Technical Updates and Enhancements:

2025:

Over-powered electical winch

E-Wincher2 on top of the fixed electric winch

There is only one fixed electric winch on board Moon.

The previous owner mostly intended it for hoisting the mainsail and furling the genoa.
In practice, we found that it has far too much power for simple sail handling. It offers minimal feedback on how hard it pulls, making it very easy to tear ropes or blocks.

The eWincher2 offers a significantly better experience in this respect. Although it is also very strong at full pull, the pull from the winch can be easily adjusted thanks to its pressure-sensitive on/off switch. When the operator feels how much force the winch handle exerts, it is much easier to adjust the force and immediately detect any issue.

We have been able to prevent several incidents by being able to sense when something is amiss and halt the winch instead of risking the deck's equipment or ropes being dragged to destruction by the powerful fixed ON/OFF winch.

The furling line saved its life due to the use of E-Wincher2

The eWincher2 is the ideal tool for hoisting the mainsail using the manual winch located on the starboard side of the mast.
All hoisting and reefing of the mainsail is done here, so we have established robust safety procedures and work routines at the mast.

The genoa is reefed at the rear (electric) winch. Instead of using the winch's powerful fixed motor, we use the eWincher2 to treat it as if it were a manual winch. This allows for much more precise reefing of the genoa and enables us to instantly recognise if something is about to block the furling (se picture abowe).

Regarding the eWincher2 we had a serious issue with its charger on our Greenland expedition last summer:

Just a few hours after we published this on our Facebook wall, we received a reply from Philippe Bouschon, the Sales Director at ewincher.com. He wanted more information about the incident and showed genuine interest in finding out what had happened. The result was that the battery and charger were returned to their engineers, and we received a new battery and charger in return.

Everything went very smoothly, and we are very happy with the way eWincher handled it all.

Fuel polishing system:

Well-known to sailors is the infection of "diesel bugs", a sticky and slimy problem. This is a contamination of the diesel fuel on board. Once pulled through into the engine the "bug" can cause problems in almost every part of it, increasing fuel consumption, clogging filters and reducing fuel flow to a standstill.

Illustration Image:  YachtingWorld

Fuel contamination usually occurs due to the chemical process that is formed in the microscopic layer between water droplets and the diesel molecules. All tanks have to breathe and as they do the moisture comes in. With water comes diesel bug, sooner or later.

Diesel bug is a mixture of different microbes, bacteria and fungus that can live and thrive in the interface between water and diesel in the fuel tank. 

In this environment, the bacterias "flourishes" and forms colonies of "diesel bugs" which is a viscous mass that can easily clog filters, or in the worst case the pipes or nozzles on a diesel engine. This usually shows when you need the engine the most, like when you have to drive against the wind and heavy seas, or just after when you have to make tight maneuvers in harbours or anchorages .

Like most bacteria it will reproduce quickly to potentially become a serious problem in a short time. Normally, as long as you got a "easy to replace filter element" type of filter housing like the Racor500, replacing a clogged filter is straightforward, but since this typically happens when the engine's power is needed the most out at the sea, it can easily lead to critical situations for the vessel and, in the worst case, the crew.

To prevent this,  we have now installed a on board fuel polishing system.

In addition to the mechanical part of the polishing system, we also use additatives in the diesel to prevent the growth of bacterias. 

Moon got two fueltanks, the 700 liter maintank and a 140 liter daytank. In addition to the engine, the daytank serves both the Webasto and the Reflex heating systems. 

Having a day tank is very convenient:

• Finding an air leak in the fuel intake line to a diesel engine, which will quickly stop the engine, can be one of the most frustrating tasks known to humankind. That whole problem goes away with a day tank located above the consumers, putting the fuel system is under slight pressure from gravity, making a air-leak less likely since pressure tends to seal fittings and gaskets while vacuum has the opposite effect.
• Changing filters on the engine is easier since they will automatically fill by gravity and priming the engine will be easier too.
• Its also much easier to measure and monitor the fuel consumption all together or for each device using a day tank.

