Vision 444 - How to (hopefully never have to) use a Storm Sail

 How to use the Storm Sail on a Vision 444

My fellow Visionary Pierre on Umbono reached out recently wanting to review the steps for deploying the Storm Sail, since he was forecasted to be in less-than ideal sailing conditions in the next day. What better opportunity to write a blog article!

This is going out quickly to support Pierre, but I will come back and add pictures and maybe link a video later.

Preparation

• Keep the Storm Sail and everything you need for it somewhere where it is easy to get.
  We keep ours in the large lazarette under the Cockpit table seating.
• If you think you might need the Storm Sail, you probably should have the jacklines put out too. 
  The system we use to deploy the Storm Sail reduces the time we need to be forward, but wearing a life vest with harness and being clipped into the lazy jacks is the way to go here.
• Our Storm sail is in it's own bag with the following:
• A port sheet attached to the clew with a bowline
• A starboard sheet attached to the clew with a bowline.
• A sail tie, so that we can secure the jib, since we will use the Jib Sheet as the Storm Sail Halyard, preferable tied onto the cinching line for the sail bag, so it is easy to find.
• Each of the above mentioned sheets also contains the following:
• A low friction ring threaded onto the sheet which is spliced onto a custom Soft Shackle for easy attachment to the padeye in the end of the jib track.  The Soft Shackle need to be long enough so that the sheet does not drag against fiberglass/EVA.
• Another low friction ring threaded onto the sheet, which is spliced onto a custom Soft Shackle for easy attachment to the mid-ship pad eye located near the toerail. (If you don't have this padeye, you can just as easily attach to the toe rail). Again, make sure the length is right to prevent chafe.
• A stopper knot (figure 8, etc) at the bitter end of the sheet.
• The Storm sail is stored in the bag, flaked and hanked onto the rigid stay so that it can be easily and quickly deployed.

Overview

Here is a brief description of how the sail is configured:

• The Storm Sail is already hanked onto a rigid stay that has a 3:1 purchase, lock-off block at the foot.
• The stay that is part of the Storm Sail is soft shackled onto the dyneema line attached to the mast, just above the Jib sheet mast entry, and normally attached to the bottom of the mast with a bungee and kept out of the way.
• These two are connected to form a solent stay, on which the Storm Sail is hoisted.
• The Jib Sheet becomes the Storm Sail Halyard.
• The sheets are dedicated for the Storm Sail and are already attached and stowed in the bag (preferably as a Line Sinnet / Daisy Chain as it will not tangle and is very easy to deploy)

Deploying the Storm Sail, Step-by-Step

Here are the steps we follow.  I strongly suggest practicing these and adjusting them as you see fit.  If you need to use your storm sail, you want to make sure it gets up quickly, easily and safely.

1. Be Safe. Employ all safety precautions prudent for the conditions (Life Vest, Harness, Lazy Jacks, etc).
2. Douse the Main and Jib and use the motors and autopilot to hold a heading.
3. Prepare the Storm Sail for Use
1. Slightly loosen the Jib Sheet (6 inches).
2. Turn on the deck lights if dark.
3. Bring the Storm Sail bag to the longeron and secure to the trampoline.
4. Find the Sail Tie in the bag and securely tie the Jib at the Clew so that it cannot unfurl.
   When you are done and sure it can't possibly untie, add another loop and knot.
5. Take the sheets out of the bag and undo the Line Sinnet by pulling from the bitter end.
4. Rig the Sheets:
1. Choose one to be port and attach the "first"(closest to sail) Low Friction Ring Soft Shackle to the Jib Track padeye on the port side.
2. Attach the "second" (closest to stopper knot) Low Friction Ring Soft Shackle to the port side, mid-sheet padeye.
3. Properly wind the sheet onto the port, aft winch, including going into the tailer.  You should have four full wraps, then the tailer and a short length of rope and stopper after.
4. Repeat these steps for the Starboard side.
5. Create the Solent Stay
1. Take the Storm Sail out of the bag and secure the bag. Place the sail with the tack near the Dog Bone loop and the clew on top of the longeron.
2. Make sure that the 3:1 purchase block at the foot of the sail's stay is fully loosened.
3. Free the mast-connected Dyneema stay and attach it to the snap shackle at the head of the Storm Sail's stay. You have created a Solent Stay that has yet to be tensioned or connected.
6. Connect the Storm Sail Halyard
1. Make sure your Jib is securely wrapped with a Sail Tie.
2. Dis-connect the Jib Sheet from the Jib Track Traveler by undoing the Soft Shackle.
   Reattach the Soft Shackle to the Traveler .
3. Remove the Jib Sheet from the block on the clew of the Jib.
   It should come directly from the mast to your hand.
4. Use this soft shackle from the Jib Track Traveler and attach the Jib Sheet to the Head of the Storm Sail.  This is now the Storm Sail Halyard.
5. Just behind the Jib furler is a Dyneema line with a dogbone on one end.  Feed this through the foot of the Storm Sail's stay and then insert the aluminum dogbone fitting into the mating Dyneema loop on the longeron.
7. Tension the Solent Stay
1. Pull on the tensioning line that goes to the 3:1 locking block to tension the Solent Stay. This should be very tight.  Make sure the line is locked off into the V-groove of the block. Coil the extra line and place out of the way.
8. Deploy the Sail.
1. This is best accomplished with two people.
2. One person will be raising the Storm Sail Halyard (labeled Jib Sheet) from the Helm.
3. The other person will make sure that the hanks can easily ride over the snap shackle and do not bind on the way up.
4. The person at the helm should be looking at the Halyard and making sure it is flowing smoothly and that the person forward is able to prevent it from binding on the way up.
5. The Halyard should be tightened enough to remove all creases from the luff of the sail.
   
