Southerly 480 - Build Thread?

[Adrian Chen]

So while the floor grid and furniture are being installed the deck is being prepared alongside. There's a fair bit of preparation involved, but I'll cover more as the deck gear gets installed. Here's a deck moulding out of the mould being transfered between sheds



Here is the underside in which you can see the window frames supporting structures being fitted, and the first of 13 hatches. The photo you can see through the front window aperture is of a Discovery 55.



Side panels and window surrounds are produced, from templates shown here trial fitted



You can see there are no moulded non slip areas on the sidedeck as this will be covered by a teak deck, the long raised section in this photo where the Genoa track is mounted all deck fittings are mounted onto solid GRP rather than teak.

In this photo you can see the cup I dropped, and the deck from above, now most of the deck hatches have been cut, but not the companionway (which is done when the deck is fitted to the hull), access holes have been cut on the steering pedestals which allow servicing of the top UJ's mounted on the steering systems torque tubes (Lewmar Mamba system) and other equipment that will be installed on the pedestal. These will have watertight covers installed.



It won't be very much longer before the prepared deck is craned over to the hull for installation

Meanwhile work is also going on under the hull so I'll post a few more photo's soon..

[svbravo]

Adrian- First, thank you for sharing all of this info on your great build. Your Southerly looks like it will indeed be a beautiful boat. I really like the woodwork detailing, and think your forward cabin layout will work very well. It sounds like the team at Discovery is being very accommodating to your input. Sweet. We are about 6 months behind you in a build across the channel, a Boreal 52, scheduled to launch in Oct next year, so I am eagerly interested in any of your thought processes on gear and option selections as well as any ideas that you come up with for customization (details as well as big picture). Very jealous of your proximity to the yard, BTW. We're in Australia, about 35 hours of travel from France!!! Cheers, and keep posting!!!

[svbravo]

Originally Posted by Adrian Chen

These are the batteries installed this week, seems very little AH compared to our previous 12v AGM bank, but Im confident(ish) in my math.

Curious, what Ah capacity did you go with, and what was your previous bank size? Do you have dedicated refer and freezer boxes?

[Adrian Chen]

Originally Posted by svbravo

Curious, what Ah capacity did you go with, and what was your previous bank size? Do you have dedicated refer and freezer boxes?

Congratulations on your new Boreal, they are a fabulous tough boat. You'll have to get them to put a webcam over the build slot so you can get your boat fix regularly!

On our previous boat we had 4*185AH at 12v for domestics, Bow and stern thruster banks were 2*75AH Optima AGM's and a 115AH AGM for engine/generator start. We had no solar or hydro, since I would need a gantry to put a really useful amount on, and better still more sun for UK summers!

On the 480 we have a 24v system with 2*180AH MV MLI domestics and 2*Red Flash 1800 per thruster, and a 12v AGM start battery for engine and genset.

My reasoning is: Weight The lithiums are 116Kg whilst the agm are 204kg. Usable amps: L=270@24v AGM=259@12v(Since in reality we bounce around the 50%SOC and 85%) Recharging should be quicker, and hopefully the extra cost of the Lithiums will be offset by increased cycle life. I did also consider Northstar carbon firefly and Gel. We have left sufficient space to put a further battery in the same location should we need it, but I doubt we will.

Charging the domestic bank is through a Mastervolt Ultra combi that will provide 100amps, and a 2nd Alphapro 75amp Alternator/regulator. The engine battery is charged by the engines 12v Alternator, and the thruster banks via Mastervolt Magic DC/DC chargers. The DC/DC charger setup is similar to our previous boat and works well.

The Ultra provides an mppt controller that this time we may use. Our friends the Shards are putting a gantry on the stern of their 480 with 500watts of solar, so we will get their feedback in due course. The upside is that our current routine involves running the genset for a while in the morning and evening, whilst we charge batteries, make a little water, heat some for the shower and washing dishes etc. Normally around an hour each time, more if the batteries are low. With the Solar we should not need this amount of gen time.

If we had had more time I would definitely have looked more closely at the Triskel system that the Shards have, this looked very promising to me. Feedback to date has been good (48volt thrusters included), but we already had the genset and batteries delivered, triskel also had to gain approval from Mastervolt for use with the Lithiums and time ran out. In your position I would speak with them. Let me know if you would like their contact details.