Filling the day tank is done by the electric fuel pump which can either be set to automatic mode, where the pump starts and stopps as the consumption of diesel activates the fuel level sensors within the daytank, or as we prefer, manually activated from the switch board. This gives us a much better situational awareness of the fuel situation, as we regularly inspect the fuel flowing into the inspection glass on the housing of the Racor500 filter housing, monitoring for any debris or water in the fuel floating by.

We love sailing in remote areas and are always looking for ways to make our operations more reliable. This fuel purification system has given us increased confidence that we will be less likely to experience issues due to contaminated fuel.

Moon at 'Røde Fjord', one of the most remote fjords in Scoresbysund, eastern Greenland. This is exactly the kind of place where you don't want to experience engine trouble.

Internet failover network:

Internet has become a must wherever you go. Onboard there are two systems that keep us online most of the time. 4GXtream is a 4G router, which is used along the coast out to about 25 nautical miles from land. Starlink covers virtually all other locations. Both systems are connected to the same router with a "failover"so that 4G automatically takes over if Starlink goes offline. This way we don't have to switch manually depending on which network provides coverage.

The “good old and slow” IridiumGO is used as a backup. It doesn't allow us to surf the web, but we can download small weather files and it allows us to send and receive short emails.

Sail mainteneace and rig inspection:

The sun-cover on the fore sails had started to deteriorate, so during the winter they was brought to the the sailamaker, Albatross segel in Gøteborg - Sweden, where they first came from. Here they got a general service and overhaul, new sewing threads and finally, new sun cover. 

Even if it was quite sure the condition of the rig was ok, we opted for a second opinion by engaging a pro. Astrax sail service located in Molde did a thorough inspection and found

almost everything A-ok.

Large birds, such as crows, seagulls and cormorants, are a constant nuisance at the masthead. Not only do their droppings pollute the boat, they also damage the equipment in the masthead. However, this has now come to an end since the bird deflector was installed.

The deck light and steaming lantern were in desperate need of renewal. Luckily, the base was still in good shape. Since the same model as the old one is still available, replacing the old lights with the new LED lights on the old base was relatively straightforward.

Wireless Windlass controler:

The old wireless windlass controller was dead, and no longer in production, so a new model had to be purchased. Of course its cables didnt connect the same way as the old one but with Roy, Mr. Anchorlift him self online, it was easy to set up the new one. 

NMEA2000 network:

The troubleshooting of the wind instrument provided a initiative for obtaining a full overview of the NMEA2000 network on board. As it was, none of the drop cables going into the backbone cable were labeled, so to find out which sensor they came from was quite demanding.

It was a time consuming to disconnect all cables to search each individual sensor. Once that was done and safely secured on to a "map", labels were ordered and installed on each cable.

The lack of information from STW - "speed through water" also needed to be addressed. The new B&G Zeus3 plotter did not read the information from the Airmar B744VL transducer the same way the old T-8 plotter did, so a converter was needed. It wasn't as straightforward as it might seem at first, but ultimately I found the right combination of cables and STW re-established.

Missing wind info:

When the season started, it turned out that the wind instrument didnt show wind speed or direction. After some troubleshooting, it became clear that there was corrosion in the contact between the wind sensor at the masthead and the cable running down the mast.
The sensor began to show clear signs of age, and since we had a new sensor on board, it was replaced.

Autopilot controller on the harddoger:

When we're alone in the cockpit  or sailing single-handed, the autopilot is used for tacking. The autopilot control panel is located on the steering console by the steering wheel, and is difficult to operate when standing between the steering console and the harddodger, as is the case when cruising siglehanded in order to easily operate the winches.

Therefore, an extra steering console was installed above the Trinton instruments on the port side of the harddodger. The bare wood that was exposed when the hole for the control console was made was saturated with epoxy to protect against moisture. 

