Whitecaps At Midnight, Second Night On Our 26X

[tuxonpup]

We fit in a quick second trip up to Lake Powell over the four days before Thanksgiving, about a 6 hour drive each way from Tucson. It was a bit more of an adventure then we had planned on, but this Thanksgiving we're thankful for the reliability of a 28 year old Nissan two stroke, good advice on adding 6 feet of chain to our anchor rode, and our shallow draft keeping us floating in a tight spot.



It looks like we're gonna need a replacement luff for the rolling furler, it's split pretty badly from the way it had been stored I assume, so we'll be stepping the mast next time we're up there to get it installed. The lights on the mast were out as well, so we'll have to work on that and the VHF antenna/power runs while it's down. After spending a night on watch with nothing but phone app navigation to track conditions/position, I'm open to suggestions for favorite electronics set-ups, ideally something that can move from the console to the cabin when things get spitty.
We stayed on the edge of cell tower range for this trip but are pretty sold on Starlink for satellite data connection so we can expand our range. There's an existing speed wheel on the transom, but no evidence of what it had been connected to. We'll want boat speed, depth finder, wind speed and direction instruments tied into whatever GPS-based system we get. And an anchor alarm... And a spotlight...

[Russ]

Nice trip out. Seems like you learn much from it.

Blue Water Yachts will have a new furler luff kit
https://shop.bwyachts.com/product-p/3602-110.htm

That electrical setup needs some TLC. A proper switch panel would be nice rather than just a fuse block.
What is connected to your outboard?
I don't know how your solar controller works, but charging lithium needs different settings than other types of batteries.

Stock interior lights were incandescent and power hungry. Easy to fix. Looks like maybe your running lights are LED based on their draw.

The anchor will dig deeper with more strain. Best to shake all that mud off in the water before bringing it aboard.

One of the first mods I did was install a wash down pump. I toss the intake over the side to pull lake water and then have one of those (as seen on TV) coil hoses that shrink without pressure. It works well and 50' will reach the entire boat.

[tuxonpup]

Nice trip out. Seems like you learn much from it.

Blue Water Yachts will have a new furler luff kit
https://shop.bwyachts.com/product-p/3602-110.htm

That electrical setup needs some TLC. A proper switch panel would be nice rather than just a fuse block.
What is connected to your outboard?
I don't know how your solar controller works, but charging lithium needs different settings than other types of batteries.

Thanks for the BWY link, I was wondering if they sold just the luff piece. We had a new switch panel with us and a Dremel to cut a mounting hole, but felt we needed a bit more time than we had to sort out the console VHF power and mast lights before cutting a permanent hole and running power under the hull liner. The motor battery and 1-2-all switch were all that the PO had connected in the cabin, the house light panel positive was laying disconnected in the bilge while the negative was still on the starter battery terminal.



I disconnected the house light negative from the starter battery and put it on the new house light fuse box, which all worked as expected except when the motor was running, the tachometer was pegged at maximum RPM. Worked fine while turning the motor over, but once it was running it stayed pegged. Was working normally last trip so I assume disconnecting that house ground from the starter battery is not the only place the motor electric is tied to the house power leads. Most likely inside the steering console where we've yet to unravel the mystery of the VHF power.
The solar controller has a lithium setting on it, we've been using those batteries wired as 24V for our kayak motor, so the plug on the top of the battery box fits both our motor controller and 110V lithium battery charger.

Stock interior lights were incandescent and power hungry. Easy to fix. Looks like maybe your running lights are LED based on their draw.

The anchor will dig deeper with more strain. Best to shake all that mud off in the water before bringing it aboard.

One of the first mods I did was install a wash down pump. I toss the intake over the side to pull lake water and then have one of those (as seen on TV) coil hoses that shrink without pressure. It works well and 50' will reach the entire boat.

I took the time to dunk the anchor until clean on the first trip, but had to scramble back to the helm as the wind started pushing us sideways to the shore as soon as the anchor was dislodged.
We were discussing if we wanted to try a lake water feed for the shower pump, turned out I got a duplicate shower head with our tankless water heater so I think we'll do the same and add a second lake water only pump to use for spray down.

