Captain’s log
Dateline: 09.09.2022

Little research on battery types

I have two 48V electric motors to install, and also happen to need to do something about heating and powering outlets throughout the boat.

Currently my one and only battery circuit is 12V. Since I have plans getting 230VAC inverter, and powerful ones (over 5KW) usually require at least 48V, it looks like I’ll have to get something like Victron Multi RS Solar. That one will let me charge from the shore, act as my new MPPT, and also power 230VAC devices if needed. Having 48VDC, 12VDC, and 230VAC all at once is really useful — providing power for good 48V heater/AC, 230VAC washer/dryer and welder, 12V electronics, and 24V 3D printer via additional DC-DC converter if needed. What more can the heart of a man desire?

A mechanical or solid-state switch of sorts will have to be installed to direct the charge towards: port motor bank, starboard motor bank, central ship bank, or all at once. Or maybe I’ll get two additional 48V MPPT chargers and direct three zones of my PV system to either of them, depending on what I need to charge first. Directing 100% of my PV system to e.g. port bank and going on one motor could allow me to travel on solar alone, depending on how many watts of solar I’ll have in total.

Victron has more powerful inverters, but they weigh over 40kg (vs. Multi RS’ 11kg), and just look like something superyachts or multihulls over 65’ usually have. It’s important to watch the weight.

If I do go with 48V battery setup, a DC-DC converter from 48V to 12V will have to be hooked up to the main battery bank. Orion-Tr 48/12-30 (360W) should do it. Only about 400W maximum output, but should be enough for marine electronics and 12VDC outlets (laptops, phone chargers, etc). Curious Cat is big, but she’s not a cruise ship. Plus it’s only 2kg, much lighter than having a dedicated battery for my 12VDC needs. And the efficiency of that converter seems to be around 87%, not too bad.

Types of batteries

Since I’m going to have three separate 48V battery banks, I now need to figure out what kind of chemistry to target. I won’t buy anything battery-wise until at least one of my electric motors is installed, or until I get my inverter and that DC-DC converter.

Battery Stats Count Weight Total bank capacity Total bank cost
LiFePo4 Super-B 12V@210Ah 4 23x4=92kg 10.08KWh 3171 € x 4 = 12684 €
LTO Zenaji 48V@40Ah 5 36x5=180kg 9.65KWh 2808 € x 5 = 14040 €
LTO Echandia ? ? ? ?
SC Maxwell 48V@1Ah 10 13.8kgx10=138kg 0.53KWh ?
SC Skeleton 48V@1.28Ah 10 16x10=160kg 0.64KWh ?

This is all there is right now on the market. Even if Echandia gets back to me, the energy density of lithium-titanate (LTO) batteries is about half of what LFP offers. Maybe LTO is the best there is on land, but once again, gotta watch the weight. Supercapacitors are still at about 1/20th of what batteries can offer today, but it’s a cool technology.

Super-B’s Nomia or upcoming 12V@320Ah is what I’m likely going to go with. I really want to go with LTE at least or my main bank, but the weight is just always twice as bad when compared to LFP, no matter how small or big the battery is. Sad.

Captain’s log
Dateline: 23.09.2022

Update on USCG documentation

Reached out to Tami from Back Water Marine today. She’s Micky’s wife, the guy who sold me my beautiful boat.

What we’ve found out is that the USCG is taking its time. The forms were submitted on Jul 11th, and she gave them a call today to find out what’s up. They’re thinking it will take another month. All recreational paperwork gets pushed to the back of the line... the fee was something like $400. So I paid $400 to constantly get pushed to the back of the line. Bravo USCG, feels quite fair!

Without those papers I can’t go to many international ports, and it’s a real pity it’s taking this long.

For nearby territories like Puerto Rico and US mainland ports I should be good with just getting an updated bill of sale.

The storm is coming

Fiona has only caused trouble to Bermuda so far, but for folks in St James City, including yours truly, there’s Ian coming fom the south. It’s predicted to hit the gulf coast of Florida Wednesday afternoon.

I’ve MacGyvered a triple fender out of 3 embarrassingly thin Taylor Made fenders that came with the boat. They’re only like 12" in diameter, thinner than piling on docks here, hence they don’t provide any protection for the boat on their own, it’s been my poor rub rail all this time.

This storm could be a big one, Donna from Bob & Annie’s boatyard has told me today that the path is very similar to Charlie that hit this area in 2004 and destroyed a lot of roofs and mailboxes.

I wish I had real nice big meaty fenders. But I don’t.

This boat has been in this canal since 2001, hence should do okay, she’s seen many storms. Plus all my sails are in storage compartments.

Captain’s log
Dateline: 23.10.2022

Three weeks after hurricane Ian

My first hurricane, turned out to be a cat 5. Not only it was extremely large and moved slow (6–10mph), Curious Cat ended up being on the right side of the eye of the storm, and that's the worst location to be in when it comes to any hurricane. The sustained speed was supposedly 154mph, 1 mph short of cat 5. But it was a cat 5 storm, don't be lying to me, weather channel. Gusts were 205mph. If it was 20 miles south or north, there'd be no surge in St James City, no giant waves.

