Another eXtremely busy week for Christine and I as we continue to work our way through all the rigors of getting Möbius ship shape and ready to head out to sea.
I’m sure some of you must be wondering why such a seemingly simple step is taking so long? But many of you who have ever moved into a brand new home or new RV or new boat, especially custom built ones, will be able to relate to the seemingly endless list of jobs big and small that need to be looked after before your new “home” feels like it is yours and that you have worked through all the “little” things that don’t work right and all the improvements or installation of additional things be that putting in the new lawn in your newly built home.
I’ve read that many others who have gone through this process say that to get to the point where you can simply enjoy your new home and not be constantly working on it, takes about a year. From what experience I have had so far with both boats and homes that sounds about right to me. Hence Christine and I remind each other that this is a marathon not a sprint AND we enjoy* the whole process of making Möbius our full time super comfy home.
* Well most of the time anyway!
While we are seemingly busy non-stop, there isn’t much to see during this process that suits a Show & Tell so this will be a relatively short blog update (lucky you!) but let’s jump right on and catch you up on what’s been happening aboard the Good Ship Möbius this past week of May 24-30, 2021.
Wonderful Days in the Neighborhood
We continue to have stellar “Spring” weather here in Antalya though it is really more like an early arrival of summer.
Daily highs are typically in the low 30’s C / 90-95F and usually with a nice breeze to make it all very pleasant. Almost always clear blue skies, complete with the exclamation point of jet trails.
Things have changed a bit here as our big Blue powerboat neighbor to the right in this photo finished all their jobs, launched and headed out for sea on Wednesday.
Infant Mortality
Not the most pleasant terminology but this is an all too apt description of what commonly happens during the initial few months after moving into a new home/boat/RV etc. which is when brand new equipment fails to work. We have had our share of these already and likely more to follow in the coming months.
Of course everything is under warrantee and Bosh is a very popular brand here in Turkey but it still took them three different calls and over three weeks to end up replacing all 3 internal circuit boards!
Good news is that IT WORKED! and Christine has already put it to the test with multiple different loads of laundry and is just beaming at the “upgrade” in her onboard chores.
Electrical System Update
Many of you have been asking about how some of the various systems are performing in their early days as we start to gather more real world data and while still early, here is a preliminary update for you on how our overall electrical system has been working.
Given our use case of being in very remote locations and on anchor over 95% of the time, we are a fully “battery based boat” which in short means that we have no generator or other source of external electrical power input and so ALL our electrical power comes from our 1800Ah @ 24V 43.2kW House Battery Bank as you can see in the illustration above.
To be clear, we DO have the option of connecting to Shore Power with plug ins for these at both the Bow and Stern, however we are so rarely have access to Shore Power we consider this just an emergency backup if we were to need to go to a marina to work on components within the battery based system.
This is a screenshot of the Victron Connect app on my phone a few minutes ago (10:30 am Sunday 30 May, 2021) and as you can see the solar panels are having no problem at all bring the House Bank back up to 100% SoC (State of Charge) after running everything on the boat while the sun was down.
Because we are in “test mode” for the first few months we have been maxing out all systems and in the case of our electrical system this means running EVERY electrical device onboard as fully as possible.
For example, after we had fully tested the Kabola KB45 diesel boiler for about a week we shut it down and turned on the 230V 1500W electrical heating element in the Calorifier (water heater tank) which is a very big consumer.
Other electrical equipment on all four voltages (12V + 24V DC and 120V + 230V AC) we are using daily and as frequently as possible to build up the data set for maximum use includes such electrical consumers as:
- Bosh 4 burner induction “hob” cooktop with extraction fan running throughout
- Bosch Smart Oven that combines convection/grill/microwave
- Kenyon 230V BBQ grill
- 250L/hr watermaker run about ever 4-6 days
- two 130L 24V refrigerators
- two 70L 24V freezers
- 230V electric kettle & 230V espresso machine
- Bosh washing machine (now that it is working)
- At least 4 computers and at least four large monitors which are rarely turned off
- 50” TV for nightly “dinner and a movie” onboard streaming content from YouTube, Netflix, Apple TV, etc..
