A relook at OpenCPN navigation software

In this blog post I talked about the dedicated PC-based navigation computer we have on Viking Star:

mvvikingstar.blogspot.com/2012/04/things-that-work-navigation-computer.html

WinXP based, industrial computer, NO internet connection (to stop all those 'helpful' auto-updates) and using SeaClear software.   It has been a solid and reliable system for years now.   I had at one time tried using another version of navigation software called openCPN, but found it to be way too slow in response to chart positioning and drawing.  Mentioned this to a fellow cruiser a couple of months ago and he said 'look again -  they have improved it'.  So I did, and they have.

OpenCPN version 3.2.2 is much improved in its chart drawing speed and though it is still slower than SeaClear, it is quite usable. For the past month we have been using both on our navigation computer - I like some of the features openCPN has over SeaClear:

• Chart quilting - seamlessly pasting two different charts on the same screen.  Not only boundaries when we run off the edge of one chart and into another, but it also at times will overlay a more detailed chart segment in real time.
• Integrated tide and current.  this appears to be based on xtides/jTides, but the graphic display makes it so easy to locate table points vs. correlating the names with positions.

Now remember, SeaClear development stopped about 5 years ago with some bug corrections after that.  So I am not faulting SeaClear - it still is our primary navigation software.  But with the improvement in chart drawing speed I find openCPN now usable and have been switching back and forth between the two.  Still some quirks to learn on openCPN (all software has their way of doing things), and I have worked though a few configuration screens to customize. Might even start playing with Vector charts as well! But as of now we have TWO viable free software packages to base our navigation computer on!  

 SeaClear: www.sping.com/seaclear/

 OpenCPN: openCPN.org/  

Through the Cut, and On a Quest

This day started out like any other day for Kristi and I.  Well, perhaps a bit more adventure filled - see we had a mission.  One we had 1st started forming back in March when we came to Thetis Island the 1st time.  And one that was reinforced by a friend 'Pam' who tasked me with "Take Kristi through the cut and get Doughnuts. . ."   Ya, like I need encouragement to seek out Doughnuts.  My favorite, black coffee and three old fashion cake type Doughnuts.  No sprinkles, no frosting.  Just the doughnut.  So far:  Roche Harbor has top billing in this department.

Using what little internet connect we had, we google-mapped the local place named DoeNuts on Thetis, located the road that ended half way through the cut (so that we would not need to go all the way through, and then walk all the way back).  Was a little concerned about the low tide and if we would be able to make it across the mud flat to beach the dinghy.  But off we went.  With Kristi photo-documenting our trip - to be turned into a Quest.

Into the Cut.  We were at almost Low Tide, and though this is
dredged at Low Tide it almost dries out at some places.

Paradise Found!

Hard to see, but this is where Paradise is!  Yes, there was a large sign advertising "Paradise for Sale"

Now we know.

(and side note, sorry - Paradise seems to have been bought. The sign was taken down a few days later....)

Sleepy Seagulls annoyed by an intrusion

And this is 6" of water.  JUST enough to float our boat.

It was a wonderful float through the cut - made all the more better by the fact we had to cut the engine and pole our way across the shallows.  The tide was still ebbing a bit and that carried us lazily down the cut while we took in the scenery, checked out what Paradise looks like (they have a small dock as well with a dredged channel to it).

It was a great float.   Sadly, we did not find the end of the road and ended up coming out the other side of the cut.  Oh Well, just means a longer walk.  Fired up the motor and worked our way to the top of Telegraph Harbor where there is a community boat launch and a couple of floating docks.  We tied to one of the docks and walked up to the road.  DoeNuts to the East was the word.   And the trip, turning into a mission (on its way to a quest) continued.

As the Crow Flies, we walked out a mile.  This translates into 1.5+ miles in Road talk.  We braved traffic (ok, we noted perhaps 3 cars), noted Birds, admired the scenery, and walked past three small family farms (Yes, they do still exist!).  We also passed one of the worlds largest mosquito factories.  The little buzzers soon were on us, and despite picking up our pace, we had a cloud following each other.  Kristi commented that I looked like Pigpen with my cloud following me.