[Russ]

Ahh.... from the photo is appears there was once another "house" battery next to the motor starter battery. Hence the 1/2/All switch.

I'm totally confused from your video how the "house" loads are connected. It looks similar to my solar controller where it has an extra set of connectors for "load". However, with mine that connector is useless because it only provides power from the solar panel (when sun is hitting it). My solar controller only provides charging and nothing more is connected to that controller.

I'm assuming your 2 lithium batteries are temporary. My boat came from the dealer (Blue Water Yachts) with 2 batteries. One dedicated motor and one for "house" with a combiner that charges them both while the motor is running.

On the plus side, in the photo there appears to be real marine wiring in there. Early Mac 26xs had simple lamp cord to the lights.

I guess you will be installing a new switch/fuse panel. Keep in mind it is code to fuse the panel main power close to the battery. I redid my wiring and installed an inline circuit breaker close to the battery for panel power.

Then I guess you need to trace the VHF power down. From your video, I can't tell where the VHF antenna is located. Make sure it's connected to the radio before transmitting or it could damage the VHF radio.

It's a shame your sails are toast. The rest of the boat looks to be in good condition.

Glad to see you enjoying the boat, although that night sounds dicey. You were wise to hold watch.

[tuxonpup]

Ahh.... from the photo is appears there was once another "house" battery next to the motor starter battery. Hence the 1/2/All switch.

I'm totally confused from your video how the "house" loads are connected. It looks similar to my solar controller where it has an extra set of connectors for "load". However, with mine that connector is useless because it only provides power from the solar panel (when sun is hitting it). My solar controller only provides charging and nothing more is connected to that controller.

I'm assuming your 2 lithium batteries are temporary. My boat came from the dealer (Blue Water Yachts) with 2 batteries. One dedicated motor and one for "house" with a combiner that charges them both while the motor is running.

On the plus side, in the photo there appears to be real marine wiring in there. Early Mac 26xs had simple lamp cord to the lights.

Yup, PO hired a mechanic who removed the original batteries, which I assume were as dried out and useless as the sails, and installed just a starter battery. It looks like he ran both positives from the switch to the new starter battery, the negative jumper between the old batteries was disconnected on the missing house battery end.

This solar controller works just like the panel graphics, solar connection charges the battery connection with amperage monitoring, battery connection supplies the load connection with load monitoring and a disconnect switch. The two USB 5V are always on. We'll upgrade to a larger lithium as we add more load on the house side, we had a 1,000 watt inverter with us to mount up by the starboard dinette which will provide two USB 5V, two 12V and two 110V outs above the table near the V-berth, as well as a voltage display.

I use the 4.5lb 20Ah lithiums for the backpackable kayak's motor, they make great little utility power bricks, easy to chain for larger capacity or 24-48V needs. The marine wire from the original 3 switch/fuse panel looked just like the new roll I bought to run the water pump and inverter lines.

I guess you will be installing a new switch/fuse panel. Keep in mind it is code to fuse the panel main power close to the battery. I redid my wiring and installed an inline circuit breaker close to the battery for panel power.

Then I guess you need to trace the VHF power down. From your video, I can't tell where the VHF antenna is located. Make sure it's connected to the radio before transmitting or it could damage the VHF radio.

It's a shame your sails are toast. The rest of the boat looks to be in good condition.

Glad to see you enjoying the boat, although that night sounds dicey. You were wise to hold watch.

The new panel has five switches, one 12V and two USB 5V outlets, plus a voltage display. We're thinking of mounting it in the round cutout to the port side of the companion way entrance, so we can reach the switches from the cockpit when entering. Same company sells a version with just the outlets with weather caps and the voltage meter, which I'm now thinking of adding to the steering console to power electronics there. The panel has inline fuses for each switch and the lithium battery box has an inline inside at the positive supply terminal. May just end up using the fuse block as a ground bus bar to keep the wiring tidy.

I did snap a pick of these two connectors coming out of the back of my steering console right before putting the boat away;



I'm guessing these were connected to whatever nav electronics were fed by that speed wheel on the transom originally. I also connected the masts matching connectors to these, I'm assuming mast light power and VHF whip?



