Mark One of our own designed throttle control. Some things worked very well... some we will work on over the next few weeks.

Also working on the test and configuration system for the electric drive.

Measuring up for new propellor

Today was a big step towards our new Axiom propellor - we measured everything and sent the details to Axiom!

The old folding prop was 24 inches wide!

I also did a CAD drawing of the prop shaft so they could get the taper right.

Rudder support

How to get the rudder off? At the top on the quadrant it's easy to see, but at the bottom it's supported on a brass bush and there is not obvious way to remove it.

Eventually we call Steph, the previous owner of King Malu, and find there are two bolts embedded in the brass bush that are totally hidded, being covered with some sort of putty. So we remove the putty, remove the bolts and hey presto... the rudder comes off!

Of course, nothing is ever that simple and we discover that one of the bolts has sheered off inside the rudder support, so we will have to dig it out, refill and re-tap the hole before refitting. Also found the plastic bush in which the rudder moves has worn totally so will need replacing. Oh well, this is what maintenance is all about!

Lift Out

Today is lift out day. The next major step in the restoration of King Malu! We have a long list of things for this lift out - the most major of them is a new prop and cutlass bearing.

Home for the next 2-3 months!

Stress test the electric drive

In the morning we took King Malu over the the wet dock, tied her up with mooring lines and tried the new motor. The aim of this was two fold - firstly to test in controlled environment and secondly to produce a torque graph for the motor when attached to the propellor.

Now for a real sea trial - that was where we headed in the afternoon!

Rob was keen to stress test the motor; but we were concerned that because the cutlass bearing needs replacement, we didn't want to stress the drive shaft too much. We have noticed a little knocking from the movement in the drive shaft from the cutlass bearing wear.

We compromised and took the motor up to 2,500 RPM (maximum is 4,000 RPM) and to our delight found we could got a measured 6.3 knots on a relatively calm sea. This is with the old 2 folding blade propellor, so we are hoping for great things in the new year with the Axiom 3 blade propellor, when we will also have replaced the cutlass bearing.

At that RPM the motor was showing 38C and the controller 36C, so we are very pleased - it shows we have solved the cooling problem for motor and controller. Admittedly it's winter and not summer, but even still, it shows we have the temperature under control.

This is the last day of tests with Rob and Simone, they return to Italy this evening.

See all posts about PropEL Electric Drive.

Rob and Simone over from Italy

Rob and Simone came over from Italy today for two days. We are doing sea trials with them on the new electric drive. We already know that it's way better than the mark 1, so we're really looking forward to this.

See all posts about PropEL Electric Drive.

Power Transfer Switch

Very early on we bought a commercial Automatic Power Transfer Switch. It went wrong twice and we sent it back to the manufacturer. When it went wrong a third time we decided enough was enough and I designed and built our own.

There are significant differences between the Malu Marine designed unit the the original one that we bought.

1) We use contactors rather than heavy duty relays. These are what shore based Power Transfer Switches for generators use. They are much heavier duty than the relays

2) We use electrical interlocking of the contactors rather than software interlocking. Yes, it's safer!

3) We use 12 volt relays to control the contactors so we can have remote control of the system without exposing the 220 volt mains.

Installed and worked first time!

'Table' on steering column

Some time ago we built a marine ply 'table' attached to the steering pedestal. We finished painting this and then fitted the test throttle for the new electric drive. Funny how a 'lick of paint' can sharpen up something that was otherwise not. Now we're just waiting for the new motor to arrive to test it!

The last month has been a time of designing and building and testing and aligning the motor. No photos... well, there are photos but we're not publishing them! It's all very encouraging to see the new electric drive coming ready for the sea trials. Rob and Simone are here next week and the trials begin in earnest.

Motor into the engine room

The motor has ropes attached and Michael shows why he does weight training helping us move it into the engine room.

We need to line it up carefully, it's quite tricky with the belt drive system right down by the drive shaft.

See all posts about PropEL Electric Drive.

Motor on board

We took KIng Malu over to the wet dock and with two halyards hoisted the new electric drive on board.  Next task over the coming two weeks is to design and build the mounting structure to take the motor in the engine room.

Louis came down to King Malu and drilled and tapped the engine bearers to take the rubber mounts for the motor.

It's still hot in Cyprus and the sweat was pouring off him as he laboured in the engine room

See all posts about PropEL Electric Drive.

Motor arrive

TNT delivered our new motor today. This is the mark 2 and we have high hopes for it. It's been a long time coming and been through various iterations of design but at last... it's here!

See all posts about PropEL Electric Drive.

Ready for shipping

I have just spent the last couple of days in Italy with the guys with whom we are developing the new electric drive. A great two days with Rob and Simone. We tested everything and it's ready to ship to Cyprus.

The latest version now has water cooling, so we're excited to see if that solves all the heat related problems. Also now using a Curtis controller, which should be very much better than the first one. The plan is we will install and do first test, then Rob and Simone will come over to Cyprus for sea trials.

There was only one tiny thing... the prop shaft was too long to fit on the pallet so Simone had to cut it down to length.

See all posts about PropEL Electric Drive.

Work on the Marina

They have started work on renovating the pontoons in the marina... now you see why!