This also provided a good opportunity to go into detail on how the instruments on the harddodger are mounted and connected together with the rest of the N2K system.

Entrance see through storm cover: 

Until now, we've had to rely on closing the entrance with opaque wooden panels if the weather was such that the simple plastic sheet we use to shield against cold draughts wasn't sufficient to protect the entrance.

Now a 14mm Lexan panel is shaped to fill the two top panels and completely seal the entrance. Lexan is very sturdy and can withstand a lot of pressure like if a big wave enters the cockpit, while we now clearly may see both inside and out.

Rerouting of the cooling air for the rectifier fan:

When installing the new alternator with a separate rectifier, we opted to use a hole in the floor leading to the engine compartment to ensure adequate cooling air for the rectifier. This air was blown into the aft cabin, providing heating. However, over time we found that the "hot engine" smell became too dominating in the cabin. This was unpleasant, especially if close to be seasick in heavy weather. Therefore, the hole to the engine compartment was sealed with a piece of wood and epoxy, and a opening to the rear head was made instead. All exposed wood from enlarging the holes was filled with epoxy to protect against moisture.

Remote monitoring of the boat during winter:

During winter the boat comes to rest while we pursue another of our passions,

skiing our lokal mountains.

Monitoring the condition of the boat during this period could have been very time consuming if I'd had to be physically present as often as required to maintain control, as it's a two hour drive between where we live and Moon´s home port.

Thanks to Victron's VRM (Victron Remote Monitoring) portal together with Ruuvi sensor system and the YOYO Power 4G heating control system, a overview of the state of the electrical system in general, charging and the battery status and temperature and humidity on board in particular is at my fingertips.

As this can be accessed in real time, I can get away with a visit on board every other week, unless weather conditions dictate exceptional measures.

Via the on board Cerbo GX device the Victron´s VRM portal is connected to the on board LTE 4G Xtream network which can be accessed from any platform connected to internet, and in addition to monitoring, you can change settings for battery charging or the system's general access to shore power.

The picture on the left shows how much power is being drawn and used from the 220V AC shore power and the 24V DC system, as well as the status of the batteries. In this case we can see that they are 100% charged and idle with a float charge mode of 27.00V.
On the right the different RUUVI sensors show their status.

The forepeak locker is the storage space under the bunk in the forepeak (for the time being totally emptied to ensure good ventilation). The temperature here is practically the same as the sea temperature as there is no extra insulation in the hull here. During sailing season this is of no problem even if we sail in ice waters since the locker then is stuffed with lot of different items, acting as insulation. As the boat is on the water through out the winter, and the water never freezes, it will never get colder than 1 or 2 degrees Celsius.

The engine room and everything below the waterline are therefore protected from freezing. However the salon and living area, which are exposed to the very much colder outside air, where temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius can occur, are at risk. To ensure the temperature doesn't go to low here, two heaters are connected to the YOYO Power system to keep the temperature above freezing.

In a nutshell the YOYO Power system consists of a number of 220V sockets controlled by its own built-in network. The Master has a SIM card with its own phone number, which is used to control and monitor the system via an App and SMS messages. Each of the sockets is equipped with its own thermostat and is connected to a heating unit. It is therefore possible to set different temperature parameters for each outlet. On Moon there are three different heating units controlled by the YOYO. I have set the outlets with individual temperature ranges, hopefully not to heat any area unesseserly high.

The front and rear fans are set to low heat, which means they are switched on a lot and rarely reach the maximum temperature they are set to. The centre fan heater is set to produce a higher temperature when switched on, but has a lower temperature range in which to operate. This means that it is used relatively infrequently, but if the temperature requires it, it will quickly ramp up to a temperature of 5 degrees Celsius.

To my experience, as long as the temperature is above 5 degrees celsius, the humidity stays below 65%. I find that acceptable so no reason to bring the temperature to higher level.

