Smaller things become more noticeable when the big things have been fixed. This was the case for two control functions, most evident as we were docking on a near-daily basis. The issues we noticed were:
The main helm steering is 1 1/4 turns hard to starboard from Midships and 7/8 of a turn hard to port. This was not really noticeable until the overrun caused the starboard signal to go out of range.
Slow throttle response to crash astern maneuver.
The Fix
Both required a call to technical support at Praxis Automation, which linked to our particular setup via Starlink. I love it when a plan works, and in this instance, it was a fairly straightforward process of making adjustments in software and testing on board to measure the results while communicating by Whatapp.
The wheel is now centered, and another alarm silenced. Our throttle response was more intractable, resulting from the system being used more often on larger ships. Response times of two small John Deer engines are considerably faster than on 30,000 kW MAN B&W or Sulzer. Luckily, we could reduce all lags built into the control protocols and can now flip ahead/astern in a few repeatable seconds in both Electric and Diesel drives. No more heart-endangering delays, and docking just got a lot easier!
Eye Candy in Palma
Plama is a major center for yachts of many kinds, and it keeps up in the off-season. Yachts come here for storage, refit, or transportation (mainly across the East Coast, USA, and the Caribbean). Messing around in the locality, we see some more unusual ones that are often only seen on the news when some oligarchal type gets into trouble. I have included two recent findings.
The first is a long way from home, both in time and geography. "Spartan," a Herreshoff design 72' New York 50 racing Sloop, larch on steel frames with an oak keel and teak deck, hollow wooden spars in a gaff rig. She was built in 1912 and is the only one left of perhaps 50 built. We moored beside her for a week or two. The crew kindly let us look around her deck and internals. I'm guessing that very little is original, save for many of the beautiful bronze fittings that adorned her like crystals on a debutant. Used in many regattas during the season, the Belgian skipper said she did well for her age but was a wet ride if the swells picked up.
They are testing new sails out in Palma Bay.
The second was a very different beast of a yacht; I doubt anyone gets wet on this one. Black Pearl, 106m or 350', was launched in 2016. She anchored in the bay when we were testing the steering, the perfect excuse to shoot over and take a few spins around. I can't say they were enormously happy about that, but we kept our distance. Some modern yacht designs look odd (think Motor Yacht A), but not this one; she was as beautiful as she is unavailable te mortals.
Parenting Practice
To wrap up, we did some parenting last night for a happy 15-year-old who struggles to get out of bed in the same way as most of his peers. He just needed a little encouragement and gentle motivation out of sight and earshot of his mother. Enjoy!
Coming up
I'll be a bit imprecise here, but suffice it to say that we have another rather different project in mind now that Vanguard is shipshape, and we've grown older in the four years it has taken to bring her to life. Bear with us while we put the pieces together, and then I'll be able to tell you more in a week or so.
Chris