the process.
We consider this to be one of the most dangerous things we do while cruising. The dink is heavy – 700 pounds/340kg – and there is an electric winch involved. So care in the use and maintenance of the system is required.
The process which follows has evolved over the years and in reality takes less time to accomplish than to read about. It is very simple in a calm anchorage, working at deck level, with high life lines at the deck edge.
We’ve just finished filling our fuel tanks in Ensenada, Mexico (US$2.40/gallon). Since last fueling in Alaska we have put 422 hours on the engines, 34 hours on the genset, and used the diesel heater.
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Motor Boat & Yachting, June 2009 Power and Motor Yacht is the leading magazine in the UK covering the power boat field. As is the case with English journalism in general, they are fiercely independent and not afraid of making negative comments about the boats they visit. Click here to see what they thought of Wind Horse on a breezy day in the Solent. |
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More (Croatian magazine), June 2009 Click here for a PDF of the article and photos in More (which means The Sea). The article is in Croatian! |
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VG (Norwegian daily newspaper), May 2009 Click here to read the article (and practice your Norwegian). The author translated the first lines: “By the first glance it could look like a dubious Vietnamese navy vessel. But behind the modest exterior there is hidden a luxurious yacht stuffed with smart design and technique…” |
We recently found ourselves on shore at low tide while tied to a pier, giving us an elevated view of some of Wind Horse’s details. As we needed to send a few photos to New Zealand for the FPB 64s, we thought we would share a few with you here.
Regarding the recent question and answer on DC vs big gensets, we are just getting ready to move after sitting for six days. Genset has been run once for two hours during a wash/dry cycle in this period. Prior to warming up the engines just now battery capacity stood at 52%.
We’re back in Southern California following a second summer in British Columbia and Alaska. After looking at the engine hours, checking our log, and reflecting on the areas we’ve cruised, we’ve been astounded to find Wind Horse has taken us 25,000+ nautical miles since leaving New Zealand. That’s a lot of miles, but there’s something even more interesting. She’s done this in 17.5 months of on-the-water use. (The rest of the time she’s been docked and we’ve been land based.) That’s an average of 1400+ miles per month of actual cruising. If you add up the direct mileage, point to point, it is more like 18,000 miles. So, a lot of this time has been spent exploring after the ocean passages.
It is hard to believe but we’ve just had the first anniversary of Wind Horse’s launching in Auckland, New Zealand. She now has almost 12,000 nautical miles under her keel (1,100 hours on the engines) and it is time to take stock.
One of our design goals for this new boat was to be able to put her into storage mode much faster than has been the case with our sailboats. Beowulf typically took us two to three days or hard work to get ready for storage, and the same to wake her up after we returned.
One the issues with which we wrestled at length was the need for windshield wipers on the forward windows. The initial reaction was “why not?”. However, wipers are a potential leak point – they have a record of weeping on their shaft seals – and when not in use, mess up the view through the otherwise unobstructed window opening.
We used to fit wipers to our big motorsailors, but stopped doing this almost 20 years ago as they were rarely, if ever used.
On Beowulf, with heavily angled windows, there were times when visibility was less than perfect. However, we could always pop out on deck for a quick look, so we felt this was a good compromise.
On Wind Horse we have a couple of things going for us. First, the windows are vertical. This means they shed water much more quickly, and tend to build up less salt. The windows are also shaded by a 2-foot (60cm) overhang. Keeping the sun off a wet or salty window helps visibility.
Finally, as the new boat’s windows are glass (all the sailboats have polycarbonate plastic windows) we have the option of using a product called “RainEx” to help the windows shed water (this cannot be used with plastic windows).
As a result, we went without wipers, assuming that we could always add them if required.
So how does it work in the real world?
We have previously written about the paint system we are using on Wind Horse. This is an Ameron/Devoe system which we sourced in New Zealand based on the suggestion of our friend, Dale Morris, at Ventura Harbor Boat Yard.
After 11,000 miles last year, and a few encounters with ice, there are several nicks in the bottom paint which need repair. The basic paint system is in good shape and the antifouling has performed well.
For those of you thinking about an aluminum boat, here is the Ameron system that we used:
Against bare aluminum, Ameron 302 Zinc – One coat.
Barrier coats, Ameron 235 epoxy – three coats.
Antifouling – Ameron ABC #3 ablative.
The top of the bottom paint is finished off with a bootstripe of LPU enamel to seal the edge of the bottom paint system. Topsides, of course, are left bare.
Range and Operating Costs
When we started design work on this project, one of the first things we had to do was establish a desired speed range for which the hull would be optimized. From a cruising standpoint this is a tradeoff between operating costs, range under power, and completing a passage quickly. Speed is a major safety factor when it comes to managing weather, so within reason, we wanted the option to cruise as quickly as possible between destinations – with the ability to maintain Beowulf’s average speed of 270 to 300 nautical miles per day when required.
This summer we changed our prop zincs. When we noticed a diver in Kinsale, Ireland cleaning bottoms, we asked him to change ours. We had only had them five months and they could easily have gone the rest of the year, but since he was available we decided to change them anyway.