Fridge/Freezer will use a Keel cooler to reduce draw, but no dedicated battery. We have a Frigoboat 50841 fridge and from memory a Vitrifrigo C40 top loading freezer. When the compressors get installed I will put photos up. We still have air compressors, in case we decide to dry the boat out.

Hope that answers you question, and keep em coming....

[svbravo]

Originally Posted by Adrian Chen

You'll have to get them to put a webcam over the build slot so you can get your boat fix regularly!

Not sure the guys would like the Big Brother feel of that.....I'd love it, though! Actually, I had thought about mounting a GoPro to the wall up above the build slot, not for video, but for just 1 shot ea day. Could be while everybody is at lunch.....would be cool to do a time lapse video when the boat is finished! If I'd been closer, I would have given it a shot!

On the 480 we have a 24v system with 2*180AH MV MLI domestics and 2*Red Flash 1800 per thruster, and a 12v AGM start battery for engine and genset.

This sounds excellent. Any problem w/ the different charging regimens of the LiFePO4 mixed with the AGM's???

On our current boat we've been running w/ 600 Ah 12v LiFePO4 for about 2-1/2 years now, full time cruising. An absolute game changer, we could never go back to lead acids, for all of the reasons you describe. We have 555 watts solar now, no wind or hydro, and we rarely need to use the genset, unless we have, say, 3-4 very dark cloudy days in a row. On sunny days we typically get 200Ah from the PV's, more than enough for our needs. The new boat will be just 400 watts, but with wind and possibly a Watt and Sea (as well as genset when needed). Will likely keep the 12v 600 Ah of LiFePO4 that we have now. Boreal seems set on 12v. Was this a discussion with Southerly, to go 24v or do they all come that way???

If we had had more time I would definitely have looked more closely at the Triskel system that the Shards have, this looked very promising to me. Feedback to date has bee.n good (48volt thrusters included), but we already had the genset and batteries delivered, triskel also had to gain approval from Mastervolt for use with the Lithiums and time ran out. In your position I would speak with them. Let me know if you would like their contact details.

I've looked briefly at the Triskel system, and watched the videos. It looks promising, but too new for a remote voyaging boat, IMHO. I'd hate to be looking back at 5 years of maintenance hassles, and have someone say....."Oh, you got one of those 2018 systems....tsk....tsk...tsk...." But some day, maybe it'll be a standard!

We still have air compressors, in case we decide to dry the boat out.

On our current boat, I plumbed the freezer pump to one of our fresh water tanks for cooling. Even though it's a water cooled IsoTherm system, I like one less way to bring salt water into the boat, and likely the gear lasts longer cooling w/ fresh instead of sea water. And, of course, we keep it on when hauled out. It's just one of the tanks, so we keep it full as emergency supply.....works a treat. Plan to do the same w/ the Boreal.

Hope that answers you question, and keep em coming....

Excellent!!! Am really looking forward to your continuing posts of this great build! Cheers!

[Adrian Chen]

Thanks for your feedback SVbravo.

The Thruster AGM's are all charged using DC/DC chargers. MV Magic 24-24-20 so they are isolated from the 24v system. The Magic's have a 3 stage charge algorithm so will look after the batts properly. Downside is that you have no input from the engines alternator, but I have not found this to be an issue on our 47. They are also galvanic isolated and I found on our last boat the thruster anodes lasted longer, but this may have been a fluke because we also changed marina's...

I'm very pleased to read your experience of your Lithiums, and solar. This is what we are hoping for. The ultra may limit our panel capacity a bit, I will have to check. We use most power when on passage, so I can see why you would be interested in a Watt&Sea unit, we are contemplating this, but I will do some measurement during shakedown, and decide if we would be better off adding a hydrovane unit, and turn off some stuff. I expect most of our passages will be less than 5 days or so.

Probably right that Triskel is too new to risk, the one aspect of the system I will look into is the remote rectifier for our 24v alternator. This won't happen right away though, I will wait for the MV Alpha to be out of warranty first, and will then look at Mark Grasser kit. Given we have a genset its not a priority.

