Bestevaer 49ST

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

Sticking with the Greek mythology link to names. I have always liked Prometheus for a metal boat, thinking of fire and the foundry process as a major gift to the world.

I am of course also enamoured with 'Pelagic'. [emoji4]

Prometheus had a very nasty end. No good comes of incurring Zeus's wrath. I don't think Poseidon would look on him very favourably .

Also an Alien fan here and the Prometheus expedition had another nasty ending.

Name choosing is fraught with pitfalls.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Fiveslide

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brizo

Brizo, the goddess.

Though, if you google just the word Brizo, the first information provided is about bath and kitchen faucets, showers and accessories.

At least toilets aren't included . I have come across boats named Harmonia (goddess of harmony) and instantly all I can think of is the loo cleaner.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Work is progressing rapidly, but despite all the activity there is not much new to photograph. In fact since all the floors are up and doors and drawers off the boat for oiling, it looks like a backward step. Lights are in though, and items like the anchor winch, bow thruster etc are being fitted.

As expected, the timber has darkened considerably and the rich grain is more apparent after oiling:

[noelex 77]

The timberwork has received its last coat of oil and looks truely spectacular. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to catch the effect in a photo. The depth and three dimensional detail of the grain does not show up, particularly the way it changes when it catches the light as you move around.

We specified solid timber rather than veneer. This has the advantage that any marks can be be sanded out without worrying about penetrating a thin layer, but it also gives the timber a wonderful glow. In some large areas this has been attached to plywood backing for stability, but all the timber seen is a minimum of 8mm even when this has been done.

Our request has given the carpenters at KM a lot of headaches. They sent back two whole boat loads of timber, much of which had already been milled to size before they were satisified with the quality.

I will try to take some better photos, but this drinks cabinet that is next to Refleks stove shows some of the detail of the grain. Its too nice to put anything on top . The two black pieces sticking up are just temporary spacers used to fit the lid correctly.

[JPA Cate]

It's looking good, noelex.

A.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

The timberwork has received its last coat of oil and looks truely spectacular. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to catch the effect in a photo. The depth and three dimensional detail of the grain does not show up, particularly the way it changes when it catches the light as you move around.

One word....

Video...

[Tayana42]

One word...

beautiful...

[noelex 77]

Solar installation.

Solar power has produced virtually all our power on our last two yachts. As we will be living aboard this yacht, as we did with the last one, reliable, efficient solar power is essential.

We have installed 3 x Sunpower 335w panels. These are efficient at 21% and by all accounts have good low light and hot temperature performance. Shade is big killer of solar power and our installation is in a very shade free location (for a boat). We have resisted the temptation to install antennas, aerials and radar where they will cast any shadows.

There are two fundamental options when installing a solar controller for this sort of sized installation. The first is one of the large good quality controllers such as the Outback or Midnite. These are wonderful controllers. They track the MPP very well, and have an efficient voltage to voltage conversion. They also have important battery control features (especially important for gel batteries) such as terminating the absorption using battery return amps and proper temperature compensation. The biggest drawback is that when multiple panels are connected they can only use one input voltage. Finally, they have reasonably high self consumption which can really hurt the output on very poor days, which is when you most need an efficient system.

We took this approach with our previous boat, fitting an Outback controller and were very happy the results.

The second approach is to fit a greater number (often one per panel) of smaller controllers. The biggest advantage is redundancy and the ability to track the powerpoint of each panel separately. This latter feature is very helpful when panels are mounted in different locations and/or subject to localised shade. The drawback is the controllers are less sophisticated. The tracking is potentially less precise and most of the features such as using battery return amps and on some units even external temperature compensation are not available. Self consumption is potentially higher because there are more units, although each unit tends to have lower self consumption because the processing power is less.

The cost of one large controller tends to similar to multiple smaller controllers, although this can vary depending on exactly what is needed.

With the new installation we have adopted the multi controller approach with three Victron Smartsolar 100/20 units (one per panel). The primary reason was redundancy. As we live aboard, reliable solar power is essential. Rigid solar panels are very reliable but the same cannot be said for MPPT controllers. The cheap units are very prone to failure and even the expensive units have a reasonable number of breakdowns. Our old system used "12V" panels. So with some care and supervision it was possible to connect the panels directly to the batteries in the event of controller failure. The new panels have a much higher output voltage. It is still possible to connect these high voltage panels directly to batteries, but the output is reduced, and critically if the battery voltage is not monitored very carefully there is the real chance of destroying all the electronics in your chart plotters, instruments etc. In most circumstances it would not be worth the risk. So relying on single controller has far more potential to leave us with no solar power.

The all important performance of the new system will be interesting to see. Data on issues that have an important impact on output such as self consumption, voltage conversion efficiency and tracking ability are often not documented.

I will write another post about why I chose the 100/20 model as opposed to some of the other sizes that are available and could have potentially worked.

[Kenomac]

I missed it earlier. Will you have a generator onboard? If not, why not on a boat this size and this costly?

[Pete7]

New name: "Gordian"

Or if not how about this stuff, there is a rather saucy advertising campaign being run at the moment.

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

The timberwork has received its last coat of oil and looks truely spectacular. ...The depth and three dimensional detail of the grain does not show up, particularly the way it changes when it catches the light as you move around.

...

I will try to take some better photos, but this drinks cabinet that is next to Refleks stove shows some of the detail of the grain. Its too nice to put anything on top . The two black pieces sticking up are just temporary spacers used to fit the lid correctly.

Enlarging the photo shows beautiful grain and the color is just lovely!

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Will you have a generator onboard?

There will be no generator, Ken. This is a decision that needs to made very early in the design process. So many systems from cooking to hot water generation are different on a boat relying primarily on generator power versus a boat relying on solar.

Our first yacht only had solar charging. Our second yacht, which we lived on for 10 years, had a generator when we purchased her, but the generator was unused (apart from running to keep it working) once we fitted solar. So we are confident that no generator is the right decision for us, especially with our aim of keeping systems as reliable as possible. Of course, others will have completely different priorities.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

There will be no generator, Ken. This is a decision that needs to made very early in the design process. So many systems from cooking to hot water generation are different on a boat relying primarily on generator power versus a boat relying on solar.

Our first yacht only had solar charging. Our second yacht, which we lived on for 10 years, had a generator when we purchased her, but the generator was unused (apart from running to keep it working) once we fitted solar. So we are confident that no generator is the right decision for us, especially with our aim of keeping systems as reliable as possible. Of course, others will have completely different priorities.

OOHHH, NO, nolex... you are gonna be camping!

Jim

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

OOHHH, NO, nolex... you are gonna be camping!

Jim

.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

There will be no generator, Ken. This is a decision that needs to made very early in the design process. So many systems from cooking to hot water generation are different on a boat relying primarily on generator power versus a boat relying on solar.

Our first yacht only had solar charging. Our second yacht, which we lived on for 10 years, had a generator when we purchased her, but the generator was unused (apart from running to keep it working) once we fitted solar. So we are confident that no generator is the right decision for us, especially with our aim of keeping systems as reliable as possible. Of course, others will have completely different priorities.

Thanks for getting back. Our boat is now also 100% solar powered most of the time since we added 450w, and it seems like yours with 1000w should be enough. I've often thought of adding another 450w, but can't justify it financially with the 10kw generator already onboard.

Question: How will you produce your hot water on a daily basis? When I'm alone onboard hot water isn't an issue with solar, as I don't mind a luke warm shower, but my wife likes hers quite hot, otherwise I have to listen to complaints.... which then necessitates a generator run for an hour on days when the engine isn't run.