Alajuela 38
On October 24, almost seven months after first going on the hard with a dead engine, Aegir-Ran splashed with a new Beta 38 engine.
The next morning, a beautiful sunrise was observed. This certainly beats the dusty work yard.
Aegir-Ran has been without a working engine since its Westerbeke 35C seized up earlier this year. After a two month effort, she has been repowered with a Beta Marine 38. After removing the transmission of the Beta, it was lifted into the cockpit.
Because of the hard dodger, it was necessary to manhandle the engine into the companionway, where I had constructed a gantry crane to lower it into the galley.
The engine was lowered onto a platform I had built in the galley, which was the right height to slide the engine onto the rails.
Despite a model of the engine had been built, it was necessary to modify the brackets for the engine mounts to properly align the transmission with the prop shaft. After completing the electrical and plumbing the engine, we found it fired up instantly.
During the past couple of shake-down cruises, I have kept track of the foods I eat most often, especially while underway. Instant oatmeal was very popular. I have previously used commercial recipes, but decided to develop my own. The ingredients include hot links (just click to purchase).
Measure out 1 ½ cups rolled oats and add the rest of the dried ingredients. Mix in a food processor with a blade. Add the rest of the oats, dried fruit, and nuts. Divide into 2/3 cup portions. Add 1 cup boiling water to each serving and let steep 1-2 minutes.
There are only a few things on Aegir-Ran that require 120 volts : Starlink, laptop charging, the ice maker, and the milk foamer. Running the inverter for these items is problematic: 1) it wastes some energy, perhaps 10-20% (which is lost as heat), 2) It makes an audible noise, and 3) it creates electrical noise that interferes with some of the electronic equipment, like the VHF radio. Of these applications, Starlink is used most often, so I decided to convert it to 12 volts. My first effort was home-built, but I found the results to be unreliable. I subsequently read that Starlink is particularly sensitive to electronic noise (because the cable between the antenna and the modem is used for both power and for data). I turned to a commercial product, the XTAR-LINK.
The $200 plug-and-play XTAR-LINK comprises of: 1) a (cheap) 12 volt router, 2) a box that includes power injector (POI), a transformer that bumps 12 volts to the 48 volts that Starlink uses, and cross-over wiring that converts the proprietary wiring scheme of Starlink to the T568. Ethernet standard, and 3) a box accepts the proprietary Gen 2 Starlink router plug. Once assembled and the router was programmed, the system fired up immediately and has run for a month without incident. I have not measured the energy savings, but XTAR-LINK claims “up to 30%”, which is the result of not having to run the inverter and because the router is more energy-efficient. I have found the router that was provided operates at a longer distance than the Starlink one does, and it has the advantage of having Ethernet and USB ports (which for example can be used for a data drive).
I have been working on Aegir-Ran on the hard for the past two months. Everyone in the work yard have been complaining about how much hotter and more humid that normal, and how the summer weather is lasting longer than normal. NPR recently published a story that discussed the relationship between the weather and storms. In the story there was a chart that confirmed my suspicions that the water is warmer than normal.
Warm water fuels hurricanes and the unusually warm temperatures of 2024 have no doubt contributed to conditions that allowed Hurricane Beryl formed in June (the most powerful storm ever recorded so early in the season) and why Helene and Milton (both Category 4 storms) formed in the Gulf of Mexico within two weeks of one another in September.
Since I have changed the fuel storage and I am replacing the Westerbeke 35C with a Beta 38, I need to re-estimate the range under power. I previously estimate the range to be 625 NM.
Consulting the performance curves for the Beta 38:
And, considering the tankage of 60 gal for the main tank + 15 gal in the day tank + 30 gal on the deck = 105 gal total, assuming 2200 RPM (fuel consumption is about 2.0 l/h = 0.53 gal/h), and assuming Aegir-Ran would achieve 5 NM/h at 2200 RPM, I calculate a range of:
1 h/0.53 gal x 105 gal = 198 h; 198 h x 5 NM/h = 990 NM
Once the boat splashes, I will begin keeping an accurate fuel log.
Now that I have fuel level sensors and a fuel monitoring system on the NEMA 2000 network, I will start keeping closer track of actual fuel usage.
I looked around for a harness for my outboard motor. After reading several negative reviews and speaking with a friend who was disappointed with his purchase, I decided to make my own. The main problem with the existing harnesses is they are “universal”, and so do not fit a particular motor very well. I sewed a custom harness for my Yamaha F6 in about 30 minutes. It probably cost $2 in material, saving me over $50.
