The weatherman cooperated and gave us 80 degrees with a clear sky.  Even though we did not plan to go out, we are spending the week end on the Makai.  Perfect location for the fireworks off the Queen Mary.

After Alcom Marine completed the install of the Raymarine Digital radar last week, the AIS500 unit arrived at Alcom a day later so it will be installed during the week of July 6th.  Hopefully, it will be an easy install since it is a direct plug and play replacement for the existing /Raymarine AIS250 receive unit.

After messing around with the Achilles “boat in the bag” soft bottom dingy, The Admiral and I decided to go back to what we had prior to purchasing the MAKAI.

We called Ed at Trade Winds Inflatables and worked a trade whereby Ed (really a great guy) will take back the Achilles in trade for a Caribe C9 RIB with a Honda electric start 9.9 hp four stroke outboard like we had before we bought the Makai.  It should be on the davit ready for marina cruising by the end of next week.

Derek from Alcom Marine worked his magic over a period of two days replacing our Raymarine radom with the new Raymarine Digital radom.  The radar itself wasn’t the problem, it was trying to snake the radar cable from the mast atop the pilot house down through a very narrow raceway full of other cables that support the KVH M3 antenna, Flir Night Vision camera, DC cables for the mast light and the Spotlight control and power cables.   There are several 90 degree right turns that proved to be difficult to navigate.  After taking apart several parts of the ceiling, walls and door frame, he finally got the cable through the maze and connected to the NMEA 2000 bus.  Ergo, the new Digital Radar is up and working with all new Raymarine software upgrades installed.  We are still waiting for Raymarine to deliver the AIS500 transponder unit to  replace the existing receive only unit.  Raymarine claimed delivery in June so now we are hoping for July.  It baffles me why a manufacturer the size of Raymarine would advertise a unit for sale that they cannot provide within the time schedule that they set.Derek/Alcom also modified the 2 inch FloTron meter so that the meter and the NMEA sending units do not remain on with the engines off which was causing the need for a reset (Consists of opening the electronics cabinet behind the helm, disconnecting and reconnecting the 2 inch meter which initiates a software reset).   So after Derek’s modification the meter and the Floscan sending units power up and you have instant reading without any problem.  Things are looking up from a Electronics perspective and as soon as the Raymarine AIS transponder unit arrives and is installed, we will finally have the boat configured the way that we want it to be.

We will be on the boat for 2 days as part of the Memorial Day weekend.  All systems are in the go mode.  Had a visit from some old friends from AA dock, Kirk and Phyliss from the Scarbourgh Fair on Saturday.SundayFirst cup of joe at 7AM.  Breakfast was the standard Ham and  Eggs while watching Headline News.  Weather is overcast, wind at 10kts out of the south, temp is 67 degrees, presssure is 1025 MB.  the Marina office is flying a Small Craft Warning flag but here at the slip the water is calm and flat, overall, a nice day.We will fire up the outside grill and do some steaks for the mid day celebration and toast the military, past and present with a little wine.

The wiper on the center panel window in front of the helm ceased to operate so Heritage Yachts set out to replace it. The motor shaft for the wiper is mounted through the tempered glass and during the install, the glass shattered. Now we have a broken wiper and a broken window. Heritage got a new glass panel from Mainship and hired a glass installation expert to replace the broken window. The EXPERT installed the pane backwards and the holes for the wiper motor and retaining screws were in reverse. The wiper blade was now positioned to wipe the deck instead of the pane of glass. Fast forward to May 3, 2007 (a month after the initial wiper break) and we finally have the glass mounted and the wiper motor and blade in the right position. We will let the molding and gasket goo cure for a couple of days and then hit it with the hose to look for leaks.

Coming back from our last trip to Catalina we cleared Ship’s Rock and set a course for Angels Gate.  Once on course, we engaged the Raymarine autopilot and it functioned flawlessly.  We switched from Auto mode a mile from the gate and manually piloted back to our slip in Long Beach.  The next week we went to Wilmington for fuel and engaged the Autopilot for the short run across the flats.  On the return trip, We cleared the Wilmington “No Wake Zone” and engaged the Autopilot.  After about 2 minutes, I noticed that we were in a slow turn to starboard.  I set the Autopilot to manual and steered back to our previous course.  Back on course, I set the Autopilot to Auto again and after about 2 minutes, we were making the turn to starboard again.  The problem was reported to Raymarine Customer Service and their response was that the problem could be caused by me placing  something electrical or metal near the flux gate head.  We checked and there were not any power or communication cords nor any metal objects near the flux gate.  We went back and forth with Raymarine and finally called in the Customer Service people from our broker, Heritage Yacht Sales who verified my findings and they took over the interface with Raymarine.  Two weeks later, Raymarine admitted that they had a software glitch in their module that interfaced the Autopilot and Digital compass and that a factory upgrade to the software was required and were were to ship the module back for the upgrade. Three days for shipping to Raymarine, ten days for the software upgrade followed by three days of return shipping for a total of a minimum of 16 days without a Autopilot and digital compass.  Thankfully, after taking delivery of the boat, we had Alcom Marine Electronics install a magnetic compass at the helm.  

