Preparing Dirona for the North Atlantic Crossing (MV Dirona Channel) 

We have crossed both the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic and, that small sample, strongly agrees with your assessment. The North Atlantic can pack a punch. Admittedly our timing for the South Atlantic crossing was more careful since it was a long 3650 nautical miles so they aren't directly comparable but the northern one was definitely more challenging from a weather perspective.

Thanks for the feedback. A great source for fuel bladders is ATL with a broad selection of standard sizes and they also do custom designs. Our experience is that the key to a stable bladder is fully filling it. We have had ours out in heavy weather and they never shifted. As an example of how full we aim to get it, we have a picture of me standing on one where I'm hard sinking in at all. Good luck with your project.

Thanks.

Thanks.

Yeah, it's true. There is never enough time for everything.

Thanks Les. We do plan to post another video this weekend on a night time pass through the Brunswick lock in Liverpool.

Good push. We'll get to work on getting another video posted.

Thanks!

Thanks.

I agree. And, when doing longer open ocean crossings, choosing a good weather window is even more important.

Thanks for the feedback on the videos.

Thanks for the feedback.

It's a common trick from the aircraft sector where short distance planes need to rarely need to do a larger hop. The military is another frequent user where they often need to store fuel at temporary locations. Another popular use of fuel bladders is in high speed sports fishers that need to run out a hundred miles or so to get out past the continental shelf on the US east coast. These are fuel hungry boats running at 20 and sometimes even beyond 30 kts so bladders are frequently used.

Boats are tight places but most places on Dirona are surprisingly easy to get to. However, as on all boats, there are a few service tasks where more space would really be welcome.

Matt Cross i

Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for the feedback on the video.

Most of our ocean crossings where great but we made the North Atlantic crossing at a less favorable time of the year so we saw some weather. Nothing dangerous but it was quite rough: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-guEnTp2a6Sc.html

Yeah, I've got a bit of a Henry Ford approach to style: any color you want as long as it's black :-).

How about adding a downward curve to that exhaust. Done

The fuel bladders are connected to a bulkhead fitting via short fuel hoses with cam lock fittings. There is a fuel transfer pump inside the boat that is responsible for pumping fuel between tanks. From inside the boat, the fuel can be transferred from the bladders into the tanks below. More details on the process here: mvdirona.com/2012/12/fuel-for-the-crossing/.

Long range fishing on a smaller boat people will head out on a loop drop a bladder with a beacon in the ocean do your loop , refuel load the bladder and head back in

I hadn't heard of this before but I suppose diesel is lighter than water so it would float and so it would work. Makes sense.

There is a lot to be said for the Queen Mary approach. When taking on weather, size really does matter. Small boats put control in your hands, give us flexibility to go where we want to go when we want to go there but the weather is a downside risk we need to keep an eye on. We have crossed oceans many times but this one was rougher than usual: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-guEnTp2a6Sc.html. I'll post the changes we made as a consequence of that trip sometime this week or next to mvdirona.com. We think these engineering changes are sufficient to make the weather we saw on our North Atlantic crossing a non-issues.

Thanks for the feedback on the video.

Yes, fuel bladders are used frequently to extend the range of small aircraft. It's a nice solution and there are a lot of different applications: atlinc.com/rangeextender.html.

We used a 2500 gal bladder on the minesweeper I was on from Long Beach CA to Pearl Harbor during Vietnam.

We should publish more video. But, between work, fun, and posting on our blog (mvdiona.com), time is tight and videos take a ton of time to bring together. We plan to do a video on our transit of Scotland's Caledonia Canal soon. Real Soon :-).

i totally understand! thanks for the time you take to share! i love the blog too. i am very excited for the caledonia canal.

We'll take strong over beauty all day long and we're kind of partial to a vaguely commercial look.

I certainly agree with this comment I love the functionality and I am also partial to the commercial look! What a great vessel!

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed it.

I was thinking it was Brian May, but yeah, I see Billy there.

Hello in Kuwait. We've long wanted to visit the Persian Gulf by boat but unfortunately, there is too much pirate activity ranging 100s of miles off the Somali coast and so, at least for us, it's a higher risk trip than we want to make.

I'm not sure motorcycles are safer than long range cruisers but it's super hard to have an interesting life without accepting some risk. We're currently enjoying a nice slow run south through Scotland's Caledonian Canal: mvdirona.com

It's the protective cover (essentially a shutter) over the windows with the design point being a broken window would remain sealed and not take water.

