Category: Sailing

The batteries in Changabang predate my ownership. At best, they must date from before the RdR 2018, probably 6 months before that. In other words, they are at least 6 years old. That’s pushing it for what they are I think:

• House batteries: three 105 Amps flooded sealed lead acid batteries.
• Starting battery: I don’t know for sure, but likely 70 Amps, which is what the old manual for the Volvo Penta D1-30 required 20 years ago. I think the chemistry is Calcium. I’d need to remove it to confirm.

The engine starts just fine on the battery, with no sputtering. I can’t find a similar battery for sale so I’m not sure what this is TBH. It also means that I have no idea if these require some sort of maintenance. That said, there are plenty of choices to replace it.

The battery monitoring system in place is not working correctly though so I am not sure how much capacity is left in the house bank. They have been used offshore for at least 2 months. It’s hard to say how much is left in them.

All the above to say that replacing the batteries has been on my mind. And that means that there may be an opportunity to change chemistry and explore LiFePO4 batteries. And this got me in a few rabbit holes, soul searching. Hence this post to help me organize my thoughts!

Before I dig in further, I’ll lead with a few words about charging capabilities on CaB.

Charge!

On CaB we have the following sources of electricity:

• The 115 Amps alternator: a Mitsubishi a3tr0093am. This requires the engine to run, which requires fuel. This charges both starting and house banks.
• The shore power charger: a Cristec CPS3 12 V / 25 A. This requires … shore power! This charges both starting and house banks.
• The Watt & Sea Cruising 300 hydrogenerators and their converters, which are only connected to the house batteries. This requires that the boat moves. At 5 kts we can get 9 Amps with the big prop. And when we move very slowly, the boat may be mostly flat and we may be able to get both working together to help in those situations.
• A bunch of 100 W or so solar panels and a Victron BlueSolar charge controller MPPT 75 | 15, which is only connected to the house batteries. This requires … sun!

Use cases

Ok, so the first thing is to figure out what my use cases are for batteries.

Of course, there’s the engine starter battery. But there’s more to this because this battery may die, hence the house battery must be able to at least a few times start the engine. And, similarly, the house battery may die and the starter battery must be able to step in to drive all the boat’s systems.

Next is to define how I would use the house bank. This bank drives everything on the boat except the engine starter, so let’s clarify how I plan to use the boat:

1. The boat is just sitting in port most of the time.
2. I’m doing afternoon sails.
3. I’m going offshore for an offshore race.
4. I’m going offshore for a RTW attempt.

Sitting in port

All that matters here is that the batteries are kept charged up and not left to discharge for a long time. “A long time” means different things for different chemistry. For lead acid, if I was not to do anything with the boat for more than 6 weeks, I would want a charger to keep them floating or top them up regularly (which is what I do now with the shore power charger). For LiFePO4 my understanding is that the discharge rate is so low that it doesn’t matter (it is recommended to charge them before storing them for a long period, e.g. 3+ months). If we combine chemistries then we are facing two different charging profiles.

Afternoon sails

The starting battery is used twice (to leave the dock and return), maybe a few more times. I’m motoring likely 30 minutes in total, maybe more. The hope there is that the 115 Amps alternator will run enough to top up the starting battery.

Then we sail for something like 4-8 hours, drawing something like 5 Amps from the battery (a good guess), for a total of 40 Amps. Let’s round that up to 50 Amps, which is about 15% of the battery bank. Again the alternator will feed some back in but what I am also doing every so often is plugging the batteries on the shore charger to top them back up.

The bottom line is that these events do not require charging while at sea and the batteries can be topped up in port. If anything fails then it’s not a big deal because we can get back in port safely, even if that means finding a downwind slip/side-tie to sail in, should we not be able to start the engine. Worst case: one could call a tow boat.

Offshore race

Here we need to consider the return trip as well. Sailing to Hawaii is about 1.5 weeks and sailing back is about 2.5 weeks. The key assumption is how we can approach redundancy. In other words, I feel like we only need one backup plan, not 3 or 4 as would be needed when sailing non-stop RTW.