May 3, 2009      

Alcom Marine Electronics upgraded the Autopilot with the new Raymarine software and it appears to be working.  We will do a sea trial after the winds subside to make sure the autopilot still doesn’t turn to starboard all on its own.  The Electronic and magnetic compasses are reading within 5 degrees of each other with the boat at rest so will will swing the magnetic compass during the autopilot sea trial.

We had the Switlik 4 person Rescue Pod serviced and re-certified By Avalon Life Rafts in Wilmington and took it to Riley Marine in Long Beach to have a stainless steel cradle made to hold it.  Placement of the Rescue Pod became an issue, mount it out of the way on top of the cabin or mount it where it could be accessed easier on the foredeck, we Iagreed on the foredeck placement.  With the dingy (MAKAI II) on a davit on the stern and the Rescue  Pod on the foredeck, we have two ways to remain afloat should a disaster happen and the MAKAI sinks. 

Debbie Kramer from Our yacht club (Shoreline Yacht Club) staged a cruise to Catalina Two Harbors as the “Last Cruise of the Season to Catalina” that departed Long Beach September 19th and returned on the 21st.  Led by our Commodore, Warren Wolfe, several boats took part.  

This was our first cruise since having the bow thruster, FLIR, Floscans and Glendinning remote engine control unit installed at Basin Marine in Newport Beach so in addition to having some fun, this was a shakedown cruise to test all of the added equipment. On the outbound leg, we spent most of the time playing with and monitoring the new equipment and did not record detailed underway data.  We did however record the data on the return trip:

Saturday morning, we were up early to find that some of the boats had already departed prior to 7AM so we grabbed a quick cup of coffee, some cold cereal and got underway.  The mooring lines dropped without any problem and using the bow thruster, we managed to spin in place and back out and head for the fairway.  We went north of Ship Rock to stay away from the divers and the reef near Bird rock then set a course of 029 degrees for Angel’s gate.  Once on course, we flipped on the autopilot and sat back to monitor the gauges as the Makai headed for home.  

We made it back to Shoreline without any problems.  The ride was smooth and we surfed the swells coming from our port stern all the way back.  On arrival at our slip, FF-45, we found a large sail boat from Newport Beach tied up.  We had given our slip to SYC for the week end so that they could use it for reciprocals from other clubs.  We went back out and drifted for an hour during which time we had several other club members pass us on their way into their slips.  We managed to get some more nice pics of their boats underway.  We continued to drift until we saw the sail boat leave and then finally tied up at our slip. Docking with the bow thruster made the task much easier. The next time we dock at our slip, we will use the Glendinning remote control unit and control the boat from the cockpit.   After we had all of the lines in order and fenders in place, we cleaned the interior, sprayed off the salt, put on the covers and went  home.  

All in all, a very relaxing week end.We met a nice group of people, enjoyed the hospitality of the islanders and  all systems worked without  any problems so we can’t wait to do it again.

Last Wednesday we departed Basin Marine’s yard in Newport Beach and returned to our slip  at Long Beach Shoreline Marina.   The Makai had been on the hard for a week to have a bunch of work done by Basin Marine and a host of independent contractors, some of the work planned in advance and some on a whim at the last minute.  We started out to have a bow thruster installed and a bulwark boarding door fabricated.  Based on some intelligent and qualified advice from Dave New, we ended up canceling the door for engineering reasons and adding a bunch of other items. A review on each of the newly installed items will be posted following some at sea tests and evaluations.

 Work performed by Basin Marine Shipyard (949) 673-0360

• Installed Glendinning Remote throttle/thruster  control (wired)
• Installed Imtra 100/185 Bow Thruster 
• Hauled Makai and painted bottom
• Installed 2 gunnel mounted rod holders with drain tubes
• Remove boat name and hailing port lettering on stern

Work performed by Alcom Marine Electronics (949) 673-1727

• Wired FloScan NMEA 2000 units  to FloTron Meter 
• Installed Ritchie Magnetic Compass
• Installed FLIR  Mariner Night Vision Camera
• Connected FLIR to Raymarine E80 display and also to Flat Screen TV in Salon
• Modified and powder coated communications mast to hold FLIR camera 

Work performed by Kogler Graphix  (949) 631-4484 

• Replaced boat name and hailing port on stern  with Florentine font and Gold Leaf lettering
• Added boat name to port and starboard cabin superstructure using Florentine font and Gold Leaf lettering

Work performed by Maurer Marine Inc. (949) 645-7673 

• Installed Rosskelley Olsson dingy davit on swimstep
• Mounted Achilles dingy with outboard on the new davit.