6. When fully up, the sail and sheets may be flogging, so it is best and safest if the person at the helm uses the leeward aft winch to take in on the sheet enough so that it is not flogging and the person forward can safely walk aft.
7. Stow the Storm Sail bag where it will not flog or blow away.
9. Trimming, tacking and Gybing
1. Trimming, tacking and gybing the Storm Sail is very similar to how this is performed for the Jib, albeit with two sheets.
2. Remember, comfort is also a part of safety, so if you bear away from close-hauled, you will likely have a more comfortable (and therefore safer) sail.

Dousing and Stowing the Storm Sail

Follow these steps to stow the sail for quick use next time:

1. Be Safe. Employ all safety precautions prudent for the conditions (Life Vest, Harness, Lazy Jacks, etc).
2. Prepare for dousing
1. Turn on the deck lights if dark.
2. Fully loosen both sheets, however, keep them attached to the aft winches.
3. Bring the Storm Sail Bag forward and attach to the trampoline.
3. Lower the Storm Sail
1. This works best with two people.
2. One person will ease the halyard as the other will be forward, flaking the sail.
3. The halyard can be lowered quickly and will make the work of the person forward easier.
4. The sail should be flaked into widths that will fit easily into the bag.
5. The halyard will need to be very loose to reattach to the Jib.
4. Reattach the Jib Sheet
1. Push the Storm Sail fully down on the Solent Stay.
2. Disconnect the halyard from the Storm Sail, and pull plenty of slack to re-rig the Jib Sheet.
3. The Sheet runs from the Mast, down through the Jib Sheet Traveler Block, entering on the Aft side. It then runs in from the bottom side of the block on the clew of the Jib, then comes from the top of that block to the Jib Track Traveler and is soft-shackled.
   Important Note!: Before you feed the jib sheet through the Jib clew block, rotate the jib until tight against the furling line to make sure you are reattached the jib at the same position on the jib furling line. It is likely you lost 1 wrap when originally disconnecting the Jib Sheet.
4. Un-tie the sail tie from the Jib and then tie it to the Storm Sail Bag cinching line.
5. Tighten the Jib Sheet.
5. Disconnect the Solent Stay
1. Un-tension the solent stay by releasing the tension fully of the tack block on the stay.
2. Disconnect the Storm Sail stay from the Dyneema Mast stay using the snap shackle.
3. Re-stow the Dyneema mast stay, making sure it is not hung up on any other rigging.
   We find that a wrap or two around the lower diamond stay prevents it from noisily slapping against the mast in wind.
4. Disconnect the foot of the Storm Sail stay by undoing the dog-bone connector.
6. Stow the Storm Sail Sheets.
1. Disconnect the four soft-shackled Low Friction Rings and remove the sheets from the aft winches.
2. Slide the soft shackled Low Friction Rings forward to the clew of the Storm Sail.
3. Starting at the Storm Sail, use a Line Sinnet/Daisy Chain to tidy each sheet and place them on the flaked Storm Sail.
4. Place the storm sail back in the bag, make sure the Sail Tie is inside, then cinch the bag closed. Store the Sail Bag somewhere you can get to in the worst conceivable conditions.

Found any typos or errors?  Please let me know with a comment.

A better fresh water pump!

How to revive a failing water pump

(and make it better!)

This is a companion blog article to a YouTube video we did on the same topic.

