Game changer from Seakeeper?

[MapisM]

you CAN go boating without stabilisers but you CAN'T go boating without a boat.

Well, you can go boating without many things.
Who NEEDS a radar/plotter/sounder/AIS, let alone all these things integrated in fancy touch screen colour MFDs?
Or a 40"+ TV onboard, let alone one in each cabin?
A washing/drying machine, let alone one fridge in every corner of the boat?
Heating, let alone air conditioning?
U/W lights? Scattered cushions?
The list goes on......

I'll tell you something I experienced first hand.
I never met a boater, myself included, who thought that stabs were at the top of the desirable equipment list for a pleasure boat BEFORE owning, or cruising extensively with, a stabilized boat.
Some of these folks (again, myself included) afterwards moved to stabilized boats, mostly with zero speed stabs - though this time I'm not included: back in the mid 90s, cruising stabs were a proper luxury, and zero speed almost unheard of.
Bottom line, all of these boaters, bar none, now wouldn't live without them.
They do change the life quality onboard radically, though of course it's hard to tell whether they are worth the cost or not.
Someone onboard might get seasick without them, as opposed to being fine with them, but what are the economics of that...?

Fwiw, while I still think that they are more critical for cruising (particularly at D speed, but not only) than anchoring, nowadays I wish I had also zero speed on my boat - if nothing else, because without them I'm more restricted in the anchorage choice.
Actually, just round the corner from my home port there's a choice of anchorage spots sheltered from any wind, so I simply go wherever the wind brings me.
But as often happens, some of the nicest spots are exposed to the prevailing winds, and I had friends onboard for a few days to whom I couldn't show some of those places during their stay. Zero speed stabs could have allowed that - maybe not always, but probably in most cases, depending on wind strength.
Again, hard to quantify the economics of that, but for anyone speccing a new boat or retrofitting one, the additional cost of zero speed vs. under way only stabs is a no brainer, imho.
And with gyros, such functionality is even included FoC, so to speak...
Though for retrofitting, the electric fin stabs which BartW choose for BA are a great alternative: space requirements are nowhere near gyros, and there's no need for pumps and all other stuff required by hydraulic fins.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

After this season, higher on my list of priorities is a water maker - I might make it a winter project and build one.

I'm thinking about fitting a watermaker myself so if you do start on this project make sure you put up a forum thread about it

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

It's rather a matter of principle: I don't like the idea of supporting the business of anyone who thinks there's nothing wrong in ripping off customers, just because some of them don't care about it.....

I think you've defined the whole boating industry in that one single sentence

 

[MapisM]

You would quite literally get more pitching torque in the hull if you got a small dog and trained it to run to the bow when the bow pitched up and to the stern when the bow pitched down

LOL, nice comparison.
Btw, not only the pitching torque is negligible, but to actually stabilize the boat pitching it would be necessary a force immensely higher than for rolling.
I suspect that if the gyro could actually generate a pitching torque strong enough to resist the hull pitching, it would tear apart the hull stringers to which the thing is attached....! :ambivalence:

 

[MapisM]

I think you've defined the whole boating industry in that one single sentence

Hehe, good point. But as Horatius would have said, est modus in rebus....

 

[jfm]

I'm thinking about fitting a watermaker myself so if you do start on this project make sure you put up a forum thread about it

+1. I'd be very interested in this Hurricane. Another thread maybe to start kicking around ideas? I'm quite happy to make detailed analysis and pics of mine, and get names of bought-in components, to assist you in the design. You could create a freeware design on this forum with bill of materials Needs its own thread sometime

 

[jfm]

I'll tell you something I experienced first hand.
I never met a boater, myself included, who thought that stabs were at the top of the desirable equipment list for a pleasure boat BEFORE owning, or cruising extensively with, a stabilized boat.
Some of these folks (again, myself included) afterwards moved to stabilized boats, mostly with zero speed stabs - though this time I'm not included: back in the mid 90s, cruising stabs were a proper luxury, and zero speed almost unheard of.
Bottom line, all of these boaters, bar none, now wouldn't live without them.
They do change the life quality onboard radically, though of course it's hard to tell whether they are worth the cost or not.
Someone onboard might get seasick without them, as opposed to being fine with them, but what are the economics of that...?

Fwiw, while I still think that they are more critical for cruising (particularly at D speed, but not only) than anchoring, nowadays I wish I had also zero speed on my boat - if nothing else, because without them I'm more restricted in the anchorage choice.
Actually, just round the corner from my home port there's a choice of anchorage spots sheltered from any wind, so I simply go wherever the wind brings me.
But as often happens, some of the nicest spots are exposed to the prevailing winds, and I had friends onboard for a few days to whom I couldn't show some of those places during their stay. Zero speed stabs could have allowed that - maybe not always, but probably in most cases, depending on wind strength.
Again, hard to quantify the economics of that, but for anyone speccing a new boat or retrofitting one, the additional cost of zero speed vs. under way only stabs is a no brainer, imho.
And with gyros, such functionality is even included FoC, so to speak...

