Muira 31 for trip between from East Australia to France

[kriskro]

Wow time is flying ! I first wrote this post in December 2017 !

I'm now in June 2019 and still didn't take off ! But still working towards it

here is an update on the boat...

- Lazy Jack? >> Optional for me now but will probably do it. its 350 aud and it will save me to jump on the boom to fasten the sail...

- Indoor table? >> DONE. I have find this table that you can make pivot, lock and bring into th cockpit using an extra support. Excelent choice for small boat and do not regret it each time it is raining at anchor and want to chill inside.

- Anchor windlass? Must have for me now. I want to be able to anchor in deeper waters. I currently limit myslef to 4/5 metters. Where i'm living is fine. But would like to have the flexiility to anchor deeper and still be able to do all of that single handed if needed.

- Spray Dodger? Must havefor me... But the boom is very low on my boat. Would love to improve this, Still need fo find a solution on this one !

- Bimini? Must have in Brisbane. Did 2 years without though... Really enjoyable under brisabne weather !


- LPG Gas? Must have. Will avoid to have a shitty gas cooker from Kmart that rust and is not safe at all !

- Oven? not needed at all, that's it.


- Satelite phone? Not sure yet.

- Radar? Not sure yet.

- Life Raft? DONE

- Fridge? Not sure yet

- Davit for the dinghy? not needed at all

- Storm Sail? Main sail has now 3 reefs point. Planning to have a storm Jib in future

[NevilleCat]

Wind vane steering? Did you sort that?
The advantage with a Miura is that transom hung rudder yes? A small vane driving a trim tab behind your rudder should work, I think I remember seeing that set up on one in Aus years ago.

[kriskro]

2 years later, departure is confirmed for March 2021 after the cyclone season.

At there end, here is where i'm at

- Lazy Jack? Done. lifting and packing the main is now so much quicker, i really enjoy it. When doing a small trip between anchorage, it can make the difference between "Can't be bothered" and "let's put the main up"

- Indoor table? Done. Much beter to relax and have a wine when it is raining. I build a model that can be mounted both inside or in the cockpit.

- Anchor windlass? Done. Can make the difference between "Can't be bothered changing spot" and moving to a better place. Just lack the exercise now that I was actually enjoying..

- Spray Dodger? Done. Nothing better when anchoring in a windy spot.

- Bimini? Done. In australia, you cook.

- LPG Gas? Done. cooking much easier. No need to carry the shitty kmart burner.

- Oven? Not done, not planning to.

- Satelite phone? Not done, may just rent one.

- Radar? Not done.

- Life Raft? Done, a cheap one on gumtree.

- Fridge? Done. I would have like to not do it. but not the only one on board.

- Davit for the dinghy? Not done. Don't need it.

- Storm Sail? (My main sail has only 1 reefing point, but the sail is pretty small..). Not done yet, but planning for a Gale Sale in addition to my 3 reef main.

[Cowpoos]

Awesome, sounds like your Miura refit has gone well. I am most of the way through my extensive refit on my Miura.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by kriskro

2 years later, departure is confirmed for March 2021 after the cyclone season.

At there end, here is where i'm at

- Lazy Jack? Done. lifting and packing the main is now so much quicker, i really enjoy it. When doing a small trip between anchorage, it can make the difference between "Can't be bothered" and "let's put the main up"

- Indoor table? Done. Much beter to relax and have a wine when it is raining. I build a model that can be mounted both inside or in the cockpit.

- Anchor windlass? Done. Can make the difference between "Can't be bothered changing spot" and moving to a better place. Just lack the exercise now that I was actually enjoying..

- Spray Dodger? Done. Nothing better when anchoring in a windy spot.

- Bimini? Done. In australia, you cook.

- LPG Gas? Done. cooking much easier. No need to carry the shitty kmart burner.

- Oven? Not done, not planning to.

- Satelite phone? Not done, may just rent one.

- Radar? Not done.

- Life Raft? Done, a cheap one on gumtree.

- Fridge? Done. I would have like to not do it. but not the only one on board.

- Davit for the dinghy? Not done. Don't need it.

- Storm Sail? (My main sail has only 1 reefing point, but the sail is pretty small..). Not done yet, but planning for a Gale Sale in addition to my 3 reef main.

Your plans appear to be on track!

I am still up the west coast of South Africa and when the world went into lockdown and I could not depart, decided to rip all the electrics and wiring out of my Miura. So I am left re-wiring the entire boat and replacing all lights with LED - all was a good idea as I found most of the original wiring was a crows nest of corroded wires. I have added a windlass and Spectra 150 water maker, together with solar.

I have also invested in a new main, roller furling genoa and asymmetrical spinnaker, but still have the original storm jib and tri-sail, which look like they have never been used. At the moment the wiring is taking a lot of my time, together with new ceiling boards and quite a bit of extra carpentry and modifications to the old carpentry. I watched a few of Ryan’s videos and his hull and deck appear to be the same as mine - an early 80’s solid fiberglass hull and deck - my Miura “Umhambi” was originally launched in 1982.

I have installed a Vesper XB-8000 AIS but am not installing a radar. Put in a new Volvo diesel together with a hot water heater and both internal and external fresh water shower. My solar is 320W with a VOC of 64v regulated with a Victron MPPT 100/50 regulator. Also, I have installed a Victron charger/inverter and a Victron battery monitoring system.

