Video of Mallorca Cruise: Princess 62, July 2019

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Regardless, running the genset continuosly while anchored is firmly in the "OMDB" league, 'fiuaskme.:

I've been doing it for 2 seasons now since I fitted the gyro and you do get used to it. Fortunately, the generator noise and vibration on my boat is well suppressed. As I've found out, gyros are only really useful at rest so, if you've got one, you're going to want to run it all the time at anchor. As I said if there were batteries out there which could run the gyro and aircon via an inverter for say 12 hrs, I'd definitely consider fitting them but as far as I'm aware they dont exist

 

[NGM]

I've been doing it for 2 seasons now since I fitted the gyro and you do get used to it. Fortunately, the generator noise and vibration on my boat is well suppressed. As I've found out, gyros are only really useful at rest so, if you've got one, you're going to want to run it all the time at anchor. As I said if there were batteries out there which could run the gyro and aircon via an inverter for say 12 hrs, I'd definitely consider fitting them but as far as I'm aware they dont exist

I do exactly the same, luckily the gennie is quiet, the vibration is actually slightly more noticeable but you forget it after a few minutes and the benefits of the gyro far outweigh.. It's also nice to have a blast of aircon occasionally when you are in the heat all day.

 

[NGM]

Really great video, recognise most places but what anchorages were at 2.22 and 2.57 ?

 

[Scubaboy79]

Yes thats the downside. I start my generator before we leave the marina in order to start the gyro and the generator stays on all day sometimes if we are at anchor. The other issue is that the gyro takes 30-40mins to spool up to speed which means it cannot just be started up when I need it so I tend to leave it on all the time. On balance its worth it for a stable boat but I wish I had a powerful enough battery pack to run the gyro for a few hours via an inverter at anchor without using the generator

I noticed on your video that you were rolling a bit at anchor sometimes which is why I mentioned the gyro!

Yes we certainly were at times, which calls for a Mary Poppins-esque ACTION STATIONS moment as we grab hold of wine glasses. Although last week, the bigger problem was the wind which kept blowing our salad overboard!

 

[Scubaboy79]

Yeaaa - I'm sure JFM and Deleted User are right and if I were buying a new boat some form of stabilisation would be considered.
But on this boat, we really don't have the need for it.
The worst it has been was in the Trenc at the end of last year when the boat went side on to the swell.
But, generally, we don't have a problem at anchor and less often under way.

And I agree with you - I don't like the generator running all the time - hence the solar panels on our eyebrow.
That way we can get away with less than a couple of hours generator charging - am and pm.

If you are currently doing this on your Princess (a quick am/pm charge), you will find that over about 3 or 4 days away from shore supply, that your battery capacity will eventually drop to a dangerous level (well - dangerous for the batteries anyway). To avoid this, you would need to charge the batteries for longer than a couple of hours. It is a complicated subject but our solar panels "finish off" the charge cycle thus bringing the battery bank back to 100% during the day. We can then discharge overnight just like the first night away from shore supply. This technique works but most people don't understand because they don't stay away from shore power as long as us.
In the case of your last cruise, I assume that you had a reasonably long periods where the engines were charging the batteries.

So, IMO, to avoid damaging your batteries on a long cruise you should run the generator for long periods - just a couple of hours here and there isn't good enough.

Wise advice - thank you. As you suspected, we only have one or two days away from shore-power, and that is interspersed with running the engines to move from anchorage to anchorage, before heading to a marina to refill water tanks and connect to shower-power.

 

[Scubaboy79]

I've been doing it for 2 seasons now since I fitted the gyro and you do get used to it. Fortunately, the generator noise and vibration on my boat is well suppressed. As I've found out, gyros are only really useful at rest so, if you've got one, you're going to want to run it all the time at anchor. As I said if there were batteries out there which could run the gyro and aircon via an inverter for say 12 hrs, I'd definitely consider fitting them but as far as I'm aware they dont exist

I often wonder whether slightly newer boats (ours is 2008) have better sound insulation for their generators. We don't have loads of that silver foil insulation that I see at the boat shows, so maybe the generator is less intrusive then. Still, I can certainly see the upsides - particularly being able to fire up the A/C and, of course, a gyro!

 

[Scubaboy79]

Really great video, recognise most places but what anchorages were at 2.22 and 2.57 ?

Thank you! 2.22 is Cala Magraner on the east coast, north of Cala d'Or and south of Porto Cristo. Not many people seem to go there and it's idyllic in the right conditions and if you get there early to secure a good spot.

2.57 is Portals Vells looking west.

PS - we had a wretched night at Porto Cristo. We arrived late - 9:30pm and they put us on the moll next to a load of charter sailing yachts and we had masses amount of swell to contend with. I shall not return unless they tell me they have a visitor's berth actually inside the marina....It was made worse by the fact that our berthing fee was EUR100 more than a night visiting Cala d'Or....

 

[alt]

Livin' the dream, nice one!

