Trimaran - Especially Searunner - Owners

[Mark Johnson]

Originally Posted by Roy M

Same setup, but we didn't have the pinch problems, probably due to our larger elements. This is a 300 ton TravelLift, for 100' boats. The same company has one for 600 tons. I don't have a clue what beam that will handle.

That looks like a perfect setup for you Roy, a really big lift, (= WIDE), and normal sized single straps. The straps they were picking us up with the first two times, were actually 2 pairs in front, and 2 pairs in back. To try to put the lifting load on a frame, they crossed one pair in front over the other pair in front. (same thing aft) It brought them much closer together, but made them both unbelievably heavy AND more compressible. When it started lifting the boat a bit, they were pinching hard, (on a narrower lift), and still sliding up on the amas. A really bad combination! I'm sure your lift will go fine.

WOW, a 600T lift? I have never seen one that big.

Mark

[Roy M]

It has been a productive weekend. I got the primer on yesterday, sanded it down this morning, and got the first heavy coat of LPU sprayed on (with Prevail spray unit) before lunch. It gleams like a cast plastic unit. I'll give it a light 220 sanding tomorrow and finish off with more LPU to make it a thick and durable finish. For those who haven't used it before, linear polyurethane (LPU) is like spraying on pure plastic, which it is. Strong, abrasion resistant, and easy to clean, it makes a wonderful surface for a reefer or freezer. After the final coat of paint, I'll install the pancake fans, install the vacuum panels, and complete the upper lid section. Then I'll install the base into the boat, bolt in the cold plate, install the copper tubing and thermostat, then close up the box. Then it's time to hook up the compressor and related toys, install the sterncastle floor, again, and finish off the sterncastle. Things are finally moving forward to completion. I can't wait to cook dinner in the new galley. I'll need to make something really special.

[rossad]

I like that kinda of talk Roy. Go for it. there is an island awaiting somewhere in the pacific.

[sea dragon]

Originally Posted by Roy M

I just had the opportunity to meet Eric and Jane of SEA DRAGON, a forty foot Searunner.

It was a pleasure to get a chance to meet you Roy,and get the tour of Wilderness.
A fine ship indeed.
Alot of good ideas in that boat.
I really like the way you built the sterncastle cabin.
Unfortunatly my wife saw me taking photos of it and strictly forbade me from cutting our cabin off.
Definitly look me up next month when you are up here in the northwest.

[Roy M]

Thanks Eric! I'm assembling the reefer box today with the vacuum insulated panels. It's exciting to see it take shape, finally. I think the galley remodel is the most complex and time consuming aspect of this whole overhaul. It will be very good to have completed so I can get on with overhauling the stick. I'll contact you in a couple weeks before I get to the Skagit Valley.

[farotherside]

hey all, long time no post. actively cruising Mexico and living life in real-time instead of on the internets all the time.

just wanted to share a quick bit - I finally figured out two things: one, what to do with all these empty 2-liter soda bottles (the young lady and I go through a lot of sparkling water!) and two, what to do with the extra space at the far aft ends of our amas! I installed a bit of large-gapped plastic mesh in the hole in the bulkhead with some stainless staples, and now I have a place to "recycle" those bottles... capped, they don't weigh much at all but would provide for some extra positive floatation in an otherwise unusable (well, extremely trick to use) storage area. we have 6" inspection hatches on each ama, and the bottles fit through there just fine.

It was killing me to throw the bottles away every time, I hate producing that much plastic waste... now we have them two-fold; extra safety, and when we eventually build our own onboard carbonation system, we have spare bottles to use.

[slowbat]

Originally Posted by drew23

hey all, long time no post. actively cruising Mexico and living life in real-time instead of on the internets all the time.

Hey Drew,
Been following your blog for some time now..... How is the house paint holding up from your Oct re-fit.

Also can you post something about your internet set up? I know you are working on board.

All the best and keep going,

[Roy M]

Drew23, When you get the bows all loaded with empty bottles, check out the Sodastream system. You simply fill the Sodastream bottles with cold water, then gas them for soda water, or add syrup for whatever flavor soda you want. It ends up being seriously cheaper than buying soda at the store. And the flavors are incredibly good. My favorites are tonic (G&Ts), ginger ale, root beer (REALLY good), cola and diet cola/no caffeine. You can refill the gas bottles at any bar that has a CO2 charging system for free, if you buy a pitcher of beer. You just have to buy the charging hookup. Here's a youtube on doing the recharge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O76QWwAE59I

.


And a photo of my setup:

[rossad]

Wondered where you got to Drew23. If you could ever post some pics please do.

[Mark Johnson]

Hi Drew,
GREAT that you are living the life, and good that you are trying to minimize your footprint! Roy's post was a good one for "creating your own" sparkling water.

