This is the dream that has consumed my life for the last 10 yrs. I have started talking about it in my blog

 and since this guide allows for photos I'll put a few in here. There are probably other boat tragic s out there. We can provide therapy for each other and maybe even some support or encouragement.

THE POWER SYSTEM

THE WIND GENERATOR  (added 11Mar09) My Wind generator has finally hemorrhaged. It did outlast the warranty, so that is good. However, I have decided not to replace it and to stop selling them. I prefer to sell things that I use myself and believe in. Wind generators have moving parts. In high winds they can be dangerous and noisy. My thinking now is that the money is better spent on solar panels. Even on cloudy days I am getting enough power to run my 240v bar fridge. On a sunny day I have to disconnect 2 out of 3 of my panels by mid morning, to keep the charge voltage below 14volts. I don't have a voltage regulator because I take the panels off the boat while not in use. I paid $1500 for 294watts, second hand, less than a replacement wind generator. What a good problem to have! too much power on a sunny day, or enough power for me to use all the power tools or my wife to use the hair dryer! I am going to leave what I wrote previously to provide a balanced account; (The wind generator works well with the solar panels. Often when the wind is howling it is overcast and so reduced power from solar panels is compensated for by increased power from the wind generator. One other advantage of the Air Breeze unit that I sell is that it has built in regulation. Once the batteries are fully charged the power is then used to slow the unit down, thus reducing wear, noise, danger to birds, humans etc. So its pretty much set and forget. If you leave your boat at anchor or on a mooring chances are you have been using power (say running a fridge), and your batteries are probably in need of a top up. Just leave it to wind generator and/or solar panel and in a few days your batteries will be at full charged again.) 

THE SOLAR PANELS

    Up dated; 11 March 09. I now have 3 panels, each with 98watts. This is a good size to fit in the car and weight (16kg) to manage. I now have so much power I don't need to worry about tracking the sun. On a cloudy day when I could sometimes use a little extra power, tracking the sun is redundant anyway. The cloud diffuses the light so that tracking makes very little difference. 

 I previously wrote;( I am currently using are 60watts. A 20 + 40watt. On a sunny day I can maintain my batteries charge while running the fridge. The secret of maximizing your power output is to track the sun with your panels. This will give a much longer day of power production, and more power during the day. I feel I get more than twice the power from this setup than a fixed panel. I will elaborate on my setup more soon.... )

THE FRIDGE is just a normal 240volt bar fridge you would find in many homes. Many of the 12volt fridges available on the market are very cute but just not big enough and they are very expensive compared to the 240volt. Some are also quite noisy. Also you may not be able to have both fridge and freezer space in the one unit. I have replaced the wire top shelf with a clear polycarbonate shelf. This means that above this shelf everything freezes, but below, it stays as a normal fridge. The really cold air around the freezer box is prevented from circulating around the lower part. So you can have more or less freezer space simply by moving the polycarbonate shelf up or down! How good is that? I wind the thermostat up to very cold without freezing my veges below the solid shelf.  My bar fridge cost $50 over 10years ago and is still going strong. I have a 2400watt inverter which cost about $150 on ebay including freight, so you can see my setup hasn't broken the bank. The other thing that's great is you can organize a fridge with shelves a lot easier. These esky type fridges can become a disaster area where your liquids are running out of their containers, and every thing is just "tipped" in on top of everything else 2 or 3 layers deep. Ok the cost is a little bit more power consumption with the bar fridge. There is 10% to 20% loss of power through the inverter. It's a price I'm prepared to pay for one of the comforts of home. I try to keep the fridge closed between meals. This procedure helps to reinforce my no grazing between meals philosophy. Then again there is always the nuts and dried fruit. (Enemy no. one!) You may have noticed on board that body weight is not really a problem. We are constantly on the move up and down steps, bracing ourselves, etc. It's a healthy life!

PETROL GENERATORS; I have a 2500watt one that I have on board to run my wife's hair drier. The other one is a back up; Ex Bunnings refurbished 750watt that only cost $79 on ebay. These generators are really only there for backup now that I have enough solar panels. I plan to build all weather housings for the generators to reduce noise, vibration and exhaust fumes to a minimum.  I have approx 500Ahr of battery capacity a total of 5 batteries weighing about 20kg each.