Disclaimer: You must be electrically and mechanically competent to complete these repairs/upgrades.  If you are unsure of any step, stop and get professional assistance.  You can always reach out to me and I will try my best to help.

Our Vision 444 ES catamaran uses two freshwater pumps, one in each hull.  Each one is a 24V diaphragm pump made by Pentair.  Don't worry, the same steps apply to 12V pumps.

We have one in each hull, but we also have crossover valves, which when we open, allows one pump to pressurize the water on both sides.  We normally operate them this way so that we drain water from one tank, then we can switch which pump is powered up and pull from the other tank.

About a year after we launched, the port side pump started acting up.  It would sputter and get sporadic in running as it got close to the cut-off pressure.  It was very obviously sounding different and on it's way out.

I came up with a solution, applied it, and it has been successfully running for about 6 months now, so I wanted to share my solution!

The Problem

Too much is being asked of the little switch that sends current flowing through the pump motor. It's actually a high quality Omron switch, but DC motors suck a lot of current when first turning on, so the contacts in the switch end up arcing as the pump cycles on and off. That's okay, but it does degrade the life of the switch. The switch is rated for only so many electrical cycles (the number of mechanical cycles are rated too, but that takes a looooong time).  When the current is increased, the number of cycles the switch can sustain is reduced.

The Basic Solution

So, the switch fails, you repair it, right?  Yes and no. Okay, yes obviously, but the switch is not made to be or sold by Pentair as a replacement part. You have the replace the entire "Upper Assembly"(94-801-10, which sells for about $60, when the only problem is a $3.50 (or $17 for 4) switch!  

SHURflo AquaKing II - image copyright Pentair

Note, these steps and parts are for the Pentair SHURflo AquaKing II 24V, 5.0 GPM pump (4158-163-A75/E75).  These are likely the same exact steps for the 12V version of this pump and also others in the family that have a lower GPM rating.  Reach out if you are not sure!

Replacing Just The Switch

Parts

So, if you want to replace the switch by itself, you will need the following:

• New Switch - Omron - V15-2C26-K (Check yours first)
• Soldering Iron
• Solder
• Rosin soldering flux (highly recommended)
• Screwdriver (Phillips)
• Optional
• You may need some crimp connecters to re-install the pump to your boat.
• We try to keep a spare of just about everything.  Not a bad idea to have an upper housing spare on the boat anyways, and if this repair goes sideways, or you loose a part, you will still be able to repair the pump using that!

These are the three screws that hold on the switch housing

Steps

1. Remove the pump from the boat
1. Un-power the pump (switch, breaker or fuse, depending on your boat)
2. Drain water/pressure from your freshwater system by opening a low water outlet (sink, shower, etc).  Leave this open while you work.
3. Remove the water connection
4. Remove the electrical connection (this may require cutting wires)
5. Place the pump where you can work on it and don't mind some residual water draining.
6. Remove the three Phillips screws that are holding on a small cover on the Upper Assembly.
1. There are quite a few parts inside that will fall out. They are easy to re-install, just don't loose them!
2. One screw is longer and goes through a longer section of the cover you are removing.
7. Carefully work the switch out of the plastic housing.
8. When out, work the rubber insulation boot about 6 inches down the insulated wire.
9. Remove the slide-on connector from one of the switch contacts.
10. Unsolder the wire from the remaining switch connector.
11. While the wire is hot, re-solder this wire onto the equivalent contact on your replacement switch.
1. Flux and a high wattage iron will help a lot. Be careful not to touch anything with the tip of the hot iron and have a safe place to reset it when not using it!
2. Turn off your iron when done and place it somewhere safe to cool.
12. Slide the other connecter onto the new switch.
13. Slide the rubber boot down the wires and up against the switch.
14. Slide the switch and rubber boot back into the housing.
    (There are rails and grooves that mate with one-another).
15. Re-assemble the switch and cover to the pump upper housing.
1. Make sure the beige rubber plug is fitted flush into the pump upper housing.
2. Place the three screws through the switch housing.
   Make sure the long screw goes through the thickest portion of plastic.
3. Place the small, round plastic plug (shaped like a top-hat) into the switch housing hole, on to the top of the adjusting set screw.  The skinner button portion of the plug should face out.
4. Insert the pressure spring into the same housing hole.
5. Place the gasket onto the screws, aligning the shape of the gasket to match.
6. Place the black plastic lever into the intermediate plastic piece.
   It can only fit one way.  The bump on one end of the lever will align with the button on the switch.
7. Carefully slide the intermediate piece and lever onto the screws of the switch housing and gently squeeze together. You would be able to manually activate the switch using the part of the lever that will mate with the beige rubber plug.
8. Make sure that everything seems to fit together well.  
9. Place this against the pump housing and carefully screw in all three screws, while holding the pieces tightly together (so nothing can more out of place).
10. Snug the three screws with modest pressuse- they are just in plastic.
16. Reinstall the pump into the boat, connecting the water connections, electrical connection and tightening the mounting screws.  
17. Apply power to the pump.  It should start to operate, and since you have a tap open, you will be able to work the air out of the system.  Do not close the tap until you expel the air pocket that was introduced.
18. When you close the tap, the pump should run for no more than 10-20 seconds, build pressure and turn off.  If it does not, open again and make sure there is no more air in the system.
19. If it still does not turn off, you may need to adjust the pressure cut-off set screw with a 2mm allen wrench.
    If you need to loosen this screw by more than half a turn, something else is wrong, recheck everything and if no luck, reach out to me!
20. Double check that your water connections are not leaking and that there are no leaks around the switch housing.  If there are, snug those three screws a little more.
21. DONE!

