The big kobelt is good for 75 HP. I have about 70hp of generator engine available to drive PTOs that power an ABT aux drive that can power the main shaft. .
OP, how many thousands of hours have you cruised on your boat? And how many times has your engine quit? When it did quit, was it for an easily-addressed reason, because you did something dummy-ish, or was it a true failure which required a mechanic or specialized parts?
The point is that a well maintained diesel, with polished fuel, has very little chance of failing. So introducing an entirely new engine #3 is not practical. Neither are saildrives with folding props.
For your size vessel, 20hp will likely push you along at 4 knots. That may be acceptable to you for an event which likely will never, ever happen. Heck, I'd be happy with even 1 knot downwind, it's better than sitting dead in the water, rolling like a beach ball.
So spend your money on a new genset of 16kW (20hp) roughly, maybe 20kW if you wish, and connect the hydraulic drive with a removable chain to your main shaft. It's easier to load up a 16kW genset (say to 50%) than to care for a 3rd/pony engine.
Good luck on your crossing. What path are you planning on following?
Edit - if you currently do not have any hydraulics on your boat, then probably better to connect a 480V, 3phase electric motor, controlled via an VFD. Nice and simple.
retro-fitting another motor and shaft through the boat will be very, very expensive. You could buy every spare the engine needs for much less. Plus, now you're going to crowd your engine room with another motor the boat wasn't designed for. I'd go with a hydraulic PTO off the genny to drive the current main shaft. You'd save tons of money. Plus, buy the spares you need for your Main to give you peace of mind. Just my 2cents.
Money is not the issue. Redundancy is. Should I encounter an issue with my 671 Detroit Diesel halfway between Bermuda and the Azores, providing I have clean fuel I want a system that is totally independent of everything else.
When it comes to the expense, Let's say for argument it costs me $40,000 to get the engine and work completed. If a person was looking for an ocean crossing boat, how much more would they pay for such a system? My point here is that at some point 'Savage' will pass to a new owner. I am merely a custodian of this historic Seaton trawler, the very first that Stephen Seaton designed as a Gentlemans Yacht for serious explorations of foreign lands.
BTW, when the work is underway I'm adding a stern thruster too for Med mooring.
The "standard" for Nordhavn single engine boats remains a separate wing engine with V-drive, dedicated shaft, and folding/reversing Gori prop. It offers not only redundant power, but also redundant shaft and prop so covers more failure scenarios. But it won't help you if you catch a net. And unless someone screwed up, a wing engine will be powerful enough to move the boat at 5ish knots so be effective at actually getting you home.
The down side is that you have a lot of expensive gear sitting there doing nothing 99% of the time. They are rarely exercised sufficiently, so confidence that it can do it's thing when called on is not really high. But that problem is 100% in the hands of the operator and is easily solved by diligent exercising of the system. Also, the small folding prop and offset shaft position are inefficient at driving the boat compared to the main shaft and larger prop.
The other approach is some sort of aux method to drive the main shaft. Could be hydraulic, or electric. This is more efficient, but of course requires that the main shaft and prop be operational. If they are damaged, then you are SOL. The big challenge with aux drive of the main shaft is getting enough HP to do it in any reasonable manner. The power available from a typically sized generator is likely much too little. For example, I have seen boats with an 85hp wing engine and a 20kw generator. If all you have for power is the generator, then you only have about 35hp, and that's with all AC output turned off. That's not enough. Where this can work, and I think what Bkcorwin has, is multiple generators that can be run in parallel so you get the sum of their power. That will get you much closer to the target.
However you slice, I don't think there is any perfect solution.
Money is not the issue. Redundancy is. Should I encounter an issue with my 671 Detroit Diesel halfway between Bermuda and the Azores, providing I have clean fuel I want a system that is totally independent of everything else.
When it comes to the expense, Let's say for argument it costs me $40,000 to get the engine and work completed. If a person was looking for an ocean crossing boat, how much more would they pay for such a system? My point here is that at some point 'Savage' will pass to a new owner. I am merely a custodian of this historic Seaton trawler, the very first that Stephen Seaton designed as a Gentlemans Yacht for serious explorations of foreign lands.
BTW, when the work is underway I'm adding a stern thruster too for Med mooring.
Do you think a folding prop would also be prone to snagging a fishing line or net/debris?
