Taronga Zoo

Today we're going to the zoo. Why?
Baby elephant, that's why.
He's called Pathi Harn, a Thai expression meaning "miracle" because the vet thought he was dead. And they couldn't translate "Get me a new vet. Please.".
Cute, apparently.
Catholic?
This has to be the best tiger photo I have ever got. Usually, they're skulking at the back somewhere.
Goats.
The Meercats were their usual lively selves.
Unlike these two.
The Gorillas were being all domestic.
The big male watching the little ones.
Monkey.
The Chimps were out with the kids.
No trip to the zoo is complete without a photo of a monkey playing with himself. Except they weren't, they were playing with each other.
Giraffe.
Little Hippo. Well, relatively little.
Goat stew. Mmmm.
Went to the new seal show. This is the arena.
They come out and do little tricks.
Like waving.
And swimming around.
The new seal / penguin enclosures are great.
Had to have a ride on the cable-car.
Oh, and we found a place to moor the boat. This bay has about 8 public buoys.

Easter 2010

Our first trip where we stay out on the boat. The plan was to pick up one of the public moorings in Sugarloaf Bay but it was not to be. There are 4 moorings and they were all taken. Plan B was just around the corner, in Bantry Bay. This has 8 moorings and we got the last one.


Some of our neighbours.
As it goes, there was a jetty nearby with a picnic are and toilets where we definitely didn't take the Brandy the sausage dog for a little walk around.
This bit you are not allowed to land on. Something to do with where they used to store explosives.
Might as well get stuck into the booze, then.
Coming back through the Spit Bridge. It opens every couple of hours so there's a bit of a queue.
Kim driving.
On our way back under the harbour bridge.

Solar Panel Control Unit

I built this myself - I have a background in basic electronics and am a killer solderer (if such a work exists) - to save money. I'm not sure what's on the market for this but I just wanted something basic. I also enjoyed the project, so there.

This had to do the following:

• Tell me the voltage produced by the Solar Panels.
• Be a battery-state indicator.
• Give me switching control as to which battery is being charged.
• Provide isolation and protection for the high-current circuits.

Parts List (numbers refer to the circuit diagram, below)

• Box to put it all in. I got a one from Jaycar - in fact most of this stuff came from Jaycar.
• Voltmeter - full-scale deflection 20v (v1).
• 2 x Changeover switches with a central off position (s1-2).
• 2 x Small green LEDs with mounting grommets (l1-2).
• 2 x 1K ohm Resistors (r1-2).
• 2 x 6A 400V Bridge Rectifier - BR604 (d3-4). I used a bridge here to lower the voltage drop across the diodes - i.e. 2 diodes in parallel for each unit. You connect the lead from the solar panel to both AC pins and the barrery's positive terminal to the + pin.
  
• Car Battery Monitor Kit - Jaycar Cat. No. KA1683 (v2).
• 2 x Inline 3AG Fuse Holders with 5A fuses.
• Surface-Mounted cigarette lighter connection.
  
• Various odds and sods:
• Bits of plastic to mount internals on.
• Araldite to stick components to the inside of the box.
• Heat-shrink insulation to cover soldier joints.
• Thick and thin wire - for the high and low current parts of the circuit.
• A piece of clear perspex to make a window for the Battery Monitor Kit LEDs.
• Silicone sealant to stick the perspex down.
• Screws / Washers / Nuts / etc.
• Sealing grommets where cables pass through the box.
• Small cable ties.
  

Circuit Diagram


The labeled components not in the parts list are:

• p1-2: Solar Panels
• d1-2: Solar Panel protective diodes - these came with the panels (good old IN4001s, if you're interested)
• b1-2: The boat's 2 batteries - the maintenance of which this project is all about.

How It Was Done

Put all the bits in the box and solder them together.

OK, a little planning won't go amiss.

First thing to do is build the Battery Monitoring Kit. There are full instructions that come with it and all components are supplied. The only thing outside the capabilities of the average yachty is the suggestion that it needs to be calibrated with an accurate adjustable voltage supply. I haven't got one of those and I wasn't about to go out and buy one. The unit uses LEDs to indicate voltage within a fairly narrow range. There is a pot (potentiometer) in the circuit that is used to set when the first LED comes on. To set this up, you really need to be able to read (as opposed to supply as is suggested) an accurate voltage and this is easily done with a cheap digital multimeter. Here's the circuit:

The components are:

• b1: A fully-charged battery - this needs to be fully charged to give you the voltage range you need. A good fat car battery or any DC voltage source up to 15V. While it doesn't have to be a full-on stable voltage source something reasonably well regulated and smoothed should be fine.
  
