August - Progress that can be seen!

The building process continues and seeing the the parts come out of the mold is exciting.

This is the mold for the salon seating area. All those cut-outs mean lots and lots of storage!

The right side of this photo has the section that will back up to the Starboard hull (also the owner's hull). One of our modifications was to add storage over the normally open area looking down into the hull. Picture cushions covering the seat and back with the shelving behind similar to the first picture below.

There never seems to be enough storage, so we added where we could without making it feel too cramped.

These are the stairs for access into each hull.

These will get wooden surface to finish out each step.

This is the mold for the U-Shaped kitchen.

Cut-outs will be created to add the refrigerator and freezer, cabinet doors for access, range, and sink.

Bulk heads - you are gonna want that!

Engines and sail drives. Supply chain shortages have meant that ordering some components ahead of schedule are r to required to keep the project moving.

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Behind the scenes the work for the electrical systems continue. The original plans included electronic items that typically are AC (Alternating Current) based - the type of electricity that is in a land-based house. That means an inverter is needed to convert energy created by the batteries in the form of DC (Direct Current) electricity to AC. Typical AC systems include air conditioning and water makers amongst others - these two systems draw a large amount of energy and prior to lithium batteries sailboats needed generators to run these systems or shore power. Today advances in battery technology, making lithium iron phosphate (LiPo) more stable and powerful, means it can be possible to run these systems without a generator. The power draw / electricity needed requires an inverter to be large enough to handle these large draw devices and results in loss of power through the inversion process.

Water Maker

Technology to the rescue again! DC water makers and air conditioners are available eliminating the need for a large inverter and transfer of the energy from AC to DC. The decision to purchase a DC water maker was simple as the Celtic Yacht builder, Tim Duncan, was familiar with this technology. The decision at that point was more about estimating the water supply we needed to generate and how often the system would need to be run to supply the water needs of the crew. A few calculations, estimates about the power needed for the amount of time the system would run, and fitting it to the anticipated number of people on board, meant a couple of valuations to balance the power, gallon production, and storage available. These calculations helped us land at a system that was sized appropriately for us. The Schenker Zen 30 won the day!

Air Conditioning

The next system for estimating was the air conditioning system the lead time was more than 5 months so it was time to work through this complicated system. Air Conditioning is a luxury system that many sailboats go without; however, our plan included air conditioning and we anticipated it would make our life on board more comfortable, maintain a less humid environment, and keep the mold and mildew at bay - at least that is the plan.

It also tends to be a more complex system to function on a boat due to the extensive power draw while running, time it requires to run, and the significant power draw on start-up. Since we were not planning on having a generator installed this system required some in-depth investigation.

While most air conditioning systems function on an AC electric current, we discovered that DC systems exist and the Mabru Company provides an efficient DC system that would not require an inverter, soft-start, or loss of efficiency through the inverter system.

The challenge remained how to get the units to Cape Town for installation during the build process. Hmmmm, what we have discovered is that it really is difficult, expensive, and left a large margin of error in the boat building process if the units didn't arrive or were damaged in transit. So the next best thing. Our builder agreed to complete the rough install necessary (through hulls, power requirements, space, etc.) and the units would be installed after crossing the Atlantic Ocean and getting back to the US. These units are manufactured right in Florida.

The process is not dull and not over yet. Many decisions still need to be made and Batteries and the next big thing. More to come on the variables for battery selction including: type of battery, brand, warranty, size, amps, and so much more. We will be tackling that next.

Check back in soon and see where we are.