St. Francis 50: "Wayfinder"

[rallyman1122]

Originally Posted by Catalysis

You meant Mastervolt ?

Damn autocorrect. Thank you.

[Catalysis]

Originally Posted by rallyman1122

Hugh, if you come back to the thread, just wondering how the Mastercraft system is working out? There are several posts about people preferring Victron over Mastercraft. I see that most, if not all At.Francis 50's are equipped with Mastercraft.

Grace, hull #5021 has Victron auto-isolation transformers and twin 4000/24/100 Mastervolt Combis. Each engine has 2.4kw 24v alternators with MV Alphapro II controllers. We have 2kw of solar controlled by MV MPPT all supplying 20kw of MV lithium batteries with MV BMS.
We had an early failure of one Combi which was replaced and so far everything else has performed to plan.
Paul

[Brian Pokosh]

Originally Posted by Catalysis

Grace, hull #5021 has Victron auto-isolation transformers and twin 4000/24/100 Mastervolt Combis. Each engine has 2.4kw 24v alternators with MV Alphapro II controllers. We have 2kw of solar controlled by MV MPPT all supplying 20kw of MV lithium batteries with MV BMS.
We had an early failure of one Combi which was replaced and so far everything else has performed to plan.
Paul

Last summer we did a battery/alternator/solar refit on Banana (hull #14). Two 12V 600 Ah Lithionics for a total of roughly 14.4kw, and two American Power 360A 12V alternators. We also added about 50% more solar for a total of about 1.5kw and each panel has it's own Genasun MPPT controller.

We thought about doing a DC generator similar to what Hugh did but decided to hold off. I think Hugh is right in that it is only really useful if you want to run aircon for extended periods of time. We have just a single 16k BTU unit on our boat and can run it for about 10 hours on a full charge but have really only done so a few times for an hour or so (and it has actually been for heat, not air). Otherwise, the solar and alternators have been more than sufficient.

Paul - what kind of real world numbers are you seeing out of your alternators. Our's are rated at 360A @ 12V (4.3kw). In reality we see about 275A once they first start up, and down to maybe 250A once they become heat soaked. At 13.8V (a typical number we'd see at the batteries during charge) thats between 4kw and 3.5kw. We are certainly happy with the results, coming from the stock 80A.

The work was done by Maine Yacht Center with assistance from Bruce Schwab (OceanPlanetEnergy here on the forum). They did a fantastic job. MYC documented part of the process at 50' Cruising Cat — Maine Yacht Center

[Catalysis]

Brian, we have two alternators per engine 125A@14v and 110A@28v
Never bothered to measure performance as the batteries are always charged. The combination of 2 kw solar and 4kw per engine alternators has meant on 33 hrs on the 9kw NL genset in 6 months.
Paul

[Hugh Howey]

Hey all, it's been a while. A very long while.

I logged back in to DM an old friend, and I saw there's been lots of posts on this thread and another about the boat. I feel awful not keeping everyone better informed of my sail. I thought I'd be blogging a lot more while cruising around the world, but frankly I was having too much fun sailing around the world.

Since the boat launched over three years ago, I've sailed across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, cruising as far north as Maine. The boat is currently in Australia. I'll be sailing the east coast of Australia for a few more months, then meander back to New Caledonia, Vanuatu (for the 2nd go), the Solomons, and Micronesia.

So much has happened in the last three years that it feels like a separate lifetime. It's been the happiest period of my life, without question. And I've been thrilled with the comfort and performance of my floating home. I have a good friend on a 50 foot cat who said he never once felt boat envy until he came aboard Wayfinder. I have no plans on selling the boat, but two people have told me I must call them before I do. She gets attention in every anchorage, and she's helped me make a lot of new friends.

I've done some long passages solo (Cuba to Panama, New Zealand to Fiji), and long stretches with 6 or 8 of us onboard, and the boat is so happy and easy with either. I've also made a TON of changes and improvements, too many to list. I think it's about time for a new walkthrough video. I'll try to shoot one and upload it soon. Let's just say that the boat has quite a few features that I've yet to see on another sailboat, much less one of its size. Some are just dumb, fun, weird things I did to make life more enjoyable at anchor. I spend a lot of time in very remote places, and these little joys make all the difference.

If anyone has questions, I'll try to log in and answer them. And I'll go back through this thread to see if there are any I missed. The boat is over three years old now, and there are a ton of manufacturers out there pushing things forward (including St. Francis), so I'm sure I have more to learn than I have to impart to others. But I'll do what I can.

For anyone reading this who has a dream of getting a boat and sailing around the world, do it on whatever you can as soon as you can. It's been the most magical experience of my incredibly fortunate life. I have no plans for stopping. Another decade of this would suit me fine. Hope everyone is well and enjoying their journey, wherever they are on it.

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by rallyman1122

Hugh, if you come back to the thread, just wondering how the Mastercraft system is working out? There are several posts about people preferring Victron over Mastercraft. I see that most, if not all At.Francis 50's are equipped with Mastercraft.

I love my Mastervolt system. I've heard from some Victron owners that their system is better, which means it must also be rock-solid. I think it was some MV people who left to start Victron (or was it the other way around?) So a lot of the same smart people at both companies.

I think none of these systems are foolproof, so you might hear a horror story from either type of owner and draw too many conclusions. Or hear from someone like me who has never had an issue and think that means you won't either. I've found over the years that electrons and water do not behave rationally; they leak and get to places they shouldn't. So anything can fail. Just hasn't happened to me yet.

