Family cruise

[pj]

O phoenix, r pudding,curlew,wisper,strider and freelancer in Whitehaven at moment. It's Sunday evening and we have all spent a pleasant evening in the Vagabond pub. Dependant on weather, we are planning to set off for Kirkudbright tomorrow stopping at Little Ross overnight. As far as we know Suzi had problems at Piel and decided to return to Glasson.
pete

[Duncan]

You lucky people! We got back to GSC today at high water. Pull starting a diesel is not recommended, it,s not a lawn mower! Anyway, does anyone have a complete electrical charging system for the amazing Ducati air cooled - dynastart, regulator and solenoid oh yes, and a lot of wires!

[chorleyjohn]

Hi Duncan sorry to hear you are having problem's.Is your dynastart just failing to charge the battery or does the engine starter not work? I have read on the internet that some owners have been able to fit a car alternator for battery charging and retained the dynastart for starting only. They used a longer v belt to drive the extra alternator pulley. Hope you can sort it.

Best regards John Howarth.

[Duncan]

Hi John, Yes, that could be the way to go but i will first test the dynastart with my meter. Thinking about it i have a horrible feeling that it may have been my fault! ie the ignition switch may not have returned to it,s normal operating position and has remained on start thus drawing current continually! I can,t recall if it does spring back but I seem to remember Ian Sharples telling me something about the switch and i can,t remember what it was so i will contact him. The wiring was fried between the regulator, the starter relay and the dynastart.

[Roger]

Hi All,
The 6 boats now in Kircudbright. It's not raining and there're even sunny spells ! Probably here until Thursday. Bad luck Duncan....

Regards

Roger

[Duncan]

Are the buoys getting further apart in the channel or do i need new glasses? Anyway, if all that lovely Scottish beer has affected your eyesight and you are desperately missing your home port ha ha, here are the positions
(near enough - and according to my 30 year old GPS!) of the 2 important ones after Lune 1 No.3 Green N53 58.66 W2 57.8 bearing 90deg comp. from Lune 1 SB Green 53 58.6 W2 56.87 bearing 95 deg comp from no3 The red buoy opposite sb seems a long way over so i choose to ignore it. Then on to Plover Scar which bears approx 80 deg comp from SB. There may be others between PS and SB but i couldnt see them!

[doug gorton]

Hi Duncan
Sorry your trip was cut short by engine problems. I used to have the same engine in my boat and got hold of the full manual for the Rolls Royce Ruhak, Wisconsin and Ducatti engines. I passed the manual onto Martin Hornsby It might be worth contacting him, I am sure he will still have it as his Atlanta still has the engine fitted.
Regards
Doug

[Duncan]

Hi Doug yeah,bummer but hey, there is always next year! Thanks for the tip re the manual. I do have the engine manual but all the electrics are after market add ons so are not included in the original manual. I have searched the web and found wiring diagrams for dynastarts, and bosch regulators and solenoids and although they are not for this particular application the main connections should be the same. I may be wrong but i don,t think the fault lies in those 3 items and i certainly hope not as the dynastart is £350 and the regulator £105! I,ll see if i can contact Martin as he might have a wiring diagram

[pj]

In Carnarvon at the moment just had a visit from Dave and Dermot (Esmarelda) both looking well, good night in Royal Welsh yacht club sadly Les has just had a heart op but recovering well.
pj

[hinasmoon]

Duncan,
This may help where your hard earned pennies may have to be spent..mainly the last paragraph, not my forte but worth trying.

Lucas units

Disconnect the D & F (or F2) wires from it. Make a link wire up to connect the 2 terminals together. Between this common connection and the body of the dynamo connect a bulb (for a 6v dynamo use a 6v 21w bulb and for a 12v dynamo use a 12v 21 or 36w bulb). Start the engine and the bulb should light if the dynamo is good. Raise the revs and the bulb should burn brightly and may even blow. Don't do this for too long as the dynamo is running unregulated.

Bosch and other Continental dynamos/Dynastarters

Disconnect the wires D+ and DF. Connect the DF terminal to earth (DE). Connect a 36w bulb across D+ and earth (DE) and run the engine. If the dynamo is good the bulb will light. Raise the revs and the bulb should burn brightly and may even blow. Don't do this for too long as the dynamo is running unregulated.

John

[Duncan]

Hi John, Thats good info but the whole shebang, dynastart, regulator and starter relay is now with an auto electrician in Chorley who will test everything and then give me the bad news! - that is when he gets off the phone to all his other customers. I think i will haul Suzi out to do the job as there is quite a bit of wiring involved and also we have managed to break the chimp bilge pump and there is a fairly substantial leak from the prop shaft- more than a bucketful - thats an estimate as my bucket is on the beach somewhere having thrown it overboard while attempting to put out the fire!

[Duncan]

Actually John i think you have hit the nail on the head there as unregulated sounds like that is what has happened and my guess is the regulator was at fault initially- but we,ll see.....

[hinasmoon]

wow, sounds like you had a close call, glad all is well. well sort of..

Good luck with the garage....I hope he is not one of those teeth sucking mechanics....

John

[Roger]

Hi All,
Ocean Phoenix arrived back in Glasson Thursday evening to get locked up just before sunset.

Any stragglers still out there ? Bertha arrives tomorrow..........

Regards

Roger

[Duncan]

Hi John, Well, i,m fairly confident as he did say he would not give it to one of his lads! I think i should practice sharp intake of breath whilst steadying myself on the corner of his bench.

[hinasmoon]

Too high,take a mattress just in case, much softer landing.........

[Jim Cruise]

After we left Kirkcudbright we went further up the Solway to Kippford and spent a few days there. It's a very pretty place, more reminiscent of South Devon than Scotland but it dries so your boat needs to be able to take the ground. There are a couple of drying pontoons belonging to the Solway Yacht Club, one of which we moored to. It cost £12 a night. There's one shop, one hotel and one pub. We sailed back to Whitehaven on Thursday and spent the last couple of days there enjoying the fleshpots (?!).

Some pictures of Kippford here

Sorry Suzi didn't make it, there's always next year.