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We're at another crossroads. The basic systems installation is now completed. The majority of the wiring has been pulled, plumbing runs are in place, and the many pieces of gear are mounted, and for the most part have their plumbing connected. Within the next week emphasis will switch to getting the furniture installed.

We've been accused of being anal about our systems boards. It is a trade-off between weight and access (they are not as easy to clean behind) and ease of replacement and aesthetics. They are much neater looking than just bundling the plumbing together, and seven to ten years from now, when we need to replace some of the plumbing, it will be a much, much easier task. In the meantime, they look cool. The cleaning penalty is of concern, but we can reach all of the hidden spaces, just with some difficulty. The cut-outs and notches you see are there for cleaning access.

The photo above is the port side, aft bulkhead, of the forward sleeping cabin. Somehow this looks like a lot of stuff - more than we're used to. But it is the norm, rather than an exception. The 1.5" (37mm) hose on top is the damage control pipe to the forepeak. The three white pipes you will by now recognize as the pressure fresh water system. The two hoses (3/4" - 19mm) below that are the out/return lines for the forward heater. And the two 4/0 cables (red/black) at the bottom are the power feed to the windlass control solenoids which are mounted on the aft side of the watertight bulkhead at the aft end of the forepeak. The dogleg in all of this, where is jumps up at the aft end (left of photo) is due to the higher level of the fuel tanks in the basement area under the saloon.

Here's a wide angle shot of the plumbing running down the port side. Those timber cleats at the top of the system board will be used to fasten the hull liner system, as well as some of the furniture. At the right side of the photo you can see the PVC pipes, which run under the seat in the shower/bath area, through which the plumbing and wiring are run.

Meanwhile, in the basement, you can see the mass of wiring that has been pulled for lights and pumps. The DC circuit breaker panel is in the port forward corner of the saloon...

...so that's where all of these wires originate. The mass looks unfathomable right now.

But each one of these sets of wires has been labeled at each end, so as they start to be connected, it won't take long to sort them out.

The basement has a huge amount of space. And there's also a lot of gear which gets installed there...after which we need to find space for all our bulk stores in bins, racks, and piles tied down to the sole. When you look at the open space, it looks like a piece of cake to lay out. But when you get into the details, like everything else in the boat, there are lots of trade-offs.

Consider what has to fit into this area. There are those huge batteries, the basement fridge/freezer, all four air conditioning compressors, the fuel and fresh water manifolds, fresh water pump, bilge pump, trash compactor, 12KVA and 3KVA transformers, central vacuum, inverters, stabilizer controls, various black boxes for electronics, and all of the plumbing and wiring we've been discussing. Kelly keeps reminding us that this is supposed to be a simple boat - and it is. But simple is a relative term!

So we've been spending a lot of time in both 2D and 3D modeling the installation of all of this gear, looking at what gives us easy access for maintenance, but still leaves the required storage volume for when we move aboard. We'll discuss this in a lot more detail later. What we're after in storage is the equivalent to Beowulf - which we never fully utilized.

Central vacuum? Yes, of all the gear that we tested on Beowulf, this was voted onto the Top Ten list. It is more difficult to install than just using a portable unit, but it is also much more powerful, and doesn't exhaust dust and dirt into the interior. There are outlets in the forward cabin, aft starboard cabin, saloon, and the engine room. The latter could be the most important, as this makes it possible to easily and thoroughly clean up after each project.

We'll do a separate section on the basement at a later date, with lots more detailed photos. The image above is of the beginnings of the saloon sole support system. The two 5KW inverters are mounted here.

Note how the inverters are mounted with vibration isolation mounts onto the aluminum framework, rather than the bulkhead nearby. Bolting directly to the bulkhead would be a lot easier. However, these inverters have heat-activated muffin fans for cooling. They turn on and off and create enough noise that if the inverters were mounted directly onto the bulkhead, the bulkhead would broadcast this noise - and we sleep with our heads on the other side of this noise! Hence the extra effort on mounting, which should contain this noise in the basement area.

Which takes us back, yet again, to the engine room, where things are falling into place. Lets talk about salt water pumps for a moment. There is always a tradeoff between security in the event of a flood (inevitable despite all precautions to the contrary) and keeping the inlet side of the pump below the waterline. The problem becomes even worse when the hull depth is relatively shallow, as is ours in the engine room, and when speed picks up. On our sailing designs, the intake manifolds are drained at higher sailing speeds. The impeller pump on the engine can deal with this, but many other types of cooling and feed pumps simply get an air lock. The problem on this boat is not quite as difficult. We have deeper immersion in the engine room, and we won't have the very high planing and surfing speeds of our sailing designs. The biggest advantage is that with the engines always on, there is a constant pull of sea water into the manifolds, from where the various pumps can draw.