A few times, I've needed changes or additions to accommodate new items I've added, and the customer support and remote updates / monitoring have been fantastic.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Hugh Howey

I think it was some MV people who left to start Victron (or was it the other way around?)

Hi Hugh, to clarify it was the other way around..

While living in Holland in the 90's, project managing the design and build of Feadships I met the two Victron Engineers who started MV.

They were a lot more leading edge in their ideas and product development than the commercially established Victron.

Early days, perhaps MV was a bit too ambitious as they suffered from reliability, but nowadays I think they are both equal in putting out fantastic product lines.

My own boat is all Victron as I have always selected them for clients and IF installed properly are incredibly reliable.

Look forward to hearing about your changes

Also, note your heading towards Micronesia

I have been exploring Micronesia since the early 80's working with Carl Roesler. (See & Sea Travel)...
running a large dive liveaboard ship between Pohnpei and Palau.
Drop me a PM if you would like any notes on where to find the big pelagics.

http://divexprt.com/carlbio.html

[Factor]

Hi Hugh

saw your boat down at Signature Yacht Services the other day, she is looking good!

[Hugh Howey]

Originally Posted by Factor

Hi Hugh

saw your boat down at Signature Yacht Services the other day, she is looking good!

Thanks! They did some amazing work with additions. Need to do a new walkthrough video.

[tp12]

Nice to see Wayfinder in Sydney yesterday while I was going over ANZAC bridge. I'd have snapped a pic but I couldn't get a clear shot on the bus.

Lots of nice boats in Blackwattle Bay and Glebe Point at the moment.

[rallyman1122]

Originally Posted by Hugh Howey

Thanks! They did some amazing work with additions. Need to do a new walkthrough video.

Please do. Your boat was amazing from the start. Seeing what's new would be awesome!

[IAmGroot]

Hi folks - I am a long-time lurker but new poster.

My wife and I are planning to sell the house and move aboard a boat in 1.5 years when the last kid moves out...and we have been scoping out the options. We saw the St. Francis 50 Mk II at the Annapolis Boat Show a couple weeks ago and were blown away at how perfect it was. That led to obsessive research on my part, and reading every word in these forums and watching every video.

And...WOW. Thank you Hugh for sharing your experience and thank you to everyone else who has been asking all of these great questions and/or posting their own answers, here and on all the other threads that I have followed-up.

On the one hand, I want to keep my expenses down and would buy a used boat, and on the other hand getting the whole "St Francis New Boat Customization Experience" would be an amazing ride. And I would be seriously tempted to go the all-electric route, based on some of the forums here.

But looking online, it appears Wayfinder was put up for sale a few days ago. Hugh - I am kinda hoping it is because you decided you needed a different platform for your electric-drive ideas. But if not, are you able to share your thoughts and if there was anything else you would do differently on the St Francis or some other boat?

I certainly wish the timing was better for me - still gotta get the kids through high school. My 18 year old is ready to hop on a plane to Fiji to bring the boat home...certainly a temptation...but probably not a good idea for the 16 year old at this stage. I know - "Don't Wait"

Thanks again to all you folks! It is places like this that make me wonder how folks could research anything at all before the Internet....(And yes, I am old enough to remember life before the Internet!)

[Mystic38]

You may reduce your initial capital outlay by buying a used boat, but expenses?

While a new boat is not cheap for sure, and you will need to add options for it to be fully cruise ready, (as opposed to marina ready) your operating budget for repairs would be low for a few years, while even a "perfect", "well outfitted", "10/10", "best on the market", "just bring clothes and cruise" used boat can rapidly eat up $50-$150k (or more, depending on size & complexity) to actually get it to be in a satisfactory cruise ready condition that you are happy with... and still have larger repair expenditures over a 3 year period than a new boat.

Anyway, general guidelines are 10-15% of purchase price for annual budget (repairs, maintenance, slips, insurances etc), but that does not cover initial major upgrades and replacements to get it ready, so spend some time investigating the costs involved for updating an older vessel... as this will need to be factored into the capital (initial) outlay

Personally, to make it simple, I would say to figure out what your entire capital budget for the boat is..then look for a vessel that is $100k less than that...

and plan on 15% of that gross price as your annual operating budget.

Originally Posted by IAmGroot

I want to keep my expenses down and would buy a used boat,

[IAmGroot]

Thanks! Appreciate the guidance - your percentages will all go into my spreadsheet!

Should not really be too big a problem overall, as I plan to win the lottery between now and go-time.

[udyy]

Originally Posted by Catalysis

Grace, hull #5021 has Victron auto-isolation transformers and twin 4000/24/100 Mastervolt Combis. Each engine has 2.4kw 24v alternators with MV Alphapro II controllers. We have 2kw of solar controlled by MV MPPT all supplying 20kw of MV lithium batteries with MV BMS.
We had an early failure of one Combi which was replaced and so far everything else has performed to plan.
Paul

I have similar installation (on a Knysna catamaran) and chose Mastervolt due to the integration with Czone. Overall MV performed well (although the Combi failed and was replaced) . I do get great support form MV South African agents (which was not always the case with other brands SA based agents) and MV Netherlands. On the other hand, i believe that Victron's 5 years warranty vs 2 years for MV will be a major consideration in future purchases.