Shirena

 is a Bavaria 38 yacht built by Bavaria Yachts in Germany. Below are some basic technical specifications. We chose a two cabin version as we do not expect to cruise with too many people and we liked larger toilet as well as more storage space. On the site there is the boat layout and it can be enlarged by clicking on it.

 

 Additions made after the purchase:

Stern arch (or Targa as some say) is a stainless steel construction that provides for two seats, davits, bimini support, cockpit lights and solar power fixing. Recently we added a TV antenna. In the future we may install there a radar, wind power generator or HF radio antenna.

Rubber dinghy with an outboard motor was bought early on as we thought we would need it if the yacht was kept on a mooring. The dinghy is a Quicksilver and motor is 3.5 HP Mercury. We have also ordered a hard dinghy as the rubber may not survive corals of the Great Barrier Reef. We keep fuel tank in a barrel that can be closed tightly. With a bit of luck we may move the tank to the hard dinghy. The dinghy will be kept on the davits.

Update 1 (July 2007)

We did not install the fuel tank in the dinghy. Instead we take the tank with us each time we go for a longer trip. The tank is safely attached to the dinghy.

Bimini and dodger were included with the delivered yacht. We had to modify the bimini after the installation of the arch. We also added transparent side parts and a joint between the bimini and dodger. We can now create a cabin over the cockpit on a rainy day.

Autopilot is Raymarine ST6000 with a gyro. It is connected to the chart plotter that we got with the yacht. So far we are very happy with the autopilot. Chart plotter was installed in the main cabin above the navigation table. We found that really a bad idea. Firstly, my hands were getting tired when entering a route as I had to keep them above my head to push the buttons. Secondly, we need the plotter when steering the yacht and not to have someone going up and down the stairs. We moved the plotter to the cockpit right in front of the helm. The plotter can be disconnected when we leave the yacht thus eliminating a risk of an easy theft. We use Navionics XXL-Gold card in the plotter. It covers all of Eastern Australia.

Update 1 (July 2007)

We had a problem with the autopilot after our return from Poland. It would not keep the course or track. An electrician in Bundaberg diagnosed the device computer as faulty. The autopilot was just a couple of months out of warranty. We called the Raymarine office and they agreed to fix it under warranty. The computer had to be removed from the yacht and sent to Sydney. After just a couple of days it was sent back to us. We were told a capacitor had polarity reversed. Obviously manufacturing problem.

After the computer was re-installed it worked fine, but… We lost connection between the autopilot and the chart plotter. I checked the cables and we reset them. It seemed to have worked but for a very short time. I believe that we have it fixed now as I was probably checking wrong connections (Seatalk not NMEA). We tested the autopilot a few times in the marina and it has been working so far.

Update 2 (September 2007)

Well the autopilot would not communicate with the chart plotter each time we went to the sea. After a couple of more attempts to fix it I came to the conclusion that the cable between the devices was broken. The devices would work in the marina when the bot was not rocking but on the ocean the connection would be lost. That was the reasoning.

In Cairns I had one more go at the problem before we would call an electrician. This time I decided to disconnect the sonar from the NMEA connection. And… it worked! I could easily repeat the problem. The connections would fail each time the sonar was in its cradle - not even powered on. I crossed the NMEA connection from the sonar and the problem disappeared. We now have not only the connection between the autopilot and the plotter, but also to the sonar. It displays course over ground and our position. Aach, Ashley… (see More Stories).


Update 3 (October 19, 2009)


We had more problems with the autopilot. It would stop working reporting no communications with other sea talk devices. After many attempts to solve the problem we found out that NMEA connection cables had to be reset. That helped for a while but the autopilot would still fail from time to time. One of sailors told us the problem was associated with the temperature. The connectors expanded a little and the contacts would become loose. I installed a computer fan next to the computer. It fixed the problem.