 My BATTERY CHARGER is 30Amp fan cooled. I monitor the battery charge state using a simple volt meter. Maximum battery charge is 12.6 or 12.5volts, measured without load and while not charging. It never gets that high while we are living on board because the charger would have to reduce its charge rate to avoid damage to the batteries.  However after being away from the boat a few days has the bonus of fully charged batteries, thanks to the efforts of the 20watt solar panel. I don't have a regulator for my solar panel. When I'm away I disconnect the 294watt panels and leave only the 20watt panel connected, which is insufficient to need a regulator. So while living on board the battery voltage (no load) ranges between about 12.1 volts and 11.5 volts (at which point the inverter will switch itself off) To maximize battery life always try to maintain  as close to full charge as possible especially while not in use. Always have your battery box well ventilated and have no sparks or source of ignition near as the hydrogen and oxygen gasses released by lead-acid batteries being charged can cause a big bang! Lead-acid batteries still the best value way of storing power. Not so popular on boats that lean over a lot. Another plus for  multihulls.

DINGHY RETRIEVAL

The dinghy will be retrieved using muscle power.  The back trampoline slopes down towards the water allowing enough space to pull the dinghy between the trampoline beam and the main structural beam, see photo.  The main winch could be used, but in reality is not required. The winch is well positioned to tether a drogue or sea anchor. I have yet to mount one on the other side. It is true we have sacrificed the rear trampoline for dinghy storage, but ability to launch quickly is worth it. Davits are more weight, more $, more things to go wrong and slower to operate. Most times keep things simple is best.

ANCHOR SETUP

The 2nd day afloat in the Macleay river, after launching, we had a strong westerly. With the wind gusting under the rail bridge, the boat would pick up speed going in reverse when a gust would hit, and when the chain went tight, the anchor would drag a little bit. The action is called snubbing, and the effect over a day or so is that the boat is moving slightly with each snubbing. I fixed this with 2 actions. 1.) I replaced my expensive Mawson  Plough, complete with lead, with my Bruce anchor. The Bruce was to be the backup, but its holding in mud is unrivaled in my opinion. It has also worked well in sand and is now my main anchor.   2.) I have a 25kg steel weight which I allow to run down the anchor chain  about 3m. This smooths out the snubbing action, and makes laying at anchor more comfortable. I have left my boat unattended at anchor for weeks without any movement.

TOTAL WEIGHT

The standard Tangaroa mkIV weighs 2.8 tons. My boat weighs a bit more than even the highest guesses. However the 4 main beams are solid hardwood and parts of the keel are also hardwood, and this has added maybe 200 to300 kg. Also I have built a centerboard casing into the inside of the left hull and if I need all the comforts of home then I have to cop it!  Fridge, freezer, microwave,  4 generators systems no less, a pile of batteries 5 x 20kg, big anchors, big chain, 150L water 100L fuel gas bottle, and so the list goes on. Total 5.1 tonnes and counting......

Final weight with all fuel, water, food, etc 5.3 tons as lifted into the water. I'm going to add a few feet to the main mast to help compensate. I can't have a situation arising where I'm being caught by a monohull, and I've run out of secret weapons. Sometimes I just need a good reason to get off my backside and hoist that huge mast head spinnaker, and feel the acceleration. It has taken days to get the grin off my face in the past after a good days run under spinnaker. My 1st Tangaroa spent hours wound off the clock, the speedo only went to 15knots, and it was only a standard ketch rig! 