On the left is the application that controls the YOYO system, in the middle is the setup for each device's temperature zone, on the right is the SMS request (in green) and the response with the sensor status. #07# means show ALL, but it is also possible to communicate with each individual sensor.

An important feature of this system is that I get an alarm on my mobile when the shore power goes out, and when it's back on.

Finally, it's important to keep track of the consumption. To do this, Victron's VRM is of great help. It also becomes clear how the temperature has changed over the winter, as it corresponds to the electricity used to maintain the set temperatures on board. On the left is the variation over the last 24 hours, on the right the variation over the last 90 days.

Last but least, the boat club is very well organized, and there are several web cams making it incredibly easy to keep an eye on what's going on in the harbour and around the boat.

2024:

Renewing of the Steering Link Rod Ends:

During the test drive when I bought Moon, I noticed a certain slackness in the steering. Not much, but it was there. After having sailed the boat more extensive the clicking sound from the steering system became more and more present. Clearly something had to be done.

After some investigation, it turned out that it was the innermost (of course) and most difficult-to-reach steering rod end that was about to completely disintegrate. The steering links is located below deck at the helm, so space is limited.

The rest of the rod ends also showed signs of  some slack in them, so I decided to have all four of them changed.  I purchased new ones at Whitlock Steering in the UK.

The Rod end did almost fall apart when the rest of the linkage was dismounted, but the "bearing ball" was impossible to remove, whatever trick I tried. Because the space was so tight, the ball was hard to get to, and the amount of arm strength and tools that could be used was very limited. 

No other choice, the pedestal had to come off.

If I just could have been more patient.. It was quite some work getting the pedestal free and the steering link out in free air. Then it was possible to use some force, and it was not that hard to make it come loose. 

It was clearly that the anti corrotion stuff I used, a Lanolin based "Fluid Film",  to loosen the bearing ball from the pin had been working almost half its way through to the end.  A couple more hours...

Now that I knew how to dismantle the pedestal  it was an easy task to put it all together again, and on the first sailing trip after the change, it was noticeable that the steering had become much smoother and compact.

Let there be light... As the pedestal was taken apart it was possible to inspect the missing night light in the compass at the helm station. It turned out to be a missing cable and a corroded connection. To prevent further corrotion the connection was soacked  in the previous mentioned Lanonlin based "Film Fluid".

Backup Autopilot

The autopilot is the most important piece of equipment on any sailboat. More important than the rig and sails or the engine. Of course, if you are sailing close to land, you may be able to do without, but hardly.

It's never IF the autopilot crashes, always WHEN...

Sooner or later it happens, and typically, it will certainly happen when you need it the least. As this is a short-handed boat, hand steering will become far too tiring over time.

In addition to the autopilot itself failing, another factor to consider is if the NMEA network fails. The autopilot is completely dependent on this network to receive steering information from both the heading compass and the autopilot controller.

To overcome this and gain redundancy, a "Stand Alone" Autopilot was needed. By "Stand Alone" it means; not depending on any external sources other than power. 

Although Moon got a wind pilot, its of no use when going by engine or sailing along a shoreline with shallow areas. The Windpilot  comes useful when out in the open sea, but even there it has its limitations, since its not usable if the wind dies and you have to go by engine.

There are a few brands of Stad Alone autopilots on the market, but not many as reliable and sturdy as the CPT autopilot. I have had some experience with it from one of my previous boats, and I know of long distance cruisers been using it for years and years with great success. 

The unit has three main parts. The drive unit, the control box containing a compass sensor, and finally the wheel pulley with its drive belt. For pedestal mounting, an optional stainless steel pedestal bracket is available for clamping directly to most pedestals as on Moon, (seen on the picture above). This bracket can usually be installed without drilling any holes.

CPT has at least four main advantages: it's easy to install and maintain, needs no external connections except of power which its uses very little of (max 10A 12V) and last but not least it's almost dead silent. The latter is very important when sailing on longer voyages. Nothing spoils a good rest and sleep like the whine and scream from a autopilot drive unit.

Renewing of the Electrical System:

The boat is equipped with an electric galley with an induction cooktop and an electric oven.

Together with the other electrical equipment such as navigation instruments, plotters and autopilot, the load on the batteries often pushed them to the limit. This creates challenges and limitations during multi-day passages or long anchorages without access to shore power.

The frequent overheating of the alternator was also making things quite a strain.

To overcome this it was decided to install a more powerful (24V / 600A) lithium battery bank, a more suitable alternator and the largest solar array that would fit.

The process started with Tor at Tor Båtservice getting involved to see what options could be chosen. He was involved in the refurbishment of the electrical system on my previous boat 'Bluebird' and I was very pleased with the work done and his ability to solve challenges and find good solutions.

For a while it seemed that building a system using components purchased from different suppliers would lead to a reliable and reasonably priced solution, but then Victron reduced the price of its components, in particular the Lithium batteries, which led to an easy choice.

We needed to understand how the system was originally built before removing all the redundant equipment and installing the new units. As is often the case when renovating, you "remove one stone only to find two more underneath". In this case, there was this dual installation of Victron Phoenix inverters and a Victron Skylla charger that didn't have any digital connectivity. This made them both deaf and dumb in a new Victron system, which communicates via digital protocols.

One of several advantages with lithium batteries, in addition to how fast they receive charging, is the increased capacity compared to lead/ AGM technology. Moon has got 3 x 25.6V 200A Victron Lithium Smart batteries that provides 12.3kW at 80% discharge. It implies that capacity has been raised with more than 100% of usable energy compared to the older AGM batteries.

The batteries are controlled by a external Victron  Smart BMS500. The brain behind all charging, whether from solar, grid or alternator, no matter if from one device or all three at the same time, is the Victron CerboGX.

Another of the Victron system's great advantages compared to other systems consisting of different products from different suppliers, lies in the communication within the system.

Therefore, the latest generation Multipluss-II inverter/charger replaced three other "well-functioning" but obsolete old items.

For maximum redundancy, two 12V AGM batteries have been retained as an emergency source should the BMS - Battery Management System - decide to shut down the lithium system.

To achieve this, the AGM batteries are connected to an Orion Smart 12/24V DC/DC converter which converts 12V current to 24V.

The second Orion Smart 24/12V DC/DC converter charges the 12V AGM batteries from the Lithium 24V system in addition to the 12V alternator, which also charges the 12V starter battery when the engine is running. Thus the emergency batteries are always fully charged.

In the unlikely event that the starter battery runs out of power not able to start the engine, the old "stand alone" Victron Pallas 12V charger remains in the system and can be activated via the SmartPlus-II inverter. 

To take advantage of the lithium technology's fast charging capability, the old Mastervolt 75A alternator was replaced with a new ElectroMaax 165A alternator. To avoid the problem of overheating, the new alternator has a rectifier that is separate from the main part of the alternator and located in a cooler place than the hot engine compartment. To be sure that working loads and heat conditions are within limits, the maximum power output from the alternator has been reduced to 75%.

The temperature that develops, even after a couple of hours of full production, seems to remain quite low, so as experience is gained, the effect can possibly be adjusted upwards.

Tor and Ben at Tor Båtservice  in deep concentration, programming the Wakespeed 500 to match the ElectroMaax alterator.

The Wakespeed 500 alternator regulator unit, has been developed in close cooperation with Victron, which means that it´s able to talk to the Cerbo GX as an integrated part of the system. The control of the alternator's power output takes place in a continuous dialogue between the Wakspeed 500 and the Cerbo GX. Parameters like; total consumption, status of the batteries, solar charging ability, battery temperature, alternator temperature and engine speed are taken into account when the Cerbo GX decides how much output the alternator is allowed to produce at any given time. 

The touch screen makes it easy to both see the system status at any time, and make changes in the system setup.