Power needs cause us a few problems. It is not easy to establish how much power we really need as it depends on the usage. We have two house batteries and a separate engine battery. We added a measuring device that tells us the state of the batteries. This helps to establish the power needs. It looks that on a sunny day our 80W solar panel keeps up with the cruising requirements, including autopilot and the fridge. However we lose power at night faster than the panel can recharge the batteries next day. We therefore decided to increase the power of the engine alternator to 100Amps (from 60) and added a “smart” regulator. This was done only a couple of days ago thus we do not know if it is a good investment. Our advisors assure us that we will have to use the engine only about two hours a day to keep the batteries happy. 


Update 1 (July 2007)

The alternator and the smart regulator worked well during the previous season. This year we discovered that recharging takes much longer. The current during the recharge would drop to just 10-12 Amps. After many ideas we discovered that the regulator was set for factory default. It was therefore reprogrammed to deep cycle lead batteries. We tested the new setup and it seems to work well. We saw about 50 Amps charging current for about 40 minutes. The real test will next week when we go sailing again.

Just a little note about the reprogramming of the regulator. It is Xantex model. Reprogramming requires a special magnetic tool. According to the manual the tool is included with every delivery. We had not have one. I called the company that installed the regulator but the man who did it was not working there any more. They could not help us at all. I then called the distributor. They did not have the tool as a separate part. Fortunately they suggested to use a magnetic pickup tool. It worked!

Update 2 (September 2007)

There was one more problem with the recharging. Connection to the positive end of the batteries was not clean. I cleaned the connection and the recharging rate is now very good. I guess this must be a part of regular yearly maintenance from now on.

Update 3 (May, 2009)


It has been a while since the last entry and a bit has happened. Firstly, our problems with the recharge had nothing to do with the battery connections. It was the main switch that was not connecting properly. Since we discovered that we had no problems with recharging.
We did have problems with the amount of energy we were consuming and producing. When we sailed at night we had to run the engine three, four times. We decided to find a solution. 
We are installing three more 80W solar panels. This will give us 320W. My calculations indicated this should be enough, especially tht we do not plan to install any more devices to consume the electricity (well, maybe we are but it should not be much). We changed the batteries to AGM type and we have 480Ah. That is nearly twice as much as we had last season. We also changed the navigation lights to LED. They take 6-7 times less power than the original globes. We will see how that will work out.

Update 4 (October, 2009)

The solar panels can keep up with our needs but... not if we run the water maker. On average we run the water maker every three / four days. Initially we had to run the engine the next day to recharge the batteries. In Penang we bought a Honda 1000W power generator. We now run it at the same time as the water maker. We have no need to run the engine just to generate electricity any more.

The Honda power generator can also be used in case we lost all batteries and need to start the engine.

All our cabin lights are LED now.

MPS sail and all needed tackle were added as we found out that our yacht does not sail too well with the wind. On close haul we make about 7 knots in 12 knots winds. With the wind we run at about 3-4 knots. MPS should change that and it will also let us sail with the wind right behind us (at present the headsail simply collapses in the shade of the main sail). We are still to experience first hand how to jibe with the sail.

Update 1 (July 2007)

We used MPS on a few occasions. It helps to sail faster in light winds. We still cannot sail well with the wind directly on the stern but much closer than with the headsail. We do not jibe with the MPS. Instead we put it back in the sock and then reset on the other side. We even stopped attaching the lazy sheet. 


Update 2 (May, 2008)

We ordered a new headsail. It is number 3 non-overlapping sail. We actually received it but it was too short. We sent it back and we are expecting it back in a few days. The sail should make it easier to sail as the original one overpowers the boat rather fast. We hope to test the sail in a few weeks.

Update 3 (October, 2009)

The new headsail works well. It does not overpower the yacht as the original one used to. We also bought a spinnaker pole in Darwin. We use it when running with the wind right behind us. 

Boom brake was also installed recently. It works! In light winds in a swell the boom was often bouncing from site to site. With the boom brake it stays in one place. Our main concern was how to attach the line that controls the brake. We ended up with one fixed attachment on the port site and a block on the starboard. We have a cleat on the starboard to lock the line. The attachments are made via stainless steel eyes to the inner shrouds connections.