As standard the boat is normally supplied with 12v. Most of Discovery's previous models have been 55ft or larger, and are 24v, so they offered the option. I had some voltage drop issues with the large thrusters on the 47 that draw over 650amps when running, so wanted 24v thrusters and windlass. Disco preferred to do the full system they are familiar with since it is cost neutral. I suspect different thrusters might have done a better job than the Quick ones installed on the 47, other boats had Lewmar installed and seemed to me to perform better even at 10.5v than the quicks at 11.5v. not a scientific test, so I am possibly overreacting....

Your fridge solution looks neat, and will avoid the issue with non antifouled keel coolers as well...

[Adrian Chen]

Ok, Meanwhile underneath the hull various appendages are appearing, here is the recess for keel coolers to be installed, together with skin fittings for the Generator and engine, plus galley drain, and salt water pump inlet.



And the bow thruster tunnel and leg have been installed. This is larger than the standard 185mm tube at 215mm, so will be interesting to see how the thruster performs. I'm hoping it will be effective in quite strong winds, which is the main reason for having one.



The rudders have now also been built, with stainless stock, and Lewmar bearings and seals. Here's a picture of the stock, followed by the installed rudder at a jaunty angle. Both rudders are identical, and I understand they are the same size as a single rudder would normally be so when one is healed the other retains a good grip on the water.




They are making a lot of progress now, with most of the floor panels ready for covering in Amtico, and the roofing panels cut ready for when the deck is installed, Ill try and get some shots of the flooring when it is being covered, it doesn't look much more than a pile of wood at the moment. For example here is the framework that support the ceiling panels which will be fixed to the underside of the deck moulding. Currently stacked and waiting to be installed, hopefully in the next week or so.



Meanwhile more is being installed in the hull with most of the hot/cold and salt water plumbing, holding tanks, auxiliary water tank etc all now in place, so I will post some more pictures later.

[Van Der Beek]

Congrats on your new sailboat Adrian, she's coming along nicely.

I liked the idea with the stainless strips, it looks great, choosing synthetic decks was a smart move. (would love to see what the deck looks like later on in the build)

The English, just like the Dutch and the Swedes, have excellent craftsmen, so the quality (such as woodwork etc) is to be expected.

[Adrian Chen]

Originally Posted by Van Der Beek

Congrats on your new sailboat Adrian, she's coming along nicely.

I liked the idea with the stainless strips, it looks great, choosing synthetic decks was a smart move. (would love to see what the deck looks like later on in the build)

The English, just like the Dutch and the Swedes, have excellent craftsmen, so the quality (such as woodwork etc) is to be expected.

Thanks for the comments - I saw a new 58ft boat with DekKing teak coloured decks with very chunky real teak capping rails, it was very smart indeed, only when it rained and the real teak darkened was the difference obvious. We are trying a silver colour, with black caulk, I was tempted by white caulk to keep the heat llower, but was concerned it might discolour/look dirty at some point. The supplier said it wouldn't, so maybe a missed opportunity.

Will post some pictures when it is installed. DekKing want access to the decks for two days to lay the 32 elements of the deck so hopefully I will catch them in the act....

[Adrian Chen]

OK so the plumbing installations are now quite advanced in the build. We are starting off with the aim of not having a watermaker installed, although the space it would occupy is being left available should we change our minds. This is because although we have used the WM on our old boat, it was more because we had it than through necessity. As a bit of insurance we have added some additional capacity. Here is one of the additional tanks being lifted onto the mezzanine work area. This is plumbed to be switch able with the main tank so it can be used first.



Here the calorifier has been installed, this is a 55lt twin coil model (Surecal I think) as standard a 60lt single coil is fitted, but since we have Eberspacher M10 water based heating, it seems sensible to use this for hot water as well. This means we have three options to heat water, the Engine, Eberspacher boiler and AC immersion heater.



This shows the under-sink galley area, you can see here the (speedfit) hot and cold water supply and isolators, plus the green salt water supply. There is a manual pump for salt water, or in emergency it can be switched to fresh should the main pressure pump fail. a Seagull IV water filter will be installed here, for drinking water. Both fwd and aft heads areas are also supplied with hot and cold fresh water and a switchable salt supply for the Tecma toilets.



