History

Asanagi

In the late 60’s, early 70’s I had a Gulfstar 36ft motorsailor that I lived on behind a house on Alton Way, Miami Beach. The house’s owner had recently purchased the big old house with plans to restore it to its original beauty. He had no plans of having a boat near term so I offered to pay for a new dock, in return I would keep my boat there and live on it. I enjoyed living on the boat and using it for dive and sail trips down the Keys and over to the Bahamas. However, it was not a boat I would ever consider taking on extended cruises. Nor, considering the systems available at the time, would I have considered living aboard away from shore based amenities.

After a failed marriage, the boat being only a minor contributing factor, in 1973 I relocated to San Francisco and lived on the boat in San Rafael. After about a year I sold the boat and moved to southern California.

Occasionally over the years I remember the enjoyable times on the boat and dreamed of getting another one. Then, in the late 90’s I started thinking fuel cells, GPS, sat phones, laptops, wifi, etc. might make a small “self sufficient”, world cruising yacht with shore side type amenities feasible. So I decided to design one - without using petroleum products for energy.

By 1999 some points had been decided:
1. A sail boat since sail still seemed the most efficient, non-petroleum based, propulsion method.
2. A catamaran because: Caribbean cruising area; many shallow anchoring areas; comfort; speed; space; surface area.
3. Electricity would be the primary form in which to convey energy on board.
4. Electric motors would be used for auxiliary propulsion.
5. Hydrogen and fuel cells for generating electricity without petroleum - but it was not clear the best way to obtain and store hydrogen.
6. Assuming being underway 20% or less of the time and needing more than sail power about 50% of that time, auxiliary propulsion energy requirements would be over 50 times greater than “house” energy requirements. Therefore solving the auxiliary propulsion energy problem first, in a way that energy resource could be tapped to satisfy all other energy requirements seemed to make sense.

By early 2002 fuel cells technology was not advancing as rapidly as I expected and hydrogen delivery and storage systems being considered by the car industry did not seem applicable to a boat cruising to remote locations in third world countries. About that time Panama started popping up on my radar screen. I had graduated from high school and went to my first year of college in the Canal Zone, returning to the States in 1963. Since I planned to cruise the Caribbean for at least a few years I needed a place to hold up during hurricane season - so I decided to return to Panama.

Bocas del Toro on the western, Caribbean side of Panama close to the Costa Rica border is where I headed. A place I had not visited when I lived in the Canal Zone. It seemed like a good place for a yacht during hurricane season. I looked at water front property with possible anchorage for a boat. Ended up buying a hectar with sandy beaches on both a bay and river, 13 miles by small power boat from the nearest town, and without a good anchorage for a yacht.

After returning to the States, disappointed with advancements in energy technology, decided probably more feasible to attempt my self sufficient energy project on a small island instead of a boat. But, after a year and over $100,000 in architect, engineer, and lawyer fees I decided a boat was still the best path to accomplishing my objectives. However, the Salt Creek house project was fun, someday I may revive it.

So by mid 2003 the boat project was revived. Since feasible fuel cells still seemed at least 10 years away diesel gensets would be used instead. The idea being, when technology caught up gensets, batteries, battery chargers, etc. could then be replaced by fuel cells without affecting other systems.

Solomon Technologies had been selected as the company to provide the boats electric motors as early as 2001. At the 2004 Miami Boat Show I met with them hoping for more information about their 20 hp motors - 2 years behind schedule and still not ready. I also stopped by Glacier Bay’s booth since I intended to use their refrigeration system. Glacier Bay showed me drawings of new DC gensets and motors they were developing. The gensets were to be compatible with the Solomon system. By show’s end I had eliminated all “off the rack” production boats and most custom and semi-custom builders. So, serious communications with Alwoplast, one of my last hopes, began. In mid April I flew to Valdivia, Chile to visit their operation. This is what I sent them in advance to be used as the basis for our initial discussions. Before I returned to the States we signed the contract with completion scheduled for September, 2005. Here is the cockpit as of September, 2005.

Early February, 2005 I visited Alwoplast to finalize the interior layout. Over several days Alex and I discussed various layout/design issues and carpenters built foam “mock-ups” in the boat to help us visualize the finished product. Afterward Alex and I flew to the Miami Boat Show to shop for gear and search for ideas on the boats. Also, I had arrange for a meeting with Alwoplast, Solomon Technologies, and Glacier Bay to select and order the electric motors, gensets and all related equipment. Although Solomon Technologies and Glacier Bay were still working together by then they also were competitors since Glacier Bay was selling competing electric motors and support systems. About a month before the meeting I emailed both Solomon Technologies and Glacier Bay this list of questions to be discussed during our meeting.

My first question was whether Solomon Technologies would be able to deliver to Alwoplast the 20 hp motors in time to meet our scheduled September, 2005 completion date - they said they could not. I then asked Glacier Bay if they could provide motors, gensets, and all support systems to Alwoplast in time - they said they could. So, I thanked Solomon Technologies for coming to the meeting and excused them. Alwoplast, Glacier Bay and I continued the meeting working out the system’s general specifications. By the end of March most of the details had been filled in although slight adjustments continued to be made as the boat and Glacier Bay’s products evolved.

From the beginning, after doing the numbers, for cruising the Solomon Technologies system seemed feasible as a diesel-electric but not battery-electric system as marketed. Still, switching to Glacier Bay resulted in changes to other systems:
1. Props would not be used to charge batteries while under sail so switched from fixed to folding props.
2. Increased from 20 hp to 35 hp motors so higher capacity gensets needed.
3. Batteries not used for propulsion so reduced 144VDC battery bank to smaller capacity 12VDC bank.
4. With more genset and less battery capacity switched house to rely more on gensets.
5. Increase battery charging capacity for faster charging.
6. Where ever feasible switched from 120AC to 240VDC which resulted in:
a. Using 240VDC oven and stove tops instead of multiple 120VAC cooking appliances
b. 240VDC heating element in hot water heater and not use heat exchanger
c. Add 240VDC tankless water heater to preheat water for hot water tank.
d. 240VDC watermaker instead of 12VDC.

Glacier Bay shipped to Alwoplast in late December, 2005 - approximately 6 months late. All equipment was installed by Alwoplast and ready for Glacier Bay’s engineers’ inspection by early September, 2006 - a year after the boat was contracted to be completed. Alwoplast’s installation did not meet specifications and problems were discovered with Glacier Bay’s systems. Alwoplast corrected most installation problems by February, 2007 and Glacier Bay engineers returned for motor sea trials. Motor overheating due to design flaws were discovered and it was determined the boat was over propped. In early April Glacier Bay said the re-designed motors would ship within a week with efficiency increased from 96% to 98% and maximum RPMs increased from 1100 to 1400. As requested by Glacier Bay, over propping will not be addressed until after all motor problems have been completely resolved.

The motors finally shipped May 16th, I returned to Valdivia June 3rd, Glacier Bay’s engineer arrived June 8th but the motors didn’t clear customs and ship from Santiago to Alwoplast until June 15th. Motor sea trials successfully completed June 19th and Glacier Bay’s engineer left. Using additional data obtained during the latest motor sea trials plus other available data Glacier Bay, after discussions with Flex O Fold determined the props should be 19” x 12” instead of original 22” x 16”. New props ordered July 6th with expected delivery to Glacier Bay on July 24th. Glacier Bay’s engineers will return to Alwoplast shortly thereafter to conduct prop sea trials.

During July 6th sea trial to calibrate instruments starboard Duramax shaft seal’s water flow ceased, overheated and was damaged. Incident similar to that which occurred during first sea trial in September, 2006. Nothing left for me to do on Asanagi until new props arrive. That, and since current daily high temperatures in mid 40sF and lows in low 20sF left for California July 10th, returned on July 30th when Glacier Bay engineer’s returned with new props.

Shaft problem solved during my return to California. New props, although slightly oversized will not be modified - maybe future optimizations to motor software will compensate. Current max motoring speed 9.1 knots. Glacier Bay’s control boards and software problems continue (seems to be revision and quality control issues) at least one more visit by them is needed. Late morning of August 3rd during meeting with Alex, Roni and Mauricio decided to remove bow bulbs and reshape bow below water line in an attempt to solve the trim problem. Asanagi will be on the hard for 2 to 3 weeks for this modification so late afternoon of the 3rd I returned to California.

Returned to Valdivia end of August. Glacier Bay engineer arrived September 14th to make latest board/software revisions. Departed Valdivia on passage to Panama September 17th.

For details of my daily activities while staying onboard during last year of construction and see trials see my Valdivia Log .