Anchor - we have replaced the original CQR 15kg anchor with Manson Ray20 (Bruce model 20 kg). The CQR anchor will therefore serve as a spare or second anchor if needed. For that we have 12 metres of 8mm chain and 50 metres of 14mm nylon rope. 

Update 1: 

Anchor does not fit in the cradle. As it is the Bruce anchor has a wider shank and we cannot use  the locking pin. We will have to ask a stainless steel specialist to make the cradle a bit higher. 

Update 2:

 The cradle was modified but the locking pin is now too high. Generally, the anchor does not fit the cradle and some other solution will have to be found. In the meantime a piece of string does the job.

Update 3 (July 2007)

The Bruce anchor works well. Sometimes we have problems to set it but once it set we never dragged. We did not modify the cradle as the present arrangement does the job well.


Update 4 (May 2008)


We will extend the anchor chain by adding about 25 metres of nylon rope. We think we may need that to anchor in deeper places once we reach Indonesia.
 

Update 5 (October, 2009)

We replaced 50m of the old chain with 80 metres of new one. Using the rope as extension was not practical. The rope was kept in the anchor locker and it was often wet. New chain lets us anchor in more than 20 metres of water.

Macerator - we have a holding tank in the toilet but to empty it we need to go to a station or have the contents treated. It is required by law. We installed a macerator between the tank and the outlet.


Update 1: 


We had the first failure - the pump blew a couple of fuses. At this point in time we do not know why. An electrician took the pump of the boat and he will try to discover the reason.


Update 2:

In Southport I replaced the macerator with a Jabsco one. Since then we have had no problems.

Update 3 (May 2008)

We have installed a valve and extra pipes to bypass the macerator if needed. This should let us use the toilet in a case the macerator fails.

Chart plotter trouble.

We rely on our chart plotter a lot. It is therefore very troublesome when it fails. First time we noticed a problem was when we lost the GPS signal. Only by powering it off and on we managed to recover the signal. After that we had a few days free of problems. Then on our way to Mooloolaba we lost the signal again. This time recovery (off-on) took only two attempts. When we were in the port and berthing the yacht, the plotter crashed with an error. This was bad!

I wrote to the manufacturer via Internet. A few days later we received an answer. They asked to run a diagnostic test and remove some backup parameter. We are still to do it as since then we had no access to the email thus I could not read the instructions for diagnostics. We hope this will prevent any future crashes.

Regarding the loss of the GPS signal we were told that the antenna must be installed with free access to the sky. As it happens our antenna is inside the hull! One wonders why the yacht vendor would not follow the instructions of the plotter manufacturer? We are considering relocation of the antenna to the top of our stern arch.

We had also a bit more embarrassing problem with the plotter. It would not display detailed charts for Morton Bay and then Mooloolaba harbour. I decided to check if it was Navionics card that did not have the charts or the plotter was not working properly. In Mooloolaba I called Whitworths shop and they cheerfully agreed to help us. I took the plotter and the card to the shop. There we tried the card and we could see detailed charts using other plotter. We then tried another card in our plotter and we could also see the detailed charts. However this was not the case when our card was in our plotter! The shop owner called a local expert but he could not figure out why the plotter would not show the details. In the meantime I played with the plotter and the cards. At some point I did something – I do not know what – and the plotter asked for a set of charts to load while listing all available. I chose the region and… we had the details.

It appears that there is a parameter in the plotter that requires reload of the charts if a region changes. This was set for manual reload. We had a good laugh in the shop!

Lastly, the charts for Morton Bay and Great Sandy Strait. They are useless! We would be shipwrecked if we relied on them. Often, we would see the trace of our passages crossing the dry land on the plotter. Although the navigation in the channels must be done by following the buoys and beacons, it would be nice to have some confirmation from the electronic charts. I also think that it would be better not to have the charts than have the ones that are wrong. We bought charts for the inland passages in Southport and they proved to be reasonably accurate although not completely. They seemed to err on safe side and we found that some shallows did not exist. The scale of the charts is also sometimes too large. How can one find a deep channel if it is half a millimetre on the chart?