• p1: Potentiometer. 1000+ ohm will do it. Much less than this will probably draw too much unwanted current.
• v1: A digital multimeter set to 20V full-scale.
• bmk: Battery Monitor Kit.

Wire this up with bits of twisted wire and croc-clips. Go through the calibration procedure included in the kit by adjusting the pot (p1) to the various voltages required as read on the multimeter and then adjust the Battery Monitoring Kit pot as instructed.

All the control stuff I mounted on the box lid. Everything else went on the base. You need to drill, file and otherwise make the right sort of holes for anything that needs to be mounted through the box material. Planning the front panel layout obviously helps. As some of the other components can be a bit bulky, you need to mount them in such a way that the lid closes properly. The Battery Monitoring Kit has LEDs that need to be visible on the front panel. I cut a slit in the lid to accommodate them and made up a little mounting bracket that glued to the inside of the lid so that the the LEDs were flush with the surface of the lid. I then made up a window with some clear perspex and siliconed it over the slit.

Once everything is securely mounted, it can be wired up. I suggest that all solder joints are covered with heat-shrink insulation. Any parts of the circuit that takes high (> 1A) current needs to be in heavy duty cable. All the rest can be in thin wire. It helps if you wire the box and the lid separately and then form any wiring between the two into a harness kept together with small cable ties.

Once assembled, mount the unit near the hatch in such a way that the cigarette lighter socket is near the hatch slide and about half-way down the hatch travel. This is so that the flexi-connection is at its slackest when the hatch is half-closed.

Assembled / Mounted Control Unit.
For the connections to the batteries, I led long lengths of heavy duty cable through grommets in the box. These have to be long enough to be led over the inside of the hull down to the battery compartment. The negative is connected to the common earth and the positives are connected to each battery respectively through a 5A fuse holder near the battery-end. The cables are held on to the hull with screwed-down cable ties bases + ties, and I also led the cable down the cockpit ladder secured in place with more cable ties.

Testing the Battery Monitor

Flip the Battery Monitor switch to each of the batteries and the LEDs should indicate the voltage-state of that battery.

What Should Have Been Done Differently

• I originally designed - and fitted - the main battery protective fuses in the box. This is a mistake. The fuses should be as physically close to the batteries as possible for full protection. Not wanting to leave two big holes in the box, I now have 2 fuses on each line. Not really something that needs fixing.
• I should have added an Ammeter into the circuit. As it stands, you can't tell if the batteries are actually receiving any current from the solar panels. While I would like to get a new box and do the mod, the accountant won't sign-off on it. The inconvenient solution is to pull one of the fuses and put the multimeter in line with the battery on its current setting.
  

Mounting the Solar Panels

We chose to locate these on the main hatch cover.

The panels are 20V/20W each - so the total rig on a good day should deliver 40W. They were quite cheap on eBay - apparently, the guy had bought a whole batch for some sort of street-furniture job for the local authority and was selling the extras off.

Complete assembly.
The idea was to mount the panels on the hatch, run the wiring through a proper plug / socket to the inside and then provide a flexible connection to the control unit.

Parts List

• Solar panel mount:
  
• 2 x Solar Panel units. These consisted of 2 panels each in a hinged unit internally wired in parallel with protective diodes already in place.
• Strips of angle plastic for mounting brackets - from the hardware shop. This is the sort of plastic trim that you can put on bathroom cabinets.
• Screws / Nuts / Washers to mount the brackets to the panels and the hatch cover.
• Take Cable through hatch:
  
• Deck Connection Plug + Socket 2 Pin (Whitworths SKU: 33431)
• Cable Ties + 2-way adhesive bases.
  
• Flexible connection mount:
  
• Small plastic box - the sort of thing you would put a small electronics project in.
  
• Surface mounted cigarette lighter socket.
• Small length of choc-strip.
• Screws / Nuts / Washers for mounting.

