Last Sunday, the 15th, upon our return from London for Christine’s B’day weekend we very willingly joined many of you I suspect as members of the Self Isolation Club or SIC as I’ve been calling it. As my cousin Donna who is also a member of SIC in their home over in Doha pointed out, this is not a very exclusive club anymore unfortunately. Christine and I are very grateful to be together through all this and to be in our wonderful apartment here in Antalya which so far seems to be one of the better spots to be in the world. Antalya has an extremely large and modern medical infrastructure in part because this is a “medical tourism” destination and in part because Turkey has a very good medical infrastructure staffed by world class health professionals.
While not being able to be at Naval Yachts and working on Möbius is a challenge, it is a very minor one compared to our challenges with being so far from our family, children and grandchildren who do not appear to be in as good a location in Florida, California and British Columbia. Christine and I are both feeling very good, are fit and in good health and most appreciative of our situation. We sincerely hope that all of you reading this are finding your ways to be safe, happy and healthy as we all weather this latest storm in our lives and remind ourselves, as we do when in severe storms on passages that “This too
shall pass”.
Here in Turkey closures of schools, restaurants and the like happened early this week and those who can are being encouraged to work from home. However the rest of the work force continued to go to work this past week and we will have to wait and see what next week brings. With thanks again to Yigit, Uğur and Hakan for sending me all their photos each day this week, I am also fortunate to be able to bring you this week’s Progress Update and as usual Team Möbius has been very productive so let’s go for a virtual tour of their hard work.
Mr. Gee Gardner 6LXB
Mr. Gee, which is what we call our Gardner 6LXB diesel engine, usually appears near the end of previous Weekly Progress Updates so let’s check in on him first this week. Actually these photos are from the week previous when I had time to give all the large cast aluminium parts their first finish coats of high them aluminium paint.
The ribbed oil pan is in the bottom right, crankcase in the center and the two flywheel housings hanging in the background.
I had been thinking of just leaving the aluminium parts bare after sandblasting them thoroughly but I like a very clean engine and the cast aluminium can be a bit porous so I decided to cover all the aluminium with more aluminum in the form of powdered aluminium based paint. 
This is a silicone based paint that is specially formulated to withstand temps up to 300 C/ 572 F. I’m very pleased with the results and next week when I can hopefully go back to Naval I will give these all one more coat of aluminium paint and then finish it off with a clear coat to seal it all fully.
This is the Port/Left side of the crankcase casting that is the “service side” of the Gardner as the factory photo below shows ……………
………. how this is the side that has most of the engines parts that you access when servicing such as the fuel injection pump which is mounted with those two circular clamps you see above, fuel and oil filters, alternator, etc.
Click to enlarge if you’d like to read the basic technical specs on the Gardner 6LXB.
These two castings enclose the huge heavy flywheel and that flat surface on the Left one facing this photos is where it bolts to the aft end of the crankcase. The housing on the Right has a SAE bolt pattern flange which matches the one on the Nogva CPP Controllable Pitch Propeller gearbox.
More on Mr. Gee as soon as my SIC membership expires and I can get back to work.
Even though he is one of the most efficient diesel engines ever to be mass produced, Mr. Gee needs a good steady supply of clean diesel fuel so we are building an extensive set of fuel filtering systems that include a pair of 2 stage Fleetguard filters, water separators, a fuel transfer and polishing system and a full Alfa Laval centrifuge that can convert even the dirtiest fuel into crystal clear diesel.
This requires a series of manifolds and ball valves such as this pair in the Basement for transferring fuel from any one tank to any other. Now we need about four more manifolds for the fuel transfer system, fuel polishing and Day Tank. 
So the Machine Shop has been busy making these out of blocks of solid 75mm/3” square aluminium which they drill out and tap with NPT pipe threads for the SS ball valves. You’ll see more of these as Cihan starts installing them in the Workshop.
PLUMBING:
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In the meantime though, Cihan is busy plumbing in all the fuel and water lines in the Workshop and Engine Room. This is looking forward at the Day Tank on the Stbd/Right side of the Workshop with the ER wall on the Left. You can see the water and fuel lines in the vertical trays on the Right and running across the ceiling and down to the ball valves atop the Day Tank.
