There were several engine options, ranging from a few thousand euros for lesser-known brands to multiples of these for well-known brands like Yanmar. Yanmar has been considered an affordable and reliable brand, but the price has escalated to the highest category.
In an engine exchange, the labor cost is often about half of the total price of a new engine and marine gear. There is a lot of variation depending on who provides the quote and how complex the work of fitting the new engine in place of the old one is. Usually, installing a new engine is not a straightforward replacement, especially if the brand or model changes. In such cases, a new bed needs to be built for the new engine, and this takes about a week altogether.
I ultimately chose the Volvo Penta D1-20 engine and decided to keep the existing shaft drive. I was attracted to Volvo for its digital features for fault reporting via an iPad app, directly sending emails to the nearest repair shop. The possibility of an extended 5-year warranty, a 115 Ah charger, an oil drain pump, and a coolant outlet for items like a water heater and a warm air blower were additional factors. The engine not only propels the boat but also heats domestic water, produces warm air equivalent to two heaters inside, and generates 1500 W of electricity. All of this is taken advantage of and utilized from a fuel consumption of 1.25 L per hour (2000 rpm = 9 km/h, i.e., 5 knots in old terms) if not sailing with the sails.
The Volvo Penta Easy Connect iPad App serves both as an engine monitoring application and a logbook where all trips can be automatically saved if desired. Easy Connect connects to the engine's EVC bus and transmits engine data via Bluetooth to the Easy Connect app and to the NMEA bus for other devices, such as the chartplotter. In these features, Volvo Penta is significantly ahead of other manufacturers when it comes to small diesel engines (0.8 L, 3 cyl., 20 hp D1-20).
I wanted warm freshwater in the boat, both in the bathroom and the galley. For this, I purchased a 25 L water heater that captures waste heat from the engine's cooling system before the heat exchanger. Additionally, when connected to shore power, the heater has a 700 W electric resistor that keeps the water warm. The heater also has a thermostat that keeps the warm water in the pipes at a safe 55 degrees Celsius, as is customary in households. This also helps conserve hot water in the heater.
I installed a 10 kW auxiliary heater that takes heat from the engine's cooling system. An extremely efficient and fast heater, it keeps the interior warm and dry while the engine is running. The boat has the original Wallas 3000 W kerosene heater with a thermostat, which is sufficient to keep the interior warm and dry from spring to fall.
The bow thruster is a Vetus 55 with a joystick. When choosing a bow thruster, it's easy to make the mistake of selecting the smallest one suitable for the boat. It's advisable to go a size up because if the thruster runs out of power just when it's needed, it doesn't matter if there's a bow thruster or not. The joystick control makes using the bow thruster easier since you don't have to look at the control to ensure you're using it in the right direction. The alternator must be powerful enough so that even at low engine speeds, it provides sufficient power to the bow thruster.
The hull was refurbished during the same process. After removing old paints, toxins, and primers, the fiberglass bottom was allowed to dry, and a few small damages were repaired.
In addition to two 50 W solar panels, a 500 W wind generator with a hybrid charger was installed. It became clear why wind generators are so rare on boats. The wind generator is not only loud due to the propeller blades exceeding the speed of sound at times, but it also causes vibration that is transferred through the wind generator's mast to the entire boat. In the future, I need to consider adding more solar panels and abandoning the wind generator. New MPPT charge controllers have revolutionized the efficiency of solar panels, whereas wind generator technology has stagnated.
Navigation was also upgraded with a Simrad RS-35 AIS DSC marine VHF radio, Raymarine chartplotter, Doppler radar, and autopilot, as well as a Garmin log and wireless wind meter.
The VHF radio is connected to the NMEA2000 bus, where its AIS receiver transfers AIS data sent by other vessels to the chartplotter, i.e., the Raymarine MFD display. This allows other traffic to be displayed on the chart and radar screen, helping to take into account larger ships that do not yield to smaller ones. The VHF radio's DSC function aids in sending distress calls, where pressing one button sends an automatic distress message to all vessels within range and the coast guard, containing all essential information for delivering aid. And of course, the VHF radio can be used to communicate with other vessels, although this has become as rare in today's world as sending faxes. GSM rules along the coast.
Today, plotters are Multi-Functional Displays that centrally and integratively present information to the captain. It combines charts, autopilot, radar, log, sonar, as well as Spotify, Netflix,... all in one touchscreen. Radar has proven to be a very important tool. If bad weather catches you by surprise, few have a foghorn warning of an impending encounter. Radar shows not only navigational markers but also land and approaching or departing vessels.
It's hard to imagine a boat without an autopilot. Especially when moving alone, it is necessary to perform various tasks at times, during which the steering is transferred to the autopilot. Departure and arrival preparations from the harbor, raising and lowering sails, going to the bathroom, adding/changing clothes, preparing food,... All of these can be done with the autopilot. In the next season, when combined with a low-light IP camera and Raymarine's AR technology, events outside can be viewed from inside with navigation data enriched, either from the 12.9" iPad Pro screen or the 40" screen. If there is a need to intervene in events while in the middle of an indoor task, it can be done with the autopilot's remote control.
One of the most crucial pieces of information for sailors is real-time wind data. Unfortunately, the technology related to this seems to be the most unreliable in terms of usability. Whether it's a wired or wireless connection from a mast-mounted wind sensor to the display, all solutions seem to be more or less intermittent.
While old-school sailors listen to marine weather on the radio and retrieve sea charts, dividers, parallel rulers, pens, and sharpeners, trip planning with today's technology is easy: a 12.9" iPad Pro and Navionics Boating App, where the route is automatically synchronized with the Navionics chart on the plotter. Real-time weather, forecasts, satellite images of harbors, their contact information, services, refueling points,... all in one service for less than €40 per year.
Living comfort also underwent a significant change. In the galley, a new Dometic 49 L refrigerator with a 4 L freezer compartment and a Dometic gas stove with an oven were installed. The separate 10 L jug for drinking water was replaced with a nanofilter and an activated carbon filter, which allows only water molecules to pass through. The tap water from the Helsinki City water supply taken from the dock tastes even better from the boat's galley tap than at home.
As a backup power source, after various events, a Timcon 2000 W inverter generator was chosen. The first purchase was an unused Chinese two-stroke generator from Tori, which cut off in less than five minutes. A friend refurbished it, and the device ended up being passed on. Even though it's backup power, it has to work reliably like a parachute that deploys with a pull. Despite initial challenges, I've been very satisfied with the Timcon, especially since it costs less than a quarter of Honda's equivalent.
Last but not least, a new genoa was ordered from North Sails. It's slightly smaller than the original Genoa I, which was a whopping 47 square meters. The new headsail is between Genoa II and III, about 140%, i.e., around 30 square meters. It is cut for reefing, making it suitable for rough weather, unlike the old, worn-out, patched giant sail.
Capt. Simma
Dictated but not read.
