Back to the UK for a winter refit

[jimmy_the_builder]

I'm getting close to the end of the project now, and things are getting finished off, pleasingly. Today we completed the work on the AncamTM.

My take on the Ancam was to position it directly over the anchor so that I could see the direction of the chain when recovering the anchor, and perhaps even see the sandy bit to aim the anchor at when anchoring in VF or between the islands. We talked a bit about this earlier in the thread (post #554) - this is what my plan was back then:

the basic idea is that the camera is mounted to a horizontal plate which bolts to the very front of the pulpit rail, but aft of the rail, if that makes sense. I'm going to put a jackstaff socket on the top of the plate and use that for my anchor ball. The camera is mounted underneath, facing straight down. Has a 3.6mm lens which should give a helpful viewing angle.

And here is the finished article:

Top view:

Anchor ball:

This is the view of the anchor at the helm. This particular camera has a 3.6mm lens but I am going to try and track down one with a 2.9mm lens instead to get a wider viewing angle:

The full effect:

Bob the Amazing Fabricator made all of this, and fitted most of it as well. We ran the camera cable down through the rail and into the anchor locker; to do this, Bob managed to get himself inside the locker (this is not a big space, I was amazed that he could get in there at all):

 

[Pinnacle]

Looking good, Jimmy.

 

[Hurricane]

I'm getting close to the end of the project now, and things are getting finished off, pleasingly. Today we completed the work on the AncamTM.

My take on the Ancam was to position it directly over the anchor so that I could see the direction of the chain when recovering the anchor, and perhaps even see the sandy bit to aim the anchor at when anchoring in VF or between the islands. We talked a bit about this earlier in the thread (post #554) - this is what my plan was back then:


And here is the finished article:

Top view:

Anchor ball:

This is the view of the anchor at the helm. This particular camera has a 3.6mm lens but I am going to try and track down one with a 2.9mm lens instead to get a wider viewing angle:

The full effect:

Bob the Amazing Fabricator made all of this, and fitted most of it as well. We ran the camera cable down through the rail and into the anchor locker; to do this, Bob managed to get himself inside the locker (this is not a big space, I was amazed that he could get in there at all):

Thats a great job Jimmy
Last year, I fitted a short Jack Staff (I think thats what it is called) onto the rail at the bow.
Two uses - as a Jack Staff (forum burgee etc) and our anchor ball slides over.
Not as professional as yours though.
Now an anchor cam - I wonder.
One of my jobs whilst I'm here on my own in the sun is to see if I can find a way of getting wires into my chain locker.
If so, an ancam might be on the cards next.

 

[RogerRat]

This one made me smile:

It's not so hard getting in but a real bummer trying to get back out! :ambivalence:

Don't ask me how I know this..

All looking good Jimmy, love the pulpit and camera too.

RR

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Bathing platform teak got completed this week as well. The teak was supplied by Wattsons, who are the OE suppliers and who, frankly, have been an absolute delight to deal with. I followed Nick_h's advice and used flooring underlay foam as a template material; this worked out very well.

First job is to clean down the platform base and mask it off:

The two panels that make up the main section of the platform are bonded down with a West two-part epoxy; there's a bit of fiddling around needed to make sure the joint between the two panels is the same size as all the other caulked joints. Once it's in the right place, it is weighted down; old batteries are very useful for this:

After that's gone off for 24 hours, the platform is masked again ready for caulking:

And caulked with Sikaflex 290i:

The swim ladder hatch was teaked up in the workshop, and then fitted when complete. Notice the contrast in colour between the original teak in the cockpit, and the newly-laid stuff:

The finished result. By the time I took this pic, Vince from Shoreline Boats had scrubbed the cockpit with a two-part cleaner, and honestly you can't tell that one section is 10 years older than the other now. Really pleased:

 

[Richard.C]

Looks amazing and totally factory OE, you really wouldn't know this was a modification.

Well done.

 

[rafiki_]

Looks absolutely brilliant Jimmy, fantastic job. This is in the stuff to do for Rafiki too.

 

[petem]

Looks brilliant. Great to see some proper British craftsmanship.

 

[Pinnacle]

Looks fantastic Jimmy - you will be the envy of all other T40 owners!

Not too long now before Vega is back in the sun shine. Bet you can't wait!

 

[jfm]

Brilliant stuff James. The teak is fantastic

Nice going with ancam TM! As you know I'm a side view fan but I understand your thinking in going for top
view. I think you are right to want a wider fov to get a better view of the chain being stretched in string wind etc. meantime you could tilt the camera slightly up (fwd) perhaps.

Look forward to seeing it all in a few weeks.

 

[Illusion]

Looking great James. The teak now really gives you scale on just the size of the extension.
Will you please post full pics of all the mods completed, really looking forward to seeing the finished effect on the upholstery as well?
When you back to the SoF?

P

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Looks fantastic Jimmy - you will be the envy of all other T40 owners!

Not too long now before Vega is back in the sun shine. Bet you can't wait!

Sooner than you might think - the boat leaves Brighton tomorrow, heading back to Southampton - and is being loaded to transport on Tuesday morning. Should be on a ferry Tuesday lunchtime. Relaunch booked at Port de la Rague on Friday. Yikes!