The area between the Day Tank and the Stbd hull is starting to be well populated as the various “highways” of support trays for fuel, water and electrical cables intersect. The horizontal trays here are carrying electrical cables through the penetrations in the WT Bulkhead you can see at the far end.
Vertical hoses are fuel and water hoses.
When all the hoses or cables are in, these penetrations are sealed to be fully watertight with a White special certified caulking compound you can see in this penetration under the workbench you see in the photo above.
Down below the Day Tank we can see more of Cihan’s handiwork with these water hoses which make the turn into the penetration through the ER Enclosure wall on the Left.
The clear hoses are bringing sea water from the intake Sea Chest in the ER back to the Watermaker low pressure Feed Pump and the Circulation Pump for the Webasto BlueCool Chiller.
Those water hoses run aft into these ball valves which direct sea water supply and return lines from the Watermaker Low Pressure Feed Pump and the AirCon Chiller Circulation Pump.
With the ball valves installed Cihan mounts that SW Circulation Pump to the mount he has previously welded in place.
As with all pumps and motors, this is mounted with these vulcanized vibration absorbing mounts. 
Cihan also has both Deck Wash pumps mounted and plumbed. This is the pump for the Sea Water Deck Wash with its clear filter covered with the white latex glove. The Fresh Water Deck Wash pump is on the far Left of this shot.
EXHAUST SYSTEM:
Yigit has been extremely busy managing all this work as well as designing and modeling all our systems and this past week we worked with the engineers at Halyard to finalise the design of our wet exhaust system and have them build and ship that to us ASAP.
We have refined it a bit more but the earlier rendering below is close to the final design that Halyard is now starting to build.
Gardner engine is shown in the blue silhouette with the Red Nogva CPP gearbox in the bottom Right. Exhaust gases exit vertically out of the Gardner and then run across the horizontal pipe to the blue mixing elbow where seawater is injected to cool and quiet as they collect in the large Silencer/separator on the Left.
Water is then separated and exits out the bottom into the Sea Chest while the cooled gases flow through the rubber S-shaped exhaust hose running down and out through the ER wall and over to the exhaust pipe exiting the hull above the WL
I will show more once we start installing the exhaust system.
ELECTRICAL:
I don’t have too many pictures of Hilmi’s progress this week but we have been frequently connected via WhatsApp and he’s been continuing to install more and more of the Maretron BB’s Black Boxes and N2K cables.
For example, he and Cihan installed this new AL panel to mount the multiple Maretron BB’s in the Basement and is now busy wiring them up with their N2K cables and wiring from sensors for Bilge High Water and fuel tank levels.
One of the many networks on the boat is the one for all the Victron equipment which is the base of our AC and DC electrical systems. Victron is another one of those tried and true solutions for us so we went all Victron for things like inverters, chargers, isolation transformer, MPPT solar panel controllers, DC-DC converters, etc..
This is our Victron OctoGX, which we may swap out for the just released CerboGX and these both serve as a central communications device to bring all the inputs and outputs together and enable us to closely monitor all aspects of our electrical system.
If you’re interested in more details, click HERE to see the new video from Victron that does a nice job of explaining the many functions of these devices.
On the XPM’s or any long range passage maker boat, this level of monitoring is critical as we literally live off of our electrical system and the consequences of losing any part of it can have eXtremely severe consequences for us. So these comm centers put pool all the data from all the devices and allow us to know right away when anything changes.
In addition to the high dependency on the electrical system components, they also tend to be high initial cost items which we expect to work continuously for at least ten years so just as with human health, keeping our electrical system and all its many components all in top shape and catching any changes and problems early is key to long life spans for these devices.
Hilmi has also been installing other electric components such as these 12V and 24V DC distribution blocks. We have these spread throughout the boat wherever we might want to power 12V and 24V devices. 
In addition to the 8 port model above, these also come in round 2 port models where fewer such DC connections are needed so we use a mix of both.
We tend to hide this inside cupboards and drawers or below countertops or desk tops to make cable management easier and keep them out of the way.