In a race, the engine should not be used, except on an exception basis:

1. An MOB recovery or anything else that requires the engine.
2. All charging options fail and that leaves us with the engine to charge the house batteries. In fact, the backup charging plan is probably the engine (and a solar panel maybe).

Also, we should be in movement all the time, so the hydrogenerators can be used to top up the batteries.

RTW

Here we do want multiple solutions to charge the batteries and we need multiple solutions should the starting bank or the house bank fail. This is a more serious conversation but one that can easily be solved with a spare house battery, a spare starting battery (or a jump starter), and three charging solutions already onboard (engine, solar, HG). So I won’t consider this use case too much for now.

LiFePO4 issues

Considering an upgrade to LiFePO4 here are the issues I see:

• Considering cost it’s best to not use a LiFePO4 battery for the starting bank. This means that we will have two different battery chemistries, each with its own charging profile. This in turn likely means that charging devices can only be allocated to one type of battery, not both as some are currently. This needs to be explored to confirm that’s possible without too much change to the electrical system on CaB.
• To address the need for a backup to the starting bank to start the engine, a house bank must be able to start the engine several times without suffering serious damage that would affect its ability to serve as a house bank. Many LiFePO4 manufacturers explicitly state to not use their battery to start engines. Some support starting gasoline engines. An alternative solution to explore is a jump starter.
• Charging from the alternator is a problem with LiFePO4, as the alternator can suffer serious damage under certain circumstances.

A proposed solution

Here’s a proposal that I think would work:

• Keep the starting battery.
• Find a solution to connect the alternator and the shore power charger to only the starting battery. This may not be as easy as it seems as I think that everything is going to be a bus bar today.
• Replace the three house batteries with one LiFePO4 battery of 100 Ah or more, with an integrated BlueTooth BMS.

And here’s how things would go for each use case above:

1. In port and afternoon sails: as I do now, keep the starting battery topped up by using the shore power every so often. Use a solar panel to slowly charge up the LiFePO4 battery when not in use. Alternatively, use a simple charger to top up the battery while putting the boat away or preparing it before leaving.
2. Offshore racing: as I do now, use the hydrogenerators to charge the house battery. Every week, start the engine and charge the starting battery using the alternator. If the starting battery fails then have a jump starter to start the engine. If the house battery fails then swap in the starting battery. For this reason, it may be best to replace the current one with a larger dual-purpose one, assuming it can be fitted in the small space.
3. RTW sailing: same as above but replacing the 100 Ah battery with a larger one and with the addition of a spare LiFePO4 battery and a spare starting battery (in addition to the jump starter).

The weaknesses in the above are:

1. I don’t have a battery monitor on the starting battery. This could be partially solved with a voltmeter indicator.
2. I can’t use the alternator to charge the LiFePO4 battery (well I could but then I could run into problems). This can be partially solved with a DC-DC charger in between the starting battery and the LiFePO4 battery.
3. There’s only one house battery and if it shuts down for some reason (BMS intervention for example) then the boat would be without electricity. An option could be to use multiple LiFePO4 batteries.

Budget

Essentially the bare minimum approach here only requires purchasing a LiFePO4 battery. The prices vary wildly; with budget ones in the $250 range (LiTime), mid-range in the $400 range (SOK marine grade 100 Ah), and premium going all the way beyond $1000. Improvements include a diesel engine jump starter ($100?), a DC-DC charger ($300), and an additional LiFePO4 battery.

What’s next?

Validate the current wiring and see what’s possible. My guess is that there is a bus bar for charging to which both systems are connected. If that is then it would be a matter of creating a separate bus bar to charge the house bank. The alternator and shore charger would remain in place. The hydrogenerators and solar panels would go to the new bus bar. And possibly a DC-DC charger would be setup in between both bus bars.

Today we met with David H. our PacCup inspector. He did a thorough job at checking that we met the race requirements, and we passed! The past 4 months of work have paid off. This is a major milestone on our get ready list. There are a few more, not the least being two videos: one of a crew overboard recovery, and the other of us steering with a drogue.