- a long list of internet based equipment such as routers, bridges, cellular & WiFi extenders, etc..
- VacuFlush toilets w/ Bidets
- an eXtremely extensive Maretron monitoring and control system and an equally extensive NMEA 2000/N2K network
- the usual compliment you would expect from two nautical nerds of 3 smartphones, 4 smart home (Amazon/Google/Apple) devices all of which need to be regularly charged or plugged in.
- and the usual assortment of regular living items such as lights, music, TV, sound systems, fans, etc.
With so many other systems needing our attention, the only two significant systems we have not yet tested and run extensively are the 3 zone in-floor heating system and the AC/heating system via the Webasto V50 Chiller and the four Webasto Air Handlers (5400 BTU overall) in the three cabins. We will get to those as soon as we can and all the more so as the daily temperatures start to rise up for summer into the mid 30 to 40C range typical of Antalya summers.
We have had a LOT of different scenarios onboard since launch and during the commissioning of all the electrical components so we have twice run the batteries down below 20% SoC and also had no battery connections several times and hence some of the very eXtreme numbers you see here. In total we have used 21,808 Amp hours with an average 24hr discharge of 417Ah and yet only required 5 total charge cycles.
During the past 3+ months since launching, we have had 230V shore power connected for about 3-4 days to test out the chargers in our 5 Victron MultiPlus Inverter/Chargers but otherwise our only source of “external” power is from the 14 solar panels. We are therefore eXtremely happy with these preliminary results and I will publish more and more such real world data as we collect it and once we are underway and back to our more typical use cases.
Mr. Gee Gets High!
All a very straightforward BUT to get at these bottom end components I have to lift Mr. Gee about 1 meter up out of his normal home resting solidly on his 25mm thick engine beds and that is taking some time.
All looks good so far as I confirm that there has not been any contact between the valves and the piston tops. Whew!
I carry a 2 ton hydraulic hoist as quite reasonably I would argue EVERY serious XPM or eXpedition/eXploration boat should and in particular mine is a modular hoist which then also gives me these eXtremely strong cross members to span the overhead ER hatch (previously removed) frame and provide the overhead “sky hooks” aka attachment points for the two chain hoists that I also carry. (of course!)
In this situation I am using multiple loops of Dyneema to hang the chain hoist in the foreground as well as wraps around the front and rear ends of Mr. Gee where the hoist hooks will attach to him.
At least that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!
And YES! I have also put four more sets of Dyneema loops, one at each of Mr. Gee’s corners, to add a backup safety system in the unlikely event that any of the main supports should break or fail.
Sadly, I must leave many of you with your questions, and mine too, still unanswered as to just what has caused that drop in oil pressure and just what I’m going to need to get Mr. Gee back to thrumming away endlessly and effortlessly in his comfy ER home.
You can rest assured that NO ONE is more anxious to get to the bottom of this than I am and I’m pretty confident that I will be able to share all of that with you in next week progress update Show & Tell.
Sorry to keep you hanging like this and thanks very much for continuing to join us in this latest leg of Project Goldilocks as we get XPM78-01 Möbius ready to head out to sea.
I would also be most appreciative if you could help me feel a bit less like I’m talking in an empty room by adding your questions, comments and suggestions in the “Join the Discussion” box below. I don’t always manage to answer your questions as quickly as I would like but I will continue to do my very best and please do know that I definately read and benefit from every one.
I hope to see you here again next week,
– Wayne
Good Luck with the low oil pressure problem repair!!
Very interested in what is happening to Mr. Gee as I am currently starting to assemble our own Mr. Gee in Lund, BC. Canada. Been following your progress since you started, hopefully it’s something minor like a stuck oil relief valve. Shouldn’t have caused any major damage as you still had some oil pressure. Hoping for the best.
It looks like the support poles wedged under the rub rail … are each located under a stantion or cleat? Is there a hold/notch in the top of the pole that is aligned with the bit of stantion poking beneath the rub rail? I have actually been worrying about the support poles sliding out !