Check out the YouTube video to see how bad our old switch looked internally!

The Advanced Solution

Why You Need It

The advanced solution is highly recommended if you are a live-aboard, or just want a more robust solution that will likely never require another switch replacement.

Unless you pump is lightly used, I would suggest starting by replacing the switch, as detailed above. 

The proper solution, is to allow that small micro-switch to operate within its designed parameters. In order to do that, we will have to insert another device which handles the high current, while the micro-switch simply tells this device when to turn on.

How To Accomplish This

Some of you are probably thinking relay! Yes, it is a relay, but a specialized type of relay.  Relays, at least electro-mechanical relays, ultimately have the same contact arrangement as the micro-switch, just larger and hopefully better able to handle the motor current.  It will take a lot longer, but they will succumb to the same contact erosion and eventual failure.

The solution I prefer is to use a Solid State Relay (SSR for short).  From the outside, these work just like the electro-mechanical versions, however internally, they are quite different.  The current switching is being done by a semiconductor called a MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor, Field Effect Transistor).  Apply a small charge to the "gate" of the MOSFET and the PN junction will then "open" and allow electrons to flow.  This is really the basis of how every semiconductor works.

E-T-A Solid State Relay - image copyright E-T-A

At any rate, when the electrons are allowed to flow, they are not having to jump across any tiny air-gap, so there is no arc, therefore there is no erosion taking place and the MOSFET will survive indefinitely, as long as the maximum amount of current does not exceed it's rating (which has to do with channel width in the silicon).

TLDR - A properly sized SSR can be switched by an incredible small current from the micro-switch and allow the large motor current to flow without sustaining damage!

Adding in an SSR

Parts

In order to perform this upgrade, you will need the following:

• SSR - This will vary based on the voltage and fuse fating (as shown on motor) of the pump you have.
• 24V, up to 10A Pump Fuse Rating - E-T-A ESR10-NC2A4HB-00-D2-10A - $19
• 12V, up to 10A Pump Fuse Rating - E-T-A ESR10-NC2A4HB-00-D1-10A - $26
• 12V, up to 17A Pump Fuse Rating - E-T-A ESR10-NC2A4HB-00-D1-17A - $36
• Wire cutters
• Wire stripper
• Wire connector crimper
• Female, 0.187" crimp quick-connect insulated connectors for small tabs on SSR.
• 14-16 gauge - one for wire from micro switch - TE Connectivity 3-350816-2 - $0.30
• 18-22 gauge - one for added wire from power - TE Connectivity 2-520181-2 - $0.30
• Female, 0.25" crimp quick-connect insulated connectors for large tabs on SSR.
• Sized for the wire on your pump, you will need two each
• 10-12 gauge - TE Connectivity 4-520448-2 - $0.35
• 14-16 gauge - TE Connectivity 3-520141-2 - $0.40
• 6" Length of marine wire, Red, 12 or 14 gauge (to match the red wire gauge on your pump)
• 6" Length of marine wire, Black, 18 - 22 gauge (carries almost no current)
• Soldering Iron
• Solder
• Soldering flux
• Two 1" long pieces of heat-shrink tubing, large enough to slide over two pieces of pump motor wires laid on top of each other.
• Lighter or heat gun to shrink heat-shrink tubing.
• 6-8" piece of electrical tape
• Optional
  I'm a big fan on using these same Quick Connectors when you re-install the pump into your boat.  It is so much easier to take the pump out to replace any items, and if you use Quick Connect connectors, this becomes so much easier.
• Female, 0.25" crimp insulated connectors for boat side of your pump connection.
  (same as above) - Choose the size that matches your boat wiring.
• 10-12 gauge - TE Connectivity 4-520448-2 - $0.35
• 14-16 gauge - TE Connectivity 3-520141-2 - $0.40
• Male, 0.25" crimp insulated connectors for pump side of pump connection.
  Choose the size that matches your pump wiring.
• 10-12 gauge - TE Connectivity 4-521098-2 - $0.70
• 14-16 gauge - TE Connectivity 3-520107-2 - $0.65
• You may also need some nylon ties (Zip-Ties) to tidy up your re-installation.