How it was done

Making up mounting brackets for the panels

All the literature on the matter recommends keeping the panels as cool as possible - their efficiency drops off with temperature. I made up brackets to give a generous air-gap under the panels with angle plastic strips. These were cut to length, drilled and then bolted together with stainless fittings.

Cross Section through the mounting brackets.
Once the brackets are on the panels, mount the complete assembly on to the hatch cover - drill the holes and treat them with silicone sealant before tightening down. Make sure the cables are running the way you want them first.

Outer Wiring

The solar panels already had cables attached ending in croc-clips. They also had diodes. I left the diodes in place. When the panels generate power, they will charge the battery. When it's dark, they become a resistance across the battery and discharge it. The diodes stop this. I cut off the croc-clips.

Connect a length of cable cut off the solar panels to the Deck-mounted socket. Drill holes and mount the socket on the hatch not forgetting to drill a hole in the centre to let the length of cable pass through the hatch. Best to silicone the mounting screws. Put the plug in and lead the cable from the panels to the plug. Keep the cables permanently in place using cable-tie bases. These are self-adhesive but they really need to be screwed down.

Connect the panel wires to the plug. Make sure you get the polarity right - the positive goes to the big pin. Use a multimeter if in doubt. The panels should be wired in parallel - i.e. they produce the same voltage and, in theory, double the current.

Wiring in cable-ties connected to the plug.
Flexible Connection Mount

This part terminates the hatch-wiring and provides a connection point for the flexible connection. This connection allows the hatch to be opened and closed while everything is still connected and also keeps dangly stuff out of the way.

Assemble the connection box by mounting the cigarette lighter socket in the box and screw in a bit of choc-strip to take the wires (two connection points). Drill a hole in the top of the box to take the incoming cable from the panels. The cigarette socket I used had solder connections so I soldered a couple of pieces of wire from these into the choc-strip and then screwed the panel cable into this.

Screw the box assembly on to the hatch lid. I put this at the rear end. The problem with this is that, if anyone shoves the hatch back too hard, the box will hit the hull. You have to be careful.

Flexible Connection terminal assembly in place.
What should have been done differently

• The Deck-mounted connector is very high-profile - it almost interfered with the gull-sweep and it's a great little fitting to stub your toe on. As sod's law dictates, my local supplier got a load of low-profile connectors the day after the job was finished. If I ever need to change that fitting, I'll hold out for a low-profile one.
• The flexible connection mount is not in a very good place. One day, someone will give the hatch a good shove and it'll take some damage. I'm not really sure what to do about this. I guess a couple of adhesive rubber feet may help.
• Cigarette lighter fittings are not really marinised. They may be OK in an out-of-the-way part of the cabin but this is a little too near the big bad world for my liking. I had a setup on a dinghy and it didn't work at all. If this fails, I will have to revisit with some proper marine fittings.
• I didn't bother to silicone the hatch holes on the first attempt. A rainy night out solved that problem.
  

Solar Panels

As we intend to go away for weekends on the boat, the extra comforts will put the power requirements up. Solar panels will not completely solve this problem but a continuous trickle charge to the batteries can only help. We didn't want to spend a lot on this setup so there is a fair bit of DIY in this mod.

This comes in two parts:

• Mounting the Solar Panels
• Building the Control Unit

Actually, not quite 2 parts. The last part is the flexible connection between the hatch lid and the control unit. This was not easy to source. Basically, what is needed is what is known as a curly-cord - i.e. the sort of cable that (at least, used to) connect your old landline handset to the phone. But with a higher current-carrying capacity.

Why? The idea here is to have the solar panels permanently connected to the batteries through the control unit but not have cables dangling about the cabin. If set up right, the curly-cord would be taught if the hatch is in the fully-closed or fully-open position, and a bit may hang down if it is half way between the two. It had to carry a max current of about 2A.

I spoke to the manufacturers and they were happy to do it for a batch no less than 200 pieces. Hmm. Then, I thought, what about those ceiling lights that you could pull down that were so popular in the 70's? 35 years too late, apparently. It was Kim who hit on it. Electric shavers used to have such things. We found a supplier of spare parts for old shavers and, yes, they had the goods.

