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M

Member 41673

Voyager's Hard Top

Attached are several pics of Voyager's hard top from the inside... I hope.


One pic is of the port side combing & a bit of the hard top including the glass window. Note the large center window hinges open – important for good air flow. We leave it open all the time except during rain storms. Note that there is no mizzen mast standing in the way. Once upon a time, Voyager was a ketch but we removed the mizzen mast in order to install the hard top. For those who don’t want to make such a radical change to their boat, you could make a hard dodger similar to mine, then run canvas aft over the cockpit. We like our solution because it gives us the whole shebang – full hard top, a place to put 5 large solar panels, speakers, lights, side curtains, antennas etc., etc. I admit I was concerned about unbalancing the boat by removing the mizzen, but actually the boat sailed (& still sails) just fine without it. Try it sometime. We actually like the simplicity, reduced maintenance, less noise (of the wires in the mast) and water tightness that removing the mast provides.


The next pics show the support structure integrated into the aft rail. I wish I had installed some hand holds inside the rain curtains. When the curtains are down, there’s nothing to hang onto. Also note the ladder integrated right into the stern rail. It couldn’t be handier & more out of the way at the same time.


The next pic shows the diagonal bracing. I was afraid that during heavy rolls or when the wind gets under the top it would be heavily stressed & I didn’t want it to move, so I put in these diagonals. The hard top is pretty darned strong - I can stand on the fwd end of it (over the dodger structure) & I weigh 200 lbs. Note that I ran a 2” x 2’ “stiffener” around the bottom of the hard top. This has the added benefit of providing a place to hang the clear plastic curtains. We leave our installed all the time as they are out of the way & out of the sun.


The last pic shows the view fwd from the helmsmans seat.

You can see the funny shape of the hard top in some of my previous postings. I put the strange "flair" toward the back of the hardtop in order to pick-up the support structure provided by the aft rail. At first I thought it looked strange but it has the added benifet of providing additional sun/rain coverage while still providing easy entry.

Hope these pics give you some ideas.

Rick
 

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Jul 2, 2009
14
2 Reliance 44 Portsmouth
Thanks Rick, these are good shots. The dodger looks very substantial... Food for thought. We're going to use the boat this summer and try to get a better idea of what our needs will be.
 
S

sharonk868

The attached photo shows how I enlarged the prop aperature. I'm holding-up the upper piece that I cut out. There was a similar piece cut out of the bottom of the aperature. Also note the streamlining to get the prop some water flow. This is one of the best mods I've ever done to Voyager. Now that I can swing the correct sized prop, she motors powerfully in any condition. Pierre told me that at some point in the Reliance production run they realized the aperature was too small & they began making them larger, so your boat may already have the enlarged version.

Also, you can see my new home-made rudder hinges. When we arrived in the Marshall Islands, both the upper & lower fiberglass hinges were cracked & breaking. I replaced them with an all-stainless version. I simply bent some stainless bar stock into a "U" shape, machined & welded-in a cup shaped stainless "bushing housing" and then machined a nylon bushing to fit between the bushing housing & the rudder post. That was 10,000 nmi ago, so I guess it worked. The only real trick here was match-drilling the thru bolts that hold the hinges on. I simply ordered an extra-long drill bit & did it all in one pass.

Rick
Thanks you for the post.
Hi guys, Im a newbie. Nice to join this forum.
 
Jul 2, 2009
14
2 Reliance 44 Portsmouth
Kudos for Frigoboat... We put a Frigoboat refrigeration system into our existing icebox (the engine driven Sea Frost had been pulled by the last owner). After 5 months of live aboard use, we're very happy with it. Competitive pricing, a great website, great phone support and it went together like a Lego set. We have the BD50 compressor with the Smart processor and an aluminum evaporator - with both air and keel cooling. If anyone wants more information, let me know, I have lots of photos etc. There will also be an article on the installation in the May issue of Blue Water Sailing Magazine.
 

mm08

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Dec 21, 2008
17
Reliance 44 - -
Kudos for Frigoboat... We put a Frigoboat refrigeration system into our existing icebox (the engine driven Sea Frost had been pulled by the last owner). After 5 months of live aboard use, we're very happy with it. Competitive pricing, a great website, great phone support and it went together like a Lego set. We have the BD50 compressor with the Smart processor and an aluminum evaporator - with both air and keel cooling. If anyone wants more information, let me know, I have lots of photos etc. There will also be an article on the installation in the May issue of Blue Water Sailing Magazine.
How large is your icebox? How long does it need to run per day?
 
Jul 2, 2009
14
2 Reliance 44 Portsmouth
How large is your icebox? How long does it need to run per day?
It's roughly 8 - 10 cubic feet. During the last days of summer here in New England it was running roughly 20 minutes of the hour - call it 26 AH in a 24 hour period at most. Outside temps were in the low 80's and the water temp was 78 or so. We have 4" of foam insulation. With the smart controller, you can either manually vary the speed of the compressor (6 speeds) or let it find the optimal speed to run. Low speed with the keel cooler (no fan) pulls 3.2 amps. Because we oversized the compressor and the evaporator for tropical considerations, it always runs on low once everything inside has cooled down. The photo shows the entire system right out of the box.

Some background... We're living aboard with a family of 4 with a 400 AH battery bank by cutting power requirements where ever possible. We also put Imtra LED lighting in - we now operate on an "only 5 lights on at a time" rule and never want for bright and warm lighting. So far the 400 AH bank is keeping up just fine - we do have a KISS wind generator and a 3.5 amp solar panel. As a yard stick, on cloudy windless days we can get a solid 2 days off the bank with refrigeration and normal living uses before we need to think about charging with the engine.
 

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M

Member 41673

Voyager's Reefer

We have a Glacier bay system installed on Voyager. It works well, but it's power hungry - It draws 35A when it's running for a total of about 150AH/day. I significantly increased the amount of installation over the 4" that came with the boat by essentially building boxes inside my existing boxes. Some areas have as much as 12" of foam & others still only 4". I do wish the insulation was better.

Voyager supports all this with a 210A alternator, 355w of solar panels, a KISS wind generator & last,but not least a portable genset. The 5, count 'em, 5 solar panels are mounted to the hard top & do not pivot or move. On a bright sunny day at high noon I can get 20A out of them. All in all, it still 'aint enough. I hate to resort to using the noisy genset in a crowded anchorage.
 
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