Diagrams

Okay, a couple pictures, will hopefully make this make better sense.

First, this is how the pump normally works in your system:

Standard Water Pump Configuration

Preparing Water Pump for SSR

SSR Water Pump Configuration

The quick description of the process is that we cut the wire coming from the switch to the motor and insert the SSR so that high current flows from the boat, through the switch portion of the SSR and into the motor.  The control side of the SSR is powered by the signal coming from the small switch inside the pump housing and we also provide a return path for that switch current back to the boat negative.

Steps

1. Remove the pump from wherever is is mounted, following steps 1 through 5, above.
2. Cut the red wire that goes from the switch to the pump motor, about in the middle.
1. Strip about 3/16"-1/4" of insulation from the end and crimp a 0.187" tab, female quick- connect connector to the wire coming from the switch.
2. Strip about 3/16"-1/4" of insulation from the end and crimp a 0.25" tab, female, quick- connect connector to the wire going to the motor
3. Create a gap in the insulation on the main red and black wires that used to be connected to your boat, as follows: *See below for a tip on how to do this
1. Red wire that is going to the switch, place the gap at about the same length from the switch as where the other red wire was cut.
2. Black wire that is going to the motor, place the gap so that it will be close to the opening in the red wire however the pump was mounted and wire strung in your boat.
4. Take the 6" length of red wire, strip one end about 1/2" and wrap around the exposed conductor in the gap of the red wire.  It should make at least one full revolution.
1. Solder this connection, making sure the added wire cannot "spin" around the original wire when complete.
2. Slide heat shrink over this connection and carefully apply heat to shrink onto wire.
5. Take the 6" length of black wire, strip on end about 1/2" and wrap around the exposed conductor in the gap of the black wire.  It should make at least one full revolution.
1. Solder this connection, making sure the added wire cannot "spin" around the original wire when complete.
2. Slide heat shrink over this connection and carefully apply heat to shrink onto wire.
6. Cut the 6" wires shorter, if desired.  This will allow the SSR to be connected in, without excess wire length.
1. Strip about 3/16"-1/4" of insulation from the end of the red wire and crimp a 0.25" tab -female quick-connect connector to this wire.
2. Strip about 3/16"-1/4" of insulation from the end of the black wire and crimp a 0.187" tab female quick-connect connector to this wire. 
7. Attach the four wires as follows:
1. Small (0.187") connector on the red wire to pin 1.
2. Small (0.187") connector on added black wire to pin 2.
3. Larger (0.25") connector on added red wire to pin 3.
4. Larger (0.25") connector on red wire going to motor to pin 5.
8. Wrap a few loops of electrical tape around the bottom of the relay and the connectors to secure and insulate everything.
9. Optional: As mentioned above, I'm a big fan of adding these same style connectors to the wiring connection between the boat and the pump.  If you want to do that:
1. Strip the end of the red and black wires on the pump and the boat by 3/16" - 1/4".
2. Crimp FEMALE quick-connect connectors to the red and black BOAT wires.
3. Crimp MALE quick-connect connector to the red and black PUMP wires.
10. Re-install the pump into the boat, following steps 16 to 20 above.
11. Once you are happy with everything, consider using a nylon tie to secure the relay and wires into a nice tidy bundle adjacent to the motor of the pump.

Pin Assignment for SSR

Pin assignment from E-T-A Datasheet - copyright E-T-A

That's a Wrap!

Whether you use your boat on the weekend or live-aboard full-time, you want to be on your boat enjoying yourself, not doing unexpected work.

To me this is a perfect example of investing a little time and expense on your terms so that your enjoyment is ruined (usually at the worst possible time - I think that should be called Neptune's Law) 

I hope you enjoy this tutorial and it all made sense and was easy to follow. If not, please take a moment to let me know via comment so I can fix it.

Also, please leave a comment if you put this into place and tell me how things went!