Far Niente

Launched in November 1999 'Far Niente', which means without a care in Italian, is a Catana 431 catamaran. Aboard our first 'Far Niente' that we sailed on our first voyage we began to appreciate the benefits of a fast light boat when cruising. We were able to go much faster and thereby avoid some of the weather that heavier slower boats ran into. We also saw alot of cats out there. After returning we lived on a Golden Wave 42 in San Francisco Bay for 4 years while looking at just about every multihull we could get at. Chris White's excellent book on cats also helped put all the multihull pros and cons, fact and fiction into perspective.

After they started construction on Far Niente we learned that we'd have a new crew member showing up. We also changed plans and decided to take delivery at the factory and sail her home ourselves. The factory was very helpful in modifying her interior and equipment to accommodate the changed plans. Among the things we changed from the standard 431 layout:

• The aft port cabin converts into an office. Presently the bunks have been removed and stored in the hulls to make room for the crib. We also had 8 small drawers installed for all the clothing a baby requires - they are 8.5x11 or bigger so they'll also be great once the cabin becomes an office again (in 18 or so years...).
• To handle the laundry chores that come with a baby we had a washer installed under the aft port bunk and a separate dryer installed in the hanging locker in the forward port cabin. Both are 220 models which we do not plan on running while at sea but they sure are nice when dockside. We found them at the local equivalent to Circuit City near the factory (Darty). Europe's laundry machines are all in general much smaller then what you find in the US. Having seperate units has turned out to be much more efficient then the single ones as you can wash and dry at the same time. In addition the individual units are more efficient then units trying to be both fish and fowl.
• We removed a few of the shelves in the bridge deck and kept the navigation station gear to a minimum so that the bridge deck would be more open and airy - this has worked out very well.
• Taking delivery in November at the factory meant that we'd need to 'exist' in a very cold French winter and utilize 220 shore power. On the back of the boat we had both 110 and 220 shore power plugs installed along with a batter charger that would work on either. The factory also installed a 220 to 110 transformer and added a few 220 plugs. This allows the 110 water heaters to work regardless of the shore power and also means that we have 110 and 220 throughout the boat - this has worked out very well. The transformer is reversible as well so that in theory we can keep the 220 goodies going when back in the states. One subtle point is an AC relay they installed so that when the inverter is on it doesn't try and power the water heaters or high load lines - just the plugs.
• As the snow started to fall on the boat at the factory and after helping to deliver another 431 to Italy for New Years we decided to add a diesel heater which has been very very toasty. Its located in the starboard engine room with heat exchangers in the aft cabins of each hull. Currently the system is just for heating but when we get to warmer climates we can re-route the lines so that it can power our hot water tanks.
• Electronics wise we've kept it fairly simple - Raytheon ST60 instruments, 7000 hydraulic autopilot, Mastervolt inverter, Link 10 battery monitor and an Icom 710 SSB with a PTC-II modem so we can keep in touch via e-mail. We also added a motion detector that turns on the cockpit lights as a simple burglar deterrent.

• The two 40HP Yanmar's came standard with internally regulated N-type Hitachi alternators. One side has a 55 amp unit and the other side has an 80 amp unit (55 is stock, the 80 was a lucky accident). They seem to work fairly well and deliver constant load regardless of RPM although the regulators are fairly dumb as you'll see below.

• There are four 55 watt solar panels. Using Nigel Calder's estimates they should generate (4*55)/3=73 Ah a day. The West Marine advisor estimates 25% efficiency daily if you don't try and track the sun which works out to (4*55*.25*24)/13.2=100 Ah.

• As a first rough usage test we ran the batteries down to 82% (ie down about 125.3 amp hours). We then started the engines and ran for 60 minutes during which time the alternators put a total of 28.9 amp hours back into the batteries (according to the Link 10). It didn't matter whether we ran one or both engines nor what RPM as the amount of amps was quite a bit lower then the alternators max output.

• On another occasion over the course of 48 hours we ran on just batteries and whatever solar power was available (1st day cloudy, second sort of sunny). After 24 hours we were down 88 amp hours. After 48 hours we were down 125 amp hours. We had both the fridge and freezer going during this entire time and the freezer probably could stand to be defrosted. We keep our fridge set to +6 Celsius and our freezer to -6 Celsius. Other system usage was similar to the at anchor scenario in the budgets below.