I think I had taken the storm sails out of their bag a while ago but I just couldn’t exactly remember how they looked. There is the trysail, a large storm jib, and a smaller one. For the PacCup we’ll only take the large storm jib with us.

The new sails will soon be ready too. So things are progressing nicely.

After a few adjustments, I think we’re now very close to having a straight mast! Next weekend I’ll ease the port V1 a half turn again and I think we’ll be spot on then.

Last Saturday we also looked into the anchoring situation to ensure that we meet the requirements for the PacCup race. Surprisingly, I would have to say that the French and the Americans may disagree on this topic. I’m assuming that Changabang came equipped with the proper anchoring equipment as required by the Class40 rules. And that doesn’t work for the PacCup.

There are two anchors on CaB, of the same type, one heavy and one light, which should work in sand or mud bottoms. We have 4 links of chain (we forgot to measure its proof/coil size though): 14 ft 2 in, 18.5 ft, 36 ft, 51 ft. This should be plenty to meet the requirements but we were short on 3-strand nylon rope, of which I purchased 200 ft (and a thimble, which I’ll have to splice in).

I also had to purchase a floating lamp for the life sling. I think that’s it for this weekend! Plenty more to do on the engine front …

We learned that a picture helps better determine if the mast is straight, and we discovered it wasn’t as straight as we thought. In an attempt to restore straightness, we eased the starboard D2, which helped, but it’s not perfect yet. So there will be more attempts: easing the starboard D1, taking on the port V1. And if that doesn’t do it then we’ll start from zero.

In the business of small jobs, we also mounted a holder for the Dan Buoy. I serviced the mainsheet and spinnaker sheet port cam cleats (all others had been taken care of already). The spring action wasn’t perfect. I also replaced the D shackle of the mainsail halyard block, which was showing signs of chafe (stainless steel chafing!). I’ve received most of what I need to continue the engine maintenance, so it’s a matter of finding the courage to go through that now. Last weekend we topped up the fuel tank and added a few additives (biocide, injector cleaner)

In addition to being our navigator, Alex is now also our Safety Officer, preparing us for our first round of inspection on 2/3/2024 with David H.

I sold the old standalone GPS for $100 on eBay so that was taken out of Changabang.

Pfew, on Double Espresso, with the old outboard, there was no maintenance that I did. But Changabang’s diesel engine is more demanding. It’s also essential as without it I can’t imagine myself getting out of and into my slip (as I could with Double Espresso). So today I took a day off work to make more progress and:

• Clean the seawater strainer.
• Replace the seawater pump impeller. When inspected the old one had a couple of small cracks.

After I placed orders for oil and coolant: next are the oil change on the sail drive and the coolant flush.

I also replaced one of the two fire extinguishers. The show must go on … The thing that most preoccupies me with the PacCup race is getting to the start line and not being 100% ready. I don’t mean from a sailing skills perspective )as that can always be improved) but from a boat systems perspective.

I explored a couple of other items too:

1. The purchase system to pull down the hydrogenerators: I flipped it and now I can reuse an existing cam cleat instead of installing another one. I also extended one of the lines, which was too short and always a mess to hook to the purchase/tackle. I put anti-chafe tape where the line may be chafing.
2. I explored a new solution to lead the backstay control line to the cabin top winch. It’s pretty straightforward with a line from a toe rail pad eye with a low friction ring deflecting the backstay control line to the winch. I don’t think that winch can take a lot of load but it’s certainly a start.

Moving on …

After the lubrication system, I focused on the fueling system. I replaced the fuel filter and the fuel pre-filter insert today. Next, I’ll have to care for the cooling system, the seawater pump, and the seawater filter.

Yesterday I spent some time in the navigation table removing a few old items and cables. It looks a little tidier in there but it’s still a messy bundle of cables. I also removed the old satellite terminal.

Today with Alex we also started sorting out the liferaft situation. The access door was well shut so we had to cut through the seal and we’ll have to get that repaired. I think we have a good solution now (which was there all along):

1. Open the aft access door to the liferaft compartment;
2. Pull the liferaft out and let it drop into the water;
3. Pull the painter to a cleat if necessary;
4. When ready to board, proceed.

Last, we cleared out a few last hurdles for the safety list of the PacCup and identified what needs to be done. One thing that’s amazing with these events is the number of small things that need to be thought through. It all adds up. Most importantly these things need to be tested at sea. There are still plenty of big things to go through for sure, for example:

• Film a crew overboard recovery sessions.
• Devise an alternative method of steering (drogue?) and test it upwind and downwind.
• Figure out our sail crossover chart.

So we did re-install the Kevlar cables but … the headstay is not tight enough and there is too much tension in the V1 (Alex got a Loos gauge!). So we’ll have to re-do the headstay lashing. Oh, oh, and Alex put the down payment for a new A2 and a new (fancy) jib!

In the small updates category, I replaced the three 12V sockets. This is both preventive maintenance (corrosion possibly damaging these) and an upgrade (replacing two of the cigarette lighter sockets with USB plugs).

I also ventured into diesel engine maintenance today, which proved to be quite hellish. I purchased the parts to replace the oil filter, fuel filter, pre-filter fuel insert, and impeller. I also purchased an oil extractor. So today I proceeded to extract the oil with what proved to be more a toy than a tool. It took almost two hours. Then I tried to twist off the oil filter but it wouldn’t budge. To make a long story short it took three trips to the Nappa store downtown Half Moon Bay to get the right tool (and with traffic, each trip was about 45-60 minutes long). Ultimately, I got the oil filter off and a new one in. So I think that job is done pending leak monitoring over the next few engine runs. So that’s 1 of 5 jobs and it took me 7 hours. At this rate … What’s left is 2 filters, the impeller, and a coolant topping or flushing.

My trip to France was not as successful as I had hoped. The big plan was to get in with the NavTec cables, drop them at the rigger, pick them up on my way back to the airport, and fly back with them. Well, it was a tight plan and it didn’t work. Don’t fret, they were shipped back, and I got them yesterday after a few hooplas with the customs clearance. And here’s the box after a long trip!

Today, with Alex, we put it all back together. As discussed in the previous post, I replaced the chainplate fitting and this will work much better for at least two reasons: one, there isn’t room for chafe; second, if there is chafe it will be visible! As previously, getting enough tension in the headstay took a couple of tries. And I think we may still want it tighter than it is now.

Unless I’m getting taxed for import, the cost will have been less than $5,000 (not including my trip to France) to replace the headstay, the inner headstay, the 2 upper backstays.

There are still quite a few things to do to get ready for the PacCup event so more to come!

I combined visiting my mother with sailing related activities. Monday we were in Locmariaquer visiting with Xavier of Atelier Cables. They were the original riggers of CaB. We may be able to make things work and I may be able to bring the new cables back with me next week. After a very long day we sleep in Quiberon. The next morning I hiked along the Côte Sauvage (like I did two years ago). After that we had lunch with the team at Atelier Cables and discussed things more, in particular how the headstay lashing is being damaged. Originally the fitting was going to be something else but the builder decided against. We’re going back to the original design. It’s ugly and heavy but it should prevent the lashing from fraying. The fitting to the head chainplate is also original so we decided to replace with a new one.

New headstay setup!

On our way back to my mother’s we stopped in Nantes and I spent a couple of hours with François Lucas. The key takeaway was the chart below. In total there should be about 4 cubic meter of reserve buoyancy. It would be good to add more in the back to even out though.

A few months ago we decided to replace the headstay, the inner headstay, and the upper backstays. The plan is to replace them with equivalent NavTex and even re-use the end fittings of these sleeved Kevlar cables. Today we took them down. Alex first sent me up the mast to retrieve the inner headstay and the upper backstays. And then we released the turnbuckles for the D1 and the V1 so that we could remove the headstay lashing. All the while we kept the mast under forward tension using the jib and the spinnaker halyards. We reset the turnbuckles and loaded the inner backstays. I think the mast is well stabilized.

I brought the 4 cables home and fit them in a suitcase to take them back to France, here: https://ateliercables.fr/

While we were there I also charged the batteries a bit and started the engine. It will at least be 3 weeks before we sail again.