The overall aim is to be able to recharge the batteries without having to start the engine just for that purpose. Thats why it is important to gain enough electricity when the engine are running entering or leaving port. Installing an external generator is out of the question.

Previous experience with solar panels has been good, so the desire was to be able to place as large panels as possible to get the best possible charge from the sun.

The challenge was to find the sweet spot between maximum size of the panels and practical use of space. The choice fell on two 380W panels from CSun with an open circuit voltage of 42V. 

The only place for the solar panels was to have an arch made over the rear part of the cockpit. The arch was also prepared to accommodate the IridumGO and Starlink antennas.

Quite some kilos of old cable was removed..

Solar Arch:

It was a bit of a challenge to fit the arch for the solar panels. We needed something solid but not too heavy, and we also had to make sure it was attached to the hull in a way that didn't affect the quality of the boat itself. And, of course, it had to look good.

The solar arch was made of 30 mm stainless steel pipes at the workshop of Hanmo AS in Trondheim. 

The lifeline aft of amidship was too low and needed to be raised to make the boat safer when passing to and from the cockpit, especially in heavy weather. There was no liferaft cradle at the pushpit, which was made along with a few other changes.

Arnt at Hanmo AS did put a lot of time and effort into the construction process, and did a great job both with both the actual construction and all the details that came up along the way.

The raised lifeline and upper part of the pushpit are a major safety improvement. The height of the arch allows even tall people to stand fully upright under the panels.

Sarca Ex-Cel Anchor

The confidence in the Delta anchor that came with Moon  was not very high. This based on countless descriptions and tests by others. Although my own experience with the anchor was short, and the previous owner was happy with it, I was in doubt. Absolute confidence in the anchor rode is crucial since the boat, or in worst case our life can be at stake if it fails.

Sarca Ex-Cell has received a lot of good feedback both in tests and practical use, so when the decision was made to change, a 53kg Ex-Cell  was purchased.  ...In heavy anchor we trust...

Mast Steps and LTE 4G Antenna

In connection with other work on the boat, we discovered that we were right next door to the base of Riggmaster AS in Trondheim.  On request they could start work immediately, so all of a sudden the long-awaited steps could be installed.

Going aloft several times during the season is mandatory, so having steps in the mast is very handy.  With steps you don't need to be two people to get up the mast . A single person can easily climb to the top of the mast secure against falling, either with attachments to ropes from the running rigging or slings around the mast. There are several different types of steps. On Moon we chose fixed steps with a railing at the top. With such its less likely to slip off a step, and they are very sturdy.

They also mounted two antennas for the LTE 4G internet router on each of the lower spreaders, and a guide for the genoa halyard to improve the angle of the halyard from the block at the top of the mast and the forstay furling. This to prevent  the genua roller furling and the halyard getting entangled should the latter become slack in any way.

Diesel Heater Renewal

Moon came with one of the best heat sources you can have on a boat, a Reflex diesel stove. It's excellent in every way, provides dry warm air and expels condensation, uses no electricity and is economical on diesel, but it lacked one very important detail. Access to the flame. It's not the same looking at a hot shiny steel pipe when a window provides all the comfort in the world just by looking through it. 

Contact was made with the Reflex retailer in Norway  and they was happy to send me a window to refit.  Then  a local blacksmith made a hole in the oven and fitted the window. Success.. 

Even small, the oven has a capacity of 4,2Kw heating, and with a cooktop it serves nicely as a kettle heater or as a backup for the electrical galley.

2023:

Cockpit Canopy Installation

When sailing in high latitudes like the west coast of Norway, a proper cockpit enclosure is heavily needed. Moon did not have any, just a sunbrella (roof), which clearly showed signs of being near exhaustion, so we got one ordered.

The canopy was supplied by a local company, Flataker Industrier AS  and consists of several panels that can be installed or removed individually, depending on the need for protection. With just the roof in place, the boat can be sailed and cruised on both tacks without interference. If protection is required, the windward side panels can be fitted while the leward side remains open. The sails can then be trimmed as normal without interference. At anchor, the entire cockpit can be closed completely, creating a large and dry exterior space.

