A 3D Printer is all Consuming
At the end of last year a friend gave me a 3D printer “just to see what you will make”. I had never done any CAD modeling and had never used a 3D printer. I have a laser engraver and like making tumblers, signs and use it to make inlays for my woodworking. I started using Fusion 360 and it was much more intuitive than Adobe Illustrator. Now I have my printer on the boat and it is endless what I come up with to make.
Yesterday I noticed my forward facing camera had to be adjusted after big winds or long trips. I thought a support would be a good idea. It took a couple of test fits to get the angle right but the entire process was under an hour. I realize my designs will be simple because I do not have a background in that but they are functional.
Here are a few other projects I have made for the boat.
New chain markings developed in conjunction with my friend Peter Hayden, repairing our Hunter Douglas blinds, some cup holders for our new Further cat and some shade clips for a hatch that the old one broke. There is always a need to hold spare batteries.
Of course, there have been many toys for the grandkids and repairs around the house.
Quick Project Review
Roll up Dinghy Mod
The small roll up inflatable that I use with my ePropulsion electric motor has a flat bottom. I think this is a common feature of these small lightweight boats. I was trying to teach my grandkids to drive and realized it is not easy. The boat tends to slide around on turns. I thought about glueing a pool noodle to the bottom of the boat and even bought a couple. For somewhat obvious reasons including more difficult to fold, I did not try it. I settled on buying a SUP fin pocket and removable fin. This works great. I had three possible locations and decided 2nd board from Transom was best. I glued the fin pocket over the board so I could still fold it and did a test run. The original fin which was long made noise and vibrated while underway. I cut the fin down to four inches and have been using for a few months. Myth: Can’t make a flat boat track…busted. It tracks great.
Music to my Ears
Project two doesn’t deserve pictures because it was just replacing all the outside speakers and upgrading the stereo.
The generator is exhausted now
A common problem on a generator with more than 6,000 hours is failure of the exhaust manifold. I was do routine maintenance on my Northern Lights 20kw Gen and notice the exhaust manifold had a nasty crack. There was no water leakage but there was some soot inside the enclosure.
Laser meets woodworker
Projects on Roxia are always fun (unless they’re not) but learning a new skill is fun also. It is especially fun if I can use it in boat related themes. Getting ready for the NOR 2024 Rendezvous I thought I should make a few give-away items. This turned into a fun dive into a cross between craftsmanship and laser engraving. I used the laser to cut into wood and cut abalone to inlay. Abalone or more specifically Paua from New Zealand is notoriously brittle. I have used it before in projects but it is time consuming and frustrating when I break it when nearly complete. Enter the laser. Part art, part technology and part craftsmanship made a fun diversion. Here are a few items I made. I have an endless list of things I want to try.
Roxia 2023: A Year of Changes and Challenges
2023 was a year of changes, both to Roxia and the life of it’s owners. Let’s start with Roxia:
The theme of this year was the return to Mexico. After our last trip in 2018 we were left longing for warm water and sun. The pandemic threw a wrench into most peoples cruising plans and we were in that group. Fall/Winter 2023 would be the time. With that in mind Roxia wanted a couple upgrades, the largest of them was adding Solar panels. My goal with panels was to be able to leave Roxia for the day or possibly two and not worry about the batteries going below 50%. We only leave on the refrigeration but we have a lot of that. I will do a separate project post.
The balance of the work would be more routine with oil changes, checking thru-hulls, tighten electrical connections etc. The trip down the coast is not difficult but it should be planned for all contingencies. Before the end of the year the work was completed and tanks filled with fresh diesel and gas for the dinghy. This is when things started to change.
At the end of December my 95-½ year old mom had a fainting episode which lead to a quick decline in her health. Within two weeks she was at home with 24 hour care and hospice. As difficult as this was, it is the way we should all want. Two weeks of hospice and she passed peacefully in her sleep. I was able to spend much of the time with her and all four grandchildren were able to visit while she was still lucid and recognized them all.