Agreed 100% :encouragement:

 

[Nick_H]

After this season, higher on my list of priorities is a water maker - I might make it a winter project and build one.

Just goes to show, priorities are all about how we use our boats! I find our water will last 4-5 days with all of the family on board, by which time we have bags of rubbish we need to get rid of, we've run out of provisions, and the boat needs a wash down, so it's time to head into port. I don't think i've ever been refused entry to a port to take on water, as long as we're in and out early in the day before they start filling up for the night. Occasionally there's a small charge, but only a few euros.

Watermakers are expensive, seem to need a fair amount of maintenance, and appear to be quite temperamental. I question the need for them for coastal cruising, but maybe it's like stabilisers, you don't know what you're missing till you have them .

 

[gjgm]

I, do however, have a huge bilge area under our main (centre cabin) bed - where JFM has his spare fuel tank.

Goodness.. how often does he come and refuel ?

 

[BartW]

Sorry guys, I just dont see the need for ANY kind of stabiliser.
On the few ocasions where we would have benefitted from stabilisers, there were other options.

Sorry Mike,
my swmbo and most of my guests will disagree with this
each time when I forget to switch on the stabs,
someone on board will tell me, most of them feel the difference immediately.


despite having spend 10 weeks on the boat this summer, and 2 on 3 nights on ancher (or more) , we didn't need the water maker no single occasion,
I did switch it on from time to time to keep the system clean
our water tank is 1000l

but I can image other places or other sort of usage where you have other priority's

 

[Nick_H]

Goodness.. how often does he come and refuel ?

 

[Hurricane]

Just goes to show, priorities are all about how we use our boats! I find our water will last 4-5 days with all of the family on board, by which time we have bags of rubbish we need to get rid of, we've run out of provisions, and the boat needs a wash down, so it's time to head into port. I don't think i've ever been refused entry to a port to take on water, as long as we're in and out early in the day before they start filling up for the night. Occasionally there's a small charge, but only a few euros.

Watermakers are expensive, seem to need a fair amount of maintenance, and appear to be quite temperamental. I question the need for them for coastal cruising, but maybe it's like stabilisers, you don't know what you're missing till you have them .

Yep Nick
Thats what we have always thought.
And like stabs, I can't really justify a watermaker but this year, we were out for over two weeks and got very close to running out of water.
Our fresh water tank is 1000l and with just SWMBO and I thats usually plenty.
But when we are away with family/friends, we have to ask them to be careful using water.
This means that they cut down on the water usage when showering etc and, as such don't enjoy the cruise as much as they would if they weren't limited with the water.
The ladies like to wash their hair after showers etc - so they might not go swimming as much as if they had unlimited water etc...

This year we were in Es Trenc (Mallorca) - we hadn't been in to a marina for a couple of weeks. We were just about to run out water so after breakfast, we popped into Rapita and filled up - a 10 euro tip was all it cost so we really can't justify a watermaker for those odd occasions but the water we picked up was very salty - likewise the water in Cala d'Or where we next visited was a bit salty. Our water in SC is good for drinking.
My thoughts were/are that if I could knock something together on a DIY basis for about £1500/£2000 it might be justifyable - still early days at the moment though.

Sorry for the thread drift.
I will start a new thread sometime - even if I decide not to build one.

 

[Hurricane]

+1. I'd be very interested in this Hurricane. Another thread maybe to start kicking around ideas? I'm quite happy to make detailed analysis and pics of mine, and get names of bought-in components, to assist you in the design. You could create a freeware design on this forum with bill of materials Needs its own thread sometime

Agreed - new thread sometime.
My initial thoughts are that any design needs to be easy to operate/maintain so some kind of electronic control unit (Arduino as a controller etc) might need to be incorporated.
Lots more research needed yet though.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Our fresh water tank is 1000l and with just SWMBO and I thats usually plenty.
But when we are away with family/friends, we have to ask them to be careful using water.
This means that they cut down on the water usage when showering etc and, as such don't enjoy the cruise as much as they would if they weren't limited with the water.
The ladies like to wash their hair after showers etc - so they might not go swimming as much as if they had unlimited water etc...

I must have some very wasteful friends then. I recently had 5 mates on board for our annual boys week and despite the fact that I implored them to be careful about water usage, our 1000 litre tank needed refilling every 2 days. Even with just a couple of friends on board, the tank barely lasts 3-4 days. Obviously I'm not strict enough. How do you do it, H? What kind of retribution do you threaten them with for using too much water? I have been known to surreptitiously switch off the water pump at the helm when I hear a shower running for more than a few minutes but that's it

 

[jfm]

A w/maker would be a good bit of kit on Jenny Wren - it can't be much fun rationing water that much. I have 1000 litres capacity too but I like it to get used up every 2 days so it isn't stale. I use the boat's hosepipes to wash the outboard engine and the anchor chain, for example, and don't think twice about it. Plus there is a bathtub on the boat which I suppose uses 200 litres. While you can drop into a marina for a fill it invariably seems to take an hour and a half of faffing around, so it's nice to flick a switch and watch 250 litres and hour appear magically. I think you'd be doing very well to hit a £2k budget though
Another thread sometime...!