Tag: Patricia Ann

Used Trawlers, Used Motor Yachts, and Used Sailboats for Sale “>In a previous article we talked about the five categories of anchors and how to select the best one for your needs. Today we will review how to successfully use that anchor.

Logic would have it that dropping and setting an anchor is simply nothing more than lowering the anchor, setting out some line and kick back and start having fun. Not so fast!

To work properly, anchors must develop enough resistance in the sea bed to endure the environmental forces on the trawler-the wind and the tides. An anchor’s capacity to develop resistance is completely dependent on its capability to penetrate the sea bed. We will assume that you have aboard your yacht, the best anchor for your intended sea bed conditions . We will also assume you have enough rode, chain, rope or a combination, to play out the anchor.

As you near your chosen anchorage, always allow plenty of swing room. The tides, currents and winds will always swing the boat so be sure to allow plenty of room to avoid hitting other boats that may be anchored nearby. Be sure to estimate how far you’ll be from your anchor when it is set.

When you have chosen the best place to anchor, place the bow into the wind and or current and slowly bring her to a stop. Look at other anchored boats to get a feel of the tides if necessary.

On our trawler, the Patricia Ann, we have all chain rode. We have marked the rode every 25 feet with red string. The initial 25 feet is marked with 1 string, the second with 2 and so forth. This makes deploying the anchor with accuracy.

When you are in position, begin letting out the anchor rode. Your trawler will begin drifting somewhat with the current. When you have played out enough rode to place your anchor on the bottom, bump the engines into reverse to begin laying the rode out. We rather not have the anchor on the bottom with the rode piled on top of it to perhaps tangle. Do not keep the trawler in reverse; you just want to begin laying the rode out. When you have adequate rode out halt the trawler’s reverse speed.

Some boating “experts” insist that it takes a scope of 7:1 rode to safely hold a yacht. That would equate to 7 foot of rode for every 1 foot of water depth. For example, to properly anchor in 10 feet of water, would require 70 feet of anchor rode. But we routinely anchor the Patricia Ann in 15 foot waters with a 35 lb. CQR anchor and 5/16 inch chain rode. We usually deploy 50 feet of rode and have never had a dragging anchor even in some 25-30 mph winds. I suspect that the more chain you use, the greater the holding power as the rode is pulling more horizontal to the sea floor and the chain further offers supplemental weight.

Now you have an appropriate amount of rode deployed, how do you set and secure it. We have an electric chain windlass aboard our trawler. Our windlass has no locking feature so chain will continue to be deployed if the yacht pulls it. Your windlass may be different but you must make certain that you can secure the rode so no more will be deployed.

I made up a bridle, consisting of a 5/8 inch dock line that we use to stop additional chain deployment and give some elasticity to it. A stainless shackle is attached to the line. The shackle is connected to the chain rode as it is lowered; the other end is tied to the king post. Be sure to use chafing gear where the bridle meets the anchor roller.

If you are using chain with a nylon rode, you’ll not need to use a bridle. If you are using a metal cable, you can use a cable or wire puller to fasten a bridle to it.

Once the bridle is secured, the trawler is backed-down until the anchor is set. You will know when it sets as the anchor rode will rise out of the water and the boat will stop.

Finally, the rode is lowered a bit more allowing the bridle to hold the boat.

Mike Dickens, the author, is a live aboard boat owner and owner/Broker of Paradise Yachts in Florida USA.

Paradise Yachts offers used quality yachts to customers worldwide.

Visit the Paradise Yachts website to view our selection of Used Trawlers, Used Motor Yachts, and Used Sailboats for Sale

Clean water on board our yachts is something we take for granted. One of the issues while living aboard, especially while cruising is that you do usually have a limited supply while away from the docks.