What a job! Your perseverance, attention to detail and knowledge are amazing. Good luck next week I hope your prognostications are correct and you can move swiftly, but safely to the rebuild.
You’re not in an empty room ! We appreciate you very much. I really enjoy all of your posts…especially everything about Mr. Gee. I can’t believe your abilities…to pull that baby and do all of that. It would be a job in a perfect shop, but in an engine room, that’s a lot of skill and effort.
Hooray for clean clothes at the push of some buttons! So glad it was easily fixed! Pretzeled up here in Florida in the hopes Mr. Gee’s fix is coming soon! Hugs to you both.
Well its sad to see you taking the new boat apart already – that must be very frustrating. Lets hope the engine problem is quickly diagnosed. Why did you think the pistons might have hit the valve gear?
You’re not in an empty room. I’m reading with interest every week. I can only assume that your drop in oil pressure is something due to the oil pump, or oil circulation system (associated with a spring to maintain pressure?). The pressure drop happens when the oil warms up, right? I’d have a look at the oil circulation system and any pressure valves and springs. You’re the best guy to track this down.
Correct order of repairs- clothes wash then oil pressure
You’re doing the right thing, cycling everything, to weed out infant mortality. These complex boats aren’t “Toyotas”….. If the Washer is the only thing that fails, consider yourself extremely lucky!
We’re as anxious as you are in see you out cruising .good luck with Mr Gee. Warren
Hello Wayne. Greetings from Ontario, Canada. I have been passively with you since shortly after you layed the keel. Every Sunday waiting for your post and your achievements for the week. Being on the hard, I am sure, gives you a chance to push every system to that Goldilocks level even the hiccup with Mr. Gee. Your electrical system seems outstanding. Look forward to hearing of the next tweek and and the final splash. Cheers Stan (a retired “boater” and educator)
Your posts are some of the first I read when notified. Great job detailing the many varied steps in commissioning a one-off vessel with which you are so intimately familiar.
Thanks for bringing us along!
Hi praise from you that’s for sure and I just hope I can live up to it. Thanks for the feedback that my posts are of value and entertainment for you and hope to have you continue to join us in this grand adventure. Thanks!
As usual, the posts are very informative!
Meant to post right after reading but we have been too busy. 🙁
Which is kinda ironic because I sure wish you would fix what is wrong with the Mr G and let us know what was the problem. 🙂 Me thinks that the CoM(Crew of Mobious) want Mr. G fixe more than I but it is driving me nuts wanting to know the cause. 🙂
The power production and power usage information is GOLD. Thank you.
One of the interesting things about the LRC boats is the amount of solar power panels one can install. The numbers I have been looking at, and what your data confirms, is that even with not the most energy efficient equipment, the amount of solar power production exceeds usage. It is a game changer that opens up other equipment choices.
Thanks for the info.
Yes, when we were designing the XPM, solar powered battery based boat was one of the basic starting points and we are very pleased with the real world results so far. Other than a few days when we did plug into some 230V shore power to test out inverter/chargers and such, we have been completely battery based since launching in February and it is all working out well so far. We are back out of the water as you know in Setur Marina but we have still not plugged into any shore power, in part to more fully test out all our electrical systems. We are also going out of our way to use as much electrical consumers as possible so we are leaving all our systems on all the time, running the 230V water heater element, doing LOTS of washing machine loads, all 4 fridge/freezers, etc. so we are going through about 400+ Ah per day and the 14 solar panels bring the 1800 Ah 24V Carbon Foam House batteries back to 100% almost every day and usually by noon or so. Of course we are in a good location and time of year here in Antalya so solar production is quite good but we’ll be cruising Turkey’s coastlines for the rest of this year and through the winter so we’ll get a better sense of year round production rates that way. We are also logging all of this in various ways, most particularly via the Victron VRM site and I will share some of those graphs in an upcoming post to give you more details.
Glad you are finding the data and posts to be of value, please let me know any ways to improve on this.
Thanks,
Wayne