Thanks for the guidance so far, I hadn't even remembered taking the pic of the console connectors until writing my reply, and just put it together there probably was a nav system mounted there for the speed wheel to feed!

[Russ]

You have some detective work to do there.

I assume the lithium packs are temporary and you will be installing a proper house battery. The previous owner did some janky stuff to sell the boat. eg: Connecting BOTH 1/2/All wires to the starter battery.

I would NOT trust that little solar controller to run all my house power through it. I guess it offers some meter readings, but it just doesn't look robust enough to handle the loads properly. If the controller fails, all your power fails with it. My controller just charges the batteries.

Lots of online and youtube sources for marine wiring. Like this one https://newwiremarine.com/how-to/wiring-a-boat

The 2 wires coming off your pedestal console probably went to a Chartplotter. The "wheel" on the transom is likely also a depth transducer combo. I have really come to enjoy the chartplotter features. In addition to the built in charts, the speed/depth and tracking features make it very versatile.

Those mast connections look like they could use some cleaning.

Where is the current 12v switch panel? On the 26M it is port side next to the companionway. I rewired just about everything to mine and replaced it with a larger panel with more circuits.

Inverters use a LOT OF POWER and are horribly inefficient. They require short/heavy 12v source wires to power them. Any heavy load will drain your batteries quickly.

Your boat is put away? As in for the season? Often this is the best time to do these projects.

[sunshinecoasting]

You MUST trust your anchor and tackle, if you don't, then replace it with bigger and better until you do trust it. Next, download a free anchor alarm app to your phone and tablet, test it, some are crap, others are good, you can test it on dry land just walking, when you trust it set the anchor, set the alarm and go to bed. Never spend the night huddled in the cockpit too afraid to go to bed, nothing will get you in more trouble than being exhausted in bad weather. I'm curious, in the video it looked like you were in a lake that was mostly sand/mud, if so, why didn't you just let out your anchor rope until the stern was touching the shoreline, then tie a mooring rope from the stern to a tree or other fixed object? It was a lake, no tides so no problem in doing this and comfort knowing you cant drift any further.

[Be Free]

The anchor and rode shown in the video around 9:00 will hold a 26X in sand or "thick" mud under any conditions that the boat has any business being out in IF it is set properly with at least a 7:1 scope.

Setting a "Danforth" properly requires backing down on the anchor after it has begun to penetrate the bottom. If you don't back down it is unlikely that the anchor will set well enough to hold if the weather turns bad.

The other thing that you need to watch out for is if the tide, current, or wind shifts significantly (like reversing) after anchoring. The Danforth type anchor will probably pull out in those conditions. It will reset (most of the time) if there is enough room to drag it and if it did not come out with a big ball of mud or grass covering the tips of the flukes. No anchor can reset if it comes out with the bottom still attached to it.

I've spent many nights anchored a couple of miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico on a similar anchor. Some of those nights I spent in the v-berth with my back wedged against the side of the boat so I would not be thrown back and forth. The anchor held just fine.

[tuxonpup]

You have some detective work to do there.

I assume the lithium packs are temporary and you will be installing a proper house battery. The previous owner did some janky stuff to sell the boat. eg: Connecting BOTH 1/2/All wires to the starter battery.

I would NOT trust that little solar controller to run all my house power through it. I guess it offers some meter readings, but it just doesn't look robust enough to handle the loads properly. If the controller fails, all your power fails with it. My controller just charges the batteries.

Lots of online and youtube sources for marine wiring. Like this one https://newwiremarine.com/how-to/wiring-a-boat

The 2 wires coming off your pedestal console probably went to a Chartplotter. The "wheel" on the transom is likely also a depth transducer combo. I have really come to enjoy the chartplotter features. In addition to the built in charts, the speed/depth and tracking features make it very versatile.

Those mast connections look like they could use some cleaning.

Where is the current 12v switch panel? On the 26M it is port side next to the companionway. I rewired just about everything to mine and replaced it with a larger panel with more circuits.

Inverters use a LOT OF POWER and are horribly inefficient. They require short/heavy 12v source wires to power them. Any heavy load will drain your batteries quickly.

Your boat is put away? As in for the season? Often this is the best time to do these projects.

