Log of SV Free Spirit and ships company

The chronicles of the schooner Free Spirit and her crew, embarking on an open ended journey upon the great rolling heap. Free Spirit is currently pursuing humanitarian and commercial goals in the Dominican Republic, on the island of Hispaniola. Working under the Ocean Reach USA and Paradigm Research banners, she is serving as logistics headquarters, workshop, and development laboratory for many ongoing projects. This is the log of her journey.....

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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Goodbye Glades, Hello Labelle

The day we left the yard.... Bittersweet, to be sure! If you look carefully, you can see Margaret of Drummer, to the left of the tree taking departure pictures of us. I hate to say that we will never be back, but if we need to be I am thankful to have this safe harbor.



I bet there are very few of you that have been to a "Swamp Cabbage" festival?? We happened to take our voyage 'out west' to Labelle just in time for a week-end of crazy fun at this event. It started about 20 years ago as a way for the local stores to gather and show the people of Labelle what they had to offer. It has now turned into a very big celebration, and is visited by folks from all over the state. We had some wonderful neighbors at the City Dock, and they were nice enough to show me this huge pre-cooked batch of swamp cabbage.



The start of the parade!



This here rig differs a little from the rigs up here in Alaska :-)



These folks were advertising their races for later in the afternoon.... We were not able to make it, but I am sure there was fun to be had by all!!



Tamer decided to enter his bike in the Full Throttle Magazine's Bike Show..... Hmmmmm..... Believe it or not, I think his got more attention than the rest!! He is always a winner to me :-)



Tamer getting hammered by Drake's West Coast inflatable torture device.



Mom taking a day sail down to Port Labelle with her new friend that we met at the Labelle dock.



This GPS unit was given to us by a couple who have temporarily retired from sailing. The local residents of Labelle were wonderful to us! We will remember them all with fondness :-)



Another fantastic new friend brought us a bag of hand picked citrus every other day. We even had some when we left for the Dry Tortugas! Thanks so much for the thought!!



posted by CT | 11:11 PM

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Introducing Propcalc 4.0

Use Propcalc to easily match your hull with your engine, transmission, and propeller
Put the known data in the top fields, then hit the Update button to get the answers.
Results, of course, should be verified by a Naval Architect or qualified surveyor.
Data is provided for three bladed propellers of average type
For two or four bladed props, use the modifiers shown below.

Fill out the fields as follows:

Vessel LWL (ft) = Waterline length
Vessel Disp (lbs) = Vessel displacement
(max) HP = Rated Engine Max HP
Engine RPM max = Engine RPM at Max HP
Engine RPM cruise = Desired or estimated cruise rpm
(Cruise or Max) Kts = Speed to work the calculations for
Slip = Propeller efficience. 45% is average for a displacement cruiser.
Gear ratio = 1: Gear ratio of transmission
SL Ratio Adj. = This value will be added (or subtracted, if a negative value) to the calculated S/L ratio.

Key information:

If the "hp required" is greater than the "cruse HP", you have your cruise RPM set too low for your engine parameters.
If the "hp required" is significantly less than the "cruse HP", you have your cruise RPM set too high for your engine parameters.
If the "hp required" is greater than the "Max HP", then your target speed is too high for your engine/hull parameters.
The S/L ratio is calculated automaticaly based on your input. It can be adjusted if necessary, but normally it should be left alone.
If the calculated S/L ratio exceeds S/L MAX, then the results are likely to be non-predictive. Try a lower speed requirement.
SL Ratios of 1.1 - 1.4 are typical of displacement hulls. Semiplaning or planing hulls can go higher.

Typical propeller slip values:

Sailing auxiliary, barges, etc less than 9 Kts............45%
Heavy powerboats, workboats 9 - 15 Kts....................26%
Powerboats, Lightweight Cruisers 15 - 30 Kts..............24%
High speed planing boats 30 - 45 Kts......................20%
V bottom race boats 45 - 90 Kts...........................10%


Note:

it is possible to get irrational answers by irrational input , I.E specifying excessive speed for hull type and length
Any attempt to exceed hull speed (1.34 times the square root of the waterline length in feet) with a displacement hull are likely
to fail unless the hull is extremely fine (multihull) or otherwise exceptional. In such cases, an S/L adjustment would be in order.

2 and 4 bladed props:


For two bladed propellers, multiply the diameter by 1.05, and the pitch by 1.01
For four bladed propellers, multiply the diameter by .94, and the pitch by .98
PROPCALC
  Inputs:
Vessel LWL (ft) =
Vessel Disp (lbs) =
  (max) HP =
  Engine RPM max =
  Engine RPM cruise =
  (Cruise or Max) Kts =
  Slip =
  Gear ratio = 1:
  SL Ratio Adj. =
   
    Solutions:
  Prop rpm max =
  Prop rpm cruise =
  Pitch =
  Diameter =
  Static Thrust =
  Cruise HP =
  Cruise HP% =
  SL Ratio =
  DL Ratio =
  SL Max =
  HP Required =