(Typed as I look out at the pouring rain in the West of Ireland)

 

[Bouba]

I’ve been thinking about fitting a poor man’s gyro. A kedge anchor on the stern so I can face the swell and wakes

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I’ve been thinking about fitting a poor man’s gyro. A kedge anchor on the stern so I can face the swell and wakes

I wouldnt bother for 2 reasons. First your boat wont swing with the others around you so you risk a collision in crowded anchorages and second the swell and, particularly, the wakes often come from different directions. Get a gyro. You know you want to especially with that nice shiny new generator that you've just bought to drive it Its a perfect man maths scenario because, of course, a gyro will increase the value of your boat by far more than its cost

 

[Bouba]

I wouldnt bother for 2 reasons. First your boat wont swing with the others around you so you risk a collision in crowded anchorages and second the swell and, particularly, the wakes often come from different directions. Get a gyro. You know you want to especially with that nice shiny new generator that you've just bought to drive it Its a perfect man maths scenario because, of course, a gyro will increase the value of your boat by far more than its cost

I’d do anything for a gyro! Except ask the wife for one:disgust:

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I’d do anything for a gyro! Except ask the wife for one:disgust:

Do you want me to ask for you?

 

[Bouba]

Do you want me to ask for you?

 

[jfm]

Blimey, also under way, with a boat like yours that doesn't need AC to run stabs?
I appreciate that the waste of fuel is negligible when compared to the demand of a couple of C32, but still...

Regardless, running the genset continuosly while anchored is firmly in the "OMDB" league, 'fiuaskme.
Well, I guess I might not notice it (hence accept it) in a Lürssen, also because such ships do need AC 24/7, but it's unlikely that I'll have to make such decision in the near future...

I'm normally underway only an hour and cooking and/or dishwasher are running. For a longer 5 hour passage yes I would turn gensets off. So 23.5/7

When anchored one or two gens are nearly always needed for cooking, stabs or A/C. I sometimes turn them off for an hour or two in the evening if stabs aren't needed. Also i have found that on cruises where the boat is on passage for 1-2 hours a day, the heat soak from e/room to crew cabin means the crew need A/C to sleep. The C32s are 6-7 tonnes of cast iron at 80 deg when switched off, so still 60 deg after a few hours. I have fuel cooling to stop also having 3-7 tonnes of hot fuel, but the engines are the problem. The insulating bulkhead is a great job (ply/closed cell foam/ply sandwich) but with a 50-60 degrees engine room no bulkhead will prevent the crew accom being 30+ deg all night, unless I stay on one anchorage 2 days+. So even if the main accom is say 22 deg with open windows and maybe fans (running on inverter) I need to run one genset for the crew accom A/C. In which case I run stabs and main accom A/C all night too.

 

[AndieMac]

I’ve been thinking about fitting a poor man’s gyro. A kedge anchor on the stern so I can face the swell and wakes

Have you tried attaching a line from the anchor chain (with a chain claw hook), down near the waterline, to an aft/midship cleat, to slew the stern around and hold the bow into the consistent beam swell? Adjust your angle to the waves at the cleat.

 

[Bouba]

Have you tried attaching a line from the anchor chain (with a chain claw hook), down near the waterline, to an aft/midship cleat, to slew the stern around and hold the bow into the consistent beam swell? Adjust your angle to the waves at the cleat.

No, but I have just seen the price of an aluminum fortress anchor (easy to store easy to set by dingy) :ambivalence: so I’ll try your method first:encouragement:

 

[TonyR123]

I’d do anything for a gyro! Except ask the wife for one:disgust:

The gyro is the best addition to the boat ever. At anchor it is always stable. Could never have another boat without stabilisation. Next boat am hoping to replace the geny with a large battery pack and when they run low the engine kicks in to charge them. Although a gyro I expect uses too much power. Might look at some zero speed fins instead.

Anyway good video!

 

[Bouba]

Have you tried attaching a line from the anchor chain (with a chain claw hook), down near the waterline, to an aft/midship cleat, to slew the stern around and hold the bow into the consistent beam swell? Adjust your angle to the waves at the cleat.

Ok I’m at anchor and trying to slew the boat around but I can tell you, even with a gentle breeze, it takes huge force to move the boat at the midship cleat!
Later I might try to shift the boat with the dingy to create enough slack to tighten the rope

 

[AndieMac]

Ok I’m at anchor and trying to slew the boat around but I can tell you, even with a gentle breeze, it takes huge force to move the boat at the midship cleat!
Later I might try to shift the boat with the dingy to create enough slack to tighten the rope

Try at the stern cleat, a longer line with more leaverage. With a crew member taking up the slack on the cleat, if you could find a way to "sweat" the line, or pull the line at its halfway point sideways (same principle as pushing your foot downwards onto a tight spring line to loosen tension on a windy day), maybe a robust boat hook? As you pull up and release, the crew tightens the line on the cleat.

 

[Bouba]

Try at the stern cleat, a longer line with more leaverage. With a crew member taking up the slack on the cleat, if you could find a way to "sweat" the line, or pull the line at its halfway point sideways (same principle as pushing your foot downwards onto a tight spring line to loosen tension on a windy day), maybe a robust boat hook? As you pull up and release, the crew tightens the line on the cleat.

Ok I’ll have a go next time. Will keep everyone informed