Aboard Astraea

Invest in experiences

February 20, 2013
by Nate

Engine Zincs

Astraea has a Westerbeke 44 Engine. In the heat exchanger there is a pencil zinc exposed to the saltwater cooling loop. The pencil zinc corrodes away sacrificially instead of the engine. Monthly I check the zinc to see how much has corroded. In December I changed the zinc out with a new one. I searched online for the zincs and found them at first for $6 each. After further searching on Amazon I found them for $2.50 each plus $10 shipping. Since they’re a common wear item I bought 10 to bring the total price each to $3.65.

The part information is here for anyone else who may be looking for the best deal on these zincs. Westerbeke / Universal Part number 011885. They’re shipped and sold by RotoMetals, a 5 star seller from San Francisco. Here’s the link to the best priced zincs.

All I need to change the zinc in the heat exchanger is a 9/16 socket wrench. There's an old and new zinc for a reference of when to change out. It's best to leave some pencil on the zinc and not go down to the nub, because then you've gone too far and may have begun to damage your engine.

All I need to change the zinc in the heat exchanger is a 9/16 socket wrench. There’s an old and new zinc to show when to change out. It’s best to leave some pencil on the zinc and not go down to the nub, because then you’ve gone too far and may have begun to damage your engine.

February 19, 2013
by Nate

Wi-Fi for Astraea

Last August I purchased and installed a Wi-Fi system aboard Astraea called Wi-Fi for Boats. It’s a kit made by a cruiser computer guy that includes everything you need to get long-range Wi-Fi aboard your boat. I bought the system and tested it by installing it on the stern rail of Astraea.

The system is pretty simple for a computer geek/boat nerd like me to install. All I had to do was wire in an extra circuit breaker in to my existing panel and plug everything in. The hardest part was running the wiring through the boat that goes to the external antenna.

A diagram of the network setup on Astraea

A diagram of the network setup on Astraea.

Here’s how it works. The Wi-Fi adapter on the mizzen mast communicates with a shore side station using it’s high gain antenna. That adapter is connected to a Power over Ethernet Injector bridge down in the cabin. The other Power over Ethernet Injector is connected to a PicoNet onboard hotspot that I connect my laptop to to blog about boating awesomeness.

The user interface for the system

Here’s a screen shot of the user interface for controlling the Wi-Fi system.

I rerouted the cable through the cockpit sole near the mizzen mast. I connected everything back together to test the system still worked, then went aloft and attached the antenna to the radar arch. The plan is to not use the radar when the Wi-Fi is in use, just in case it overpowers the little Wi-Fi system on the mast since they’re located so close together. The Furuno radar operates at 900MHz and shouldn’t interfere with the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, but I don’t want to tempt fate and blow one or the other up, so we’ll only use one at a time.

Wired in to the auxiliary panel. What a mess!

Wired in to the auxiliary panel. What a mess! I’ll clean all this wiring up later when I have more time.

The onboard access point and POE (Power Over Etherenet) injectors for the onboard and external Wi-Fi.

The onboard access point and POE (Power Over Ethernet) injectors for the onboard and external Wi-Fi.

The new high gain external antenna is mounted on the mizzen mast.

The new high gain external antenna mounted on the mizzen mast.

Wiring for the external Wi-Fi antenna is zip tied to the radar wiring on the mizzen.

Wiring for the external Wi-Fi antenna is zip tied to the radar wiring on the mizzen.

The through deck fitting for mizzen mast wiring. Left to right are the Wi-Fi, Furuno RADAR and VHF Radio cables.

The through deck fitting for mizzen mast wiring. Left to right are the Wi-Fi, Furuno RADAR and VHF Radio cables.

If anyone in the San Diego area is looking to get a great Wi-Fi system installed I highly recommend Wi-Fi for boats. Dalton recently upgraded the system to use a different antenna to take advantage of the latest generation of Wi-Fi. The kit is DIY friendly, but if you need help installing yours I’d be glad to help, for a reasonable fee.