I feel super lucky to have had the opportunity to take a trip on the USS California. I even got to crawl to the end of one of the forward torpedo tubes and sign my name on the outer door. Torpedo tubes look fairly big until you get down to the end :-)

Thanks for the comment Robert. We use a cool system where a passive hose is cam locked onto a permanently installed bulkhead fitting on one end and the fuel bladders on the other. Using the fuel manifold in the engine room, I can just pump the fuel below without going out side. There is a picture of the fuel transfer system in this article: mvdirona.com/2013/12/dirona-fuel-manifold/ I've outlined a bit more detail on the transfer process and advantages here: mvdirona.com/2017/10/preparing-dirona-for-the-north-atlantic-crossing/#comment-214735

I agree that, if you take care of your own boat, it does take some activity. Potentially an even more important factor is going to new places and seeing new things tends to make you more active both mentally and physically.

I sure as hell am a kid, whenever I’m on a ship, I’ll be walking around the whole thing but mostly at the bow or stern. Sound of the stern’s volume is highly increased from the engine.

I'm the same way when touring ships and, over the years, have toured some very interesting examples: *Oil Tanker: mvdirona.com/2019/09/oil-tanker-tour/ *Scalloper: mvdirona.com/2016/11/on-board-a-canadian-scalloper/ *Container Ship: mvdirona.com/2012/06/on-board-the-hanjin-oslo/ *Cruise Ship: mvdirona.com/2016/02/behind-the-scenes-on-the-westerdam-2/ *Steamship: mvdirona.com/2019/07/historic-steamship-tour/ *Nuclear Submarine: mvdirona.com/2016/05/uss-california-distinguished-visitor-embark/ *Cable Layer: perspectives.mvdirona.com/2017/01/cs-responder-trans-oceanic-cable-layer/ *Ice Breaker: mvdirona.com/2015/01/on-board-the-aurora-australis/ *Arctic Research Vessel: mvdirona.com/2015/10/on-board-the-marion-dufresne/

The crossing was one of our rougher ones and we had a couple of mechanical issues (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-guEnTp2a6Sc.html) but most of the time it's a nice relaxing run.

It's hard to do it for many years without learning a quite a bit and I'm the sort of person that wants to know the "why?" behind everything but it's absolutely not required to enjoy the lifestyle at comfortable levels of risk.

Accumulated, first hand knowledge tends to stick with me best. Thanks for sharing. _Comfortable levels of risk._ Lol.

It is true that more sailboats than powerboats make the trip but, having crossed every ocean in this boat, there are some upsides in comfort. In storm conditions, it's really nice to be inside a warm and dry pilot house.

@@MVDirona Oh, for sure and everybody to their own of course. You guys do an amazing job and your choice of vessel clearly works for you. Personally, I tried to love powered boats and never managed to. There's magic to the moment you switch off an engine and the wind takes over. I love how a boat just tenses and relaxes at the same time. And of course, there are very nice sailboats available with a pilot house. ;)

Thanks for the feedback!

That's the way we travel as well Billy. Just the two of us.

Parts of the North Atlantic crossing is in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-guEnTp2a6Sc.html. It's a bit rough but you can find lots of relaxing ocean crossings up at: ru-vid.com.

You nailed it. All decisions in boat buildings are compromises. Small windows are better at sea but you mostly aren't at sea. Large windows are wonderful most of the time but aren't safe in extreme conditions. The solutions I like best are very thick windows or protection with storm plates. A broken window in storm conditions could end it all so it's worth being careful.

Yeah, bladders in used frequently in military applications when deploying forces to new locations quickly. They are used to reposition short and medium range aircraft longer distances. They are in frequent use in the sports fisher fleets that need run longer distances to get to the pelagic fish. They are great tools to extend range.

Thanks.

Your right. There is currently a hurricane approaching Kinsale Ireland (where we made landfall after our North Atlantic crossing) and, even where we are currently are in Scotland (mvdirona.com) we have been seeing some big barometer swings.

Our control systems are less life critical than those found in navy ships you have in your background but we try to employ the same focus on care, training, and automation that the US Navy uses in it's nuclear fleet. I did get an opportunity to do a dive on the USS California (Virginia Class attack submarine) when we were in Florida: mvdirona.com/2016/05/uss-california-distinguished-visitor-embark/. Amazing boat!

Thank you for the link, loved the story. Truly is an Amazing Boat! Both of them...

MV Dirona wow!! How in the world did you get invited for a ride in a submarine? That was so cool.

Of course there is an chronological order of production but, with all the different topics covered, we don't really expect them to be watched in any specific order but I can see the upside of numbering them going forward. Thanks for the suggestion.

I work full time as an engineer but I get paid for that so it probably doesn't qualify as selfless :-). This is my day job: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AyOAjFNPAbA.html.