Every company that worked on the boat did an excellent job.  Dave and Derek New at Basin Marine tolerated my constant requests for changes and asking for new stuff and they still met the time schedule that had originally quoted.  In addition to the excellent work, they drove us from Newport Beach back to our car in Long Beach at our marina .  (They even threw in a couple of hats and tee shirts).  The Crew at Alcom Marine Electronics have  been taking care of our electronic needs for the last 8 plus years and as usual they did a very professional install.  It was our first time working with Kogler Graphix and Maurer Marine and we recommend them both very highly.  The Makai finally is equipped like we want it to be and all of our safety concerns have been addressed.  Now it is time to stock a couple of days provisions and get ready to spend Labor day moored up in Two Harbors at Catalina Island.  If you have any questions or need specific detail concerning any of the work performed,  enter your question(s)  in the comments section or call  the company that performed the work.  Pics of the work performed will be posted soon. 

On August 11th, we will have the Makai hauled out at Basin Marine in Newport Beach for what we hope is the final outfitting to make the Makai be what we want it to be.  The list of  items to be completed follows:

WORK  TO BE COMPLETED BY BASIN MARINE SHIPYARD

1.  Install a IMTRA Bow Thruster

2.  Prep and paint the hull bottom

3.  Fabricate and install a bulwark entry door on port side near the stern

4.   Install a Glendinning Remote Control unit in the cockpit (Wired model) 

WORK TO BE COMPLETED BY ALCOM MARINE ELECTRONICS

5.  Modify Communications Mast  

6. Install a Magnetic Compass

7.  Install a FloScan Flotron  gauge with toggle switch on the helm and connect to the existing NEMA 2000 network

8.   Install a FLIR Mariner night vision camera and connect to Raymarine E80 display and Salon flat screen TV  

WHAT A BIG DISAPPOINTMENT!  The Raymarine E80 Multifunction display does not, repeat, does not support the display of most NMEA 2000 data items  After much testing and retesting of all components of our dual FloScan NMEA installation including all NMEA 2000 cables and connections, we were only able to get the Master E80 to display the total GPH burn of both Yanmar 6LYA2 combined.  The E80 firmware contains several screens for displaying engine data but the code to support the screens does not exist.  We queried Raymarine regarding the issue both by e-mail and phone and their response was less than comforting.  Here is a copy of the email dialog.     Customer (John Peoples) 06/12/2008 01:52 PM.   Why does a E8o unit not display all NMEA data items sent from a FloScan NMEA 2000 unit using a NMEA network installed per Raymarine drawings and specifications?   2.  Why does V4.29 not support PC connectivity to a E80 using RayNav 6.0 navigation software as advertised?  Discussion Thread Response  (Chuck Anderson/Senior PC Support Engineer, Raymarine Inc.) 06/13/2008 09:30 AM, R1. Raymarine’s E-Series MFDs are not designed to display all data items within every NMEA 2000 PGN. Raymarine has included support for the most commonly requested NMEA 2000 data items. If you were to identify the NMEA 2000 data items that you are concerned with, we can then identify whether the specified data item is supported, and if not submit a feature request to consider inclusion of the unsupported NMEA 2000 data item(s).

2. Raymarine does not specifically advertise that RayTech RNS 6.0 operates with E-Series v4.29 software. E-Series v4.29 software included SeaTalkhs protocol modifications which can impair the performance of the RayTech RNS 6.0 software. Customers seeking to use RayTech RNS 6.0 in conjunction with E-Series MFDs should ensure that the E-Series MFDs have had their software downgraded to v3.31. When RayTech RNS 6.1 is released during the summer, RayTech RNS 6.0 customers may download RayTech RNS 6.1 from Raymarine’s website and at that time update the software in their E-Series MFDs.ay