To cut the cable to size, it was a matter of laying it between the control unit and the solar panel terminal box, giving it a little stretch and cutting it to this length. Then I fitted a cigarette lighter plug to each end. That's it.

The final touch - the curly-cord plugged in.
What should have been done differently

Apart from the bits and pieces in the sub-projects, nothing. This turned out to be a good project.

Topping Lift

This very neat solution for the Topping Lift, I got from the net (here).

The Bug was previously used as a trailer-sailer so the Topping Lift was probably never used. It came as a basic line from the top of the mast to a cleat near the bottom of the mast. I wanted this to be a permanent fixture to support the boom to keep the weight off the Lazy-Jacks and the boom out of the cockpit when moored / motoring.

Parts List

• 16mm block
• Mini Clam-Cleat
• 1/4" Saddle plus screws

How it was done

Drill out two holes near the rear of the boom for the saddle. This holds the block in place. That's the easy bit.

This works by feeding the line through the cam-cleat, round the block and tying it off back on the cam-cleat. The first thing to figure out is which way to pass the line through the cam-cleat. This is the running part and needs to lock when pulled down. Once the cleat is orientated, you know which end is the bottom. This is where the bitter end of the topping lift line is tied so the screw-hole at this end needs to be big enough to take the diameter of the line. Mine wasn't so I filed it out so that it was.

Where the line goes.
Pass the line through the jamming part of the cam-cleat, through the block and then tie it off back on the cam-cleat. I lashed up the spare line for the time being. I want the boom to drop to its maximum natural level when sailing and be able to haul it right up out of the way when entertaining. Finding its lowest point is something that needs to be done with the sail thus leaving the line oversize for the time being. Once I get the length right, I'll tie it off with a bowline and seize the end.

The finished job with the block on the boom and the cam-cleat holding the weight.

Stove

Kim wanted to be able to cook inside in grotty weather. We had a look at the options and those small camping stoves seem quite good. Clearly, it had to be fixed somewhere and the existing 'kitchen' top looked convenient. We were not going for the whole cooking under way option so gimbles are off the list. Three criteria for this; had to secure so that it didn't fly around, had to protect the kitchen top from heat, and had to be as far away from the hull as possible so that the carpeting didn't catch fire. It is also useful to have the whole thing removable for cleaning.

Parts List

• 2 x Offcuts of metal shower rail a bit shorter than the width of the stove.
• 4 x Metal tool clips with a nominal internal diameter a bit smaller than the shower rail.
• 1 x Stainless steel tray - the sort the staff might serve drinks on at a posh party (ahem).
• Screws, nuts, bolts, etc.

How It Was Done

Underside showing the clips attached to both the tray and the stove, with securing poles in place.
Mount Clips on the Stove

Best to plan this stage. There needs to be a clip at each end of the two poles and the screws into the stove need to miss all the internals. Drill the stove and mount 4 clips with self tappers.

Mount Clips on the Tray

Marking out is the fiddly bit here. Clip the poles onto the stove mounted clips and then fit the tray-sided ones on to the same poles. Place the assembly on to the tray and then use a sharp point to mark around the base of the tray-side clips. This should allow you to drill out the tray - don't fix the clips to it yet.

Mount the tray

Drill 4 holes in the tray, use these as a guide to drilling the kitchen top mounting holes. Using the holes for the tray-side clips as a guide, drill another 4 holes in the kitchen top to recess the clip mounting screws. Screw on the tray-side clips with self-tappers, drop the protruding screw-ends into the recess holes and bolt the tray down with nuts and bolts.

Assembly

Clip the poles into the tray-side clips, align the stove-side clips on top of the poles and push the stove down until all the clips are home.

The finished article.

What should have been done differently

A sharp - i.e. good quality - drill would have been nice for drilling the stainless steel tray.

Finally fitted out - March 2010

It was a long time coming, but the Bug is finally fitted out for harbour sailing and overnight trips. Here she is on the mooring ready for the off.

A couple of minor jobs to do - but there will be those forever.
The Bug showing off her fat back-end.

I think it's a boat - Kim thinks it's a little house.
Inside the pointy-end. The V-berth at the front and Brandy's made her self at home.
The dunny - the style of which tells you that there is no holding tank.
The table.
The kitchen for what it's worth.
The steps up to the cockpit and the rear berth.
The Bug at night getting refueled.