Update 1 (May 2008)


We now have lots of backup for the chartplotter. Two laptops with ENC software. Of course, paper charts, too.

Update 2 (October, 2009)

All our pedestal instruments were connected to one power supply with 5Amp fuse. When I blew the fuse we lost ALL instruments. I have split the power supply into three separate ways. Autopilot, depth sounder and wind indicator share the power via Seatalk. Chartplotter has its own cable and the Forward Looking Sonar has one, too. I reused instruments lights switch on the electrical board for the chartplotter and sonar power connections. The instruments have also separate and manufacturer recommended fuses (1Amp for chartplotter and 3Amps for the sonar).

Anchor buddy

We have been using the anchor buddy every time we anchor. The system works as we have not dragged the anchor so far. We had some problems however. One night we woke up to some strange noise. After some lengthy investigation we established that the anchor buddy was on the bottom and the chain was rubbing through it. Lifting the anchor buddy solved the problem.

At Kingfisher Bay anchorage we again notices similar noises. I checked the depth where the anchor buddy was and – just in case – lifted it higher. That did not help. The noise did not go away. I tried many different depths and line arrangements but to no avail. Eventually I came to the conclusion that it was the current that caused the anchor buddy to rub the chain. There was no other solution but to remove the anchor buddy. I still do not know how we could use the device in strong currents (it is about 3 knots in Kingfisher Bay). We would prefer to have it in the water, especially in such situations!

Update 1 (October, 2009)

The above text prompted the manufacturer of the anchor buddy to contact us. They offered help in solving the issue. It was a welcome initiative and we appreciate it.


Internet access

I have changed to Telstra 3G and CDMA service. I discovered two problems with the Vodafone connection. First is the coverage. There are many places where the connection cannot be established because there is no mobile service. The other relates to dowloading larger files. It seems that after about half a megabyte the system stops and the file would not load. The good thing about the Vodafone connection is that they compress transferred data. This means that the connections is faster and they count fewer bytes going through the mobile network.

From now on I will be using Telstra 3G card. It can connect to CDMA network too. Of course it will be a while before I will ever see 3G speeds but EV-DO I have already experienced and it is more than sufficient for our needs. The coverage also has proved a bit better than Vodafone's. I managed to connect to the Internet in Pancake Creek while Vodafone mobile would not have a signal there. 

Update 2 (July 2007)

We changed to Telstra NextG. It works well when we have the coverage. Hopefully it will be even better once the CDMA network is closed.

Update 3 (October, 2009)

We settled on three different solutions to access internet and email. In marinas or close to towns we tend to Wi-Fi. We have an external antenna for Wi-Fi connections. The antenna triples the usable distance between the computer and an access point.

On the sea we use HF radio for email. We used Sailmail and Winlink. Both worked well. Next season we will stay with Winlink only as it is free.

We also use mobile phone with Bluetooth to connect laptops to the internet. Some mobile carriers offer really good value plans. The phones often work in remote anchorages.

Colour Twinscope Forward Looking Sonar

In June 2007 we installed the sonar. The device shows depth ahead of the yacht. It has already proved its value as we could get closer to the shore when anchoring. The real test will be when we go north where we have not been before.

We had one strange event. We were motoring to the Marble Island when the sonar suddenly showed a shallow we were rapidly approaching. I changed the course. When I checked the charts there was nothing of concern there. I wonder if a school of fish or some larger animal was ahead of us and it fooled the sonar (and me).


Update 1 (May, 2008)


The sonar saved us a couple of times although we would probably not enter some places without it. It seems to work well. The only problem is the mounting. It failed as it is not strong enough for the weigh of the device. We ordered a stainless steel frame. It will keep the sonar in place. We tested it already. The frame is being polished to make it shiny and rust proof.

Update 2 (October, 2009)

The frame is a much better solution than the holder from the manufacturer.