Emmy and I with my brother and sister-in-law now had the task of cleaning her house and distributing decades of memories. It took the four of us three weeks of 10-12 hour days to pack and donate all the rest. Her home sold in less than a week and during this time I decided I would have Roxia delivered to Southern California by SD Captains. Nikolay and Camo did a fantastic job. This is the first and only time I have not been aboard Roxia when she traveled.
With all the work the weeks and months passed and our plan to return to the Sea of Cortez had to be postponed even though we were only 100 miles from the Mexican border. Sadly again we headed back North. Emmy and I stopped to visit friends and family on the way up the coast and settled in Sausalito for a couple weeks. We made new friends and visited old. As this was my 19th trip on the coast I really didn’t want to spend much time between Sausalito and home. Emmy did not want to do three days non-stop with the dogs, so… We rented a car and drove the dogs home. Emmy stayed there and I returned with two friends to do a quick trip back home.
Fast forward to August 2024 and we have spent many weeks cruising with friends and family. In May of 2024 along with Don and Jill Bernard (N47 Slow Burn) we put on the largest rendezvous of Nordhavns in history. We had 56 boats at the brand new docks in Poulsbo, WA from the N35 to the N96. What a site it was to see. There were another 14 boats “represented” by their owners. We had over 200 people at the Saturday night dinner.
Here is the link to the Soundings Article. Soundings Article by Norris Comer
Here is a link to the Nordhavn Video. Nordhavn Video by Doug Harlow NOR2024
Annual Haul-Out
Why do I haul every year? I think hauling Roxia every year saves money in the long run. It gives me a chance to look for any issues underwater, pressure wash and inspect the hull carefully, touch up the bottom paint, change the anodes and do projects that are easier when the boat is out of the water. By touching up the bottom paint it lasts longer.
This year I was out of the water for four days (back in the water on the 5th day). I raised the waterline by one inch. I have always thought it was a little low. When the fuel and water are full the top of the bottom paint was barely out of the water. In brackish water the boat floats lower. I also wanted to raise the line because I replaced the 400′ of chain with 600′ which added 500 pounds to the bow. I am hoping the bulbous bow will stay underwater in headseas longer. This will probably be the last chain I need to buy. We anchor often and tend to wear the galvanizing from the first 100′ in about 5 years. Since we only need 400′, I figure that is 20 years on chain. (Use 100′ then chop it off, repeat, wear another 100′ and swap ends.) The anchor locker on the N62 is a little small for 600′ so I flaked the chain for the first 400′ using up the bottom of the locker. We needed almost 400′ in one anchorage this summer and had to repeat the flaking so the chain didn’t jam when going through the chain pipe.
Some marinas are considered “hot” and will dissolve anodes (I use aluminum) in as little as four months. We are in a mild marina with brackish water and the anodes and paint last longer. I also coated the wing prop and keel coolers with a barnacle prohibiting paint. By touching the bottom paint up where there is flaking and at the waterline the paint lasts longer. Painting the waterline is commonly referred to as a “broker’s stripe” because this makes the paint look good where you can see it. The waterline does take more of a beating from sun and debris.
The total cost was $1,945 ($1,465 for haul, pressure wash, block and lay days plus $480 for materials). This may cost more than sending a diver down to clean the bottom and change the anodes but I think it is cheap insurance to make sure everything is working well. Here are a few pictures from this year. It has actually been 18 months since my last haul which is why there is some hard growth on the keel cooler, rudder shoe and wing prop.
Starlink Final Phase
With enough testing under the belt I figured it was time to make the installation more permanent. I measured the outside of the KVH dome and the diagonal length of the Starlink dish and base. The only question was how thick the dome was to determine if the Starlink dish would fit inside the KVH dome. Time to do some climbing.
The first thing to do was climb the mast remove the screws and take the dome cover off the KVH base. As it turned out the dome is super lightweight and only about 5-6mm thick. This is the first time I have removed the dome myself and was a little unsure how it would work. Very easy is my answer.
Fortunately there are only four bolts to remove the old hardware. Access required turning the old dish to remove. Once the dish was unbolted I removed the rescue tape from the coax connections and unplugged the communication/power cable.
