Current Position: 13 45.774’S 141 41.654’W; Local Timezone: UTC-10; HDG: 184 COG: 190; SOG: 5.3 kt; Distance to Waypoint (Raroia): 142; Total Miles Sailed: 3718 nm;
Comments: Sunset was approximately 5:20. It looked a bit squally ahead, so I turned the radar on. Indeed, there was a storm about 8 nm ahead of me, but I do not believe I will be significantly impacted by it. The wind picked up after sunset. At times I was doing 7 kt. The TillerPilot alarm went off every 10-30m all night as it struggled to keep the boat on course. I sometimes ignored the alarm if I seemed to be on course. Once it woke me and I found the boat had heaved to. A rain storm hit at midnight. I turned on the radar to assess the threat. I was located on the southern leading edge of a 12 nm-long squall line that was presumably traveling east, so I tried to ride it out. The boat slowed from 7.5 to 3 kt as the storm passed. Sunrise was about 5:35. It is partly cloudy and no threats. The boat is making 6.5 kt to Raroia. I’ve discovered one of the issues with the TillerPilot. It must be getting multiple commands from the NEMA2000 network. For example, there are three compasses on the network: the CORTEX AIS, the Precision-9 compass (where all of the instruments should be getting their information from), and the internal compass in the TillerPilot (which is inaccurate and should not be used). The TillerPilot is switching between the last two. When it is using a heading for from the Precision-9 and it suddenly switches to its internal compass, it becomes confused and goes off course. At 8:30, almost all NEMA2000 electronic went offline. I shut down the power and opened the main panel. The wiring was hot. I disconnected the elements of the network to find out which is the problem. The TillerPilot is operating independently while U work and I broke out the analog compass to make sure I stay on course. I confirmed the TillerPilot does not draw current from the network. Here are my findings by component for the first zone:
Zeus 3S Chartplotter – 0.1 Ah Two Triton 2 displays – 0.2 Ah Remote Autopilot Control – 0.2 Ah
All of the above, but isolated from the rest of the network draws 0.4 Ah and the wires are not hot. There are basically two more zones, a backbone in the radio compartment to which the VHF, AIS, and the PW DataHub are connected, and a backbone under the settee to which the two boat speed sensors, depth sounder, compass, and wind instruments are connected. The three backbones are daisy-chained, so I cannot really isolate each component, but many have separate breakers. I isolated the second and third backbone. When I plugged in the second backbone, it drew 15 Ah and blew the 10 Amp fuse in the first backbone. There were eight cables going into the second backbone:
Cable from first backbone Cable to second backbone AIS DataHub Ethernet Fuel level sensor Fuel management dongle NEMA 183 adapter for the TillerPilot
It was the TillerPilot cable that was drawing the 15 Amps. Since the communication with the TillerPilot is faulty anyway, I left it unplugged and will use it in stand-alone mode. The system is working again. During the three hours it took me to disassemble, test, and reassemble the NEMA2000 system, the TillerPilot worked fine on its own. No alarms, no course deviations … just plugging alone. I suspect the short in the TillerPilot NEMA182 cable has been the origin of a lot of problems I’ve had with it. The wind lightened up in the afternoon so I shook the second reef out about 13:30. I was making about 5.5 kt toward the waypoint at 186 with 150 nm to go. At 14:30, squalls appeared to the east. Radar showed four. The ones at 9 nm would probably miss me, but the two at 3-5 are likely to hit, so U am reducing sail. I managed to reduce the jib to 50% and put the second reef in before the first squall hit me square on. I went out and got a shower. The boat was doing 7 kt beam reach, but was in heeled over 5 degrees. I can see more squalls developing. It’s going to be one of those nights. I am leaving the sails reduced. I have made 133 miles towards Raroia in the last 24h. I expect to arrive tomorrow evening, but will have to wait until morning for slack tide to enter the lagoon.
Comments: Sunset was approximately 5:20. It looked a bit squally ahead, so I turned the radar on. Indeed, there was a storm about 8 nm ahead of me, but I do not believe I will be significantly impacted by it. The wind picked up after sunset. At times I was doing 7 kt. The TillerPilot alarm went off every 10-30m all night as it struggled to keep the boat on course. I sometimes ignored the alarm if I seemed to be on course. Once it woke me and I found the boat had heaved to. A rain storm hit at midnight. I turned on the radar to assess the threat. I was located on the southern leading edge of a 12 nm-long squall line that was presumably traveling east, so I tried to ride it out. The boat slowed from 7.5 to 3 kt as the storm passed. Sunrise was about 5:35. It is partly cloudy and no threats. The boat is making 6.5 kt to Raroia. I’ve discovered one of the issues with the TillerPilot. It must be getting multiple commands from the NEMA2000 network. For example, there are three compasses on the network: the CORTEX AIS, the Precision-9 compass (where all of the instruments should be getting their information from), and the internal compass in the TillerPilot (which is inaccurate and should not be used). The TillerPilot is switching between the last two. When it is using a heading for from the Precision-9 and it suddenly switches to its internal compass, it becomes confused and goes off course. At 8:30, almost all NEMA2000 electronic went offline. I shut down the power and opened the main panel. The wiring was hot. I disconnected the elements of the network to find out which is the problem. The TillerPilot is operating independently while U work and I broke out the analog compass to make sure I stay on course. I confirmed the TillerPilot does not draw current from the network. Here are my findings by component for the first zone:
Zeus 3S Chartplotter – 0.1 Ah Two Triton 2 displays – 0.2 Ah Remote Autopilot Control – 0.2 Ah
All of the above, but isolated from the rest of the network draws 0.4 Ah and the wires are not hot. There are basically two more zones, a backbone in the radio compartment to which the VHF, AIS, and the PW DataHub are connected, and a backbone under the settee to which the two boat speed sensors, depth sounder, compass, and wind instruments are connected. The three backbones are daisy-chained, so I cannot really isolate each component, but many have separate breakers. I isolated the second and third backbone. When I plugged in the second backbone, it drew 15 Ah and blew the 10 Amp fuse in the first backbone. There were eight cables going into the second backbone:
Cable from first backbone Cable to second backbone AIS DataHub Ethernet Fuel level sensor Fuel management dongle NEMA 183 adapter for the TillerPilot
It was the TillerPilot cable that was drawing the 15 Amps. Since the communication with the TillerPilot is faulty anyway, I left it unplugged and will use it in stand-alone mode. The system is working again. During the three hours it took me to disassemble, test, and reassemble the NEMA2000 system, the TillerPilot worked fine on its own. No alarms, no course deviations … just plugging alone. I suspect the short in the TillerPilot NEMA182 cable has been the origin of a lot of problems I’ve had with it. The wind lightened up in the afternoon so I shook the second reef out about 13:30. I was making about 5.5 kt toward the waypoint at 186 with 150 nm to go. At 14:30, squalls appeared to the east. Radar showed four. The ones at 9 nm would probably miss me, but the two at 3-5 are likely to hit, so U am reducing sail. I managed to reduce the jib to 50% and put the second reef in before the first squall hit me square on. I went out and got a shower. The boat was doing 7 kt beam reach, but was in heeled over 5 degrees. I can see more squalls developing. It’s going to be one of those nights. I am leaving the sails reduced. I have made 133 miles towards Raroia in the last 24h. I expect to arrive tomorrow evening, but will have to wait until morning for slack tide to enter the lagoon.