Flying with life jacket cylinders

I am just following up a problem I had flying back to Cyprus from the UK with life jacket cylinders. About 2 weeks before flying I phoned the airline to check if I could bring small CO2 cylinders for the life jackets for my yacht with me. The person who initially responded to my phone call did not know so checked with her supervisor who confirmed that they were permitted. The person concerned said they should be suitably packed.

I packed each cylinder in bubble wrap as well as a solid cardboard tube outside to protect even the bubble wrap. I put them into my checked baggage. I purchased 20kg extra baggage allowance for other sailing kit I was bringing with us (10kg each for my wife and me).

When I arrived at Manchester airport, the ground crew asked me to put the three roll-on duffle bags through outsize, not because they are outsize, but because they are soft. When they used the x-ray scanner on the bags the cylinders showed up. I explained I had already contacted the airline and they has said they were OK. The baggage handlers said they were against government regulations. They called airline staff who then called their supervisor who said they would follow whatever the baggage handlers said.

I had to leave the cylinders in left-luggage and get a friend to collect.

I have now checked the CAA (government) regulations on what can and cannot be carried. They clearly say they are permitted (quoted below) and so the baggage handlers were wrong!

Self-inflating life-jacket fitted with no more than 2 small cylinders containing a non-toxic, non-flammable gas, and no more than 2 spare cylinders.

I now have the life-jackets in Cyprus and the replacement cylinders in the UK! I am unimpressed. I have just contacted the airline asking them what is their proposed solution to this problem.

Saga IV

Saga IV - a brand new Lagoon 56 which Tim helped bring from France to Lebanon is moored temporarily in Zygi. A beautiful catamaran, but not Tim and my kind of boat!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum... well... not the way to the forum but the mooring in the marina. When we were coming in to the mooring and everything was going fine I notice the mooring buoy disappear under the boat. This has happened twice before. The first time Tim jumped in and pulled it free when we had moored. The second time I just pulled the line to the quayside and it came free... much easier. So we realised this was the solution in the future. It's not possible with a strong southerly wind to avoid this scenario, so a workaround is what you need.

Only this time... well... three seconds after the small buoy we use for the side lines disappeared under the boat, Tim needs to use the bow thruster. There is this decidedly unhealthy noise from the bow thruster and I am concerned that the ropes from the mooring buoy have made their way into the bow-thruster tunnel. That wasn't what had happened... the bow thruster had sucked the mooring buoy into the tunnel and it was now stuck fast like a cork in a bottle!

So we secure the boat with other lines and Tim jumps in again and has to use all his strength, bracing his legs against the hull to pull it free, when it eventually pops free like a champagne cork.  Good job its the Med and not the North Sea... a lot warmer water.

Voyage Data Recorder

We went out for a short sail... first to anchor in front of Finikoudes and then out for 20-30 minutes and back to the marina. From my point of view the aim was to test the new algorithm for the VDR-L (Voyage Data Recorder) and... I was extremely pleased. Looks like this one has cracked it - no missing data points now.

Now when the engine is running and the SOG is slow (less than 3 knots) it logs data points every 60 seconds so you have a record of all the maneuvering. When the engine isn't running or the SOG is greater than 3 knots we assume motoring/sailing in open water and so the normal algorithm means that the faster we go, the more rapidly we take readings, hence the points are roughly equally spaced under those conditions.

Zoom in to the marina and you will see the points even show where we motored as we exited and then re-entered the marina. You can only tell which is which by clicking on them and looking at the time stamp. The cluster just south of the marina is where we anchored.

I'm just using Google Fusion Tables for the display, as a quick and dirty way of getting the data onto a map. It imports straight from Excel, which makes it easy for me to handle.

This isn't an IMO approved VDR, but a very much simplified one for a leisure yacht. Here's the list from wikipedia of what should be recorded - green means working, yellow means possible, but not yet installed, red means possible but I'm not going to do it (it would be invasive and complicated to do) and grey means not relevant to a leisure yacht:

• Position, date, time using GPS.
• Speed log – Speed through water or speed over ground.
• Compass – Heading.
• Radar* – As displayed or AIS data if no off-the-shelf converter available for the Radar video.
• Audio from the bridge, including bridge wings.
• VHF radio communications.
• Echo Sounder* – Depth under keel.
• Main alarms* – All IMO mandatory alarms.
• Hull openings* – Status of hull doors as indicated on the bridge.
• Watertight & fire doors* status as indicated on the bridge.
• Hull stress* – Accelerations and hull stresses.
• Rudder* – Order and feedback response.
• Engine/Propellor* – Order and feedback response.
• Thrusters* – Status, direction, amount of thrust % or RPM. 
• Anemometer and weather vane* – Wind speed and direction

Photos of King Malu and Rebecca Louise

We went out today to try to get some photos of King Malu and our friend Peter's ketch Rebecca Loiuse. Here are some of the results.

King Malu

Rebecca Louise

Photo Shoot Interior

Verna went down to clean King Malu today, so I decided to take advantage of a mega-clean boat and take some interior photos...

FOR'ARD CABIN

GALLEY

SALOON AND NAV STATION

STERN CABIN

STERN HEADS