The base of the old KVH dome had a slight taper and some ridges. I cut about 10mm off each leg of the Starlink dish support and wrapped with rescue tape to make the legs a little grippy. I reinstalled the four bolts that held the KVH dish and used them to zip tie the legs of the Starlink stand. This may be unnecessary but we have been in some rough water and more support is better than less.
When I removed the old cables I pulled some cordage through the pipe and left one extra just in case. I connected the cable back to Starlink and tested to make sure all was well. Then it was time to clean up the old dome and put in place.
I was paying $145 per month for Direct TV in standard definition via the KVH TracVision dome on the starboard side of the mast. Now I have full internet, wifi calling and streaming via Chromecast plus Google TV for $135 per month. Seems like a great deal to me.
I have heard that a Starlink dish inside a dome may create excess heat and send a warning. I have the snow melt heaters disabled and will check when the weather gets hot. It will be easy to install vents if necessary. At anchor if Starlink loses connection as we pivot I may need to disable the motors so that the dish looks straight up. Because Roxia doesn’t “sail” too much at anchor this may not be necessary. Both of these issues are easy to correct if they become a problem. For now I will test in the current configuration. In the dome with Starlink looking North in the direction of my mast Starlink shows no obstructions. So far so good!
Anyone need an old KVH Mini V-Sat system? Have I got a deal for you…
Dinghy Update
I was finally able to get multiple days of testing and made decisions on the prop. In the end 10.7/8″ x 12″ was the best prop. I added a fin on the ventilation plate to get on plane quicker with the boat loaded. We have had 6 adults, two children and two dogs on the boat and it planed easily and was able to cruise at 22-25 mph. I think this kind of power is more important than top end speed with one person onboard.
The big test came when we were in Port Gamble for an extended Father’s Day weekend. This coincided with the largest tidal swing in 20 years. The swing when we went ashore for the Mountain Bike Festival was 12′. We carry an anchor buddy to keep the dinghy in deep water on a falling tide. You drop the anchor (we use a box anchor) with the anchor buddy attached and then stretch it all the way ashore. After taking a line to a beach stake or rock you allow the stretch to take the boat back out to deep water. Needless to say we needed more stretch.
The great thing about this boat is that when you pickup and drop people off on the beach, you can step onto the drop-front without getting your feet wet. Also, because the Whaly is roto-molded plastic we were able to slide it down the beach. We place 3″ rounds of driftwood at the keel to keep it from digging in. Four of us easily slid “On-the-Rox” all the way into the water. Nobody got their feet wet and no Whaly’s were harmed in the process.
Starlink RV in the house…er boat
I have been following posts on the Nordhavn Owners Group for quite awhile now.
Background: When we purchase Roxia in Australia in 2017 two KVH domes were installed. One was for TV the other for Phone. We never paid for service for the phone/internet because it was cost prohibitive on our budget. For the most basic service that would work for us we were looking at $800 to $5,000 per month. When we got back to North America the TV would no longer work because the satellite inside the dome was using a DNB for Australia. We replaced that and with DirecTV were able to watch standard (not HD) TV and movies. We were able to stream Netflix etc from my iPad if the cell coverage was good enough. This service cost $143 per month because it required a commercial account on a boat. There are ways to reduce this amount but this is what we had. To be honest we hardly ever watch TV and used this service for more than two years for some news and a few Seahawks games.
Update: A week or so ago I ordered Starlink and was put on a waiting list until sometime in 2023. Within a day I received an email that Starlink RV was available with no waiting. The hardware is the same, the cost is the same as residential with portability, $135 per month. I changed to RV and the Dish arrived 5 days later. The problem was the box was crushed and the dish was cracked which would have allowed water intrusion. I didn’t think this would be good in the rain or on a boat. I email Starlink that night but thought I would have a problem. The next morning (less than 12 hours) I received multiple emails with apologies, return label, instructions to return, confirmation of a new dish sent, one month free service and expedited shipping. Ok that’s customer service. IBM used to say you don’t have a true customer until you have a problem and solve it. I am a true Starlink customer.