I would assume a folding prop driven by a wing is not rotating when the main engine and its prop are in use?
Have there been many N owners who have wrapped up their folding wing prop to the point where it was not useable?
I have a had a couple snags and one required going into the water to clear it. The line was mostly wrapped around the shaft forward of the prop and some of the prop. Was thinking a folding, low profile prop would allow most things to slide off it?
Ellen & John
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit our website.
In Belhaven NC
The fee here is $1 per foot + $5 for a 30amp shore power connection per night. Fixed dock / on pilings.
The shore power is a bit unreliable, (some of the outlets do not work at all.)
The Belhaven Marina folks (next door) take the dockage fees and might offer some assistance. The town may dispatch an on-call employee to help (Ryan was very nice). But we were able to get our shore power outlet working by taking things into our own hands. There is no “dockmaster” per se. It is a first-come first-serve dock that is not staffed. (No reservations). Pay by going next store at the privately owned and operated Belhaven Marina.
Belhaven Marina does take reservations, and they offer laundry, showers, etc. Grand Manor Marina is another excellent marina in this port. Both have golf carts which one can use to re-provision.
Tonight we are trying out a new anchorage for us, Eastham Creek NC
We made R-4 then took a right in behind the second “point of land” (hard marsh), out of the marked channel.
Pros: The wind kept the horseflies under control (kinda). There was no wake from the ICW, and no fetch. There were NO local boats waking us. All the ATONs kinda made me think there might be a lot of local boat traffic. THERE HAS BEEN NONE! The depth was great for anchoring +/- 8 ft. No tide.
Cons: Crab pots, if you don’t like them, might be a negative here. We are from Maine, so, crab pots are not a problem!
This anchorage is a great spot to stop if you want to split the distance between Oriental NC and Belhaven or the Alligator River.
We may scoot in a bit deeper in this cove next time.
The two “ON” buttons that one presses to turn on the bow thruster had gotten “soft”. Sometimes we had to hit them 3 or 4 times before the LED indicator light came on.
Because the thruster is a critical tool for maneuvering and dock landings, we could not afford to have this switch continue to progress to failure.
The new replacement cost about $350 plus tax & ship. These are in-stock at Imtra in MA, and our local dealer had them drop ship to friends near our transient location.
Sleipner – Model # G (2-year warranty for pleasure boats / 1-year commercial)
So the mounting part of this job was going to require some creativity.
I went to the Inland Waterway Provision Company here in Oriental NC (walking distance from the docks) to see if they had some hardware for me to “McIver” a solution.
Two plastic mixing paddles (for fiberglass resin) and some longer wood screws, the correct diameter (#6), were acquired for under $4.
Cutting the paddles in half made them the perfect length to be backing “nuts” after pre-drilling holes to accept the screws from above that hold the new joystick in place.
I had a choice to simply fill the old mounting holes with caulk, OR to screw the old bezel which coincidentally fit around the face of the new joystick.
The solid “feel” of both the buttons and the joystick itself is superior to the old one! We are very happy with the outcome of this project.
Many Mainship’s original thruster controls were the push buttons for LEFT and RIGHT. The original owner of this boat left correspondence that shows that he replaced the button version over ten years ago. The buttons had become unreliable. His vendor recommended the joystick replacement as an upgrade.
Personally, I would recommend replacing any button controls with the joystick. One can operate the joystick by “feel” and it is very intuitive. You don’t have to constantly look down at the controls to make sure you are about to press the right button!
Digital Selective Calling (DSC) feature of all “mounted” Marine VHF radios can be a life saver in case you need assistance.
A “panic button” was pressed near us on Saturday morning.
Our chart plotter gave us the option of setting a waypoint at the point of origin, which we did. It was right on-line with our planned route for today!
So, we told the Coast Guard we would report what we could see from the position of the electronic MAYDAY call on DSC.
On AIS, we saw that SeaGem was the first boat on scene.
In the background, SeaGem can be seen above. Once SeaGem was told by the captain of Herkee that no assistance was needed, she steamed off. We simply let Herkee know we’d give them a slow pass.
They were anchored, and TowBoatUS was en route, as was a local USCG patrol boat.
We continued on our way. The crew of Herkee was no longer “in distress” and were a bit jovial about the start of their day.
Evidently they are in final preparations for their Great Loop adventure. So, taking the mast down was “on the list!”
