Picture - access to foredeck

As you can see, right now, the access to the foredeck is, let's say, industrial?

Certainly not too friendly for kids or older people. That's too bad because the view is great.

We plan to put in stairs like the picture below. A lot more comfortable don't you agree?

We also plan to make a foundation on the starboard side to install a hydraulic crane at some point in the future.

Picture - winch room

Right now, the winches used to get the fishing nets on board again are located below the bridge. The picture below, of a ship being scrapped, shows them in more detail.

We plan to convert this area to a dining. We'll also made it wider so you can actually walk around the bridge (see the section with "drawings" section of this blog) and have more space below.

This winch room will also be extended forward to accommodate a living room. On top of it all, a 5 wide and 9 meter (16 x 29 ft.) long sun deck, connecting with the top deck from which this picture was taken.

And, we'll still have 1.7 x 8.5 meters (5.5x 27 ft.) of free main deck space on each side.

By the way, the bridge house and upward is all aluminium.

Picture - front deck

Here we are at the forward top deck of the ship. The red structure on the right is the anchor chain guide. The winch is below deck.
We plan to make a minor modification to put this whole structure below deck and get a nice clean deck.
The hatch on the left gives access to the anchor winch chamber. Through it, you can also access what is now the forward engine room which we are going to convert into two staterooms.
Obviously, access won't be through this hatch :-) !
But, we plan to put a small crew cabin with 2 berths in the anchor winch room.

Plane onboard - with floats

We plan to make our vessel suitable for helicopters to land on the stern top deck. But, we ran into an interesting option last week: an amphibious plane.

Like for instance the Zenith CH 801 sport utility aircraft, a true 'bush plane' with STOL performance (short take-off and landing) that takes a pilot and 4 passengers, can be equipped with amphibious floats, a cargo pod and has wings that can be removed easily (during long voyages or Panama Canal transits (they would stick out one foot on each side).

As this drawing below shows, this plane would fit quite nicely on our vessel.

Compared to a helicopter, a plane is a lot cheaper to operate, easier to fly (which makes it easier to find pilots), has a higher payload and a real STOL plane also lets us get in and out of tight spaces. The Zenith CH 801 is made by Zenith Aircraft Company in Missouri.

The floats are now made by a Canadian company called Can-Zac Aviation Ltd., the Zenith distributor in Canada. Here a few pictures of Zenith aircraft equipped with their floats.

Zenair Floats™ are produced using proven design techniques with modern aviation aluminum alloys that are durable and corrosion resistant. The respected Heintz-designed floats have been installed on dozens of different kit and ultralight planes and are in use around the world.

Communications

It's getting easier and easier - and cheaper too - to get Internet service on board. In this section I plan to look at different systems that would allow us to watch TV or check e-mail regardless of where we are.

There are some very affordable systems out there but since we're too far south, we are outside the footprint of the satellites that cover the US (and where the existence of demand and competition has driven prices down).

We are currently investigating products by SeaTel that are sold by Network Innovations. Interesting new developments are the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN).

BGAN delivers broadband mobile office connectivity wherever and whenever it is needed. It supports innovative IP services, as well as traditional circuit-switched voice and ISDN data. BGAN offers two types of IP service:

• Standard IP - Typically used for accessing corporate networks via a secure VPN connection at speeds up to 492kbps. Use e-mail and other desktop applications, browse the Internet and send large file attachments as easily as in the office. You can even make a phone call at the same time.
  
• Streaming IP
  BGAN is the world's first mobile communications service to offer guaranteed data rates on demand. This is ideal for applications where quality of service is paramount, such as live video in the media industry or videoconferencing. You can select Streaming IP on a case-by-case basis, with the flexibility to choose the data rate (32kbps to 256kpbs) appropriate to your application requirements.
  
• Phone
  BGAN provides high quality voice services, including calls to and from mobile phones. It supports all the usual enhanced features offered by terrestrial fixed-line and mobile networks, such as voice mail, call forwarding, call hold, call barring and call waiting. Calls can be made using a standard desktop phone, peripheral headset or via a Bluetooth earpiece, depending on your choice of BGAN terminal.