My wife and I use 12 gallons a day, or enough for 25 days without refilling aboard our trawler, the Patricia Ann. Our usage includes bathing, and cooking meals. That’s with a 300 gallon water tank. And of course, conservation is critical; no standing in the shower for 15 minutes. You can find your daily use on your boat by timing the filling of a 5-gallon bucket, then timing the filling of you water tank. Simply divide the time it takes to fill your storage tanks by the time it took to fill your 5 gallon bucket, and then multiply by 5 gallons and you have the amount of water you have used since last filling.

Tank fill time / Bucket fill time x 5 gallons = Total water use

Shore Water

Water quality is as important as quantity. While cruising, you never know what quality your water will be. You will not know whether the water you will be using is city water or well water. If it is not city water, you do not know if it has been treated. Several months ago, our marina had a well problem at the well head causing the water supply to become contaminated with ecoli bacteria. It took a week to get it cleared up. Some of the marina locals must surely have used the water before the problem was discovered.

However on the Patricia Ann, we had ample safe drinking water. Our trawler is equipped with a 5 stage filtration system that will provide high quality water from almost any source. Water goes through 2, 5-micron filters, then a single 2-micron filter, and a carbon filter to remove cysts and undesirable tastes. Then finally a UV radiation light to kill any bacteria before it enters the holding tank. The power source is 110 volt ac but it can be ordered with a 12 volt system. The resulting water tastes a pure as bottled water.

So what if you have just bought that used trawler and are concerned about the existing water in her tanks? Ordinary bleach will treat water suitable for drinking.

Use 1 teaspoon of bleach for every 10 gallons of water; if the water is cloudy, double the dosage.

Rainwater

I have investigated other trawler setups where rain water runoff is collected and funneled into the water storage tanks. This is pretty good source of water but there is still concern about the quality of the rain water that would affect the taste of the water and perhaps cause tank corrosion. My caution would be to be sure of the air quality in your area. If the area you are in is highly industrialized, acid rain could be an issue

Watermakers

Installing a watermaker in your boat will give you an almost unlimited water supply. All water makers designed for small boats and yachts rely on essentially the same technology, exploiting the principle of “reverse osmosis”; a high pressure pump forces saltwater through a membrane which allows water but not salt to pass. Watermakers are priced by the amount of water they produce in a days time. If your cruising takes you to desolate islands in the Bahamas, keep in mind that water if purchased can cost as much as fuel. Watermakers are a virtual necessity.

In Section 1, we discussed how to get ready for applying some varnish on your brightwork; let’s now begin our work.

Step 3- Varnishing, Let’s Get Ready

Supplies We Will Need

Your choice of varnish
Mineral spirits
Foam brushes ( I prefer the ones from Wal-Mart)
Tack rags
Bleach

If you are starting with raw teak you may desire to use the Cetol Marine which has some pigment in it. I prefer to use 2 coats of it on raw wood to give it a nice color to it. I follow this with 4 coatings of gloss . On teak previously finished, I use only gloss. Obviously each year, the varnish builds up so you’ll have to strip it down to bare teak and start over every 5-6 years or so.

This past year I only applied 3 coats of gloss as I stripped it down to bare teak last year.

Cetol advises not to thin their product with thinners. Forget that! I cut my Cetol with mineral spirits at least 30%; if its in the 90 degree temperatures and up to 50%. The rational for doing this is that it allows the Cetol to flow and level itself, reducing the uneven results you will get otherwise. Cetol right out of the can will flow to a greater extent like honey than a paint.

My choice of applicator is a 2 inch foam brush. No brush hairs to deal with and it spreads on oh so smooth.

Step 4- Let’s Lay Some Varnish

Okay, we are almost prepared but there’s one more step you need to do. Bright work has a tendency to get mold beneath the varnish on the wood over time. You’ll want to kill any potential spores with a rag moistened with bleach and wiped over the surface before the first coat. The bleach will not raise the grain nor will it harm any bare wood.

OK, let’s varnish.

Moisten the foam brush with Cetol and apply the varnish to the teak in about 6-10 inch stokes. Apply it lightly to avoid runs always watching your work to catch that run that does occur. Always keep a wet edge, meaning you work your way into the previously wetted surfaces to avoid drags from drying varnish. The going appears slow but it moves quickly.

