Equipment

What are the features of our “Amazone” for a long distance trip and what equipment is sold with it?

I. Hull Construction

  • Moderate long keel for calm sea behaviour
  • No keel bolts that could leak, because the lead ballast is inserted into the hull
  • Completely solid GFK hull material (18 mm thick in the water pass area)
  • Water tank (250 l) and diesel tank (120 l) below the floor boards
  • Stainless steel rudder protected by a stainless steel skeg
  • Tiltable cutter stay with ratchet tensioner
  • To protect the hull another teak rubbing strake with brass rail

When we collided with a sleeping whale a good 200 miles off Bermuda at a speed of 6 knots, we were very happy that we were able to continue sailing without damage despite the popping of our rudder on the whale. Thanks to the solid construction!

II. Cutter Rig and Sails

The retrofitted cutter stay (7 mm) is hooked onto the lower shroud and can be easily mounted with the Wichard quick release skewer.
Depending on the wind, the not yet used bright orange storm jib (6 sqm), the self-tacking jib (18 sqm) or the Genoa III (28 sqm) can be driven on the cutter stay.
Under normal wind conditions the furling genoa (36 sqm) is used on the Harken furling system. For optimal UV protection it is covered with a hose in the harbour.
Four jib tracks and two 46 and two 40 mm winches are available for headsail trimming.
Two mainsails are available: 1 x with two reef rows (23 sqm) and 1 x with three reef rows (22 sqm)

III. Slack Valve

The Volvo D2-40F with 27 KW/37PS is used in calm conditions, commissioned in April 2018 and guaranteed until April 2020, and is equipped with a SPW controllable-pitch propeller overhauled in 2018 so that it does not brake when sailing.
For smooth running it is mounted on rubber bearings and connected to the shaft with a Combiflex coupling.

IV. Crew Members Peter and Ray

To relieve the strain on the regular crew, Peter (Windpilot Pacific by Peter Foerthmann) is used under sails and Ray (Raymarine Autopilot SPX-5) under motor.

V. Comfortable Anchor Gear for a Peaceful Sleep at Anchor

The electric 1000 W anchor winch, 8 mm chain (60 m hot-dip galvanized with increased breaking load 50 kN from Kettenfabrik Unna), 22 kg ploughshare stainless steel anchor and 15 kg Rocna anchor.
Alternative to galvanized chain: 50 m stainless steel chain

VI. Pepped up Equipment

The vinyl plates in the interior area in front of the insulated hull surfaces were replaced by varnished floor plates. Also renewed: upholstery, saloon table top, wardrobe doors, doors from the companionway, gas stove, tiller chart table top, pantry coating.
The 2 m long berths in the saloon are equipped with sailclothes for sleeping on the way.
For safe entry and exit the economy steps on the companionway have been replaced by two wide teak steps.
The splash cap, sail dress and cake stall have been supplemented by a bimini for sun and rain protection.
Chrome plated windows were newly chromed and anodized windows were newly anodized.
On the outside the plexiglass pane in the sliding hatch and the teak panels in the cockpit were replaced. The weathered mahogany handrails on the cabin roof were replaced by easy-care teak handrails. Also easy to clean is our foot rail, which was only delivered with the prototype and our Hanseat 70 made of teak instead of mahogany.
The mast was completely overhauled, painted and equipped with new shrouds and stays in 2010. The putting-up brackets and the complete railing with feet were renewed in 2006.

VII. Navigational Carefree Package

For perfect orientation at night and in fog, the 8″ plotter displays detailed C-Map map information as well as RADAR signals and AIS symbols.
For collision prevention, a wide range of alarm functions can be switched on and other ships can be called at any time by VHF radio with DSC for course coordination. To prevent avoidable seagoing vessels from getting too close, the AIS transponder transmits the position, course and speed of the “Amazon” to all vessels within a radius of up to 30 nautical miles.
For emergency reporting there is not only an emergency button on the radio, but also a PAN-PAN reporting button for the AIS transponder.
A NASA Clipper 147 weather receiver is permanently switched on, which records national and international weather and warning messages that can be called up at any time.

VIII. Independent Energy Supply

As sources for our energy needs of our navigation electronics, windlass with 1.000 W, and our crew member Ray (autopilot) we have a solar panel with 50 W and the alternator of the engine with 120 W. In addition we have a 20 ampere and a 40 ampere charger.

It is also possible to mount the existing equipment carrier for additional antennas, for a 100 W solar module and for a wind generator.
For the circuits, which can also be interconnected as required, capacities for the following batteries are available:
Starter battery 1 x 90 Ah, acid closed
Consumer battery bank 2 x 180 Ah, acid open
Additional consumer battery bank 2 x 150 Ah AGM
Two battery monitors are used to monitor the battery banks.

IX. Rounded Safety

The mentioned equipment features already show a very high degree of safety of our “Amazon” in relation to other ships, where the one or other equipment feature is missing. Nevertheless a worst case like fire or water ingress can never be excluded.
Therefore we have different types of fire extinguishers and a fire blanket as well as an electric and a manual bilge pump on board.
Finally, if nothing else helps, we have our dinghy and a 4 person life raft (maintenance expired in 2016) with an additional emergency bag.
For personal safety there are safety lines and eyes for hooking on board.

One thought on “Equipment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *