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Thread: Interested in a boat for 2018 TransPac

  1. #151
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    Quote Originally Posted by jamottep View Post

    The big question is how does this all integrate nicely into one piece of SW. Is there a piece of SW that does it all out there?
    I doubt it. Too many different instruments, boats, laptops, and user preferences. To say nothing of the welter of proprietary network protocols pushed by the instrument manufacturers. Just spent the weekend getting a new laptop dialed into the various boat functions the old laptop had done. A lot of trial and error. It's a Windows 10 machine and Device Manager is where I spent a whole lot of time trying to get the machine to recognize and accept input from GPS, AIS, and also talk to and listen to the Pactor modem -- all through different serial-to-USB processes. The Pactor modem, for example, has one USB plug into the computer, and creates two serial ports in Device Manager, only one of which seems to matter to Airmail (the software program that gets you email, GRIB files, and weather fax maps via SailMail/SailDocs over an SSB or sat phone).

    It's all doable, because you are just looking to solve one boat. It's maddening while you are doing it. Any number of times it would seem that things were all working, and on the next try it all went to hell. The goal is to find a protocol for the instruments and computer you are using that is consistently repeatable -- and then document it for yourself so that when you are back trying to get a weather fax for the first time in a month or two you don't have to reinvent the wheel.

    And ditto on BobJ's remark: sail the boat. This kind of stuff should never be the focus of attention when the weather is good.

  2. #152
    pogen's Avatar
    pogen is offline Sailing canoe "Kūʻaupaʻa"
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    On the software front, you should definitely get the free program NavMonPC, it is a fantastic debug tool and also very good for enroute.

    http://www.navmonpc.com/

    If you have a hardware NMEA/AIS multiplexer and this program and OpenCPN, you can go anywhere. OpenCPN can even integrate radar signals. OpenCPN also displays GRIBS. And OpenCPN also has a routing module that uses your polars (although I never got it to work, mostly due to lack of time. )

    I did Transpac and Longpac with just these free programs, along with the satphone email program.

  3. #153
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    Jun 2010
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    Quote Originally Posted by jamottep View Post
    About the keel ... here's what I've observed:

    1. The forward bottom tip of the keel was repaired.
    2. There is a small crack at the front and a dip at the back, in addition to the hairline crack on the starboard side.
    3. The bolt/nuts seem to have been epoxied in place (my guess on the epoxy). See attached picture. So I can't give them a turn and check torque, not without making them free.
    4. Folks at the yard (sailors) had a look at the keel and said all is good ... just need gel coat work if I insist. Someone went inside and checked the nuts and thought it looked good (Really? Are nuts epoxied in like that all the time).
    5. One guy also said the keel on the Olson 30 is on a stubby, and there is no crack at the stubby mark.
    6. Ah the joy of boat ownership: what will fail next?
    RE: #5, there are two different places to look for cracks. At the boat to stubby and at the stubby to keel. Small cracks on the outside are not necessarily a problem. The amount of flexing of keel when shook suspended in a hoist is impressive. Quite a bit of flexing can be normal. I put a few marks on your photo where to look for cracks developing and expanding. I had a keel problem, so I have seen these. My boat actually developed a leak, since repaired. The cracks that you would see from the inside are easily visible. You have a few small cracks, marked on the photo. If it doesn't leak after a hard sail in some steep chop, it will probably be fine. I guess the previous owner may have epoxied the keel bolts to prevent water going down and around the bolts. This is not standard, but I can imagine why someone would think to do that.

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  4. #154
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    Quote Originally Posted by pogen View Post
    On the software front, you should definitely get the free program NavMonPC, it is a fantastic debug tool and also very good for enroute.

    http://www.navmonpc.com/

    If you have a hardware NMEA/AIS multiplexer and this program and OpenCPN, you can go anywhere. OpenCPN can even integrate radar signals. OpenCPN also displays GRIBS. And OpenCPN also has a routing module that uses your polars (although I never got it to work, mostly due to lack of time. )

    I did Transpac and Longpac with just these free programs, along with the satphone email program.
    You reminded me that I have this Brookhouse mux. The digital display was an option and can be plugged into the mux to help diagnose issues. I ended up not using it and now Rags is almost entirely NMEA 2000. Will sell for a modest contribution to the boat kitty.

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  5. #155
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    How old is that Olson 30? 30 years? 35? If something was built badly and was going to break, don't you think it would have done so, already? That doesn't mean that you shouldn't look over things carefully, but if a couple of boat repair pros say "it's fine" then....

    Regarding the electronics...you should do what makes you happy. If muddling with computers and signals and whatnot makes you happy, then you should do what makes you happy. But if it were me and I couldn't sail the boat, yet, I would go over all the rigging. Instead of paying money for more electronic widgets right now, I might replace some running rigging. I would take the sails off and lay them out on the grass (when it's not an absolute deluge from the sky) and inspect them. I would take the sails that needed some work to a sailmaker. I would fire up the outboard and putt-putt around the harbor a little bit to make sure that it works and pee's out cooling water. If it was a 4-cycle and I didn't know when it had last been serviced, I might take it home and do that...or give it to someone who can service it. I"d make sure the VHF radio works. If there's an autopilot, I'd make sure that works, and will steer the boat in a straight line while putt-putting around the lower harbor.

    But that's just me. You should do what makes you happy.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  6. #156
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    May 2015
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    So ... no repair pro has checked the keel ... only old salts ... It is obvious that something happened to the keel. I'm going to monitor, maybe take close up pictures to come back to 6 months later and compare.

    All good suggestions and I've done pretty much everything you describe. I just keep forgetting the auto-tiller. The rigging was re-done a little over year ago.

    At this time I really want to get on the water ... maybe I'll satisfy myself with puttering around the harbor ... Some say it could take up to April for the channel entrance to clear ...

    There's gelcoat repair and more sail repair/checks still waiting for me ... I just taped my first micro tear on a spinnaker, right at the edge of the luff tape. Not sure it'll last. The gelcoat repair I don't look forward to ...

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  7. #157
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    Nov 2013
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    Gel coat? That boat has been painted. Don't even worry about it. Maybe just brush on a couple layers of 2 part epoxy on the rail ding, sand it and paint it. The scuff on the hull...leave it alone unless you plan painting the whole boat. Go sailing.

  8. #158
    Join Date
    May 2009
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    Ill give you a dollar

    Quote Originally Posted by BobJ View Post
    You reminded me that I have this Brookhouse mux. The digital display was an option and can be plugged into the mux to help diagnose issues. I ended up not using it and now Rags is almost entirely NMEA 2000. Will sell for a modest contribution to the boat kitty.

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  9. #159
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    If there was a "thumbs up" smiley, I'd used it here!

    April? Really? Yuck.
    1968 Selmer Series 9 B-flat and A clarinets
    1962 Buesher "Aristocrat" tenor saxophone
    Piper One Design 24, Hull #35; "Alpha"

  10. #160
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    Jan 2013
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    Berkeley Marina
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    Like Steevee says, I wouldn't even bother with the 2nd one. You're bound to earn a couple more anyway.
    For the one at the deck joint, just tear away the broken bits, sand it, and glob on some putty (Marinetex is nice, but the cheaper polyester stuff will also do just fine), then sand the glob after it cures. You could leave it as is, but personally I'd spend the 15 minutes on that one because it looks like a potential snag or tear hazard to lines, sails, and hands.

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