Log XX - Artemis Catch

All the previous posts were on the problems and issues of the boat. Of course we need some breather from these headaches.

The catches on Artemis 1 are not so spectacular yet but I always learn something new after every trip. Very soon, Artemis will live up to her name as the Greek Goddess of Hunt.

Grouper is one the most common fish found in Singapore and they are tasty too. The only down side is that they do not usually put up a good fight.

I usually have luck with the red ones which are highly prized by the anglers here for their meat. I feel that they taste about the same as the normal groupers. Perhaps it is their striking red colour which resembles good luck to the Chinese that makes them much more expensive than other species.

The other common species here are the spanish flags. They are quite aggressive but somehow are underrated by most anglers.

I was lucky that some so my friends are very good at jigging so that they can try out the spots with their jigs. This was one of the time where we hit a school of giant herrings.

I was also glad that I managed to help one of my friends broke his record of landing a 1 kg fish with this sweetlip snapper.

I am still trying to find out where are the good spots and the feeding patterns of pelagic fish such as this diamond trevally,

Once a while, we would stop by one of the islands...

catch some small fish and cook them on the spot.

All these moments are priceless and there will be more to come...

Log XIX - Artemis 1 (Maintenance)

The cost of a yacht doesn't stop after buying. In fact, it is the beginning.

My family and I were happily walking towards our berth one fine weekend, still very excited about riding waves on our new toy. As I opened the cabin door, I was greeted by a foul stench that you can normally smell in sewer system.

I immediately opened the hatch and sprayed air freshener hoping that this would clear up the unpleasant smell before we began our voyage.

Both engines started well and we left the dock in high spirits, slightly dampened by the cabin smell though. As I accelerated the boat to cruising speed, the high temperature alarm sounded off.  I went into the engine bay and found out that it was the same problem that I had asked my mechanic to repair before. The impeller pulley had broken off again.

We had to turn back as it was unwise to continue our journey with only one engine operational. This was the second time that I had to berth my boat using one engine. It was disastrous. The boat was not reacting to my steering wheel at all during reverse. It just kept reversing in one direction regardless of how I turned my rudder. And yes... the key word is rudder.

The theory goes like this. During forward propulsion, the props are pushing water towards the rudder. Hence the rudders are able to change the direction of the boat. 

However during reverse, the props are drawing water from the rudders, which makes the effect of rudders much less insignificant. Normally maneuvering the boat in reverse can be effectively done by engaging and disengaging the forward and backward thrust of the starboard and port engine. The diagram below shows how we can steer the boat by varying the thrusts from both engines. The same theory applies when in reverse.

The above maneuvering skills are easy to master but what if only one engine is operational?
There will be completely no thrust at one side of the boat and the thrust on the other side will always turn the boat whether you like it or not. The worst thing is, during reverse when the rudder is not effective, there is no way to counter the turning effect caused by the lopped sided thrust by using the rudder.

To overcome this problem, I have some theories in mind of how to reverse berth my boat using one engine. I will try that out in the near future after I got my engine fixed and see whether the theories work.

Since we were stuck at the berth due to the engine fault, I decided to find out where that stench came from. I ran through all the compartment on board and when I lifted up the front bilge cover in the cabin, it was full of stinking stagnant water! The float switch was not working and the water was unable to be pumped out. 

The float switch could be bypass to activate the pump manually. The air was much fresher after all the water was pumped out but there was still some remains of unpleasant smell.

Now both the float switch and the bilge pump are new and the cabin air is much more pleassant but somehow it is still not very welcoming. I've found out what is the reason and will improve this soon in my next major project.

By the way if you are wondering did I manage to berth on that day. Yes I did but with the help from the Marina rescue boat and with a broken handrail.