To complete the circuit so to speak here is the fwd of the two black tanks, these are the same gravity units we had in the 47, and have always been reliable thankfully, capacity is 80l.



One additional little trick we are installing is to the shower pump out. The inlet to the pump will have a Y valve installed so that an extra length of hose will be added to act as a wandering bilge pump. We had a similar arrangement on the 47, and it was very useful. I will post some pictures when the pumps are installed soon.

[Adrian Chen]

So to bring the thread up to date with the actual build, the boat is now at a stage where most of the basic structure is complete, much of the plumbing and wiring runs are in place, the heavy engineering components, cabinetry and flooring panels all much complete, the deck has been prepared, and underwater sections are prepared for coppercoating to be applied. So during my latest couple of visits to the factory I took some photos of the deck being offered up to the hull in preparation for it to be fixed down.

The deck is fitted in a couple of stages, firstly onto 50mm blocks of wood so the bulkheads can be scribed/fettled to ensure a good fit, then with the blocks removed for final checking before being bonded and screwed/bolted down with the bulkheads and cabinetry bonded and GRP tabbed. Here it is in the final position, with the first of the glass being trial fitted and at the bow the anchor roller is also being installed.



As yet the companionway has not been cut out, so I took a couple of photos through the saloon window, to get an idea of how she will look below. Hopefully I'll get access when I visit again this week, but until then here's the best I could do with the deck still on the 50mm blocks:

Fwd from Port


Aft from Port


Fwd from Stbd


Aft from Stbd


Meanwhile in the joinery shop the last few parts are being finished, Items such as the cabin doors, and saloon table are some of the last elements to be installed. Here is the table shown with the leaves closed, it is about to be lacquered. There is maple, walnut oak and teak used in this design, which are our choices but I think the finished article will be great.

[boom23]

Beautiful boat! Congratulations!

These pictures are a great reference for you in the future when you have to trace something. Keep taking pictures and videos...

My Amel 50 is currently getting built but, unfortunately, I do not live close to the factory. I asked Amel to send me pics every so often. We will see...

Maybe we will meet in the Med next season!

[Adrian Chen]

Originally Posted by boom23

Beautiful boat! Congratulations!

These pictures are a great reference for you in the future when you have to trace something. Keep taking pictures and videos...

My Amel 50 is currently getting built but, unfortunately, I do not live close to the factory. I asked Amel to send me pics every so often. We will see...

Maybe we will meet in the Med next season!

Thank you. It's very handy being close by, I took loads of photos last time round and they are very useful later on. Discovery do send build pics to their customers, but these tend to be of the main assemblies, I have taken loads of shots of pipes cables and other fixings so I can trace issues when they arrive, or plan where and how to install new kit when Im away from the boat.

Congratulations on the Amel they are a really great boat from a very respected builder.

It would be great to meet up. Do wave if you see us. Cant be many grey 480's
there.....

[Adrian Chen]

Well having rushed through the majority of the build, I am now pretty much up to date, so this instalment is from today's visit.

Firstly at ground level I see the freezer's keel cooler is now installed and the coppercoat appears to be complete. Anitfoul for the thruster legs and props etc, will take place prior to launch when she returns from Dusseldorf.



At the same time the swim platform was being prepared for fitting once the decking has been laid on the other side, but here is the outer surface getting a polish



On deck the main hatch garage is being fitted, along with various locker linings, and lids, whilst more glass is being installed. In this photo you can see the boat from the front with the glass in place, and along the toerail all nicely wrapped are the stanchion bases and one of the two mid cleats.



And here's the hatch garage, and washboard channels being added



Aft the deck lockers are being lined. Once these are in place, the steering gear will go in, prior to a final flocoat.



And forwards the stem fitting/ bow roller is now in place



Down below the fixings for the head linings are being installed whilst the last bits of tabbing between the deck and joinery were being completed. Here are some of the boards in place in the fore cabin



Finally, over in the joinery area the saloon table was being lacquered, whilst the last bits of galley furniture were about to go across to the build area.



Lots of pics I'm afraid, but they are making rapid progress. during the next couple of days, much of the stainless will be installed or sent to Lang and Potter to be upholstered, and the engineering guys will move on board to install the pumps, winches and other gear so I will pop back in a week or so....

[ontherocks83]

Looking Awesome!