You’ll need to let each coat dry before reapplying another; weather permitting, I can apply three or four in a day. Be sure to use a tack rag to remove any dust before laying another coat. There is no need to sand between coats when using Cetol.

About 6 coats will give you a gorgeous finish.

Time – 2 hours each coat

Total application time – 6 hours

Step 4- Clean Up

Think back, we put the tape on particular spots for catching the missed brush strokes? It took me about 5 minutes to remove it all. I passed nearly 4 hours with a Dremel tool and brush some time ago removing the varnish that the Patricia Ann’s previous owner had “applied”.

It looks pretty good. All said and done, it took my wife and I a total of 8.5 hours out of a 2 day weekend to get the bright work back into Bristol condition. So its not such an ordeal after all if you know how to do it.

I am the First Mate of the trawler, the Patricia Ann. I jokingly call myself the Admiral because any decision the Captain makes can be overruled by me but we are usually a good team and in agreement.

A luxury yacht is a small city afloat. There are several power generation systems aboard, both alternating and direct currents and maybe a solar system on some boats, a waste treatment system, hotel accommodations to allow the crew to sleep and rest, food preparation systems (electrical or propane), food storage systems (freezers and refrigeration), navigational systems to allow the yacht to move about the -city- and even entertainment systems with movies and concerts. Yes, a {{{luxury yachtcht

large yacht is a rather complex system. Running a yacht is a team effort – it would be very difficult for one person to handle and monitor everything.

A First Mate’s role is to do anything that the Captain cannot.

As First Mate, I stow everything down below when we are getting ready to cruise (anything that can fall and break while underway) . I also handle the lines when leaving the dock. I also make sure to hang those lines in their proper place once we get underway. The Patricia Ann is always ship shape and clutter is NOT an option. While we are cruising to our destination, I am reading paper charts while the Captain is operating the boat and navigating with the chart plotter. We rarely go without both paper and electronic charts.

When we reach our destination, it’s my job to lower the anchor, allowing the Captain to set the hook at which time I fasten the bridle. If we take our dinghy ashore, the Captain runs that the same as he does Patricia Ann and I handle lines. It’s just a lot easier on a 10′ boat than a 44′ boat! When we are ready to leave our anchorage, I bring the hook up, wash the chain and anchor off and secure the pin. When we arrive back at our slip, I again handle the lines while the Captain guides Patricia Ann right where she should be. I guess another way to look at it is I am the Captain’s assistant. Some women might have a problem with that but I don’t. We know couples whose roles are reversed – whatever works!

Another very important first mate duty is to plan meals and provision. We both do the actual provisioning but I get to plan everything. I enjoy this part and love the shopping even more! We both enjoy cooking – my Captain is the grill-king and I am the galley slave, just kidding. I plan healthy, tasty and easy meals as I don’t want to spend hours in the galley when there are islands to explore!

The Captain on our boat is responsible for maintaining the boat’s engines and all associated equipment and systems. I am responsible for keeping a clean living environment which includes the bridge, sundeck and isinglass.

We found an inexpensive way to keep our isinglass clean which does a fair job. We put 1 tablespoon of baby shampoo in gallon of distilled water and use a car wash mitt. Dry it off with a chamois and voila, you are done. I like the way Klear to Sea works better but it is far more expensive so I alternate between the two. My Captain is responsible for washing the exterior and it’s amazing how dirty it can get. We painted our boat about 3 years ago so we have to be careful which soaps we use as some leave the surface looking chalky and dull.

Mike Dickens is the operator of Paradise Yachts, located in Florida USA. Paradise Yachts is a full service yacht brokerage offering quality used yachts and boats. We sell and ship worldwide.

Visit the Paradise Yachts website to view our selection of Used Trawlers, Used Motor Yachts, and Used Sailboats for Sale