Construction: Week 42 - Hardtop, Arch, Electronics, Controls and HVAC (WOW)

I departed for Taiwan on Thursday morning (October 10) to visit the shipyard (Tania Yacht Co.) in Koahsiung Taiwan and was enroute for 26 hours.  I was finally able to access the Week 42 photos upon my arrival at the Grand Ha-Lai Hotel at midnight on Saturday (12:30 AM Taiwan time, Friday 11:30 PM Chicago time).  Hence the one week posting delay.  More on the Taiwan adventure in the next set of articles.

Note: I traveled lite, left my lap to behind and relied on my iPad for communication, news and entertainment.  Unfortunately, you cannot compose articles on Google's BlogSpot with an iPad.

The yard made spectacular progress and the big news this week has many parts.  First is the installation of the hardtop.  At this point all of the "pieces" are finally in place.  The "pieces" consist of the hull, the house, the flybridge/boat deck and the hardtop.  Outer Reef limits the number of structural components to reduce the possibility of leaks.

The second big news is the almost complete installation of electronics and controls in both the pilot house and flybridge.  Amazing progress.

The third is the installation of the Cruisair Chilled Water central HVAC (heat and air-conditioning).

Now on to the photos. 

1. Bow view
Anchors and bow plate removed for final adjustments (remember they were in place last week)
Additional portlights on hull
Partial bottom paint

Explanatory Note:  The painting of the bottom is completed after the sea trial.  During the sea trial the boat is loaded with fuel (1/2 tanks or 650 gallons) and weights to simulate the full fuel, gear and personal stuff that would be on a fully loaded boat.  At that point the actual waterline is established and the boot stripe is applied when the boat is hauled.  The photo below shows a black line that approximates the water line.

2. Black line indicating the approximate location of the waterline (photo taken while in Taiwan)

3. Flybridge and Boatdeck (as viewed from above)
Hardtop
Radar Arch
KVH satellite antenna (one of two awaiting installation)

4. Flybridge
Hardtop with stainless steel support posts
Radar arch 

5. Flybridge control station (under protective covering)
Garmin Multifunction displays (2)
Garmin GMI 10 (2)
VHF radios (2)
ABT TRAC bow and stern thruster controls (left side under wraps)
ABT TRAC stabilizer control (not in view)
Glendenning engine control (right side under the box)

6. Flybridge looking to starboard
Cabinets for refrigerator, sink and storage being faired

7. Pilothouse (actual week 42 photo)
Garmin Multifunction Displays (installed and protected)
Garmin GMI 10 displays on either side of multifunction displays
ABT TRAC bow and stern thruster controls (left side of panel)
Wide wenge bull nose to accommodate stainless steel hand-holds
Glendenning single lever engine controls (right side under the box)
Generator controls to the far left
Furuno autopilot (hard to see but it's there)
ABT TRAC stabilizer controls (same issue - hard to see)
Rough structure in place for recessed ceiling
 

8. Pilothouse port view
Table base with teak flooring and black wenge trim
Port side pilothouse windows
Generator control
110 volt outlets (total of 4 sockets), phone and 12 volt outlet (see photo 10 below)

Explanatory Note: Technically, the photos below are "cheating" as they was taken while I was at the shipyard.  They show the pilothouse equipment and controls with most of protective covering removed.  Notice that the bullnose and helm chair base have protective covers.  Tania immediately protects equipment and surfaces that are finished.

9. Uncovered pilothouse controls (taken on Wednesday October 15 at the shipyard)
GOST security system controls (to the left of the GMI 10
Inverter control (above the GOST control panel)

10.  Left side of control panel
16KW and 12KW generator controls
110 volt, phone and 12 volt outlets

11. Stairwell to flybridge
Template for door fame
Holes for four stairwell courtesy lights

12. Galley - No change

13. Salon looking forward
Teak flooring uncovered
Sanding of bulkheads in progress

14. Salon looking aft (same as above)

15. Engine Room looking forward
Dual engine Racor 20 micron filter system (along the catwalk)
Single Racor filters for each generator (inboard of the engine filters)

Explanatory Note: Filtration of fuel is a critical issue with diesel engines and the cause for most problems.  Diesel fuel can contain water and dirt, which is related to timing of marina fuel deliveries or drawing fuel from the bottom of the marina's tanks.  It can also contain bacteria related to sitting in the boat's fuel tanks (and, quite possibly, from marina's where they sell very little diesel).  Either of these problems can cause the engine(s) to fail. 

The 63 is equipped to deal with these problems of three levels.  These include the 20 micron Racors (second line of defense), the 2 micron on-engine fuel filters (3rd line of defense) and the fuel polishing system (first line of defense), which eliminates bacteria, dirt and water).

 

16. Engine Room looking aft
Cruisair Chilled Water HVAC system (upper left of the photo)

Explanatory Note: Below is a close up of the Cruisair Chilled Water AC system.  This is very different than the HVAC treatment in the 48 Sundancer.  The 48 had four self contained systems located in the four major spaces (V-berth, salon, guest stateroom and helm area).  Each unit contained a compressor, condenser and air handler mounted within the space that they serve.  Two problems arise from this type of installation, noise from the machinery and tight installations making maintenance and repair more difficult.  The self contained unit in the salon was actually accessed through a panel in the guest SR.  It's removal would have required disassembly of the surrounding woodwork and considerable expense.

The condenser and compressor for the chilled water (aka "tempered water") system is located in the engine room thus greatly reducing noise (especially in the 63 where the engine room is heavily insulated).  The chilled or heated fresh water is then pumped through an insulated piping loop to air handlers which are located in the living spaces (salon, galley, pilothouse, VIP  SR, guest SR and master SR).  The engine room components are readily serviceable.  Again we have the benefit of photos taken in Taiwan (17 and 18 below).


17.  Chilled Water AC mounted over the starboard 16KW generator in the engine room

 

 

18 Air handler in VIP hanging locker connected to insulated piping 

 

19. Lazarette looking to starboard
Cabinet storage below workbench
Frame for house battery boxes
Fuel site level glass

20. Lazarette looking to port
Fuel site glass
Coin dot flooring being installed (note the boxes of tiles next to the auxilliary fuel tank)

21. Lazarette looking aft
Worker installing coin dot flooring



22. VIP Stateroom - no change



23. Guest Stateroom - No change



24. Master SR
Ceiling panels being installed on the half round
Light fixtures

Note to Readers: You may have noticed that this article contains considerably more detail that previous articles and certainly more photos.  This is a direct result of visiting the shipyard and taking lots of photos.  Bottom line: It's hard to discern the full scope of progress from a photo of a specific space.  This is especially true when we're talking about the engine room.  It would be very helpful if Tania took a photo each specific item installed that week but that is not how its done.  Not a problem and perhaps, to some degree, many owners may not want that level of detail.

Written by Les after visiting the shipyard.