It's back in storage 6 hours North of us and we most likely won't get back up there in December - January.

Our '96 26X has the original layout with the 3 switch panel between the front windows. Bow, stern, mast and two interior light runs all terminate there with one run coming back to the battery compartment through the bilge under the galley. Intending to put the new panel right where yours is, so extending that home run up to it and leaving the original as a subpanel. Where did you bring your solar leads back into your cabin? My panel is on the hatch, which requires some extra lead length for opening/closing.

I'm rethinking the placement of the inverter as the convenience connectors, 5V USB and two 12V in a surface mount package, were as much of an attraction as being able to use the inverter portion to recharge the laptop or rechargeable tools. There is an on/off switch for the inverter portion, and yeah, it came with two short battery cables and drew a ton of power using it with the car. Like only recharge things when the motor is running level of draw, hence I wasn't hooking it up while still using the testing battery box.

[tuxonpup]

You MUST trust your anchor and tackle, if you don't, then replace it with bigger and better until you do trust it. Next, download a free anchor alarm app to your phone and tablet, test it, some are crap, others are good, you can test it on dry land just walking, when you trust it set the anchor, set the alarm and go to bed. Never spend the night huddled in the cockpit too afraid to go to bed, nothing will get you in more trouble than being exhausted in bad weather. I'm curious, in the video it looked like you were in a lake that was mostly sand/mud, if so, why didn't you just let out your anchor rope until the stern was touching the shoreline, then tie a mooring rope from the stern to a tree or other fixed object? It was a lake, no tides so no problem in doing this and comfort knowing you cant drift any further.

I did get a good sleep 8pm - 12am, and the reality is I wasn't gonna be getting back to sleep regardless, second night ever sleeping on the boat and my first in any kind of weather. The copilot has that superpower, down at 8pm - up at 6am, not me.

The stern and prop would've been in the mud if we'd slid another ten feet closer to shore, not sure how we'd get out of that and we'd still be 15 feet or so from the beach. I do think a second anchor line for shore tie up would've prevented a lot of pivoting on the anchor and helped keep it set deep. The houseboats here used to carry iron bars to drive into the rock for shore tie ups, but now are using large water bag anchors you can pump full of a few hundred pounds of lake water and tie off to, as drilling into the rock formations in a National Park is a no-no.

I may or may not have had 'Hooked' downloaded on my iPhone and totally forgotten to set it...

[tuxonpup]

The anchor and rode shown in the video around 9:00 will hold a 26X in sand or "thick" mud under any conditions that the boat has any business being out in IF it is set properly with at least a 7:1 scope.

Setting a "Danforth" properly requires backing down on the anchor after it has begun to penetrate the bottom. If you don't back down it is unlikely that the anchor will set well enough to hold if the weather turns bad.

The other thing that you need to watch out for is if the tide, current, or wind shifts significantly (like reversing) after anchoring. The Danforth type anchor will probably pull out in those conditions. It will reset (most of the time) if there is enough room to drag it and if it did not come out with a big ball of mud or grass covering the tips of the flukes. No anchor can reset if it comes out with the bottom still attached to it.

I've spent many nights anchored a couple of miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico on a similar anchor. Some of those nights I spent in the v-berth with my back wedged against the side of the boat so I would not be thrown back and forth. The anchor held just fine.

I dropped the Danforth, put it in reverse but then left it in neutral until the anchor bit in enough and to stop us drifting backwards and started swinging us on a pivot. I did not put it back in reverse to drive the anchor deeper. The wind moved around a bit throughout the night which combined with us pivoting I'm sure did no favors for the anchor's set. It would've been nice to have a second line off the stern to keep the pull in one direction, or I could've just driven the anchor deeper in the first place!

[Ixneigh]

Re: larger and larger anchors. That’s how I ended up with a 50 lb Luke anchor.


Ix

[Russ]

Re: larger and larger anchors. That’s how I ended up with a 50 lb Luke anchor.