FOR FRESH WATER:
Assuming you don't yet have a watermaker? For turning non potable but "fresh" Mexican water to being safe for Gringos, There are bacteriastatic filters like our SeaGull, that will make the local tap water just fine. Our SeaGull has a tap at the sink.

We found that in some places where we could not use the watermaker in the harbor, (polluted), the land water was also questionable, to say the least, and buying 5 gal bottled RO water was expensive!

Here, we would dinghy in with our jugs, and for a minimal fee... use the dive shop's tap, but run the water through our "Katadyne" bacteriastatic ceramic filter, with garden hose fitting tails on it.

Then, with these jugs, we were putting perfectly safe water into the boat's tanks, adding a bit of chlorine to it so it would stay that way. Then, the SeaGull filter at the tap would double filter it before use, AND take the chlorine back out. To put a bit of "bite" back in the water, a few drops of liquid minerals does the trick.

The problem with any kind of bottled water, is the waste, as you know, and the bottle itself takes more water to make it, than the water that's IN it! Of coarse, these fancy filters cost a bit up front, but over years, are WAY cheaper than buying water, in any form. In General... You will find that the more remote & third world the location, the more expensive the bottled or pure RO water is there.

ENJOY!
Mark

[Boatguy30]

Mark

I know it is on here somewhere, but what did you end up with the glass schedule for the underwing to hull joint?

what Richard is showing seems way overkill and I added the Searunner wing stringer which he doesn't account for.

Cheers,
Jeff

[Cavalier MK2]

Richard is conservative and that joint is a great place to practice conservation. I'd stick to his schedule.

[Boatguy30]

Cav-

Thx for the thoughts. As the plans were not fully developed (still not) when I built my first hull, I but a full length stringer with finished size of 3" by 1" as shown in the SR 34 plans.

Richard seems to have many customers that struggle to build symmetrical hulls so he just has you do a giant stich and glue join where the 12mm bridgedeck meets the 9mm hull side. my 12mm will nail and screw down to the stringer as well.

He sent me a pic of some Philippine chaps building a Vardo that underwater profile was way off. He figured that at least the hulls looked close to the same so not too bad. they can call that one the shoal draft version.

so anyway, just looking to compare with proven Searunner scantlings. Jim called for just 2 layers of 8 OZ which certainly is not enough.

cheers,
Jeff

[Cavalier MK2]

3"x1" does make a difference....it is on the inside of the joint ? It should take the place of any inside glass but the outside does need something to spread the loads. I like a concave outer stringer piece to add a bigger radius before the outer glass layers go on to save the weight of filler. This is a good spot for biax tape layers of increasing widths. Your hull spacing will be wider than a SR34 hull ama span so I'd make it a bit more beefy on the outer layers.

[farotherside]

hey guys! we're in San Blas currently, paying a whopping $25/night to use the Fonatur marina, after the propshaft let go of the coupling coming into the "anchorage". Fixing it today, then hopefully off to Isla Isabel tomorrow morning.

Roy, Mark - I've been lusting after a water carbonation system for a LONG time, though I'm not a fan of the Sodastream system due to its proprietary cylinders and such... we're looking for something simple, where we can experiment with our own "syrups" made from fresh mangoes and limes and such. Here's the *exact* system I designed for myself a couple of years ago: How To Make Your Own Home Drink Carbonation System | Popular Science

BUT! Water only really holds decent carbonation if you start with VERY COLD water, and until quite recently we didn't have any way on the boat to cool water down! I installed an air-cooled refrigerator kit built around our well-insulated icebox last fall, and have only to get back to the US to order the parts to put together the water carbonator.

Mark - we decided that water is something we didn't want to screw around with, and splurged on a Spectra Ventura 150 watermaker. We can fill our two 25-gallon Nauta bladder tanks in about ten hours of runtime, which is easily handled by our four Trojan T-105 batteries. According to the Xantrex LinkLITE, we draw about eight amps while doing so - this is pretty much the exact same setup as your boat IIRC. We haven't yet had any problem with pollution, and ran the watermaker through a startlingly vivid red tide a month or two ago, with no ill effects.

This area of Mexico is lovely, but MY GOD THE BUGS. The little "jejenes" are ferocious, though they only seem to like me, they hardly bother Miya at all. When I had to stand on the beach at sunset for a half hour talking to the Navy two days ago they really nailed me - I mean, maybe a thousand bites might be an exaggeration, but six hundred definitely wouldn't be. Two days later they're still angry red welts that ITCH LIKE MAD. Photo: http://riotnrrd.com/skitch/bugbites-20130429-155439.jpg

I will try to blog more regularly soon, I promise!