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Looking great James. The teak now really gives you scale on just the size of the extension.
Will you please post full pics of all the mods completed, really looking forward to seeing the finished effect on the upholstery as well?
When you back to the SoF?

P

Yep, wilco. The upholstery fixed panels were reinstalled a few weeks ago, but because the boat isn't in use I've left all the factory protective plastics on so we've not actually sat on it yet, apart from the helm seat. I'm intending to leave all the plastic on until the boat is back in France (all the removeable cushions will be down below for the transport).

Inevitably not everything has got completed - notably the audio system isn't yet finished, although I'm sure I can do that in SoF when I'm at a loose end one day. The biggest disappointment with the project overrun (principally caused by the exhaust riser issues) is that I have missed out on my intended west country cruise. A real shame - but I also figured that if I didn't get the boat back by early June it probably wasn't worth taking it back down at all this summer. So you just have to take a view, sometimes. (My intention is to whizz down to Dartmouth on my motorbike instead one day, and claim my pint of Proper Job off LJS! )

And per my reply to Pinnacle - loading at RK Marine on Tuesday morning, eta SoF Friday.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Brilliant stuff James. The teak is fantastic

Nice going with ancam TM! As you know I'm a side view fan but I understand your thinking in going for top
view. I think you are right to want a wider fov to get a better view of the chain being stretched in string wind etc. meantime you could tilt the camera slightly up (fwd) perhaps.

Look forward to seeing it all in a few weeks.

It seems that the wider-angle lens is available, but the trade-off is reduced image quality (it's analogue camera, so 420tvl vs 1000tvl). One (expensive) alternative is to replace the analogue camera with an ip camera instead; I think I'm inclined to see how I get on with it this season and then tackle it next winter.

You around this coming weekend?

 

[jfm]

Yep. See you there. The fleet ( wave free ride match) was in Vf today and garoupe last weekend Jrudge arrived yesterday. See you next weekend then- just pushing back here. Hope deliv trip goes well

 

[Richard Shead]

I can see some serious Rosé being consumed next weekend ... And rightly so. Cracking thread and I am always astonished at the level of detail and passion involved in these threads.

If I had a big thumb emoji it would of course say .. "Good work fella"

Cheers

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

I can see some serious rośe being consumed next weekend ... And rightly so. Cracking thread and I am always astonished at the level of detail and passion involved in these threads.

If I had a big thumb emoji it would of course say .. "Good work fella"

Cheers

Hi Richard - thanks for this. It's been a busy six months, that's for sure, and certainly since early Feb the project has consumed absolutely all of my spare time. I'm very much looking forward to getting back to Port Vauban - and having a breather!

 

[MrB]

^^^^^^^^ I concur, brilliant thread with brilliant results^^^^^^^^^ :encouragement:

 

[henryf]

It seems that the wider-angle lens is available, but the trade-off is reduced image quality (it's analogue camera, so 420tvl vs 1000tvl). One (expensive) alternative is to replace the analogue camera with an ip camera instead; I think I'm inclined to see how I get on with it this season and then tackle it next winter.

Don't get too wrapped up in the number of TVL. Good electronics will generally have around 650-750 TVL these days but the reality is you won't generally see any more detail. 1000 TVL is a bit of a made up number so ignore it. There are HD options up to 1080P (1920 x 1080 pixels) but they will all require specialist equipment and your monitor might not be able to display the results. Generally the CCTV systems into which these cameras are connected record at D1 resolution - 720 x 576 pixels.

You might come across people claiming improved image resolution using 960H cameras. Ignore them, the pixel density is identical to D1. The extra pixels get shoved on the end of the image to change it from 4:3 aspect ratio to 16:9 aspect ratio.

As you rightly say going wider angle causes more pixel spread as you move away from the camera, this means less detail. 3.6mm gives around 70 degree angle of view, 2.8mm gives around 90 degrees - however - it all depends on the image sensor size. I am assuming a 1/3 inch sensor. If the camera uses a 1/4 inch sensor then the angles of view will decrease. The problem is you never really know what you are getting with cheap CCTV, ignore what it says in the advertising blurb.

As you say, see how you get on before you start throwing vast sums at the problem.

edited to say - meant to say the platform looks absolutely stunning


Henry

 

[longjohnsilver]

Yep, wilco. The upholstery fixed panels were reinstalled a few weeks ago, but because the boat isn't in use I've left all the factory protective plastics on so we've not actually sat on it yet, apart from the helm seat. I'm intending to leave all the plastic on until the boat is back in France (all the removeable cushions will be down below for the transport).

Inevitably not everything has got completed - notably the audio system isn't yet finished, although I'm sure I can do that in SoF when I'm at a loose end one day. The biggest disappointment with the project overrun (principally caused by the exhaust riser issues) is that I have missed out on my intended west country cruise. A real shame - but I also figured that if I didn't get the boat back by early June it probably wasn't worth taking it back down at all this summer. So you just have to take a view, sometimes. (My intention is to whizz down to Dartmouth on my motorbike instead one day, and claim my pint of Proper Job off LJS! )

And per my reply to Pinnacle - loading at RK Marine on Tuesday morning, eta SoF Friday.

That's a shame, was looking forward to seeing Vega, what you've done is a real credit to your vision to improve the boat and to all the great craftsmen that you've involved and employed. Look forward to seeing you in the Cherub one day..............