I have a TIP (Temporary Import Permit) for Aegir-Ran which in principle lets me import replacement parts duty-free. However, every time I cross the border and show the paperwork, the import officials do not seem to know anything about the permit. Naturally, I was concerned about importing a new/expensive engine, so I collected advice from many fellow sailors regarding the process. Unfortunately, I obtained conflicting advice, especially with respect to whether I would need to remove the old engine from Mexico. S/V Pono imported a engine two years ago, so I followed their recommendation.
Since I traded my Westerbeke 35C for labor, the diesel mechanic gave me a dead Yanmar engine to take across the border. I figured this would work because my TIP does not actually list the make of the engine. It does list the serial number, but I took a chance that the officials would not look too closely. As it turned out, that was the case.
The trip to the US was quite an adventure. I borrowed a 1995 Dodge Dakota pickup. About 50 miles from the border, the idle pulley bearings failed, throwing the serpentine belt, which slammed into one of the water hoses, cracking the radiator. I got a ride to the nearest Autozone, got a new pulley, and installed it on the road. However, I did not have the tools to replace the radiator. I limped to the border a few miles at a time, stopping to refill the radiator. On the way, I stopped at the Banjercito, which is located just south of Nogalas (Carretera Nogalas-Hermosillo KM 21, 84107 Nogalas). Parking to the north of the group of building, I walked through the building to the back, where the Banjercito was located. After showing Aegir-Ran’s TIP, I requested two forms that are called “Registro de importacion temporal.” One form is for export of the old engine and the other for import of the new engine (shown below).
The only difference between the two forms is the export form lists the serial number for the old engine and “Sestitucion” is checked whereas the other form lists the new engine and “Integracion” is checked (circled on the form. The official at the Banjercito did not want to see the old engine.
I limped across the border. Fortunately, there wasn’t a line at 6:00 PM on a Friday going north (although there was a huge line going south). The US Border Agent did not believe my story about the old engine in the truck bed, so I had to have the truck X-rayed. Fortunately, that did not take too long. Once I crossed the border, I contacted a radiator shop to make an appointment in the morning and I got a room a mile away from the shop at a Motel 6 in Nogalas. In the morning, I took the truck to the shop. They worked all day on the truck and eventually had to order a new radiator from Tucson. Finishing the work about 6:00 PM, I drove to Tucson.
The next morning, I dropped the old engine off at a recycling center (I got $25 for the 450 lbs of steel) and I went to the freight company where they loaded the new engine with a forklift.
The next day I drove to San Carloes. The customs agent wanted to see both forms I had obtained from the Banjercito, and then passed me through.
I had no further problems with the truck. When I arrived, the engine was removed from the bed of the truck and placed next to Aegir-Ran. I have a few weeks of work to do in the engine room before I will be ready to install the engine.
I have been putting off buying foul weather gear, in part because I have not needed it in the Sea of Cortez, but mostly because it is so darn expensive. I have been saving my pennies for the past several months, and am now in a place to pull the trigger on several purchases. To make my funds stretch, I have been keeping my eye out for good deals on eBay.
The first purchase was a Gill OS1 jacket (top left). This is a jacket for extreme conditions that retails for $650. I found a “new” one on eBay for $200 that had been the (unworn) backup jacket of the seller. I couldn’t find used OS2 bibs, so I bought a new pair on Amazon for $210 (they retail for $250). From the same seller as the OS1 jacket, I got the yellow bibs for $70. I also purchased the “coastal” (looks like an OS3) jacket on the right for $60. So for less than $550, I got a complete medium-weight and heavy-weight set. The total retail for the four garments new would be about $1,500. Three of the four garments are essentially (or actually) new.
I have been procrastinating purchasing satellite communication equipment because the technology is evolving rapidly. The main use I will have for the equipment is obtaining up-to-date weather forecasts. I have been using PredictWind for the past year and I am convinced this is the forecasting tool I will use. While in principle, I can download PredictWind via Starlink, I do not consider that platform reliable. It’s hard to say when Musk will burn it to the ground and the Starlink offshore data rates have gone up markedly in recent months. Furthermore, the system runs on AC, so if the inverter fails, I will not have access to Starlink. Perhaps most importantly, it is not designed for saltwater/sailing environment. The antenna is subject to damage and the electronics look fragile. Finally, it uses a large amount of power. I do not have the resources to access Starlink when it is cloudy/storming, which is exactly when you most need weather forecasts.
I just purchased an Iridium Go Exec. While the technology is dated, it is reliable. Further, the partnership with PredictWind allows seamless integration. The Iridium Go Exec offers several advantages of Starlink, including it’s stand-alone, it uses much lower power (5% of StarLink), it has battery backup, it is compact, it is rugged, and the data plans are much less expensive. While it retails for $1,600, I found a new one on eBay for the $750. I also bought the DataHub ($300), which allows me to GPS-track the boat, log data, and it allows me to extend the AIS data I receive to 300 NM.