We’ve been getting ready for our trip to Tasmania, and I thought I’d share the preparations we’ve made.
Most of these changes were completed during our stay in Shellharbour Marina. We were very lucky to be able to borrow a friend’s car for a few weeks meaning we could make a few trips to Bunnings and pick up the solar panel in Sydney. Thanks very much Sandra and Brian.
In no particular order this is what we’ve done, and you can click the link to go straight to that content.
Installed more solar
The solar panels we installed earlier this year have been a game changer for us when we’re off grid. And we decided that since we have the space, we’d install one more panel on the pilot house roof. We will use this to charge our Enerdrive 300 ah Lithium battery, also installed earlier this year. You can read about our previous power upgrade in my blog, Power to Poseidon.
The installation of the new solar panel would require:
- A REC Alpha Pure-R series 410w panel. Buying this was the challenge as many companies won’t purchase just one panel for you. Fortunately, Robert found a company that would add our panel to their next order and we could collect it from their premises once it arrived. The drive back from Sydney was interesting as the panel was a tight fit in the car, our knees were touching the dashboard for a few hours, and there’d been an accident causing long delays!
- Someone to manufacture a stainless steel structure for the panel. This proved to be quite easy as we received a recommendation from the marina office.
- A Victron MPPT 100/30 controller, which adjusts input voltage to harvest the maximum power from the solar panel and ensures we can achieve full battery charge in the shortest possible time.
- A fuse box to isolate the charge so wiring isn’t live. This is because you can’t “turn off” the solar charging and many people wait until night to make changes.
The new solar panel sits over the pilot house hatch. This hatch has always leaked a little, despite us trying many options to resolve it. So an unintended consequence of installing the solar panel is that we can keep the pilot house hatch open for airflow without rain coming in!
Installed Starlink
Starlink is the world’s first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls and more. We’ve installed Starlink because there will be places as we head south not covered by our existing Telstra mobile network. For safety and mental health reasons, we must be able to get weather details, communicate with family and friends, write blogs, and of course stream our favourite shows!
Our system comprises the following Starlink components:
- a rectangular antenna (officially called ‘Dishy’)
- a roof pivot mount
- a WIFI router
- an ethernet adaptor
We also changed our existing WIFI router to an ASUS RT-AX89X to support a dual Wide Area Network (WAN) configuration. This is so that we can use both the Starlink internet connection and/or the existing Telstra mobile hotspot.
As installed, the WIFI router is connected via the ethernet adaptor to WAN1 and the Telstra mobile hotspot (a Nighthawk M3) to WAN 2. We’re still experimenting with whether to use a failover or load balance mode, but in general both seem to be working quite well. Note that this does give us a double Network Address Translation (NAT) problem but fortunately this has little practical implication for us since we don’t, for example, access the private network from outside the boat. If we ever installed security cameras, for example, this may become an issue.
Once we finalise the installation, we’ll likely put the Starlink WIFI router into passthrough mode. We’ve also purchased a flat mount conversion option, which we will likely install at some point in the future to avoid unnecessary shading and potential obstruction issues when surrounded by buildings, large land structures and sailing boats with tall masts. Basically it needs a clear view of the sky!
Made fender boards
For most of our cruising to date, we’ve come alongside floating docks in marinas and when getting fuel and water so our fenders have worked perfectly. But there were two exceptions, once when we stayed in Crowdy Head boat harbour and the second time when we got some water at Camden Haven.
However, when we head south to Tasmania, we’ve been advised that there will be many times we’ll need to pull up to a pier with pilings. While our fenders have been great to date, they just roll around pilings and so we need fender boards to help protect our boat from damage.
We bought two 2.4m planks from Bunnings, curved the ends, and drilled eye bolts into the top to run lines through and secure them to the boat when in use. We also had to think about where to store them when not in use, and we discovered they fit perfectly on the kayak racks.
Replaced the weather station
Our weather station was no longer working and we think it’s important to know, at a minimum, the wind speed.
So we replaced the weather station on the radar arch and installed the new monitoring panel. As a gift for purchasing it, we were given a blood pressure monitor! It struck us as a bit of an unusual present, perhaps a thermometer would have been more on theme, but I rather like checking my blood pressure when winds are howling!
Set up for rainwater collection
This year we decided we should collect the rainwater, as it’s a valuable commodity for us when spending more time on anchor. When it rains a lot of water runs off the pilot house roof, and with a surface area of about 8 square metres, it seemed perfect for our needs.
Setting up for rainwater collection involved three main steps:
- Painting the pilot house roof with a ‘potable’ paint, free of toxins making the water collected safer to drink.
- Collecting rainwater and transferring it into the water tanks.
- Filtering the water collected.
In summary, rainwater runs into channels (one each side) towards the after end of the pilot house roof. A series of hoses, with a filter installed, lets us direct the rainwater. If not in use, we can divert it over the side of the boat. When it first rains, we collect water into a tub, helping reduce the dust/dirt (and potential cat hairs) that go into the tank. Once we’re happy that the water is clean enough, we put the hoses directly into the water tanks. And the water in the tub gets used when flushing the freshwater toilets!