Installation: I am fairly technical but not that great. This had to be the easiest install ever. I did set it up in a temporary format and will explain permanent solution later. There are four items in the box. The dish with 75′ of cable attached, a one piece base, a router and short power cord. Installation is as follows: 1) snap the arm of the dish into the base. 2) set the base down. 3) plug the dish cable into the router. 4) plug the power cable in router. 5) plug the power cable into an outlet.
No matter how you look at it this is an easy installation. It took less than ten minutes including carrying the dish to the top of the pilothouse. After the dish was plugged in I used my iPhone to name the router and set a password. The satellites were found and I was online in less than five minutes. I received a message that the speed may be reduced because of the high traffic area at Port of Everett Marina. It was still fast.
After going online I logged into my smart tv and logged into all our streaming channels. Now everything is HD on the TV. The best thing about Starlink is since we don’t really watch TV the price includes the internet and phone through WiFi calling. This is a game changer in the industry. By the way the Dish was $599 including shipping. If I were KVH or Intellian I would be nervous.
Final thoughts: Where to mount the dish? I just happened to have a pair of 24″ domes that are unused. I can take the guts out of one or both and mount the Starlink dish inside. Is it a coincidence that the Starlink dish measures 23 ¼” diagonally? I think Elon had an idea. The dome will offer protection and already has bird detractors installed.
The new dinghy is finished!
This has been a work in progress since July 2021. After ordering the boat it was built by Whaly in Holland in about a months time. The problem was shipping. The tentative arrival date was in October of 2021. When the ship arrived Long Beach, CA it sat outside the port for a number of months then delays at the port of Long Beach because of the volume and port policies delayed it further. I was finally able to pick up my Whaly 455 Pro in late January 2022. After driving the boat home on a trailer I started planning what it should look like inside. I am not a big fan of driving from the back of the boat because I can’t see over front passengers and I like transferring more weight forward.
The typical Whaly I think has a storage box in the back with a gas tank inside. After searching for different size gas tanks I found the largest that would fit inside the storage box was 6 gallons. I wanted a larger tank so I purchased a 12 gallon tank, secured it to the floor and made a wood slat seat to go over the top of the fuel tank. My original plan called for another storage box for the driver to sit on and a steering console forward of that. After setting it up that way I decided that was too far forward. I put a large storage box on the starboard side so that I could run all the cables and controls from the console to the back of the boat. I then purchased a very cushy bench seat with a folding back from Tempress for the driver. Once I received the seat I realized it was too big and didn’t look right in the boat. It was great quality and very comfortable but just too big. I ended up building a second wooden slat seat. Both wood seats are removable and will eventually get cushions.
Here are some interesting test results: Tested 9.5″ x 15″ SS prop-30kph@5200rpm. Tested 10.375″x14″ Aluminum prop-8.3kph@3000rpm. I did not expect that result. The clue to this mistake is in the bottom photo next to the dock. I then tested 10.875″ x 12″ and it was still bad. I put the original 9.5″ x 15″ and I got a 3000rpm result again. I knew I had done something stupid but what could it be. Well, the bottom picture shows a motor cover on the engine. I had always run with a motor cover to protect the outboard but the new cover did not have ventilation like the old one. During the first test on the lake I did not use the cover. I was starving the engine for air and it was having nothing of it! With the cover off it practically jumps out of the water with the 12″ but tachs out to 6100. I will keep two props probably the 12″ and the 13″ but will test in multiple conditions and loading before deciding.
The rest will be in the pictures below.
Take Care of the Davit so it Let’s you Down Easy
For the last four years I have enjoyed a great davit to lift the dinghy without a hitch. It has been pieced together using different fittings without complaint. It was time to give some love to the giant shiny boom on the front of the boat. The biggest challenge I thought would be figuring out the rusty and corroded cartridge on the boom. I learned the cartridge is for load handling keeping the boom from dropping too fast when loaded. This is what the block looked like when I started.