• Over the last 4 days I've run a more complete test of the 'at anchor' power budget scenario. We turned off the freezer and battery charger and generally just used what we would at anchor. Using the Link 10 I kept track at various intervals what the charge state was in the batteries as well as what the solar panels were contributing. Here's the graph of our amp hour deficit and solar:

• Taking a rough average of the peaks and troughs it appears we are running about a 20 amp hour deficit each day. During these days it was fairly sunny and warm (about 18-20 degrees Celsius). We didn't adjust the panels at all and therefore during a fair amount of the day the boom was crossing some portion of the panels thereby cutting their output quite a bit. The water temperature here is 64 degrees and we run the fridge at 6 degrees Celsius with 2 degrees hysterisis. In the tropics we'll have better solar but the higher water temperature will probably eat up any gain due to the fridge requirements increasing.
• From late night through early morning just about the only thing on the boat running was the fridge. Looking at the difference between midnight and say 9am on a few days it looks like the fridge is consuming around 40-55 amp hours per day.
• As a more exact charging test we started the engine with the 80 amp alternator and ran it for one hour at about 1000 RPM at the end of the graphed usage test above. Here's the charge graph for that hour indicating voltage (basically constant at 13.55), amp hours deficit in the bank, and amps going into the bank.:

• In about an hour we were able to put 20.4 amps back into the system thereby making up the deficit for a single day. As you can see the regulator kept the amount of amps going into the battery well below the alternators maximum. In this test we ran the batteries down by only 11%. In the above case they  were down by 18% and as a result they accepted more amps in an hour. When really on the hook I suspect we'll run the batteries down closer to 50% and then charge as that's where they'll accept amps at a much greater rate.
• So, its pretty clear we need to soup up our charging system. At anchor we could probably get by with the standard setup but when underway it will require probably 5-6 hours a day or charging. This has been the case with two other Catana's, a 431 and a 471, while crossing the Atlantic.
• One option would be to put much larger alternators on the boat. Yanmars are known to have problems with extremely large alternators unless carefully installed as the water pump and crank shaft bearings cannot handle the load. Some other boats have put large alternators on with mixed success. See thankslarry for comments about the super sized charging system on his Catana. A few other boats are experimenting with larger alternators as well - someone has to figure this out sooner or later.
• One might suggest that a generator is required on a boat of this size and complexity but its hard for a lean cruisers like ourselves to justify the weight (don't want to turn the cat into a dog) and we already have 2 diesel engines anyways.
• The tactic I've chosen to begin with is to attack the regulation of the alternators given that the above graphs show that the standard ones are not being utilized even close to their full capability. After doing a bit of research and talking to local boats we've ordered a dual alternator smart regulator from Adverc (see www.adverc.co.uk). Their regulator works in tandem with the existing internal Hitachi regulator which makes installation easy and in theory should keep the warranty on the Yanmar intact. Several other British boats here have them and are quite happy. They also supply the charging controller for some of the Open 60s - King Fisher in particular. On their web site they mention a 145% improvement for a Lagoon 472 with two Yanmar's similar to ours. I also ordered another 80 amp alternator from the local Yanmar dealer (about $350) so that both engines match although its not required by the Adverc. Finally I ordered 120 amp replacements for the existing 70 amp diode isolators on the boat. I'd recommend that if you are in the process of purchasing a new Catana  that you request that the diode isolators they install be increased from the standard 70 amp model to a 120  amp (or larger) model so you don't have to replace them later when/if you increase the alternator output.
• One other comment - the factory installs 20 watt halogen bulbs all over the boat standard. They are nice but chew up juice like there is no tomorrow so we've replace everything but the reading lights with 10 amp bulbs.
• Below is a rough power budget using the onboard standard amp meter. There are 2 budgets with the first, at anchor lean, being the most important from past experience. I've used watts and taken into account the voltage as some devices such as compressors operate differently based on voltage. The bottom line is that we'll need about 109 Ah at anchor and 270 Ah when sailing.