Ix

50 POUNDS? And I thought my 22lb claw was excessive. I bet you sleep well though.

[Russ]

Our '96 26X has the original layout with the 3 switch panel between the front windows. Bow, stern, mast and two interior light runs all terminate there with one run coming back to the battery compartment through the bilge under the galley. Intending to put the new panel right where yours is, so extending that home run up to it and leaving the original as a subpanel. Where did you bring your solar leads back into your cabin? My panel is on the hatch, which requires some extra lead length for opening/closing.

I'm rethinking the placement of the inverter as the convenience connectors, 5V USB and two 12V in a surface mount package, were as much of an attraction as being able to use the inverter portion to recharge the laptop or rechargeable tools. There is an on/off switch for the inverter portion, and yeah, it came with two short battery cables and drew a ton of power using it with the car. Like only recharge things when the motor is running level of draw, hence I wasn't hooking it up while still using the testing battery box.

You have some time to plan your electrical mods. Do some research and learn what others have done.

The Mods section of this site has 20 years of experience and mods to learn from. This page has some great electrical ideas. The mods forum has plenty of discussion on what others have done.
https://macgregorsailors.com/mods/index ... ategory=54

I have a 26 M so I have an "arch" off the cockpit that I mounted my solar panel. Yours is on the deck and will need some method of feeding the power into the cabin. This mod is one way I've seen it done.
https://macgregorsailors.com/mods/index ... em&id=1592

A/C inverters are horribly inefficient.
People use them. I have a small 400w inverter onboard for small stuff like a soldering iron. I think I've used it once.
You will find native 12v devices are the way to go. I've installed several 12v powered USB outlets all over the boat. Charging a laptop, you would be best to a 12v adapter like this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Charger-HKY-12V- ... B08MQ7HMPY

Don't even think about a 110v refrigerator (like a dorm fridge) with an inverter. It will drain your battery in no time.
Most of us who use electric refrigeration have gone with a 12v COMPRESSOR cooler like a Dometic (not those cheap thermoelectric models that barely even keep stuff cool). Honestly, cheap thermoelectric coolers should not be sold. They simply do not work and are power hungry.

The cowling on your Nissan looks like it needs some TLC. Is that rust? What is going on with that?

The outboard has an alternator that could charge the house batteries as well.

My solar panel is connected to the house battery and the starter battery to the motor for charging.
My dealer installed a "combiner" that will combine both batteries when one of them is at charging voltage (~ 13v). It will NOT combine them if one of the batteries is below safe charging voltage (~10v).

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Systems ... B000OTIPDQ

When my motor is running and the starter battery is full, it will combine both and begin charging the house battery. Theoretically, it will also charge the starter from the solar panel if the house battery is full.

This also requires both batteries be same type. eg: Lead acid. Otherwise you will need some fancy charging equipment that is beyond my experience level.

You have a 1/2/All switch that can be used to combine for charging (if the batteries are same type). That's what all my previous boats had, however the combiner is a no brainer. I don't have to remember to move the switch. It does it seamlessly behind the scenes and I don't have to think about it.

I hope this gives you food for thought and a place to do some research.

[Be Free]

I dropped the Danforth, put it in reverse but then left it in neutral until the anchor bit in enough and to stop us drifting backwards and started swinging us on a pivot. I did not put it back in reverse to drive the anchor deeper. The wind moved around a bit throughout the night which combined with us pivoting I'm sure did no favors for the anchor's set. It would've been nice to have a second line off the stern to keep the pull in one direction, or I could've just driven the anchor deeper in the first place!

In calm conditions just drifting back onto the anchor might hold but it's best to put the boat in reverse and let it pull against the anchor. Unless I'm expecting trouble I'm usually just a little above idle when I'm backing down and maybe a short burst at the end just to be sure. If nothing else it would verify that the anchor has actually penetrated the bottom and is holding. If bad weather is on the way I pull hard.

A line off the stern would not keep you from dragging and if the wind or current reversed it would have the waves hitting the rear of the boat. The primary advantage to a stern anchor is to stop the boat from "sailing at anchor" or sometimes to help hold the boat into the waves when wind and current are at odds.

If you are expecting a significant change in wind or current you might consider a Bahamian Moor where you deploy two anchors off the bow, one in front and one behind the boat. It's a little tricky to deploy and takes up a lot of room in an anchorage but it works well when you have the room (and the need).