The fuel capacity of the boat is 1,750 gallons below deck and 2,710 when carrying all it can. The furthest ocean crossing we have ever done is 3,800 nautical miles and the boat range with reserve is just over 4,000 nautical miles with deck fuel. Just using the built in fuel tanks, the range is 2,500 nautical miles. Fuel transfer is a super simple arrangement that doesn't even require going outside or opening up the tank deck fittings and possibly getting water in the fuel. We have a bulkhead cam lock fitting. We just snap on the hose at the bulk head and snap the other side of the hose in a cam lock fitting on the fuel tank. When the tanks are hooked up like this, they can be pumped out by opening a valve in the engine room and turning on the fuel transfer pump. The same pump that transfers fuel around in the boat is also used to transfer fuel from the bladders to the main tanks. You can find a picture of the fuel manifold and controls here: mvdirona.com/2013/12/dirona-fuel-manifold/ Advantages of this approach: *The tanks are drawn and all the fuel is sucked out making them very light and easy to fold up. *No water can get in the fuel *All fuel is filter prior to leaving the bladders and being brought down below for storage in the main tanks *No need to go outside and fuel can be pumped in rough water without risk to personal or the fuel load

We have a nice fuel transfer system for the bladder fuel where we connect a cam to a permanent fitting on the bulkhead via a short hose section to a cam lock on the bladder tanks. When it is time to pump the fuel, the standard fuel transfer pump moves the fuel from the bladder, through the transfer filter (25 micron RACOR FPO-10), and then is directed into one of the main tanks. This has the advantage of allowing fuel to be pumped with nobody outside, doesn’t require the tank filler to be open to water ingress, filters all fuel as it leaves the bladders, and allows the bladders to be pumped completely dry so they are light and easy to handle. When fueling the main tanks, the fuel is brought in directly. We filter all fuel that is transferred from the main tanks to the day tank (wing engine) or the supply tank (all other engines) using the same 25 micron RACOR FPO-10) transfer filter and high capacity fuel pump. If you are interested, there is a lot more information on the fuel management and transfer systems used on Dirona here: mvdirona.com/2013/12/dirona-fuel-manifold/

Coffey Beans ii

I think your right that it would be easy to drop a panel and a safety line wouldn't be that difficult to install. It's a good suggestion.

The tanks are full of diesel which has a flash point of 126F and as a consequence, the fuel is considered combustible rather than flammable. Gasoline is a common flammable substance. It still is true that a boat carrying over 2,000 gallons of fuel could fall victim to fire and, where that to happen, it would be difficult to control.

I've considered using the suction holders used to install heavy glass plates in buildings. Having a handle would make handling those big, heavy plates much easier. I'll have to come up with something.

Good point. It probably would make the job a bit quicker.

I haven't lost one yet but enough people have argued that just turning the boat around in the slip is probably faster and is definitely easier. We may just give in to low tech solutions and declare that the new standard operating procedure :-).

Yeah, your right. I've done it several times and it doesn't seem that hard but, when I saw the video I kind of agree with you. It would be very easy to drop a screw driver or fastener.

I hear you but it's diesel so it simply will not burn even in vapor form below 126F and can't spontaneous combust below 493F.

The boat goes down 6' 7" below the surface and it weighs 55 tons so it's more stable than it looks. It meets CE Category All Oceans. Generally it's a pretty solid ocean boat (for it's size).

Good to see The Knack hasn't been forgotten!

If you like mechanical things, boats are full of them. In my distant past, I was an auto mechanic and more recently I work on data center infrastructure hardware and software. The experience from both is useful on the boat.

Your experience shows. I could tell in the video that you're more mechanically adept than a lot of cruisers I see on You Tube! Not many would call out the spec's / brand of fuel filters!

The transfer system is a fairly nice setup that avoids having the fuel tanks open to the weather or there being any risk of a spill. Nobody even has to be outside. There is a camlock connection on the bulkhead and on each bladder. A short hose connects the bladder to the bulkhead connection. Once there is space in the below decks tanks, we open the safety valve on the tank and then use the fuel transfer pump on the boat (it's use to move fuel around between tanks or to filter fuel in a given tank) to transfer the fuel from the bladder to the tank. This allows a risk from transfer and the bladder can be vacuumed down flat so it's totally empty and all fuel is filtered before it's put below decks as part of this process.

@@MVDirona very nice setup indeed. I always enjoy hearing about long haul journeys like this and the mechanics and prep that goes into them!

Getting small boats able to comfortably cover long distances takes a bit of work and thought but, clearly, starting out with a well designed and well thought out boat is crucial.

Those SCUBA tanks compressed air rather than O2 -- roughly 20% oxygen. They looked difficult to get out of the laz but the large stacks of boxes slide out line a puzzle and just two stacks need to be moved. I can have a tank out in under 60 seconds so it's really not much of a hassle. But, you are right, it's not as easy as when they are up on deck where we normally keep them. The largest part of the time of getting the tanks out of the storage location down below is reattaching the hold down straps that retain them but, even that is only 3 or 4 minutes.