Quick story

Up until Wednesday 6am I expected a cat 3 hurricane many miles away from Dawson Canal.

Little did I know, it stalled and turned 90 degrees Monday-Tuesday, so with nobody around, I was still sitting on Curious Cat, preparing for the canal to lose water, with little to no surge afterwards.

Winds on Tuesday evening weren't too strong, but enough for palms to look like giant toothbrushes.

Wednesday at 6am I was texted by friends and told that my boat was going to be totaled and I needed to evacuate, the surge was going to be up and over the second floor, and I needed to save my life. Not having much time, I took what I could, moved some things to the second floor of the hotel, and got off the island.

Two days after evacuating to Miami, I saw my boat adrift in the canal not far from where I left her. I was already aware that she got loose at some point, but still was happy to see her in the canal and not on land. She was clogging the whole passage, starboard hull underwater, port on the shallow end. I rushed to get back to her, didn't want her to get looted, or worse, clawed due to blocking the whole canal.

I got to Pine Island by hitching a ride on a boat that delivered a ton of bottled water. One guy thought I was a looter, pointed a gun at me. I slept on the half-sunken Curious Cat for two days, guarding her and whatever items survived. Then I hired some cool local folks to pump the boat out for $2K. We had to do it around 11pm, using one flashlight that wasn't at all waterproof, and with me swimming neck deep in the toilet/canal/sea water. James, the guy who saved my boat, has patched the breach with a piece of 2x4, and then she was completely free of sea water, the breach ended up being above the water line. She took the dock with her, two or three pilings were still attached to her when I found the boat. The water that she took on, and the pilings were likely the reason she didn't flip and didn't travel too far on her own. She was stopped by a fallen tree in the canal that she hit with her seagull breaker.

Later somebody called the cops on me. Claimed that they saw me going to other people's boats looking for stuff. The officers didn't believe I owned the boat, so had to prove it using the bill of sale and my still incomplete USCG registration.

Mistakes made

  1. All electronics and clothes should have been moved to the cabin, above the bridge deck
  2. All hatches should have been closed with locks open (so I wouldn't have to break them from the outside trying to get in)
  3. Should've purchased large fenders long ago, they can save tens of thousands of dollars in repairs
  4. Should've dropped my anchor before leaving the boat

Lessons learned

  1. Hurricanes can blow up overnight and basically become a completely different beast
  2. Should've put cushions of sorts on the dock's piling
  3. Should've put a horizontal plank between the dock and fenders, protecting my hull during the surge
  4. Should've used spider webbing in a safe place somewhere else inside the canal
  5. Put valuable things in IP67 containers
  6. Laminate valuable paper items

Damage taken

  1. Zodiac tender flipped, pierced, one paddle lost
  2. My T-top's material got completely destroyed, the boat was covered in blue threads
  3. 5x stanchions and one pulpit on port side — an old sailboat got loose and ran into my port side
  4. 2x Lewmar 30 hatch lids destroyed
  5. 1x aluminum cleat chipped on port side
  6. 1x 14"-long through-hull breach above waterline on port side
  7. 3x large vertical dents from pilings
  8. 5x dents that went down to foam but never went all the way through
  9. 1x dented aluminum seagull breaker that tore kevlar off front crossbeam
  10. 1x furling mainstay bent
  11. starboard side rudder lost
  12. Edson marine cable steering system disabled, ANSI 50-304 chain needs to be replaced or fixed
  13. switches on breaker panel are covered in salt, ammeter and voltmeter malfunctioning
  14. 4x Sunpower 170W solar panels gone with the wind
  15. Raytheon wind vane is gone... with the wind
  16. Raytheon VHF radio (RAY210) has drowned and effectively doesn't work any more
  17. My US flag has disintegrated, only stars left, no stripes

Books destroyed

  1. Catamarans by Gregor Tarjan
  2. Inland Nav. Rules (already replaced, have to have it on board by law)
  3. The complete book of anchoring and mooring (revised second edition) by HINZ
  4. The sea hunters by Clive Cussler & Craig Dirgo
  5. How to avoid collisions by Michael Cargal
  6. World cruising essentials by Jimmy Cornell

Aside from that, many personal items, 3D printer, clothes, Ryobi power tools, and other things were destroyed by sea water.

Good news

  1. The diesel engine still runs, it was barely touched by sea water
  2. My electric motors and controllers are still okay, they were located on bridgedeck during the hurricane
  3. The boat's repairable
  4. The diver said there is no visible damage below water line, besides the missing starboard rudder, that is
  5. 6 out of 9 lives left

So here it is, my super unlucky first hurricane. The boat has sat in this canal for over 22 years, went through Charley, Michael, others. Then, six months after I buy her, the strongest and most devastating hurricane this place has ever seen damages her. Let's see what FEMA says about my claim.

Links

  • NOAA
  • YouTube
  • Facebook