• Text Messaging
  BGAN enables you to send and receive SMS text messages via your laptop- up to the standard 160 characters- to or from any mobile phone.

Read more about it here.

Which system is best? Depends the usage. BGAN's entry cost are a fraction of a SeaTel system but with each extra MB of traffic costing around USD 6, longterm, and again, depending on who pays the bills, it may be cheaper to have a SeaTel or similar system.

Vacuum toilets

We already have a section on vacuum toilet systems from a manufacturer called Jets.no. There's another big player out there called EVAC, member of the Zodiac group of companies. You've mostly used their product because they are on every plane!

Evac also makes systems for use on board (mainly cruise ships). My only concern at this point is the treatment plant. Their product seem to target much bigger ships but I'm sure the dealer will follow up on this issue soon.

One of the advantages of the EVAC toilets is they offer a special adapter to fit a bidet seat. More on bidet seat for existing toilets soon in another post. You won't believe the stuff they make these days to clean your rearend and particularly how they manage to make a very fine animimated movie about , well, taking a shit !

Vacuum systems allow you to save a lot of water, allow smaller piping and unlike traditional system, more installation flexibility like piping going upwards.

Fuel cleaning system

Since 80% or more of all engine problems are fuel related, spending some time on investigating how to avoid these problems is certainly worth the time. Our ship has a lot of fuel storing capacity (over a 100 tons) so if we decide to bunker up cheap in Venezuela, given our fuel consumption, we'll likely have some of this fuel on board for months.

Fuel is naturally unstable. Its quality and chemistry are continuously degraded by transportation & storage from refinery to user, oxidation, heat & pressure of engines, pumps & injectors, and by water & microbial contamination. Even when fuel is still clear and bright, microscopic fuel components agglomerate forming larger clusters and organic compounds. Eventually, filters clog and sludge (algae, gum, tar, varnish, wax, etc.) accumulates in storage tanks. A product from ALGAE-X reverses the agglomeration process.

But, while this product is certainly a must-have add on to any fuel system, a more comprehensive and equally maintainance free solution is offered by a Danish company called CJC Filters.

Their website is particularly informative and offers a lot of great information on fuel conditioning, fuel sampling, know-how about oil, taking samples, including some downloadable guides, like the clean oil guide and their paper on oil degradation. Very eductional and highly recommended! (PDF requiered).

First of all, they use so-called off-line filtration. Instead of relying on in-line filters mounted on the engine, fuel is circulated between the bunker tanks and a daily service tank.

Why off-line filtration?
As the CJC site says: the short term benefits of off-line filtration:

• Reduced overall filtration costs (50-80%)
• Reduced equipment maintenance
• Minimal installation costs
• Minimal training required for operation
• No shutdown required for component changes

Long term benefits of off-line filtration:

• Extended component life
• Extended oil life
• Extended in-line filter life
• Reduced downtime due to equipment failure
• Reduced environmental impact

Next, instead CJF does not use a purifier system with rotating discs like those made by Alfa Laval or Westfalia. The difference between the CJC filter andt he the centrifuge is the efficiency and the methode of working. The CJC filters works with a coalesing principle where the water is taken out by gravity.

The oil and water is pushed through the element where the waterdroplets merge, and when they reach the center of the element it will drop down into the secondary coalesher where it will form larger droplets and the watercan be drain off in the bottom of the unit either manually or automatically.

Features of CJC™ oil maintenance system:

• Compact, self contained, and totally separate from the main system, with its own pump and motor
• Can operate 24 hrs/day, even when the main system is shut down.
• The filter insert utilizes deep media and consistent density to provide fine filtration, with a normal lifetime of 12-18 months.
• The filter insert has 36 square metres of exposed surface area to allow for the slow, steady flow rate necessary for very fine filtration.
• The filter insert has a high dirt-holding capacity, on average between 5 and 7 kg (12 and 15 lbs), resulting in cost-effective operation.
• The main system does not need to be shut down in order to change filter insert.

Using CJC systems and the Algae-X device, I don't think we every have to worry about the quality of our fuel!