12 Volts in the Engine Room 

Power disribution systems being installed. 

New to the Higman Fleet are Engine Room 12 Volt systems which supply all the DC power needed in the engine room. Presently there are six boats with the system and more are coming as vessels complete their major shipyard periods.

What could be so exiting about a direct current power system?  Plenty I say:

• The old system used 8D batteries each weighting 158 pounds.  If you ever had to move the spare 8D from the forward hold to the lower engine room, you know what I mean. 
• The new system uses four - DM29, 70 amp-hour batteries that weight 53 pounds each.
• The new system uses AGM or absorbed glass mat type batteries.  AGM batteries offer the convenience of no maintenance and produce less gas.  By no maintenance I mean no more adding water.  No more realizing the battery is fried because you forgot to add water.  Less gas means less lead sulfate build up on the terminals.
• The new system has redundancy. The battery packs are split into two separate banks.  If one side is dead, the other bank can be switched over to power the dead side.

Let's look at the details.

To start with, adjacent to each

generator are two battery boxes containing the AGM batteries.  These batteries are wired in parallel and are directly connected to the generator starter circuit.  One set for the Stbd genset and one set for the Port genset.

Each battery bank is attached to a Newmar PT-25 Battery Charger.  These chargers interact with batteries to put them through the optimum three stage charge process.  This process provides the fastest recovery and ideal conditioning, maximizing battery performance and extending battery life.

On board boats with theses systems, you will notice a convenient 110AC socket adjacent to the charger to power it.

These battery banks also supply power to each main engine gauge panel, separately. Located next to the battery bank cross over switches are circuit breaker toggle switches for each main engine gauge panel. 

All main engine monitoring functions are powered through this switch.  Use caution when working around this switch; it can shut down the main engine.

Ok, let's say it is time to start up the port off-line generator and it appears that port battery bank supplying the starter is weak and will not start the engine.  What can you do?

• First step, locate the Generator Battery Parallel Switch next to the generator you are trying to start.
• Unplug both Newmar PT-25 Battery chargers.
• Switch the Generator Battery Parallel Switch for the on coming generator to "ON".
• Switch the Generator Battery Parallel Switch for the off going generator to "OFF".
• Now start the on coming generator.
• Begin trouble shooting the weak battery bank.  Contact repairs as needed.

Contact Bryan Smith if you have additional questions about your system.

Protecting Your MMC

The new MMC (passport style license) comes with water resistant pages.  This is not waterproof as you can see to the right.  If you are carrying your MMC with you while on the boat you need to ensure that it is protected.

The cheapest and easiest way to do this is to use a zip lock bag.  If would you like something with more substance there are several different waterproof passport cases available online. 

My recommendation is offered by Witz.  You can find it on the Witz website for $9.95.  It is waterproof and it also floats.

Officials may not accept your MMC if it very worn.  The fee to replace it is $45 and you must submit an application to the Coast Guard.  Please find a way to protect your MMC. 

2011 Training Initiative

When you are in the office, topics for Friday Questions and CBT can be hard to develop.  That is why we rely on you to help develop Company Training.  You are out there day in and day out watching everything that goes on. 

To assist you in developing training we have started the  

2011 Training Initiative. By the end of April each boat should have a Training Initiative book.  Each "Cook Book" will contain instructions, pages to write your course, a micro SD and conversion for regular SD.  This will work in a digital camera or in your cell phone.

To initiate your crew, we will send a box of steaks (or comparable meat), for each completed book.  We have limited this to three per boat, but you may do more with approval from the Training Department.  This fall we will also have a grand prize (prize yet to be determined).  To enter for the grand prize you must submit your course by September 30, 2011.

You are our experts!  Send us those ideas.

Nav Zone

Crossing Sounds and Bays

They say April showers bring May flowers.  I don't know about May flowers, but they sure bring some rough waters.  Remember these company policies regarding Sounds and Bays:

• Monitor weather channels closely for conditions that may cause rough seas or large swell activity.
• Couplings wires and lines should be inspected to ensure there are no broken or frayed strands or excessive wear spots.  Questionable wires and lines should be replaced or repaired.
• Coupling should be inspected and adjusted regularly.
• If sea swells or weather create unsafe navigation conditions, seek sheltered waters until conditions improve.  Inform dispatch of any delays.

 Captain Iry Duplantis also cautioned about using the correct lines in bays in sounds during rough weather.

• Scissory wires should be long wires.  The barges will flex and if you use short wires they will break.
• Soft lines across the timberheads will also allow for extra flexibility.

USCG Navigation General Questions

Weather systems in the middle latitudes generally travel from _______.

A: west to east

B: east to west

C: north to south

D: None of the above

Steady precipitation is typical of _______________________.

A: coming cold weather conditions

B: a warm front weather condition

C: high pressure conditions

D: scattered cumulus clouds

If your weather bulletin shows the center of a low pressure area to be 100 miles due east of your position, what winds can you expect in the Northern Hemisphere?

A: East to northeast

B: East to southeast

C: North to northwest

D: South to southeast

Which indication on the barometer is most meaningful in forecasting weather?

A: The words "Fair -- Change -- Rain"

B: The direction and rate of change of barometric pressure

C: The actual barometric pressure

D: The relative humidity

What indicates the arrival of a hurricane within 24 to 36 hours?

A: The normal swell becoming lower and from a steady direction

B: Long bands of nimbostratus clouds radiating from a point over the horizon

C: The barometer drops 2 millibars between 1000 and 1600

D: Unusually good weather with above average pressures followed

Stern Shots 

Shrimper on right in a real hurry to get out this morning.  E/B mile 184, ICW WHL.  Taken by Capt Mike Maneely on M/V BAFFIN BAY.

   

Robert Ivy, Tommy Woodside and Juan Pena along with Recsue Randy prepare for a MOB drill.

 

Nautical Trivia

More Orange, TX wooden shipbuilding...

 

In our previous issues, we discussed wooden sailing and steam ships built during WWI on Harbor Island, across from our office in Orange, TX.  The three sailing schooners, four and five masted, were built by F.H. Swails Shipyard.  The three wooden steamships were built at the National Shipbuilding.

 

Along with these vessels, an additional eleven ships were built at the International Shipbuilding Company, also located in Orange, TX.  These ships were built from 1917 to 1919. 

Completed Barkentine at ISC dock, Orange, TX.

 

All of these vessels were Barquentines.  A barqentine is a sailing vessel with three or more masts; with a square rigged foremast and and a fore and aft rigged  main, mizzen and any other masts.  All eleven Orange built sailing ships had five masts each.  

 

It is interesting to note that theses barquentines may have been the last cargo carriers ever built with square sails.  With the end of WWI, a world wide slump in shipping began and hastened the demise of these vessels.

 

To build each if these vessels approximately 1.3 to 1.8 million board feet of lumber was needed.  The logistics and climate for building these ships along the Gulf Coast was just right.  The forests of East Texas with the Sabine River for transportation of the timber, made the wooden shipbuilding business ideal for Orange, TX.

 

S/V City of Galveston, built Feb. 1919.