(Chuck Anderson/Senior PC Support Engineer, Raymarine Inc.:07/02/2008- 10:27 AM.  Raymarine’s Multifunction Displays (MFDs) are compatible with J1939 engines, NMEA 2000 engines, and some NMEA 2000 sensors (ex. fuel flow sensors). When considering an NMEA 2000 engine or NMEA 2000 device to be interfaced with a MFD, it is recommended that the engine or device manufacturer be consulted regarding whether the specific engine or device to be integrated features a NMEA 2000 or J1939 interface and/or whether a proprietary display is required to calibrate the device. If the engine or device features NMEA 2000 interfaces, then a powered and properly terminated NMEA 2000 network backbone (http://www.maretron.com/products/cabling.php,http://www.lowrance.com/upload/Lowrance/Documents/Manuals/NMEA2000NetworksGeneralInfo_0154-173_112006.pdf,http://store.brownspoint.com/images/smis_nmea2000_gen_info.pdf, etc.) must be installed having DeviceNet Ts for each NMEA 2000 device (i.e. engines, sensors, MFD, etc.) that will be connected to it. Raymarine offers the E25041 SeaTalk2 Pigtail (C-Series) and E55053 E-Series/SeaTalk2/NMEA 2000 pigtail cables which may be spliced to the E05027 DeviceNET Pigtail cable (by matching the colors of the internal leads) and this assembly can be used to join the MFD to the NMEA 2000 network backbone. E-Series customers may also use Maretron’s E-Series Product to NMEA 2000® Network Adapter Cable (http://www.maretron.com/products/MARE-005.php) to mate the E-Series display to the NMEA 2000 network backbone. Raymarine’s C-Series and E-Series MFDs should be operating with v4.29 or later software to maximize their capabilities with these devices. Raymarine cables can be purchased or ordered from an authorized Raymarine dealer.  So here we are on July 1, 2008.   Based on the lack of support from Raymarine, we have decided to use our existing Teleflex i5600 units (already displaying engine data from the Yanmars) to display fuel burn data and use the E80 displays for chartplotter, Radar, Sonar and engine room camera viewing.  The NMEA backbone is there so we just have to add 2 more NMEA cables to interface the i5600 units to the NMEA network.  We had the opportunity to view a Garmin Multi-function display that was connected to a set of FloScan NMEA 2000 units and all of the NMEA fuel related data items were neatly displayed vertically on the right hand side of the screen.  The owner stated that the set up was very straight forward and the programming was a snap and they were up and working within 2 hours.  A very nice set up.  Again, for me the lesson learned throughout this frustrating process is to wait for new gear to be beat up by the marketplace for a while, at least through a second version release prior to making any more purchases and not to purchase anymore Raymarine equipment.  On the brighter side, we will be hauling the Makai out at Basin Marine in Newport Beach sometime in August to have a bow thruster installed and a Bulwark door installed on the port side near the stern to allow for easier boarding.  

After watching the expensive and labor intensive installation of the FloScan NMEA 2000 units and the associated NMEA cables, connectors, resistors, terminators etc. it was indeed painful to have the FloScan output fuel data not appear on our Raymarine E80 multifunction display unit.  The Floscans work perfectly and we had fuel data on the Floscan LCD screens.  Derek from Alcom Marine verified the NMEA connectivity between the Floscans and the E80 display unit even though Raymarine and their techs seem to be in the dark regarding NMEA devices interfacing their E80 equipment.  Joe Dydasco of FloScan has been very helpful and he is sending us a Floscan Flotron display unit so that we can access all of the engine and fuel data.  FloScan also put us in touch with Joe Ferrara, (joe@shipdriver.net) who runs “HIS DOGHOUSE CHARTERS”, (see a link to his site under the MARINE SERVICES  section).  Joe is  very savvy when it comes to the new generation of electronic displays and he is independently  testing the combo of Raymarine displays and the FloScan NMEA 2000 units.    Again, after verifying the the FloScan NMEA 2000 units were correctly connected to the Raymarine E80 display  and toning out the NMEA cables, we still were not receiving NMEA data on the  E80 display.  Alcom decided to switch  the output from the FloScans from our “Repeater” E80 to the “Master” E80  and instantly the combined GPH value appeared on the E80 “Master” display  If this information regarding using only the master E80 for connectivity is in the Raymarine documentation, we could not find it.  We also discovered that the E80 does not recognize any other NMEA sentence data from the FloScans and you cannot see individual engine GPH,  just the combined total of both engines so I guess Raymarine thought all boats only had one engine.  At the start of this process, we upgraded the Raymarine E80 software to V4.29 and regardless of what Raymarine advertises about PC connectivity using their RayNav 6.0 navigation software, V4.29 will not interface a PC until the software is modified later this fall.  I believe that Raymarine is aware of the bugs and glitches and they are working on fixes and upgrades.  The biggest thing I have learned throughout this process is not to be among the first to try the latest and greatest electronics and to sit back and wait for the 2nd or 3rd version of software prior to buying.  So until the FloScan Flotron meter arrives, we will use the combined GPH data from both engines in conjunction with the Tachs and GPS to determine the most fuel efficient trawler and cruising speeds.