Feasting on Kristi, it was worse than the photo captures.
Hint:  Do not wear Leggings when transitioning mosquito areas, it just gives
the little buggers something to hold on tighter to.

But we continued.  Having NOT written down the address made it a little a little tougher, but despite the feasting going on we were enjoying being off the boat and getting a little exercise.   Well after awhile it became obvious we had passed DoeNuts.  Was wondering if it was at one of the farms we passed?  But there was no DoeNut sign on any of them....   Back we went, choosing to explore some of the side roads some more.  By now the desire for morning coffee and doughnuts was starting to fade.


Down a side road we spotted something interesting, a bed-n-breakfast, looked very nice sitting on the water overlooking Clam Bay. But what is that, another Sign, a Sign that says something.  Something remarkable, something wonderful.  A sign even surpassing DoeNuts.   A sign that said "Pizza"

Pizza!   Really?  Well, after being floated, marched, and feasted on we changed our goal.  DoeNuts be damned,  PIZZA was the new goal!  CEDAR BEACH OCEAN LODGE (http://www.cedar-beach.com/) offers a range of accommodations as one would expect for a bed-n-breakfast, but they also offer PIZZA!  You need to order ahead of time (2-3 hours) either by calling, or just showing up .Pizza is good, prices are good, and the conversations are great.   We ordered a "Mary Special" for pickup at 6:00pm   The husband was rather adamant that if we wanted it at 6, ask for it at 5:30.  And yes, he was right...   (We learned a lesson here:  When I am off alone picking up something, take the handheld VHF so I can update Kristi) (Note from Kristi:  I was wondering how long to wait before calling the Coast Guard...)

We also learned that DoeNuts was no more.  It has been in three different locations, the last one at one of the farms we passed.  But as can be expected, it was a lot of work and just was not making the cut.  So, it was cut.

And with our new goal accomplished, or at least ordered, here might be the end of our Quest; except we did need to walk back the mile-as-the-crow-flies, past the mosquito farm.  We did get coffee at the  "Ice Cream Marina" (Telegraph Harbor Marina where Ice Cream is sold, as opposed to the Thetis Island Marina and Pub, aka the "Pub Marina") and made our run back to Viking Star.

And here might be the end of our Quest Story, except - Kristi decided she really wanted some Red Wine to go with our anticipated Pizza.   So, I ventured out back through the Cut to the Pub Marina (who also has a liquor store) and purchased a few bottles.  Then back  (Ok, I also sampled what the Pub had to offer as well....  Then back.)

And here . . .   (Enough of that).   Our appointed pickup time arrived and I dinghied over to their kayak shed and launch area.  The wind had picked up by then so I went alone.   6:00 turned into 6:30, actually almost 7 before the Pizza was ready.  Wonderful time to chat!   I wrapped the Pizza in a blanket and put it into a large plastic bag.  Good thing as the winds were over 20+ kts according to our 'bragger gauge'.  I felt like a cross between Moose Miller and that guy in one of those 'fisherman of the sea' paintings, head down, bashing through the waves on a dark and stormy night.   But I did make it back, we SOOO enjoyed the pizza (hence, no photos) - and the problem then became what to do with the box!

Oh Well.


If you want Pizza of your own, you can reach Cedar Beach Ocean Lodge at: 250-246-9770.   They say they deliver, not sure if this would include to the boat.   To reach them by dinghy, their kayak steps are in a little nook at:
     Latitude: 48°59.317'N
     Longitude: 123°39.227'W
      (Per ActiveCaptain, I did not use my personal GPS for this).

Look for the Red house, with the small red kayak shed (it has a Cedar Beach sign on it and is stuffed with plastic kayaks) to the east, head for the shed and look for the rock steps into the water  And side note:  She mentioned they would be closed for a few weeks this August, best to call ahead of time and make sure they have reopened...

