A trip log of our Covid Florida to Nova Scotia boat trip
A boat trip from the Gulf of Mexico to Nova Scotia We spent a few months bringing a Gemini catamaran from near Port Charlotte, Florida to Nova Scotia in 2019 – 2020. Unfortunately this is when Covid showed up. So we only managed to sail (and motor) the boat down the west coast of Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, as far as Deltaville, Virginia. We left the boat in Deltaville and drove back to Nova Scotia from there in a rental van. It was not until the following summer when, because border restrictions were still changing and unpredictable, we had the boat sent up to Nova Scotia by truck.
An affordable foghorn for a boat
This project has way more to do with hardware than the code, obviously. But when looking for an electronic fog horn they were first hard to find, then ridiculously priced. I will get some pictures in here at some point, but it is essentially built from a megaphone similar to the yellow one below, that I got from AliExpress for pretty cheap. I used a nano board and a buck converter to take the boat’s nominal 12 volts down to whatever the megaphone required. The prototype was 6 volts, but the production model was 12V. I still used the $1.50 buck converter for voltage stabilization as boat voltage can swing
esp32 tank sensor gauge using esp-now
esp32 tank sensor gauge using esp-now on a boat. The project is to create a “touchless” tank level gauge. “Touchless in this case means a sensor does not need ot go inside the tank. While it is for my own boat, the idea is it will be easy to install and use and potentially a product could be made from it. It should work for water tanks, fuel tanks and even blackwater tanks as long as they are not metal tanks. The basic functionality is to have five “sensors”, aluminum tape that will show full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 and empty. Maybe on empty all the LEDs flash and a buzzer
Esp32 tank sensor gauge, using Arduino framework, developed with visual micro: page 2
page one of this project Progress, but not there yet. Currently, it does the following. This is the master code, the slave code is separate. Queries up to three slave/sensor/sender units display the tank level readings on one set of 5 LEDs. A second set of 3 LEDs tells which tank is being read; 1, 2 or 3 a request to calibrate the empty tank can be sent from the master. The MAC addresses of the slaves are collected. So far, only one MAC (of the master) has to be input into the code, the rest is automatic. I am working on getting the master MAC collected also. The system
flush westerbeke 30b new antifreeze
when I went to flush and replace the coolant on the westerbeke 30b in my 2001 Gemini 105mc the drain plug was frozen solid. It seems someone had replaced the brass plug with a steel plug which was not coming out. So after consulting the web, the owners manual and the stars, I came up with this work-around. Apparently if you still have your domestic water heater or cabin heater connected you can tap into that loop, but mine had been disconnected by the PO. in any case here are the steps I used. I AM NOT SUGGESTING ANYONE FOLLOW THESE STEPS, I AM NOT A DIESEL MECHANIC OR EXPERT
FW: 19 Gallon Permanent Below Deck Boat Fuel Tank – Moeller Marine
Moeller Low Perm Permanent Below Deck Fuel Tank – 19 Gal – 032519 $338.99 at defender, also at Amazon. CA for over twice the price in Canadian, but delivered Sent from my Galaxy
Hauling-out Gemini 105Mc 2022 (jump to 1min 40 seconds)
Hauling a Gemini Catamaran 105Mc to winterize and store for winter in 2022, In Nova Scotia
mercury 25hp efi 2022 serial number 1R082607 model 1A25413KK
NGK DCPR6E spark plug replace every 300 hours oil filter quicksilver 36-8m0162832 or sierra 18-7913 oil filter quicksilver 36-8m0162832 or sierra 18-7913
Removing a westerbeke diesel from a Gemini Catamaran
It’s not ALL fun and games. But ask any cruiser and the definition of “cruising” on a boat and one answer you will likely get is “fixing things in exotic places” In this case this happened at home, but I suppose for some people Nova Scotia is an exotic place. Gemini Catamaran forum maybe all over done, but being old, on the water and mostly without help, here is what I did and learned in the process of removing the Westerbeke diesel engine after repowering the Gemini with a 25HP Mercury outboard engine. Disconnected all hoses and wires. I was fortunate, no bolts were frozen in place, none required beating on or
Tank level sensor using esp32 Arduino framework using capacitive sensor
Update using a single esp32 capacitive sensor io pin instead of 5 The original design used 5 aluminum tape strips, very complicated to install and also not as reliable as expected. AND this requires the soldering of 4 additional wires on each sensor module. so here is what is happening so far, all current WORKING CODE is included. Now we are just using one esp32 Capacitive sensor io pin Design specs (current) sense liquid from non – metal tank uses esp-now protocol, wifi without the need for a router, up to 3 tanks (more are possible but, just three for now). Esp-now connection between sensor modules and control / display
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