Electronic wise, I have two iPads with iNavX and Navionics charts, together with a laptop and with OpenCPN and C-Map charts. The boat came with an old Raychart 425, which I have retained as it is still working. At present I have a Raymarine 2000+ tillerpilot but am looking to use it on an already installed trim tab. I just have to figure out how to couple it up!

For my intended cruising, I already have an InReach, which has served me well so far - I have no need to talk to people via satellite telephone - if the pawpaw hits the fan, I have an EPIRB and new liferaft. However, this said, I have installed twin back stays with one insulated as an HF antenna, to be used with my HAM transceiver if I really need to talk to somebody or download GRIB files via the modem coupled with the transceiver and Winlink.

The boat has a Force 10 two burner stove with oven, which looked like it had never been used when I purchased the boat two years ago - it works well.

I was intending a slow cruise across the Atlantic and up into the southern Caribbean, departing in December, but that looks like it is going to be delayed again with many parts of my intended route still under lockdown and closed to cruising boats. Maybe February or March departure?

John.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by kriskro

2 years later, departure is confirmed for March 2021 after the cyclone season.



At there end, here is where i'm at



- Lazy Jack? Done. lifting and packing the main is now so much quicker, i really enjoy it. When doing a small trip between anchorage, it can make the difference between "Can't be bothered" and "let's put the main up"



- Indoor table? Done. Much beter to relax and have a wine when it is raining. I build a model that can be mounted both inside or in the cockpit.



- Anchor windlass? Done. Can make the difference between "Can't be bothered changing spot" and moving to a better place. Just lack the exercise now that I was actually enjoying..



- Spray Dodger? Done. Nothing better when anchoring in a windy spot.



- Bimini? Done. In australia, you cook.



- LPG Gas? Done. cooking much easier. No need to carry the shitty kmart burner.



- Oven? Not done, not planning to.



- Satelite phone? Not done, may just rent one.



- Radar? Not done.



- Life Raft? Done, a cheap one on gumtree.



- Fridge? Done. I would have like to not do it. but not the only one on board.



- Davit for the dinghy? Not done. Don't need it.



- Storm Sail? (My main sail has only 1 reefing point, but the sail is pretty small..). Not done yet, but planning for a Gale Sale in addition to my 3 reef main.

Windvane or autopilot?

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by GILow

Windvane or autopilot?

Mentioned and answered in post #14 on previous page

[GILow]

Originally Posted by JohnT

Mentioned and answered in post #14 on previous page

Ah, right, I missed that. A bit confusing as I thought the ST60 was an instrument set, not an autopilot. Maybe an ST6002?

Anyway, I’m in agreement with Ramona in the following post. Relying on the autopilot is not ideal, if you can fit a windvane it would be a real positive.

I feel like generating enough power to run the autopilot on a 30 footer would be a real challenge, it is going to use up a large portion of the output of whatever solar you have managed to fit.

Of course it is a personal choice thing, but I’d put it well ahead of many items on your original list.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by JohnT

At present I have a Raymarine 2000+ tillerpilot but am looking to use it on an already installed trim tab. I just have to figure out how to couple it up!...

JohnT, connecting a tiller pilot to a trim tab on the main rudder is a great idea and will save heaps of power in comparison to driving the rudder directly.

However, there is a trap, as a fellow CF member discovered.

You have to engineer things in a way that the trim tab arm behaves exactly as a tiller would behave. This is hard, because normally the trim tab will operate exactly in reverse. This confuses the tiller pilot and will cause it to oversteer and hunt badly.

I solved it for the CF member and posted a short video for him. He built it and it worked well.

Here’s the video if you are interested:

https://youtu.be/BuBgsdr3mWc

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by GILow

JohnT, connecting a tiller pilot to a trim tab on the main rudder is a great idea and will save heaps of power in comparison to driving the rudder directly.

However, there is a trap, as a fellow CF member discovered.

You have to engineer things in a way that the trim tab arm behaves exactly as a tiller would behave. This is hard, because normally the trim tab will operate exactly in reverse. This confuses the tiller pilot and will cause it to oversteer and hunt badly.

I solved it for the CF member and posted a short video for him. He built it and it worked well.

Here’s the video if you are interested:

https://youtu.be/BuBgsdr3mWc

Hi GILow,

That is brilliant - thank you!

I have delivered two mono’s across the Atlantic that had a tiller pilot steering a trim tab. One was similar to your method and the other had a T piece on top of the trim tab pivot point with push/pull cables, similar to those used on the engine control leaver. The method similar to your system was much simpler and worked with no problems - reversing the built-in fluxgate compass wires had solved the problem of the boat “hunting”. The 2000+ has the built-in facility to do this in the set up menu.

Both methods used very little power and neither of the boats had solar, so recharging the batteries was a daily three hour engine run.

My problem in solving the way it operated is that at the time I never photographed the way it was done as I never imagined I would need to do this one day on my own boat. It is now 20 odd years later and having to “re-invent the wheel” was a daunting task. Thanks for the link to your video. I am sure your method will solve my problem.

John.

[GILow]

John,

Glad to be able to help with the recollection.

On a side note, I saw today that the CF member who I made the video for has, coincidentally, used it for the first time today with a Scanmar wind vane head unit, so it is getting some good testing.