DoeNuts to Pizza, with stories and interesting people in between.   Yup, this is what Cruising is about!

Ed's note - SPAMers on the increase??

This past 10 days Viking Star has received 4 'spam' comments, you know - those comments that talk about How Appreciative they are for the So Very Insightful and Informative posts, how it changed their day/life, and they will be watching every hour to see more words of wisdom on the given topic.   And somewhere in there is a URL to a website selling something.  (the most clever one had this URL under their name!)

Well, we get informed every time a comment is added to any of our blogs.  And I quickly remove 'offensive' ones.  I do hope this trends does not increase, as we know of a few bloggers who  pre-filters comments, or even disables them all together.

As the Great Pooh once said "Oh bother. . . ."

Penelakut

Last week we anchored in Clam Bay, on the east side of where Penelakut (formerly Kuper) and Thetis Islands meet.

Our first evening there, we noticed a canoe in the anchorage.  Soon he was at our boat, and wondering if we would like to buy a woodcarving.  I have admired the native art we see in the Puget Sound/Salish Sea, and have previously purchased a pair of coffee mugs, and a blanket.

My eye is immediately drawn to the biggest piece, an Orca whale.  There are also two poses of hummingbirds, and a quarter moon.  His asking price is just a little higher than I had hoped, but to get a piece from the artist himself counts a lot too!  He signs and dates the back, and makes a dot to indicate where to attach something to hang it with, recommending velcro tabs.

We learned that Penelakut is pronounced Puh-NEL- a -kut. We had a nice conversation with Gilbert, talking about local history. He mentioned two books that we will be looking for, 'Two Houses Half Buried in Sand' and 'Terror of the Coast'.  He invited us to meet him at the beach on the spit on Friday night.  We told him how we had learned earlier that it is polite to visit this First Nation island only with an invitation.  He said if anyone asked, to tell them that we were meeting him there.

A view of the spit.  I took this picture mainly for the 'twisty' log -- this tree must have danced a lot as it grew up!

We had a walk on the spit, and were sitting on a bit of dock, when a car came alongside and a young couple with a puppy got out.  We struck up a conversation, and when we told them we were waiting for Gilbert, she said 'He's my stepfather!'  So we got to know a bit of the family too.  When Gil arrived, he sent his stepdaughter back to the house to fetch his copy of 'Two Houses Half Buried in Sand' for us to look at, so we would know what to look for.  It has many historical stories about Penelakut.

Gil says that Penelakut used to be named Kuper Island, and it and neighbor Thetis Island were named for one man, Kuper Thetis.  Penelakut is the name of their tribe.

We will be happy to stop at Penelakut and look up Gilbert again when we move south in the fall!

Cost to Cruise – July

July comes, July goes;  all of a sudden we are in a place where we can receive TV and what do we see?  Office Depot and Target Back to School ads..   Wow, just one-more-reason to stop watching TV all together.   But August also brings another update to the Cost to Cruise, this time for July.  And with it we complete our 2nd year of tracking (and reporting) costs.

Some highlights:  While still in the USA we took the opportunity to top off the fuel tanks.  Too bad we did not do it in June on the way down as fuel increased about $0.20/gal on us, but it still was less then it is now!  Plus, we have more than enough to get us into the winter, and perhaps even through it.  Carrying 500 gallons gives the option to tank-up when costs are lowest, and ride out the peaks.  (Providing my crystal ball is working).   Under Travel we  show the car rental fees for both my quick trip back to Portland and our planned trip back to Minnesota.  Communication reflects an overlap between TELUS in Canada and us Turing Verizon back on while in the USA.  Other than that, typical month for us.

Viking Star Costs - July 2013

And having said that, over the past two years we HAVE come consistently in at the mid $40K’s, higher then I still am hoping for, but it is what it is.  Kristi and I do not really pace ourselves (Might have to start, given my contracting job is all but finished), and we have seen some expenses that are a bit out of the norm - I would say namely:

• Kristi’s early cataract surgery.
• Hauling Viking Star once a year while I decided how she behaved in saltwater (am moving to a every other year schedule and will reassess at the next haul out)
• BOTH inverters needing replacement last winter, plus adding in the whole solar system.
• Extra travel associated with unexpected family events.