The photo above gives you a feel for the incoming salt water system. The through-hull fittings and valves (there are two) are at the top of the photo, out of the field of view. Those huge strainers take care of the big stuff, and allow full water flow even when the strainer baskets are filled.

These parallel systems are plumbed in such a way that one or both of the intakes and strainers can serve the boat. If one strainer has to be cleaned underway, we can isolate and clean it while the boat continues to power along. Each of the devices (pumps, engines, genset) connected to these manifolds also have shut-off valves, so we can isolate any device while it is being worked on. All of this plumbing is in Schedule 80 high-strength PVC. We feel this is longer lasting than stainless, and eliminates potential for electrolysis. It will all eventually have a walkway over it, with access ports for getting to the valves and strainers.

One of the problems all boats have, especially at the dock or motoring at slow speeds in congested waterways, is sucking debris (typically plastic bags) into the intake. When this happens, it usually requires a swim to clear the intake. Some years ago we started putting a "T" at the top of our intakes. The horizontal leg of the T goes to the strainer. The vertical leg has a standpipe and cap. If something gets stuck in the intake valve or T, we remove the cap at the top of the standpipe, and then push a stick through to the intake fitting to clear the line. It is fast, easy to do, and keeps us from having to get wet. The green tape at the top of this photo is covering the top of the Ts.

Here are a pair of salt water pumps. At the bottom is one of the double-ended ShurFlo pumps that we use for moving fresh and saltwater. These units will pump upwards of seven gallons (26 liters) per minute. They are also self-priming. The top pump is a self-priming 20-gallon (77 liters) per minute self-primer for use with the air conditioning condensers. The output of this pump will run to a manifold in the basement from whence it is distributed to the four air conditioners.

This pump is probably a bit into the overkill category. However, we expect it to see many thousands of hours of service, and we'd prefer to limit the rebuild periods. Assuming it is kept dry, we would expect the pump to last three to five years before we need to dig its replacement out of the basement and install it.

Since we're on the subject of pumps, this is the damage control or "crash" pump, as it is commonly called. It will pump up to 160 gallons (600 liters) per minute, and it is plumbed into the engine room, forward and aft sleeping areas, and forepeak. It is driven hydraulically, via the NAIAD pumps and manifold. We've not put a pick-up into the basement area, as the fuel tank tops are above the loaded waterline.

The hydraulic power starts with these pumps, mounted to the power take offs (PTO) on the ZF 280-A transmissions. Each pump is capable of running the entire hydraulic system at slow cruising speed. There are four lines off each pump: pressure, load sense, sump drain, and pressure return. We've specified load sensing pumps as they are more efficient and quieter than the norm. They sense the load, and then maintain pressure and volume as required. Normal pumps maintain a constant flow and pressure, even when the hydraulics are not working (which we expect to be the case at least half our time at sea).

Here's a side view of one of the pumps. If you look below the pump, you can see the CV axle between the transmission output flange and the thrust bearing on the prop shaft.

While we like the concept of what the stabilizers do comfort-wise, we are not happy with all of this plumbing and hardware. But as comfort is Number One on the list of parameters for successful cruising, we've gone with the best stabilizers we can find. Still, having to fit two sets of hoses from each hydraulic pump, the other hydraulic system bits make our otherwise simple engine room into something more complex than we would normally go for. At least we have the space to do this in a relatively neat manner, with good access all around.

Half of that plumbing connects to this manifold system. This unit distributes the hydraulic fluid to the stabilizers and damage control pump. There's an extra set of ports on the manifold for future use. Note the isolation mounts, which keep the noise and vibration that is coming down the hydraulic hoses out of the hull structure.

We showed you the beginnings of this side last week. The remainder of the hydraulics are now mounted below the reservoir tank. There are two heat exchangers. One is built into the reservoir, and the second is mounted below it.

A detailed photo of the plumbing. Note the water flow indicator above the lower heat exchanger. We've specified valves at various points in the hydraulics plumbing, so when the time comes to maintain a piece of gear, we can isolate it. The valves in the upper right are on the sump return lines from the reservoir to the pumps. The heat exchanger and reservoir tank are also installed with isolation mounts.

The genset is now mounted, just aft of the hydraulics board. We ended up with an 8KW, 230V 60 cycle, single-phase Northern Lights genset. It was a close call between it and several other models. However, we had heard so many good things (or lack of comments from people we know in the repair business) that we thought this was the most reliable approach. 8KW is a much smaller genset than would be considered "normal" for a boat of this size. However, we have the capacity to run all our air conditioning plus the watermaker, which is the average of our maximum condition most of the time. There will be periods when we need more genset capacity than this gives us. If we're at sea, it is not a problem, as we've got another 10KW of inverter power available when the engines are running. And if we're at anchor, we can fire up one or both inverters for short periods of high-power drain.