Good Luck to the crew of Herkee! We will certainly be staying in touch!
So, Ray, why the description of a “powerhouse meeting”? Why the hyperbole?
Cruisers and Loopers rely upon information resources like Active Captain and Waterway Guide to make decisions on where to anchor OR which marina should we buy our dockage from.
The most important thing both of these resources offer are REVIEWS.
Reviews are an example of “crowdsourced” information contributed by mere mortals like you and me.
Many of us not only consume this information, but many take time to “donate” their observations to the Cruising & Looping communities… to you and me!
Tonight, Shelly and I succeeded at bringing this small group of six together for the first time:
Capt Mac Rubel and Captain Gene of Galene are two of the most generous REVIEWERS, the most generous contributors to Active Captain and Waterway guide.
I cannot name anyone who has appeared MORE OFTEN over the past years / decade than these two gentlemen.
What is amazing:
Mac and Gene had never met each other! (until tonight!)
What a great evening it was!
Tabatha was actually our server tonight. She did a fantastic job. Thank you Tabatha! This establishment was very busy; it was a Friday night after all.
Captains like Gene, Mac, and Ray display a huge volume of appreciation for our “Admirals” … there is not a lot of women around who embrace life on a boat. Thank you ladies for sharing this lifestyle with us. We could not do it without you!
For everyone else out there, two bits of advice:
1 – Seek out REVIEWS authored by Mac and Gene.
2 – Aspire to become a contributor like them!!! We all want YOUR observations, good and bad. Become a part of crowdsourcing. Facilitate a smarter community of Cruisers & Loopers.
Today returned to one of our favorite anchorages at ICW mm 210.5
The marina in this small harbor does not have any transient slips. But they do have pump-out ($0), ice, fuel, etc. So for us, it is a great well protected, anchorage with amenities.
There is a dinghy dock in the NW corner that is not 100% well maintained. But it is walking distance to a super Walmart, and there is a West Marine across the highway. Uber may make it safe, as I could not see any pedestrian crosswalks across this main highway.
I was able to ask a fellow WM customer for a ride back to the dinghy dock < 1/4 mile away. No problem!
During repairs & maintenance, this swing bridge south of USMC Camp Lejuene on the ICW (mm240.6) has been opening only at the top of the hour.
Click on pic below to see us clearing the bridge this hour at the 10:00am opening.
Galene led the way today. Click on the video below to see them crossing our bow on their way out of the marina at Carolina Beach State Park.
However,
We are trying to not do these long runs!
A 52.4 actual-mile travelled day taking over 6-1/2 hours making way underway is about twice our typical “comfort” target distance during retirement.
A large dredging operation at mm 293 was passed. Good thing it was high tide! There was some skinny water getting around the dredge.
But, we are pressing to Beaufort NC to help our buddy boat get to BOCK Marine for service, and to get re-connected with friends there. A longer day today makes for a better weekend!
Today’s successful passage to a favorite anchorage is Mile Hammock Bay ICW mm 244.3
There are 17 boats anchored in here tonight at last count!
Some of the 17 boats can be seen in this pic.
Darth & Andy caught our lines yesterday as we arrived at Carolina Beach State Park for two nights.
Captain Gene and I reciprocated this morning as they departed for Beaufort NC.
Their red Ranger Tug is named Little Red Fox.
They also have a blog!
https://www.lrfox.com
It looks great, I look forward to spending more time looking at their work.
But even more, we look forward to “Loop Frogging” with them up to the Trent Severn Waterway in Canada this summer.
https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/on/trentsevern
Here are some details to help you safely make it into this state park marina: https://shellerina.com//03/31/carolina-beach-state-park-marina/
$3.55/gallon diesel is the best price for miles around on the water, and the staff here have become friends in many ways.
The restaurant appears to be BOOMING with locals coming by car, on this Friday night.
The nearby launch ramp (just off our stern) has also seen a lot of activity this afternoon.
Links to past visits here:
https://shellerina.com//10/11/wacca-wache-3-/
https://shellerina.com//03/26/3-95-gallon-diesel-icw-mm-383-7/
Answer: because that’s the replacement for the one I dropped overboard today!
Fortunately, I had a new/spare aboard, that was close at hand (NOT buried deep in storage.)
I knew this was going to happen *someday* … $20.