WHAT WAS NOT IDEAL WITH MY BUILDING PROJECT

 Now having completed a small delivery voyage from Kempsey NSW via Southwest Rocks to Sydney I am going to reveal a few observations regarding boat building. (My style) I'm feeling a little more bold now, to reveal some of my folly. Some of us love to hang onto the dream of building and sailing our boat. The trick is to bite off what you can handle and go for it. 10 years is a bloody long time to be building a boat. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. While I have owned one of these Tangaroa catamarans before, also bought as an unfinished project, this current project had the following drawbacks (1.) To far from home 9hrs return trip up the pacific highway to Kempsey from Sydney. I owned land in Kempsey and figured it would take 3 years to complete the project. In fact the project took 10years, and I estimate I made a total of approx 70 trips! (2.) This boat was bought with rot in the keel. The decks were not sealed and rain water and over-night dew continued getting into the boat and the rotting continued for about the first 3 years of the project, making a manageable project into a huge one. Rot is always far more extensive that it appears when first discovered. With hindsight, I didn't save anything by buying an unfinished project with rot, even though the cost was only $500 for the whole boat,( almost complete but without mast.) If  I knew what I know now, it would have been different, but we learn by doing, and finding out what works and what doesn't.  (3.) In these early years I used a lot of polyester resin and fiberglass. Bad choice! Epoxy is a little bit more expensive but sticks 10x better to plywood. It even sticks to damp wood. If you build outside exposed to the elements, as I did, occasionally it is preferable to glue damp timber than to wait for perfect conditions.  Virtually all the early polyester work that I did, I have now replaced with epoxy. While I have used a little bit of liquid epoxy resin, I found the glue (gel) by Fiberglass Asia very easy to use. The components are mixed 1 to 1 so you don't need any fancy measuring device. Just 2 blobs on a mixing pallet and a large spatula (paint scraper) and a couple of mixing/spreading knives (I just used a couple of old dining knives with a bit of flex in the blade). To make filler just add sawdust. To make a waterproof non skid deck surface, apply the glue with spatula and sprinkle saw dust on top. One thickness of light woven glass is even better. The saw dust on top provides a good key for paint and no need to sand before painting. The finish is a durable non skid finish. The glue works fine with woven fiberglass too, not too thick though. Use liquid epoxy on multiple layers of glass. In cold weather preheat the glue components in a microwave to make it easier to spread over the glass. Heat first, mix second, because it will go hard much quicker while hot! Remember reaction speed doubles for every 10 degrees c. heat rise. Experiment with small quantities first, to minimize waste. To make anti fouling which will last 10 years, add copper powder  to epoxy glue and apply with spatula. I got my copper powder from Australian Metal Powders. To make any color epoxy paint add pigment used in colouring concrete available at hardware stores. All these coverings can be applied up side down, the ultimate in versatility. I repaired a crack in the black nylon lip of a winch using the black pigmented glue, and used a wire to reinforce the rim, covered with the black epoxy. It looks like new and works like new. If you want to speed the cure rate, put your work in direct sunlight, or use an old hair drier, or a heat gun to keep the glue warm. This makes working between tides possible when beached. I have had the glue going hard in half an hour using my wife's hair drier. Great for closing up leeks or holes between tides. Yet another advantage of cats!  But my monohull friends, please don't get rid your mono's. I need someone to race against that I have a chance to beat! Any 2 boats going in a similar direction, is by definition, a race! (unless your not winning, then try putting the motor on as well, if that doesn't work then change tack to get the so'n'so out of your face. Am I right?) 

     So those are some of the things that didn't work so well. It cost me in time and money to learn these lessons. If you can get someone who is a successful boat builder to give you a bit of guidance, do it! Over the years many of my customers shared things with me that proved invaluable. Thankyou all! Now its my turn to keep the good oil flowing, and pass on their knowledge.

WHAT WORKED WELL;

There are many things that did work well. For example; I have just used Dulux house paint on my boat with excellent results. Super enamel on the hulls (2 coats by roller) and Weather Shield (water bass) on the topsides. Marine paint is a ripoff and no better value in the long run.

CRUISING

    My wife and I with brother Steve will be sailing to NZ via Lord Howe Island in the coming years  (2012+). After that it's North through the Islands in a big arc and back to Qld. There is much finishing work to be done before that; Lengthen the mast to design height 11m (by sleeving), add the center board, plus many smaller jobs.Far left; Winching up the new mast. Middle; new mast and boom in place. Right; Jib and spinnaker run with the new rig. 

When I continue writing this guide I'll have more to say about that. Building and sailing your own boat anywhere around the globe is within the capacity of any one! Its making the right choices that will determine your success level. I will be adding to this guide as time permits. If you have found this guide helpful, please help me a little bit by voting below. Thanks for looking and keep coming back! Alan