I also learnt more about the sonar. 

Watermaker (June, 2007)

This week we installed Schenker watermaker. We ordered it from someone on the Gold Coast listed on the manufacturer’s web site. We were promised many filter packages and some other extras. Well, we received the device, two paper filters and TDS meter. After reading the installation manual we discovered we had no carbon filter or pre-filter for the salt water intake. We also do not know what chemicals we will have to use when not using the watermaker. The instruction states we should use “Schenker” one. I challenge anyone to find it in store along the Queensland coast!

The installation of the device is rather simple. We used one of the shelves next to the sink. There are two parts: water maker and the pump. Since we have a salt water pump, the intake was easy to install. Outflow was also easy – just connected it to the hoses used in the sink. Fresh water runs directly to the forward tank. The hardest was to run the cable to the switchboard. The electrician insisted we had to have 8mm cables.

The installation has not been finished as yet. We ran the device a couple of times and tasted the water. It is fine.

The main reasons we chose Schenker were the price, no high pressure pump and lower power consumption (9Amps). 

Update 1 (September 2007) 

We had a hose burst. It happened when we were desalinating water. At the time of the installation I pointed out to the installer that enforced hose was needed for high pressure connection between the pump and the watermaker. He assured me he would install the right hose. He did not!

There was no damage done except that we had to go to the marina a bit earlier. We found a shop with hoses (not as easy as it sounds) and we now have enforced hose between the pump and the water maker. A short test was successful but the real one will be when the device is used for hours.


Update 2 (May, 2008)


The watermaker failed to produce good quality water when we were near the Lizard Island. We could make water for washing but not for consumption. After we arrived in Darwin I contacted the distributor. He was very helpful. Initially he sent to us a membrane (no charge) but that did not help. We then sent the watermaker to him. It was returned a week or so later and the initial tests were successful. We had no opportunity to test it for longer periods of time but it looks good so far.

Update 3 (October, 2009)

We had more problems with the watermaker. It failed after about 8 weeks when we were in Indonesia. We spend lots of time exchanging emails with the supplier in Australia and manufacturer in Italy. Eventually, when in Singapore, I disassembled the Clark pump and found one of the O-rings slightly damaged. The manufacturer provided us with all needed replacement parts under warranty. Since then the watermaker has been working fine, producing good quality water.

At present the watermaker is “pickled”, meaning we cleaned it with chemicals. This was the first time we had to do this as previously we were able to backwash it regularly. We hope everything will be fine once we restart it.

Wash down pump (June, 2007)

We have also installed Johnson Wash Down Pump. It is connected to fresh water forward tank (same as watermaker). We intend to use the pump for three main purposes: to wash the deck from time to time, to transfer water made by watermaker from the forward tank to the stern one and as a backup for the main fresh water pump. 

Freezer (June, 2007)

We bought a new freezer in Bundaberg. After looking for a space  where to install it we decided to buy Weaco-40. It is installed in the forward cabin and it does not bother us. We enforced the floor attachments with extra screws before installing the freezer. It came with installation kit (extra) and thermal cover (extra).

We are very happy with it. It lets us to set the temperature and uses little power. We keep it at -10 degrees and the food is always fresh. Ice cream keeps well too. We also enjoy ice cubes with some of our drinks. It looks that the freezer is more efficient than the fridge that came with the yacht although it is from the same manufacturer.


HF radio


We are installing HF radio (Icom). When the backstay was taken down it turned up that the rust made some inroads into it so we decided to replace it. Earthing is being done to the keel and the engine. To avoid problems with the corrosion there are capacitors on the copper tape. The capacitors stop the electrons but they let the waves to go through.
The radio will be connected to the laptop and we will have email access via Winlink 2000, as I have an amateur radio licence. I have already tested the email via the Internet and it works well. We will also use the software to report our position so the friends and the family will be able to follow our progress. 

Update 1 (October, 2009)

The radio works fine. We subscribed to Buoy Weather and use Saildocs for the email forecasts.