If the wind is hard and the canopy cant be raised, there is a removable "see through" canopy that can be fitted at the aft of the hard dodger. This seals off the dodger from wind and rain and makes it a warm and comfortable place to be.

Inside the harddodger there is two tablets, iPad and Orca with charging, used to keep situation averness at all time. 

Cockpit Chartplotter Installation

Up to now, only the autopilot display and controls were at the helmsman's place. A plotter box had to be made and assembled so the chart plotter could be placed there.

In order to lead the necessary wires and cables to the plotter box, a new pipe had to be fitted that could accommodate this. A new hole in the deck at the helm had to be made and this was carefully sealed with epoxy to make it water tight. 

A local workshop took on the job at short notice, making the stainless steel box and drilling all the necessary holes.

Sleipner E-170 - 24V Bow Thruster

Long keeled boats can be a real nightmare to handle in close quarters, especially when the wind don’t play along. Hence the powerful  Sleipner E-170 bow thruster with integrated inverter for variable speed and “holding” mode was installed. 

The Twaron (identical to Kevlar) reinforcement of the composit hull made it a though job to make the two large holes needed to fit the thuster-tunnel. 

The tunnel was then integrated as part of the hull by being epoxied on, which gave a very strong construction.

The E-170 has the new 6-phase PMSM synchronous motor made explicitly for marine thruster use, delivering performance and runtime never seen before in a DC thruster. The Sleipner eVision thrusters have a built-in functionality to limit the maximum voltage delivered to the thruster, preventing a sudden "all out" burst normal on older models, thus there are no dedicated battery close to the thruster.  The Victron LifePo4 batteries and Smart BMS can handle a continuous load of 500A, and a 5 min peak up to 600A and since the thruster has a maximum load of 395A, there will not be an overload on the BMS. 

The absence of a dedicated battery and the low weight of the thruster it selves gives a total weight from the installation which is at least 50% lower than a traditional installation.

When "holding" mode is activated, the thruster pushes continuously with the force its programmed to by the operator, without in need of the operator continue holding the ON button . This way a single- or short-handed crew can tie/ untie the lines while the thruster keeps the boat in position at the dock.

Retirement of an Old Salty Sea Dog:

After extensive use, the original Perkins engine had more than 6,000 hours on the clock, had aspirated seawater a couple of times and needed close attention most of the time, so the time had come for retirement. The new engine is a Lombardini Kohler  KDI2504-M.

KDI2504M-MP is a no turbo, naturally aspirated,  direct injection inboard diesel engine, fresh water cooled via heat exchanger. Hopefully will low rpm combined with a cast-iron engine block and one piece cast-iron cylinder head assure engine sturdiness and longlivety.

The KDI series is designed to deliver high power and torque at low engine speeds. A cruising speed of 6 knots is achieved at 1,600 rpm, helping to reduce fuel consumption, noise and vibration.

The engine was delivered by: Arken Teknik, Lidkøbing, Sverige

As the opening at the entrance was barely big enough, getting the old engine out and the new one into the boat required great precision.

The existing reduction gearbox from the old engine was new in 2015 and hopefully still had many years of life left in it, so the engine was delivered without the original reduction gearbox. The mounting plate for the ZF Hurt 25M gearbox had to be ordered separately.

Redundancy is provided by a separate, almost unused, equivalent gearbox that was found on the second-hand market and taken on board as spare.

The engine was supplied with a 12V alternator. As the electrical system on board is 24V, a new mounting bracket had to be adapted to the 24V generator. Due to the customised bracket and the adjustment of the drive belts, it was necessary to install an additional pulley and change the organisation of the drive belts.