A lot of builders add up the total load, and then put in a genset which will handle this on the rare occasions when it is required. However, this approach guarantees that the genset will be running at light loads most of its life - an approach that is not good for the diesel.

The genset comes with its own isolation mounts and sound shield. We then take this system and add an additional set of isolation mounts. We expect there to be no genset noise or vibration in the saloon or forward sleeping cabin. In the aft cabins, you will know it is running, but only barely. One other interesting detail, that is typical throughout the boat: Note how the weldment to which the genset is fastened clamps around the girder flange at its base. This eliminates any holes or welding to the flanges of the girder. Holes and point welds create what are called stress risers, and these reduce the structural capability by as much as 75%. Hence these clamps, which attach the genset without creating any stress risers.

The exhaust system is finally completed (another milestone!). In this photo you can see the starboard engine, with the exhaust fully insulated, and supported by the "soft" hangers from the deck (to eliminate noise transfer).

This is the port engine exhaust. Where the insulation ends, upper left, is the salt water injection elbow.

This is a tricky part of the insulation - the area around the flex joint between the engine and exhaust. We are conflicted about this area. The flex joint is where we expect to have maintenance issues in the future. The connection should last anywhere from three to ten years, depending on to whom you listen. We'll carry spares, of course. We would prefer to keep this in the open, where we can visually inspect it, but the odds are high that if we do we will be burned more than once. So, we're covering it for now. If we suspect a problem later on, we'll remove the cover. But that is (hopefully) many years down the road.

Once we inject salt water into the exhaust (upper right of the photo) it is cool enough to run in hose. Note the soft radius to keep back pressure to a minimum. The exhaust hose is installed at an angle, dropping towards the stern. When the boat is in its most bow-down trim, there is still a natural drainage path to the transom.

You can see the exhaust line running aft here, through a stainless valve, then a vibration isolator (blue), through the check valve (black cylinder), and then via another isolator to the aluminum pipe in the transom. The vertical hose in the center foreground houses the rudder shaft.

The basics of the DC power system are now installed in the engine room.

We always install a separate breaker panel in the engine room. This simplifies wiring, and makes it easier to control various bits of gear when we're working on them.

The DC panel is pretty straightforward. There is a master breaker, and then dual pole breakers for each device. We also have selector switches for one of the two transfer fuel pumps, and high- or low-charging voltage regulators. There are digital meters for voltage, and the output amperage for each alternator.

The power side of the DC system is where we handle the 8KW of DC charging capacity from the two Electrodyne alternators, shunts for reading output, fuses on alternator output, and the rectifier assemblies (right side), which convert the AC current of the alternators to DC for battery charging. This entire section of electrical gear will be protected by a set of clear plastic sliding panels. Eventually there will be leaks spraying this area, and when this happens, we want the electric to stay dry!

We like to fit oversized strainers on bilge and sump pumps. These are 1 1/4" (32mm) in size, with four to six times the normal capacity for the type of pumps we're using.

October 21, 2004 - All Pumped Up

One of the things we always want is ease of access to pumps, as these are typically the highest maintenance items on the boat. There is nothing more frustrating than having to spend an hour of disassembly to be able to complete a five minute job.

So, when we discussed the pump locations with the guys in New Zealand, we reminded them several times about this requirement. When the photos came in yesterday showing two of the pumps mounted near the hydraulics panel, it appeared that this hard and fast rule had been broken.

We challenged the Kiwis to show us how these pumps would be removed, and to time the process.

The hardest part of removal was finding the correct tools. Once a socket with extension was found, it took just under five minutes to remove the pump.

Step one is to undo the four locknuts.

The inlet and outlet plumbing are attached with "thumbnuts", which can be removed in seconds (there are two on each end, as this is a dual-chamber pump).

The pump can then be easily slipped out from between the frames.

This detail may be of interest to you. It is the pump base, and is typical of the way we try to do bases. The studs onto which the pumps are mounted are actually bolts that have had their heads cut off. There is a nut on the bottom side, and then the threads are epoxied into the base. This means that when the nut on top is turned to remove it (when pulling the pump), the stud is actually tightened in the plywood base as the threads are reversed.

We've had a couple of questions from SetSail visitors about how the insulation is fastened. Here's a close-up. There are stainless steel hooks on the edges of the insulation. Light stainless seizing wire is then wrapped between the hooks. The wire is cut to remove the lagging for inspection or maintenance.

Kelly's foreman Geoff Copplestone sent us this photo of the proposed location of the oil-changing pump. This is on the starboard side, just ahead of the day tank. The pump will be connected to each engine, transmission, and the genset, and used to remove oil when it is time for a change.