The waste cap is the one most likely to drop overboard cuz the retainer “chain” isn’t used on Waste caps … no chain enables a good seal with the ‘honey pot’s’ business end.
We were introduced to this great anchorage by Capt Gene of Galene. 4/18/
Heading north, we made it through the skinny waters of McClellanville. With 3 feet of tide above MLLW, the skinniest water we saw was 7.0 feet of water on the line we were on.
The NEW dockmaster, Kimberly, is very friendly and helpful. She sent us this highlighted dock map so we knew precisely which slip was assigned to us.
Link to Haoye
Gene thanks Captain Pat Howard of Spartina whom he met dockside a few days ago for the tip about this great waterfront town in SC.
I guess we lucked out timing our arrival at slack tide AND just in time for Communion!
(There were several places open for Sunday Brunch. But our Admirals had fed us already.)
Thoughts On ART…
If you like art galleries, this town has them every 50 steps as one walks around the village, and the quality of the paintings that I could see, strongly suggested a return visit when I both
1) have more time
AND
2) have a home with walls to hang the art in!!!
FYI: One of the disadvantages of full time living aboard a boat is the lack of wall space to hang favorite pieces we have produced or found in places like Bluffton SC. (Though Patty has several of her small creations hanging up on Galene!)
(Side Note: We did enjoy gifting many pieces of our art “collection” from our ‘dirt’ home as we transitioned to a full-time live-aboard lifestyle in . I did not have the heart to have art wrapped up and sitting in storage! Art belongs on-display where it can be loved.)
Well worth the 7-mile trip up May River.
Ketch crossing our bow this hour. Click on the video below.
These anchorages are just a bit up-river from ICW mm 560. After a wonderful visit to see the town Bluffton SC from the municipal landing in the village, we came back out of May River to set up for a trip to Beaufort SC on Monday.
We learned first-hand the either east or west passage to the village of Bluffton works perfectly well. (The charts don’t make that decision clear. IMO)
Sat & Sun wakers can be annoying during the daylight hours anchored here. But otherwise it is a decent set anchorages if it isn’t blowing too hard.
.
This marina provided us shelter from the storm for three windy nights, and one day of heavy rain.
As you can see, the local isobars have finally distanced themselves from one another, and so the resulting winds have left us.
Photo courtesy of Galene’s drone! (Gene is getting pretty good at flying it.)
.
Twice this week Gene helped me solve “tight spot” electrical problems. This time it was the aft bilge pump system.
ICW mm 608
There is a sail CAT (unknown boat name) and three Mainship 390-s in this anchorage this hour: Loose Moose (Kathe & Bonnie), Galene (Patty & Gene), Shellerina (Shelly & Ray).
Off ICW mm 623 just south of St Catherines Sound.
https://mainuh.smugmug.com/Astronomy//Eclipse8April
Click on link to see a gr8 time lapse.
By Don Lockhart N1AO
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George: “I can’t wait for Aug for the next total eclipse in the US!”
Sunset at St Simons Island, Frederica River GA (ICW mm 674). The wind settled down to make for a perfect 24 mile passage from Brickhill Creek (North Cumberland Is GA) across St Andrews Sound to this great anchorage. We love the church bells ever 30 minutes here!
Noworriesloop DOT gmail
Very reasonable asking price IMO, includes dinghy & outboard.
Finishing their Loop in NJ soon (in Georgia now). Great people.
2 helms, Teak & Holly sole. Fine package.
The loads discharge the system at night and usually by early afternoon the LiFePO4 (Lithium Oxide) batteries are back up to 100% SOC (state of charge).
The orange line shows the amperage “in” and “out” of the system.
The blue line is SOC.
It is noteworthy that the recharge rate with this type of battery chemistry is so fast. The other advantage is that it is OK to discharge these down to, say, 10% or so without shortening their longevity. Both are features that are advantageous over lead acid chemistry.
.
((Triva: Evidently the noun pair can be followed by a singular OR plural verb! ref. American Heritage Dictionary))
I never knew that! Learn somethin’ new every day!
We have 70 feet of chain in the water here, and the snubber has been deployed, as it was blowin’ hard yesterday and this morning.
We “thread the needle” between a dredge and two boats aground at low tide today. ICW mm 703.3.
Fortunately, all we had to do is follow 3 other boats through this precarious place.
