Norwegian Steam: Noon Report -- Kauai

Monday, July 16, 2012

Noon Report -- Kauai - Neah Bay, Day 5

Some good news. Four problems which were plaguing me seem to have been resolved.

1. With the help of my very resourceful Kauai cousin, Bob Farlander, I was able to discover that the engine cooling problem, originally thought to be due to a leaky heat exchanger, was actually caused by a leak within a double pump, in which a salt-water pump and a fresh-water pump share a single shaft. Fresh water was leaking through the shaft seal into the salt water and out of the engine. Fortunately I carry a complete replacement for this pump. After I installed the new pump, I verified that there was no more leaking. The day we left, I ran the engine for hours and it stayed cooler than it has for a year. Very good news.

2. Also while visiting cousin Bill Farlander in Kauai, I made a change to the wiring of my Balmar MC 614 Alternator regulater. I saw the results today. In two hours of engine running, our 600 ampere hour bank of AGM batteries rose from 55% charge to 80% charge. When I turned the engine off, the regulator was still charging in bulk mode. I have never experienced nearly so good charging performance before.

3. By the end of the Mexico to Hawaii passage, my laptop #1 was acting erratically. This laptop is crucial for Sailmail, which provides us with email and weather files via HF radio. I wasn't worried, because I carried laptop #2, a complete spare, loaded with the necessary software, and tested with the radio gear. In Kauai, I decided to transfer some files from laptop #1 to laptop #2, to bring it up-to-date. That was a big mistake and I should have known better! After the file transfer, the Oracle VirtualBox software which enables me to run Windows on my Linux laptops refused to start Windows.

What to do? I could have reinstalled Windows XP on Laptop #2, but I had not brought my copy of Windows XP on the boat. Maybe I could buy a copy of Windows on Kauai? Windows 7 "upgrade" was the only version available, but to install it an older copy of Windows (such as XP) is required. In the end, I bought a Windows 7 Acer Netbook at Walmart for $268, only slightly more that the $200 I would have paid for the "upgrade" if I had decided that it was usable.

I got all the software working and I thought I had a solution. Everything worked in Port Allen, but after we left, the USB ports refused to connect to the pactor modem, part of the radio system. I went back to using Laptop #1, but this morning it gave out completely. I then struggled with Windows 7 and the netbook and finally found that the system would work if I restarted the netbook frequently. Windows!!

4. The final problem solved was the small bilge pump running too much of the time. That is still working fine, with the pump on only a small part of the time.

At UTC 2200, July 17, 2012, we are at 31 33.459 N, 159 48.619 W. Our day's run was 115 miles.

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Norwegian Steam, the vessel

Norwegian Steam is the name of our 35' sailboat. She was designed by Ted Brewer. About 40 hulls were constructed by Miller Marine on Bainbridge Island, Washington between 1976 and the early 1980s. It is rumored that additional hulls were constructed in eastern Canada. Because many of these boats were completed by owners, there is a very great diversity in the fleet. To learn more about the basic design, you can find information about Ted's Jason design on his web site.

NS was completed by Alan with the help of friends, some of them professionals, over many years. She has been sailing since 2001. She differs from most (perhaps all) other instances of the Jason design in that her mast is 6 feet taller and she is rigged as a racing cutter, with large overlapping staysail. This rig design was inspired by the work of John Illingworth, the great English yacht designer and sailboat racer.

Norwegian Steam, the name

The phrase, Norwegian steam, may originally have been somewhat pejorative. When a vessel was powered by sails or by oars instead of by a steam or diesel engine, it was said to be powered by "Norwegian steam", the implication being that the Norwegians were so poor they could not afford engines for their boats. As time passed, the Norwegians themselves adopted the phrase to indicate a "can-do" attitude or doing whatever it takes to get the job done, even with limited resources or under adverse circumstances.

During the great era of America's Cup racing in J-Class yachts, the term took on a slightly different meaning. Many of the American defender boats had Norwegian crews and thus were said to be powered by Norwegian steam. A website has been dedicated to this bit of history.