I think this speaks to the wilderness that is the ocean. Part of the allure is the fact that the sea, even inside the Straits with our more benign conditions, is an uncontrollable place. There are so many variables. When heading out on a backpacking trip, the variables are fewer, and more easily controlled. With sailing, if the wind kicks up to 30 knots, no matter how well prepared you are, you are in for a rough ride. If you lose a major system on your boat, especially sails or motors, then you are perhaps adrift on a conveyor belt of water that heads toward every rock. Put another way, the consequence of error when sailing are literally life and death. Or at least great suffering.
So we are packing and preparing like so many times before. With so much experience, we do it now without thinking. And we will soon head off to the unknown that is a voyage on the sea. Forecasts call for SE 15-25 tomorrow, but will that happen? Will we get to sail north? Or will it rub against an ebb too hard and kick up a nasty sea?
No way to know, despite a pile of experience. In this way, going sailing is a journey into the unknown. And that is delightful.
3 comments:
Brian,
Do you remember what size transducer you got for your Tiny Tach (6mm? 1/4"? 7mm?)? Not near our boat right now ('88 w/the M40 so should be same as yours) and after lucking out with no damage when fresh water pump died I am on the same RPM-and-water-temp-in-cockpit crusade you were on a few years ago.
Hope you had a good long weekend trip.
Thanks!
- Bass
http://sailing.pictureofnectar.com
Bass,
If I understand your question and am thinking clearly, there is no transducer for the Tiny Tach. It is connected via a supplied clamp to one of your fuel injection lines, and then the unit itself is merely powered and placed where you want it.
You may have meant to ask about the sender for the temp gauge. I'd have to go back and check, but my struggle led me to finding a dual sender that was capable of powering two gauges, and then I tapped that sender into my thermostat housing.
It's been years since I installed the Tach and temp gauge in the cockpit, and I cannot imagine not having it! Most boats do as a stock option, but for some reason the Gulf 32 has it all down in the cabin.
Let me know if I am not understanding your question, and good luck on your project. I hope my blog post helps provide answers to some of your questions on setting up two temp gauges.
Brian,
Your blog has been MASSIVELY helpful... sure there are other boats out there with similar setups, but to be able to read about the things you've done on a boat that is the same model (and even same year) as ours is truly invaluable.
So thanks! We keep a small blog ourselves and I know it's actually quite time consuming to post detailed descriptions of work done etc.
As for the Tiny Tach, they call it a transducer, but what they're talking about is the clamp that fits on the injection lines... they offer a 6mm, 1/4", or 7mm clamp, and being nowhere near the boat I don't know which size. I tried last time aboard with my cheapo multimeter but got a range of values that are, shall we say, not definitive for that small range.
I have read your temp sender saga multiple times as it's so similar to what I am trying to do. I THINK I have found a solution that won't require tapping (I don't have the tap, bit or even a handle for that larger size tap, so that's an investment for one time use I'm trying to avoid). I've found a Faria dual sender (I have Faria gauges already in the pilothouse) so I can get a second Faria gauge and use their 1/8" dual sender with an 1/8" NPT to 1/4" NPT adapter into the thermostat housing... fingers crossed this will work.
Our first major cruise we blew up our fresh water pump... someone was looking out for us because we managed not to overheat (as I shut it down at marina while listening to the squeaking I clearly recall seeing the temp gauge right at its normal 170 or so), but I don't want to tempt fate a second time (especially since we'd just crossed the Spieden with a 4 knot ebb), hence the temp gauge... here's our little write up of that trip:
http://sailing.pictureofnectar.com/first-trip-a-true-cruising-experience/
-- Bass
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