These blocks are very well made and require a single 12 of 24V DC power input which is then distributed to each of the Anderson Powerpole plug in sockets which are individually fused with an standard ATC blade fuse. The block can handle up to 40 Amps which is more than enough for the various chargers, LED lights, fans, radios, and other DC powered devices. Also super handy to have near my workbenches in the Workshop and my Boat’s Office.
ALUMINIUM TEAM:
Uğur, standing, Nihat, kneeling, and Okan had a very busy week with their typically varied set of jobs such as continuing to install the many doors in the two Vent Boxes on the Aft Deck.
This is the Stbd/Right side Vent Box which looks after all the Extraction air venting and ducting. 
Door on the far Left and Right access storage areas. Upper Middle frame is for the Extraction air from the Engine Room and Lower Middle frame is for the Extraction Air from the workshop, both with large axial fans built in.
Both tops will soon have their AL plates welded on and a bit later these will be covered with some of the Aquamarine Marble countertop surfaces. Taller countertop on the Left will be left as is and the electric BBQ Grille mounts into the lower counter surface on the Right.
The opposite Port Vent Box will be a single level marble countertop with a built in sink. Should make for a great Outdoor Galley.
They also whipped up this bracket for the Manual Hydraulic Steering Pump that will be installed inside the Main Helm.
This will secure the Kobelt 7012 Helm Pump which is connected via hydraulic hoses to the Kobelt 7080 steering cylinders. We will keep a traditional steering wheel stored nearby that can slide onto the 7012’s keyed shaft and enable us to steer the boat manually. 
However this wheel will rarely be in place as this is only a last resort backup steering in case either of other two independent 24V steering systems, AutoPilots and cylinders should ever fail completely.
The small gray hole in the center of this rough rendering of the Main Helm Area is where this steering wheel will be inserted if ever needed.
SOLAR PANELS!
However what stole the show excitement wise this week is this!
The first three of our 14 solar panels are now being fitted. These three 295W panels will be mounted to the frame you’ve seen being built in past weeks. The frame is hinged on its aft end just in front of the center window of the SkyBridge giving it two modes:
1. Locked down in about the position you see here when we are on passage.
2. Tilted up to be horizontal when at anchorage for both maximum solar gain AND to act as a giant wind funnel directing the breezes over the Bow to the big vertical vent Green Mist Eliminator grill you can see in this rough render.
The three panels are fastened into the hinged AL frame.
Once in place each panel butts up tight against each other to form a single continuous solar surface.
Front two panels in place.
and then there were three!
In addition to these three 295W hinged panels, there are 8 more 320W fixed panels atop the SkyBridge Roof and then three more 320W panels on the Aft Roof which cantilevers overtop the Outdoor Galley on the Aft Deck.
The combined output of all 14 panels gives us a theoretical total of 4405Wp. We won’t know the actual output until we get out and can do some real world testing but being very conservative if we have the upper 8 panels working at 85% capacity and the three front and back working at 30% capacity a 5 hour solar day would generate about 13.6 kWh and a 7 hour solar day would generate about 19.1kWh
Each of our 14 solar panels have their own dedicated Victron 100/20 SmartSolar MPPT controller to maximize their output and give us the most control over losses from any shading of any one panel from nearby structures such as the SkyBridge Roof, Arch, Radar, etc. If multiple solar panels are connected in series to a single MPPT controller then the shading of any one panel reduces the output of all the others as well.
Here’s the “powerful” view from the SkyBridge.
Meanwhile down below all our “chippies” on the Cabinetmaking Teams have had another very productive week so let’s go check that out.
MASTER CABIN:
Şevki and Selim continue to build out the Master Cabin. All the Green/Gray leather wall panels on the Port/Left side are now snapped in place.
All the ceiling panels are removable with FastMount clips holding them in place. The ceiling grid has now been installed and they are installing the White FastMount female sockets you can see in the foreground and then two of the rough cut ceiling panels have been snapped in place behind.
View from the entrance into the Master Cabin looking forward to see that the rest of the rough cut ceiling panels have now been fitted and snapped in place.
Hmmmmm, what do you think we are witnessing here?
Aha! The Bosch Washing Machine has arrived and is now setting on the Master Bed frame awaiting installation in its cabinet on the front Stbd/Right side.
