Navigation, safety and creature comforts
The watermaker is wonderful. It draws in seawater and passes it at about 7bar (100psi) through membranes and will dump 90% back over the side and make 10% pure water at a rate of 30 litres an hour. Water is often difficult to obtain and sometimes quite expensive and in short supply so it is great to be independent. We cannot run the watermaker when in marinas or when there is a lot of sediment in the water which occurs in some of the more enclosed harbours. Our tanks take 550 litres and we estimate to use about 40 litres a day for showers, washing up, drinking etc. so it is not normally a problem. We therefore run it for between one and two hours a day usually when we are running the generator because it will use about 9 amps per hour. Maintenance is easy with a change of the intake filter about once a month. If left for any length of time (over a month) you have to ‘pickle’ it by putting some chemical through it to ensure no bacteria grow inside and then re commission when you return.
The ‘heads’ (loo compartments to some of you!) have probably been the most demanding to look after. We have two onboard one forward to port and one aft to starboard so which ever tack you are on when sailing there is always one with the inlet and outlet in the water! These are obviously in regular use and we have run through a lot of ‘O’ rings and seals. Over time you also get a build up of calcium in the hoses and we dose with vinegar to help alleviate this. In the forward heads we have a separate shower. All inlets and outlets that go through the boats hull have a bronze skinfitting and then before any hose is attached, a seacock, which is a special tap that can be turned off so that you can isolate the item that it is connected to, such as the heads, and work on them without flooding the boat.
We have a fairly standard pressurised water system with a hot water tank heated either by a heat exchange system from the main engine if it is running or by a 240 volt emersion heater from the generator. Water is piped to the basins and showers in both the heads and to the mixer tap in the galley. All outlets, showers, basins and sink have electric pumps and these have caused a few problems and instead of now having to repair them we have replacements which can be exchanged immediately and the defective pumps worked on when convenient.
We have a four burner gas cooker with oven and grill fitted in gimbals to make cooking in a seaway possible. Before we left we had all the flexible hoses replaced and a new regulator fitted which means we can use either Butane or Propane gas.
We have two fridges but generally only need to use one. It is a chest style which is not the most convenient but we have got used to it. It is run from a small compressor which is installed in a vented cupboard under the sink. The sink itself is a double unit with mixer tap, a hand fresh water pump in case the electrics give out and a salt water pump – yet to be used!
Some of the most important equipment on any cruising yacht is situated around the chart table. Luckily TOMIA was not overburdened with navigational equipment when we bought her so we were able to research and buy new what suited us. Wherever we go we make sure that we have paper charts and will always check these against the local pilot and the electronic charts. Modern electronic charts however are a very quick and easy way to navigate but with a lot of caution when approach reefs and rocky shores. Basically TOMIA appears as a small boat symbol on the chart using the satellite navigational system (GPS _ global positioning system). She will be in her exact position on the earth’s surface. The GPS picks up her track every few seconds and will move the symbol accordingly. The screen will display the boat’s speed through the water plus the speed over the ground, course over the ground, the direction to any waypoint we may have entered plus the distance and estimated time to reach that waypoint at the current speed. It will also show the wind speed and direction both true and apparent, and any other information that you wish to show such as depth. We also have an Autohelm which links into the system and when that is set you can ask the system to go directly to the waypoint and allow for any leeway, tide or current. And the boat will sail herself. When there are just two of you on board this is a really almost essential bit of kit. When either of us is off watch and asleep the other can keep up with the navigation, make a cup of coffee, adjust the sails while TOMIA is gaily sailing to her next destination and she always seems as keen as us to get there!
We have a radar system linked into the same screen so that we can pick up any ships within a 24 mile radius, a SeeMe antenna which detects a radar beam picking us up, enhances the signal and sends it back so that we appear as a slightly larger blob on their screen. We have both VHF (very high frequency) and SSB (Single side band) radios. The VHF can be used within a 25 mile radius of a harbour or another yacht although sometimes a hill in the way might affect that distance. The SSB is used for longer distances of up to 2500 miles but sometimes much further. A nice Sony music system so that we can listen to all our old records which Celia transferred onto a little memory stick measuring 2inches by half an inch. I am not sure I fully understand how a four foot stack of LP’s can be reduced to that but it all works and what is more it tells you what is playing on the small radio screen – amazing!
We have a Webasto diesel heating system which blows hot air via ducting into each cabin – unused.
TOMIA is cutter rigged which means two headsails both of which are on furlers. These are controlled from retrieving lines led back to the cockpit so that we can set them and then roll them up without having to go forward. The main is furled into the mast when not in use and again this is all controlled from the cockpit. We sail with Main and Yankee most of the time and staysail when the wind is on the beam. A Yankee is a very high cut small genoa which allows good vision forward. We have a large genoa which is kept hidden under our berth. Two downwind sails are a full spinnaker which we find we can fly easily in up to 15 knots of wind and is easy to control with a snuffer, a sock of light material approximately a foot in diameter which rucks up at the top when the sail is flying and which you pull down to collapse it We also have a cruising chute or asymmetric which we can fly as small spinnaker or with the tack attached at the stemhead. Again we had a snuffer made for this which makes it easy to control.
Over the cockpit we have a bimini, a cover which shades the seating area so that you are out of the sun – essential. It sits just underneath the boom so gives 6 foot 6 inch headroom and extends out to the sidedecks. There is a clear window in the top so that we can keep it up while sailing and still watch the sails. Over the main hatchway there is a close fitting spray hood so that when the waves wash over us when we are out in a blow we keep dry and even more importantly water does not go down below.
In addition to all the above there is a fair amount of safety equipment. We have an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon). If we have serious trouble and TOMIA is in danger of sinking or has in fact sunk, we jump in the liferaft and the EPIRB will be either manually or automatically activated and send out a GPS signal which includes our unique identification number and within a couple of minutes rescue services will know that we have a problem and will have our position which is updated every few seconds so that if there are strong tides or wind making us drift from the original sinking position they can keep track of us – unused! Life jackets, dan buoy and liferaft all of which are self inflating, need to be serviced regularly. The liferafts next service is due in February 2011; I wonder where we will be to have that done!
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