Two boats on the left ran aground. “The best time to run aground is at dead low tide.
ICW mm 716.5
Fernandina Beach FL
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We just took on 219 gallons of fuel at $3. !
Gotta feel good about that!
Best price on the whole East Coast!
From Sisters Creek ICW mm 740 (free dock), I was able to UBER to Ring Power (local CAT dealer near JAX airport for $23.32.
Then I UBER’d to grocer Publix for water ‘n’ wine: $8.24
Then UBER’d back to Jim King Park -Sisters Creek dock for $19.50.
Total without tips: $51.06
The alternator was $250 with a core (failed alternator returned).
Rebuilt CAT alternators no longer come with a v-belt pulley!?
The CAT guys had no problem taking the pulley off my returned alternator core and putting it on the new one.
The install went normally. It tested fine!
ICW mm 740
It is where the ICW (north) meets the St Johns River.
We took refuge here with Galene because of high wind advisory and small craft warnings for today (4/3/)
There is a free dock here with city water, and flush toilet facilities. There is no shore power, but “Whadaya want fer nothin, your money back?!
About a dozen cruisers can stay here on the north face of the dock. There is also room on the inside / shore side of this dock for 2 (possibly more) boats out on the end.
On our first day underway Monday April 1, we observed the alternator was not contributing to our boat’s system voltage underway.
With the alternator down, can also charge our main starting bank (3x G31 AGM) both from the generator OR from the sun / lithium bank. So I knew this alternator was something we had to fix, but it was not something that would hold us up… not imminently critical.
Monday night, on anchor at Blout Point, we were charging both battery banks with our generator. The dishes needed to be done, so I figured I’d turn on the water heater too. These are all on separate circuits and each have their own circuit breakers. There is also a main breaker on our distribution panel, and our experience is these breakers will operate as they should when an over-current condition exists.
Well, Monday night the generator failed. The symptoms were the GENERATOR’s own 70 amp circuit breaker tripped. Turning it back on did NOT work! So the preliminary diagnosis was, “The genset’s own breaker has failed.”
I determined that the accessibility (close quarters / confined space) made this project one that I could not handle. Dozens of calls were made to find someone who would service our 24 year old Kohler 6.5 kw generator that is obviously on our boat. No luck until I found Hinkley Yacht Services in Savannah GA. They said, “No problem! Bring it in next week.”
I explained to them that the diesel engine side of this system has been well maintained, and continues to work well. This electrical problem is simply something I needed their help with.
Then Gene asked me if he could have a look.
He has the same vintage Mainship 390 (m/v Galene) with the same generator. He also has more hands-on experience getting inside the electrical controls box atop these generators.
With some Sweat and Blood and Prayers, Gene found a wiring conductor failure right at the AC Breaker. The breaker itself tested fine.
Corrosion of the #6 or #8 copper wire made it unable to carry its full current capacity, so the wire overheated and failed right at the breaker.
The breaker did properly open to prevent a more disastrous end result. But the wire was toast, and resetting the breaker would not fix that problem.
So, with a replacement crimp connector from Galene’s ship’s store for this gauge wire, we were soon back in business, generating 120vac as needed.
Our battery banks were in good shape because of all the sun on Monday and Tuesday.
But, before this fix, being down to ONLY sunshine as a way to keep batteries up (BOTH the alternator + generator were down) made us feel VERY vulnerable.
In this way, Gene really came through for us right here at the free dock at Sister’s Creek ICW mm740!
Thank’s Gene! Next dinner out is certainly on us… but that’s not all.
Evidently the prayerful “deal” Gene made with The Almighty during this ordeal was that, God said to Gene, “If I help you make this work for Ray, he and Shelly have go worship at church with you and Patty at least once.”
Gene and Ray accepted the Good Lord’s terms, so “We truly have a deal to fulfill now!”
We pushed off at 10:00am to take advantage of tidal currents heading out of the St Johns River.
We secured at anchor 2.5 hours later in the Blount Is anchorage.
We’ll take on 200 gallons of fuel tomorrow at Port Consolidated near Fernandina Beach. Then we’ll be in GA and SC for a few weeks.
Unless ir is an April Fools joke, the Maine news paper is showing they are not having the best weather this week:
Are you interested in learning more about 6.5kW Marine Thruster for Yacht Maneuvering? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!