It took quite some time but Buse persevered and was able to source a British version of this Bosch Washing machine Christine had picked out so that the engraved text is in English rather than Turkish. (click to enlarge)
We are now quite used to the Turkish terms that are on the washing machine in our apartment for over 2 years now but still nice to have this all in English for our aging brains and others who might be using this.
Thanks Buse!!
Oh, and yes, of course the washer has to have WiFi for my Gorgeous Geekette!
We received this exciting photo on Friday as they put in the Rosewood stair risers for the first time. This is the spiraling stairwell leading up from the Master Cabin to the SuperSalon which we will go look at next.
Before we leave the Master Cabin though let’s go look at what Faruk and Osma have been up to in the Master Head & Shower.
They picked up where the left off last week with filling all the joints between the fiberglass panels that form all the surfaces of the floor, ceiling and walls. As you may recall from last week, they tape off each joint with two different layers of tape so they can put on two layers of grout to create a nicely radiused corner.
This past week they put in the 2nd layer with the final radiused corner and once dry they carefully wet sanded and polished the gel coat filled resin compound they use for the grout which creates a polished and seamless interior.
With the joints all filled and sanded they could now install the lower sink cabinet and the base for the VacuFlush toilet you see on the Right with the patch of blue painters tape to protect the surface as they cut the hole for the toilet base.
SUPER SALON:
Continuing up the stairs from the Master Cabin, Omur and Selim are now installing the rest of the Main Helm cabinetry with this section overtop of the Master Cabin door. There will be a Black leather covered triangular lid atop the space to the right of Ömür’s hand which will lift up to access the surprisingly large storage space underneath.
That allows Selim to start fitting the side panel which makes the corner transition from the panel above the door and caries on below the windowsill on the far Stbd/Right side of the stairway.
Stepping back towards the centerline of the boat, let’s turn clockwise for a series of shots to see the layout of all the areas that make up the Super Salon.
Looking directly towards the Port/Left side of the SuperSalon shows the Main Helm on the far Left, Master Cabin stairs to the right of that, then the Dinette Settee and the front half of the Galley Cabinets on the Right.
Turning to look at the Aft Port/Left corner of the SuperSalon shows the whole wrap around set of connected Galley cupboards.
Which you can see much better if I zoom in on the Galley at bit more. 
Continuing to turn clockwise you can see the stairs leading up to the Aft Deck in the background on the Right.
The taller cabinet on the far Right side where the two 130L Vitrifrigo SS upright fridges will soon be installed and to the Right of that is the shorter more recessed cabinets where the twin Vitrifrigo 70L drawer Freezers will soon be parked.
Rotating a bit more reveals the opening for the 50” SmarTV/monitor cabinet.
One more twist to the Right lets us see the Main Helm cabinetry.
And one final twist to complete the full 360 photo tour we are back to the stairwell down to the Master Cabin with the Settee on the Right.
Here’s a different perspective of the SuperSalon looking straight ahead at the Main Helm while standing at the base of the stairs down from the Aft Deck.
The large open hatch in the center provides access into the huge Basement area which is under the entire area of the SuperSalon floor.
Off to the far Right of the photo above here is a sneak peek at the first of the Galley Garages which sit atop the marble countertops and I look forward to showing you the rest of these Garages as they are installed next week.
And of course, the Blue Horizon Line or BHL you first saw being installed last week, continues to go in all around the circumference of the SuperSalon.
More BHL running along the upper edge of the Settee.
BHL on the Port side along the upper edges of the Fridge and Freezer cabinets.
and starting to make its way around the Main Helm.
Whew! Even though our 14 day self isolation prevented me from being there at all this week, I’m exhausted just taking you on this photo tour! A big thanks again to Yigit, Yesim, Uğur, Hilmi and Hakan for keeping me so well connected to the build via WhatsApp text, video and photos all week and for providing me with all these photos so I can share it all with you.
With luck my membership in the Self Isolation Club hopefully expires next Sunday the 29th so I only have one more week until I can join Team Möbius at Naval Yachts. But in any case I will be back with here next weekend to bring you the latest Weekly Progress Update of XPM78-01 Möbius.
We sincerely hope that all of you joining us here are finding your own ways to be safe, healthy and happy and that perhaps we can assist a wee bit with your entertainment during these crazy times.
-Wayne
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