Over time leaking or broken hard lines were replaced. The top left line looks like steel brake line and the top right was replaced with a hose and non-stainless fittings. I was afraid to remove the cartridge so I removed and capped the entire assembly. I worked with Matt at Maximum Performance Hydraulics in Seattle, WA to figure out what to do. My original idea was to replace the cartridge and hard lines using the same block. Matt was patient when explaining the difference between a load handling cartridge and one that only allows the boom to drop slowly. The load holding valve or counterbalance insures that the boom stays in place when you need the boom to stay in one position. It is also a positive stop in case a line bursts or fitting comes loose. You don’t want to be in your dinghy up in the air when a line breaks and the davit drops unexpectedly. The old design slowed the motion with a spring cartridge but did not provide a positive stop. Matt determined this by the old block design. A true load holding cartridge requires ”pilot pressure” in order to open or move at all. This could have been done by piecing “off the shelf” parts together but I wanted it to look nice also. Fortunately, Maximum Performance Hydraulics has a full machine shop and talented machinists. Matt made CAD drawings and I had some suggestions on how I wanted to install it on the davit. Matt made the modifications and here is the result.
Instead of a combination of fittings the new design is clean and all stainless, including the fittings. The Sun Cartridge is not stainless because it was ten times more expensive and not available for at least six months.
The rest of the davit work was simply removing the ram covers cleaning off the old white paint inside, prime and paint the inside then polish the outside.
The last item on the list is to remove the six old hydraulic lines make new ones and reinstall. I used six colors of shrink tube cut in rings to mark which hose goes on each fitting. I will wait until the snow clears a bit to remove the hoses. So in the words of Billy Currington ”…if I fall, can you let me down easy”. Another project in the books.
A barnacle can be good if it’s a BRNKL
For a couple of years I have been looking for an easy way to make sure the shore power was connected and charging the batteries on Roxia. If you are a boat owner you know what I mean. Even if your boat is nearby and it gets stormy the shore power connection can be lost. If charging stops you could run your house bank of batteries below 50%. This is the critical number on a lead-acid battery like flooded cell or AGM. A battery or bank of batteries can operate through thousands of cycles if treated properly but may last less than a dozen if allowed to discharge below 50%.
Our house bank consists of twelve 8D Lifeline AGM batteries wired series/parallel giving us 1,530Ah at 24 volts. We have stacked inverters so we can get 240 volt AC to run anything but not everything on the boat. With two small SubZero refrigerators and one SubZero freezer running all the time I worry that if the power goes off when I’m not on the boat we could discharge the batteries in a matter of days.
After the great NAPS2021 Rendezvous in Poulsbo, WA I became acquainted with the people at BRNKL (pronounced barnacle) Systems. Sean Battistoni walked me through the system in a Zoom call and I realized how easy it is to install. Two keys to the system for me are: 1) All connections happen behind my main electrical panel. There is no need to run wires all over the boat. 2) The monitoring happens through a cell card that works anywhere there is cell service on the globe. Here are some photos of the install and a few screen shots from my cell phone.
An open place on the panel for BRNKL power and House Bank voltage. 
New 5amp breaker installed and labeled.
The BRNKL unit is small and fits nicely behind my panel. 
I needed one relay on the left for an extra bilge pump. 3amp fuses are on the two additional battery banks.
Temperature is measured at BRNKL unit so I get temp behind my panel. An added bonus. 
An alert is sent each time shorepower is disconnected. 
Geofence set for anchor watch when away from boat. 
Barometric Pressure is also measured 
Testing engine room bilge. 
Testing inverter bay bilge.
I sensed the shorepower after the final breaker in my panel so I can tell if the breaker has tripped. This gives me the added ability to see if I have loaded my generator or shorepower too much with cooking and air conditioning. I can also tell if I forgot to select shorepower or generator…which I have also done.
All in all I am very happy with the installation and the ability to monitor at anytime that I am on the boat or off. The system comes with a camera which I have not yet installed. I am not sure where I want it to point. Some people point it at the main entrance or there shorepower panel. Alerts can trigger a picture taking as well. I can add more in the future.