Right on, just looked on Vid like it would have been difficult to get to under duress, Checking out other MV vids, honestly would like to have seen more passage Vids, the gale stuff was great, but seeing life aboard during them, cooking, living, on watch. Wishing you clear skies and calm seas ahead

Life underway is almost always boring. Just business as usual with my day job, meals, the "excitement" of a boat passing every few days or perhaps seeing some bit of debris in the water. Not much going on but, if you are interested, we can do a video on life underway. We'll plan to do that Michael.

We do move the fuel from the bladders down below as soon as we can. It does free up deck space but the primary reason we move the fuel down below is that is the most stable configuration for the boat. Just the below deck fuel load weighs more than 5 tons. For stability reasons, we want this weight as low in the boat as possible. So, as soon as there is space below, we pump the bladders empty, clean them up, and put them away. If you are interested in more details: mvdirona.com/2019/03/deck-fuel-and-vessel-stability/.

The world beer markets are getting considerably less boring with every greater variety emerging. Wherever we are we always find something good.

Good question. The boat has a fuel transfer system designed to be able to move fuel between the 4 below deck fuel tanks. What we did was add another input to the fuel transfer pump manifold that connected to a fuel hose running to an exterior bulkhead at the back of the boat. There are short hoses that run between the exterior on deck fuel tanks to the bulkhead fitting. To pump out the fuel tanks, a manual safety valve needs to be opened on each tank after which, the fuel bladders can be pumped into the tanks below by going down to the engine room and decide where to pump the fuel, set the valves correctly and engage the fuel transfer pump. This has the advantages of not forcing the operator to be outside on deck, there is no risk of getting water into the fuel system, and you can evacuate the bladders fully. The ladder is particularly helpful in that fuel bladders with even tiny amounts of residual fuel are heavy and hard to pack away whereas fully emptied bladders are easy to deal with.

@@MVDirona thanks for the prompt reply, what a brilliant way. Love the risk assessment part of thinking. Great 👍🏼 job Thanks for sharing such technical specks It is really informative.

I've used ATL in race cars as well and I've seen some crashes that really underlines how solidly these fuel cells are built.

MV Dirona what cars and series were you racing ?

Just club racing but we had fun. We had a Brabham BT29 (#49) which we raced as a Formula B with an Alfa Romeo 1600cc engine, an Alfa Romeo GTV, and a mini-stock car. It's around the stock car tracks where ATL fuel cells are super common. It's cool you had the owner of ATL out for a fuel laps at Watkins Glen. I used to go to the Glen for each US Grand Prix in the late 60s and early 70s.

MV Dirona very cool I remember working at an exotic car dealer in philly at 17 they had a Formula B car in their garage I would sit in and dream about driving I was at the Glen in 72 in the pits with the formula B pre races In 1990 I was able to do the track walk of the street circuit with David Brabham checking for secure manhole covers in Phoenix at the inaugural F1 race I was lucky enough to own and drive a1988 Lola Larrousse F1 car in exhibition for 6 years I watch your videos which remind me of spending my early years with my Dad sailing are way up to a Pearson 54’ until about 20 years ago Great memories (plus a few near death experiences) Nice to know you !

You've driven some wonderfully capable racing machines. Working at an exotic car repair shop gave me opportunity to drive the odd Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc. but having even an F1 car on the track would be pretty amazing. I don't recognize the Larrousse but I was going to the Canadian and US GPs at the time so I'm sure I did see them race. Here's the Brabham we raced: mvdirona.com/jrh/EurocarRacing/.

Thanks for the feedback. And you are right about the value of that information display. We have one in our stateroom, another in the pilot house, and a third in the salon so the data is visible from anywhere in the boat. The information we consult most frequently ends up being communications information (cell and satellite signal strength and current connectivity status), battery/generator load status, and tank level information. There are also 40+ indicator lights along the bottom of the screen that shows current state of major appliances and any faults in most boat systems. It's a single glance to see if there is a problem of any sort.

love your videos by the way!!

It's a pretty cool set up where, before leaving, a custom made hose is attached to each bladder by cam lock fittings and then connected to the aft bulkead also by cam locks. Then when it's time to transfer the fuel we just adjust the fuel manifold in the engine room to "Fuel Bladders" and do the transfer without going outside. Much more detail in this posting: mvdirona.com/2013/12/dirona-fuel-manifold/.

@@MVDirona what is your total on board fuel, l was guessing 3,400 usg?

Below decks we carry 1,750 US gallons and, when fully loaded with deck fuel, can carry 2,710 USG.

The deadlights come standard and the storm plates are a frequently ordered option.

You just need to put in enough fuel to get to South America or someplace more affordable.