When in a marina we clean the pilot house roof. We also regularly clean the gutters, which get surprisingly dirty, and the filters.
But since setting this up, we’ve received very little rain while on anchor. In fact in June this year, Sydney only received 14.6mm of rain, compared with the monthly average of 132mm and it was the driest June since 1986!
The following short video shows our rainwater collection working.
At the time of recording this video, we’d been experimenting with different filtering options. In this video we were filtering the rainwater immediately before it went into the tank. But the problem here was if there was a big downpour, we couldn’t easily keep the filter in situ. So we decided to install a filter into the hose, closer to the collection channel, as shown in the previous photos.
Installed a dedicated AIS antenna
Previously our AIS system (a Digital Yacht AIT 5000) used the same antenna as the VHF radio, through an internal splitter inside the Digital Yacht AIT 5000. If the AIS system fails it could impact us using the VHF radio. And while this has never really been a problem, this particular setup also meant that while using the VHF radio we couldn’t send/receive AIS data.
But redundancy is good, so we decided to install a dedicated AIS antenna. This is cabled in such a way that it can also be used as a backup VHF antenna. This involved replacing various cable runs and installing a CX201 antenna selector switch.
It now means that the VHF radio and AIS system have their own antennas. But importantly, it also means that the VHF radio has access to two different antennas via the CX201 antenna selector switch. Also the VHF radio is no longer depending on the AIS system functioning correctly.
Made new waterproof covers
As we head south we’re expecting more rain and in preparation for our trip to Tasmania, I’ve made some new waterproof covers. These are for our tender when it’s stored on the flybridge, our new electric outboard, and the instruments on the flybridge. I bought the Stamoid Light fabric when we were in Sydney and have been slowly progressing the covers. For now, we’re all done!
Plumbing changes (everything including the kitchen sink!)
While we had the opportunity, we also made some plumbing changes. While they’re not specifically preparation for Tasmania, I thought I’d include them in this blog. And you’ll get some examples of project scope creep!
Galley
We’d noticed the old copper pipes that fed water to the galley sink were leaking a little. So in considering replacing these, we thought it would be timely to also replace the tap in the sink. And then while doing that, why not put in a shiny new sink as well, since I could never properly clean the original 43-year old one!
We had to order the sink and it was delivered to Shellharbour Marina. The external dimensions were exactly the same as the existing one, but we just had to make a minor change to the cutout size to cater for a slightly different inside profile.
The new sink is a lot deeper than the original one, and when we’re off grid we have a camping sink that fits inside and uses a lot less water. I like to think that I’ve now got a “double sink”!
Bathroom
In the bathroom, the taps in the sink were always plumbed back to front (cold tap on the left and hot tap on the right), so we finally fixed this! Also, the plug/waste was combined by a control on the old taps. So we’ve installed a new mixer tap and waste.
During one of many trips to Bunnings, we also bought and installed a shower temperature display. This is useful because we’ve never really been able to see how hot the water gets. When on shore power it now sits at a comfortable 40°C. But when motoring the water heats up considerably more, to about 43°C. We believe that if it’s too hot it may damage the new taps so now we know to adjust the mixer for more cold water.
Laundry/ensuite
The tap in the laundry/ensuite, also very old, was pitted and a few times I’d cut myself on it. So again, this was another replacement job.
However, unfortunately after hours of trying to get the tap out, the sink itself cracked. Once that was removed, there was big hole in the vanity top and we had no hope of getting a sink large enough to fit. So Robert made a pattern and we ended up getting a furniture maker in Sydney to create a new top using teak. We installed this over the existing one, oiled it, bought a new basin, tap, and towel rail, and it looks fantastic and much more modern.
Where to next?
You may have gathered from my reference to Shellharbour Marina that we left Sydney. My next blog will be about our trip south, as we slowly head down the east coast towards Victoria.
9 Responses
Great work – the renovations look wonderful.
Lovely following you south.
The information you give us readers is very valuable indeed.
All the very best and safe travels
Evie and Dave on Seawitch
Wow! Very impressive.
Truly impressed by how capable and enterprising you are. I will just follow and enjoy your journey fro afar. But lovely to see you both in August. Safe travels…
Lots of very impressive work, Pam.
Poseidon seems to be getting younger
and shinier every day.
Safe travels to Tassie
Buying shares in Bunnings as we speak! Safe e travels. ❤ x P and D
You guys are amazing and so inspirational. I 100% agree with Pamela you MUST write a book.
When do you leave for beautiful Tasmania?
Hugs to you both xx
The modifications look excellent! We’re ahead have the boards and Starlink (which we’ve found to be fantastic). We’re haven’t thought about the increased rain other than to have clears made which keep the cockpit dry ash’s instruments protected. The tender sits under our hard surgery so that is covered as well. Regarding the collecting of rain water…. We’ve managed through the Kimberley and down WA coast with our water maker. We’ll have to look into its effectiveness travelling around Tasmania. Ta for the information.
Fantastic! All this has to go into a book when you have completed what you set out to do surely!
It will be a wealth of information for anybody in the future wanting to do this lifestyle.
Well written and great explanatory photos
Keep safe xx