These pumps are often used to replace the oil as well. However, this brings with it a degree of risk, and the potential for catastrophic failure if valves are turned in the wrong manner.

We like the idea of pouring in the oil the old-fashioned way, with a funnel, and not having to worry about pumping the oil out when we think it's going in! The only negative in this are the five hoses which run from the pump manifold to the oil sumps of the various engines and transmissions - more plumbing in our already crowded engine room. But we much prefer a permanent oil-changing pump (we had them on Beowulf and Sundeer). It makes this all important process simpler and cleaner.

In the previous update where we also discussed some of the pump installation issues, we forgot to mention the height of the pumps relative to the waterline and flooding. For the Shurflow pumps, this is not typically an issue, as they can lift three or four feet (.9 to 1.2 meters) without difficulty. The "self-priming" air conditioning pump is another story. Yes, it is self-priming, but not in the same context as the Shurflow style pumps. The ideal situation is to have it mounted at or just above the level of the salt water manifold. This allows any air trapped in the manifold to naturally move along the pipe and then be ejected with the impeller and the stream of salt water. If an air bubble is trapped ahead of the pump, by a rise in the feed line, the pump may not be able to clear it. In the photo above, you can see the air conditioning pump mounted just ahead of the Kabola diesel heater (big red unit). This is in the aft third of the engine room, clear of a lot of other plumbing, with good access.

The piece of timber running from the top of the salt water manifold, back to the pump with the bubble level, is to check that the run to the pump is fair. As long as the run is parallel with how the boat floats, or slopes slightly up, any air that enters the line will be pushed through the pump. The outlet side of the pump is plumbed so that it gradually slopes upward toward the exhaust manifold in the basement, where it is then connected to the four air conditioners. This slope is to make sure that no air pockets form on the outlet side of the pump.

The final issue with pump location is what happens in case of (or maybe we should say during) an engine room flood? The lower the pump is located in the boat, the better it typically works. But the lower it is, the more subject the pump is to being damaged if the bilge floods. What to do? In our case the big air conditioning pump is located about eight inches (200mm) above the low part of the engine room bilge. It is also about 14 feet (4.3m) aft of the forward end of the engine room. We think that this gives us plenty of margin for most leaks.

We're off to the Fort Lauderdale Boat show in the morning. Before we go there's one last batch of photos to share.

Three photos of the dressing room area. Both sides are similar, except that just the port side has the sink. Doors, drawers, and fiddles are sitting on the shop floor and will be installed shortly.

In the next cabin aft (our sleeping cabin) the furniture is now being installed too. This is the settee to starboard (aft of which is a small table and set of bookshelves on the bulkhead). The cut-outs in the supports are for access and lightening. The upper panel is covered with cushion backs. The lower will have a modesty panel attached with Velcro.

Here's another look at the settee, this time towards the aft end.

The nav desk at the forward end of the saloon is straight forward with instrumentation set into the vertical face. Access is via lift-up lids. The tricky part comes in the defroster ducts, which we need to get hot air to the windows in cold climates.

At first we thought about running insulated plastic ducting, but decided this was a little messy and hard to control. So, we've built in these plywood "plenums". The slots in the top will allow the warm air to wash the windows (there will be grills with built-in "throttles"). Note the access panels.

Here's the angled outboard corner of the nav desk.

Meanwhile, at the aft end of the boat, now that the plumbing and wiring are run, the furniture is going into the guest cabins.

Above is the aft end of the port cabin. That's a hanging locker at the top (aft end) of the photo.

After all the literally thousands of hours of vanishing, it's nice to see a finished surface once in a while (it will be covered with protective material shortly). All of our bunks "float", that is they have open fronts. This has several advantages. In the guest cabins, it allows visitors to stow their sea bags under the bunks with direct access so they are easy to get into. It keeps the interior more open, and the sole running under the bunks will look cool. Note the aluminum beams, which will support the bunk bottoms.

Here's the forward end of the port bunk where it dies into the bulkhead.

The starboard cabin has upper and lower single bunks. You can see the lower bunk aluminum support channel, and the upper bunk cleat (on the forward face of the hanging locker).

One of those many trade-offs in boat design and construction. Notice the insulated hydraulic lines on the system board against the hull? We would have preferred to have this below the bunk, where it would not steal bunk width from the lower mattress. However, that hydraulic hose is very stiff, and difficult to bend. We could have used pipe elbows, but these restrictions tend to cause noise. The final decision was to run the pipes straight and lose two inches (50mm) of bunk space. We still have a three-foot bunk width (90cm) which is fine for a single, and the somewhat narrower bunk is actually better in heavy weather.

Here's the forward end of the lower starboard bunk, where the hydraulics need to run up to get into the basement area under the saloon. There's a lot of plumbing associated with these hydraulically driven stabilizers!