To ensure that the engine always is supplied with clean diesel, Moon has a 120-liter day tank. Diesel is pumped from the main tank to the day tank via an electric fuel pump when needed either automatically via a float switch, or manually by a switch at the main panel. The manual method is preferred as it provides an accurate overview of the fuel consumption and the condition of the diesel. The latter is possible at the glass housing in the bottom of the Racor filter, as the diesel passes on its way from the main tank.

There are a total of three filters in the fuel line between the main diesel tank outlet, the day tank and the engine's fine mesh filter.

All filters are Racor 500 housings, which makes administrating the filter elements very easy.

When the engine was installed and everything was ready for Moon to sail home to Norway, a small coolant leak was discovered at the bottom of the engine compartment. Closer inspection revealed a crack in the coolant pump housing. 

The pump had to be removed and, as the engine supplier did not have one in stock, a new one had to be sent from the factory in Italy, which took six days. This led to the decision to keep a spare pump on board.

2019

Rudder and Centerboard Shaft Bearing Renewal:

The Lower rudder shaft bearings are about to be replaced.

Here located on top of the rudder shaft braket just for display, the old one (white to the right) was made of Vesconite Hilube, and even if they was delivered with a "lifte time waranty" from the producer in South Africa they had to replaced after just 7 years. The new one (grey in the midle) is made of Tufcoat T100 MF which is said to be 4 times as durable as the old one. Time will show...

Both the upper and lower rudder bearings have been replaced and the rudder is ready to be reinstalled. Finally, the rudder mount is fitted flush with the rest of the keel.

The centerboard shaft bearings had allso to exchanged. The shaft can be inspected from a hatch in the floor in the salon area, inside the boat, but to have it removed require slightly more specialized work.

Access to remove the shaft is via a tunnel on the starboard side of the hull. This tunnel is revealed  when a hole is made in the hull. 

Opening a stainless steel bracket allows to remove the shaft, and make i possible to exchange the bearings on both sides. The same strong Tufcote T100 material as in the rudder shaft bearings was also used here.

Once the bearing had been replaced, and the shaft was back in place, the hole was sealed with many layers of fibreglass and epoxy, becoming as strong as the rest of the hull.

Since the center board is rarely used, the new bearings will probably last forever.

Shaft Seal and Cutlass Bearing Renewal:

The purpose of the PSS - Shaft seal - is to prevent water from the outside entering the inside of the hull along with the propeller shaft, since the shaft Cutless bearing in the tube where the propeller shaft is located is lubricated by sea water.

The rubber seal on the PSS shaft seal needs replacing from time to time. To be able to remove the seal it was necessary to disconnect the propeller shaft from the Aquadrive at the gearbox. This also allowed the new one to be threaded over the shaft and on to the tube which is a part of the hull and where the shaft goes out to the propeller.

The Cutless bearing was also replaced.

2017

Feathering Propeller Renewal:

A 600mm Maxprop Easy 111 four blade, feathering propeller with variable pitch replaced a three bladed of the same brand.

The propeller is highly adjustable, and can have different pitch angle wether in forward mode or backword.  

2012 - 2014

Hull and Deck Renewal:

In 2012 after several dormant years the second owner took possession of her in Malaysia and commenced on a thorough and major refit lasting well into 2014.

Their approach was very methodical and thorough. In addition to removing the teak deck and replacing it with cork, both the deck and hull were carefully inspected for signs of moisture damage and where found, damp wood was either dried out or removed and replaced with epoxy. Exposed areas such as the bow and deck where the anchor winch is located, and the stern deck where the electric winch is located were heavily reinforced and sealed. All hatches were removed and their attachments improved. The attachment points of all deck mounted equipment has been moulded in epoxy to prevent moisture ingress. In the hull, all of the hull bushings were removed and the holes for new bushings in Marelon were baked in epoxy before the bushings were fitted.

This brief description does not in any way justify the effort that was put into getting the boat in top condition. These are just a few of the improvements.

All in all this became a very comprehensive renovation and as a result, the boat became in better condition, both stronger and more durable than when it left the shipyard as new.