All the above can account for upwards of $15k, maybe $20K ‘extra’ over the two years.  Again, going forward time will tell.

Solar worked well, in fact given 193Ah/day average and well exceeding the projected 157Ah.  ‘Generator’ time reflects us firing up the Watermaker, though to be honest there is also some of the ‘let her run to fully top off the batteries’ in there as well.  We are finding with the anchorages being closer in the Gulf Islands we do not put as much time moving, and hence recharging the batteries from the main motor, as say when we were in the South Sound.

Ok, On to the Dog Days of Summer!

Arduino based DC Generator controller and Alternator Regulator - finished?

Well, today is kind of a milestone.   Today I posted what might become the 1st 'final' release of source for my integrated DC Generator and Alternator Regulator project, the automation project that gave me a nice push-the-button remote control for our Kubota based DC Generator and Watermaker.

What is so special about today?  Over the past few weeks I have been exercising the last part of this controller, namely the ability to manage the watermaker's high pressure pump in conjunction with the alternator.   Previously (when I was using a common 'smart' regulator, one that comes in a Blue heatsink) I would need to turn off the alternator when running the watermaker, the poor little Kubota just did not have enough horsepower to run both at the same time, and the 'smart' regulator did not have sufficient flexibility to adjust things.


Well, that is not the case anymore.


Now when I press the 'Watermaker' button, not only will the High Pressure pump for the Watermaker start up, but the output of the Alternator is scaled way back to account for the power needed to drive the pump.  After a few runs I have settled on scaling the alternator back to around 50A.    So, the 2nd major goal of the project is completed - I can put a small amount of power to put back into the batteries WHILE running the Watermaker.

And today I finished with the tweaks and small bug fixes to allow smooth transition into and out of Watermaker mode.

I am really happy with the outcome of this project.  I am able to maximize the Kubota's usage while it is running, shortening overall recharge time, co-generate while powering the Reverse Osmosis watermaker, have the engine speed adjust down to an idle as the battery becomes charged, and then auto-stop the generator when the battery is full.  Monitor all from a nice remote display and know the controler is also looking out for faults like oil pressure, raw water flow, overheating, etc.  Not only that, but we have noticed that with the unit slowing down towards an idle as the battery gets fully charged (and the demand on the alternator is reduced), we now tend to just let the generator keep running - finishing off the battery charging (as opposed to stopping things when they batteries got to say 85% charged).   Over the long run I am sure the batteries will be much happier - and this is really a bonus as I had not 'planned' on this going into the project!

This fall I will be adding simple monitoring of critical pressures in the Watermaker: the pre-filter boost pump, and the High pressure pump.  Currently I have to check the watermaker every 10-20 minutes to make sure those are still at their targets, adjusting as needed.  I want the controller to watch these critical pressures and alert me when they start to stray out of bounds, and then shut things down if they get to a place where damage can be done to some part of the system.   Not sure I will go beyond that (ala, full automation of the Watermaker); at least not for now.  But I do want to add in the safety monitoring capability.

But unless something major comes up for now it is 'done'.

And if anyone is indeed interested in this, check out the blog where I have documented all  (Everything is available for non-commercial use at no charge), and if someone is really interested: I do still have a blank PCB left over from the manufacturing runs.

http://smartdcgenerator.blogspot.com/

Third Time's a Charm!

We got an email from our friends Dave and Sandra from Light Spirit and they shared some of their photos of our time together.

Both these shots are from our finally successful Pub Bus trip to the Hummingbird Pub on Galiano Island.  We had previously visited in April, which was too early in the season for the bus to be running, and we ended up walking the whole way, BOTH WAYS!  About a 6 mile hike.

Then we stopped in June, when the bus was running most days, but not Mondays.  And you guessed it, we were there on a Monday!

Third time's a charm!