New E38 owner in the PNW

[Tooluser]

From the description of this forum:

An off-topic forum; for general chatter, great thoughts, mindless rambling, and frank exchanges of views on less-than-cosmic topics. A good place for new owners to introduce themselves, etc.

So, somewhere between 'mindless rambling' and 'new owners to introduce themselves'... hello!

Howdy y'all; I am Joshua, new owner of Yetl, formerly Island Bird and Mischief Maker, a 1985 E38 in the Pacific Northwest. PO's many threads here on this forum attest to the work that's been done, and there'll be more as there's always more work. Yetl was built in 1985, but still has the enclosed stern quarter berth that was (largely?) phased out in 1983.

The existence of this forum was a significant element in my decision to purchase an Ericson. I've told many friends that it is the most organized, kind, and friendly group of sailors I've experienced; nary an oaf among them. (Until now, I suppose.)

I grew up on Lake Michigan, near Traverse City, where I taught myself 'dirtbag sailing' on a Hobie in my youth. When I moved to the SF Bay Area I started sailing keelboats, and I frequently sail my 1980 C&C 30.

The SF Bay, though great for sailing back and forth very quickly, leaves little to explore so my family and I are heading north to the San Juans, where we've already had a blast sailing and hiking old growth forests. We'll plan on spending a month there next summer on board Yetl. I hope to make the PNW Ericson gathering then.

I have a penchant for organizing things. I'm currently drafting an 'owners notes' document for Yetl, which I'm using to organize my thoughts around the systems. Once it's more fleshed out, I'll share the format with a dedicated thread here on the forum in case it's of use to others, but you can take a peek if you like. Having a good canonical document is always helpful and keeps me honest.

Another project I'll share is some custom instrumentation I've built to monitor voltage etc and report it all over a secure link to the internet. Right now I can ask Siri whether my bilge pump is running or monitor the wind conditions and GPS location of Rocinante. That was written up for friends and is a bit drafty here but I'll make a better version based on Yetl's installation later.

Perhaps obvious but I'm an engineer by training. Previous careers include cognitive linguistics and my next career is not yet determined; I'm currently deciding, and sailing while I do. Besides sailing, I'm very interested in eco fast/zero net energy building techniques, food sovereignty, and grassroots community organization.

 

[EricHasAnEricson]

I checked out your document - what a great idea, love the format. Having things like the electrical diagram are awesome down the line too. I re-did the wiring on my current vessel and thought I'd never forget what I did. But now a year later - some of the details are hazy.

With any luck, I will be the new owner of a 38-200 soon. I'm inspired to put together a document like this as well.

 

[Tooluser]

With any luck, I will be the new owner of a 38-200 soon. I'm inspired to put together a document like this as well.

Good luck! A specific boat?

 

[Tooluser]

And, thank you!

 

[EricHasAnEricson]

Good luck! A specific boat?

Yes. Survey looks good, I'm just waiting on an engine oil analysis to come back. Barring some big issue, I should be closing on it pretty soon.

 

[bgary]

...'owners notes' document for Yetl, which I'm using to organize my thoughts around the systems. Once it's more fleshed out, I'll share the format with a dedicated thread here on the forum in case it's of use to others,

Great stuff!

I do something similar... I have a "one-note" online notebook, and keep track of everything from oil-filter numbers to border-clearing procedures. The nice thing (for me) is that my online notebook is available anywhere I have internet access, on any device, and I can download to laptop or iPad if I am going to be disconnected. It's also searchable, so if I can't remember (e.g.) how the hoses are connected for my head, or where I last found a rebuild/parts-kit for the pump... it's findable.



Because I'm a belt-and-suspenders kinda guy, I also periodically print out a copy and put the printout in a binder on the boat. And, if nothing else, I figure it'll be a good starting point for the next caretaker... sometime far in the future.

B

 

[bigd14]

OMG, y’all are so organized…

When I did my big re wiring project I figured I would remember everything. It seemed so obvious at the time. I recently tried to chase something down and found I hadn’t a clue. I labeled almost everything but the few that I missed are mysteries without a big game of chase.

Nice work, though. I now have yet another standard to aspire to- and fail to achieve!

 

[bgary]

OMG, y’all are so organized…

It's born of necessity. Or desperation. Or something.

The ugly truth is, if I don't jot things down they fly out of my brain and are lost forever.

So if I ever need to remember how I got AIS targets to appear on the chartplotter....

 

[Marlin Prowell]

@bgary There’s a lot of subtle NMEA 0183 stuff in your diagram — NMEA 0183 V1 and NMEA 0183 V2. I understand all that stuff and have considered writing up a blog post about NMEA networks that covers these differences and why you wired your network the way you did.

What Garmin model is your chartplotter, and AIS manufacturer and model number? Your wheel pilot is a Raymarine SPX-5 I presume.

 

[southofvictor]

I understand all that stuff and have considered writing up a blog post about NMEA networks that covers these differences and why you wired your network the way you did.

If you have the time and inclination Marlin that would be great. Your presentation at last summer’s rendezvous was very informative in a practical way.

 

[Tooluser]

Whoah this could be a lot of fun!

There’s a lot of tech for stepping out of the expensive closed ecosystems now too.

What was your presentation, Marlin?

 

[Marlin Prowell]

Three of us gave short 15 minute talks on different topics at the last rendezvous. I talked about NMEA network fundamentals. I talked about the basic concepts behind NMEA 0183 and NMEA 2000, how you connect various devices to create a network, and why you would want to do that. There are plenty of sailors who have equipment that could be networked, but are unsure enough about the fundamentals that they have not done so.

I’m well aware of OpenCPN and on board computer systems, but my interest was covering what people already had on their boat — how they could take advantage of what they had and what they could do with it.

 

[Tooluser]

How fantastic! What a lot of fun. I’d love to hear your talk (I didn’t know there were two differing nmea0183 standards!), attend others, and perhaps contribute to something like that.

- Roundtable on above
- bring your electrical diagram, let’s compare/discuss
- ditto but networking/nmea/signalk show and tell
- ?