We are please to announce an introduction to BOAT HOW TO and their most comprehensive online learning   system.
This ZOOM introduction is hosted by NIGEL CALDER

INTRODUCTIONS TO THE FOLLOWING YACHT ELECTRICAL SYSTEM TOPICS

1. Properly sizing conductors ( q&a )
2. Making reliable connections ( q&a )
3. Batteries The Charging System  ( q&a )
4. Best practices of monitoring and improving your electrical system ( q&a )
5. Adding appropriate over current protection ( q&a )
6. Check before you head out ( q&a )
7. Simple troubleshooting techniques ( q&a )
8. Emergency repairs, parts and tools ( q&a )
9. Back Up system ( q&a )

TIME
Sat Sept 2 @ 7 AM Pacific Time 10 AM Eastern Time 4 PM Spain

 

 

Nigel’s Story

Nigel got into motorcycles and sailing dinghies as a teenager, and has never been far from mechanical things and boats ever since. He has a BA in Philosophy from Exeter University (UK) and an MSc in Operations Research from Sussex University. In a varied career, before becoming a full-time sailing writer, with a focus on marine technical systems, he worked on automotive assembly lines, in foundries and machine shops, and on offshore oil production platforms.

He and his wife, Terrie, built a couple of 70-foot canal boats (on which they lived in England), and a 39-foot Ingrid cutter. They then sailed a Pacific Seacraft 40 for 5 years, following which they had a Malo 45 built in Sweden. This was sold to be replaced by the same boat but with an experimental electrical distribution and propulsion system.

It has been used for extensive testing of cutting edge systems, including a 4-year European Union funded project (HyMar), of which Nigel was the Technical Director, investigating the applicability of hybrid technologies to marine propulsion systems. Based on data collected during the HyMar project, Nigel initiated, and was a lead developer in, a multi-year project resulting in the award-winning advanced generator technology now sold under the Integrel brand name.

Nigel and Terrie have sailed in the North Sea, the Atlantic as far north as the Faroe Islands and as far south as Portugal, the U.S. east coast, the Bahamas and extensively in the Caribbean, with Pippin (now aged 37) and Paul (36) augmenting the crew along the way. In addition to his books on boat systems and hundreds of magazine articles, he has also authored a ‘Cruising Guide to the Northwest Caribbean’, ‘Cuba: A Cruising Guide’, ‘Nigel Calder’s Cruising Handbook: a Compendium for Coastal and Offshore Sailors’ and ‘How to Read a Nautical Chart’. He recently released a memoir of his family’s first long cruise titled ‘Shakedown Cruise’.

Nigel is currently the Technical Editor and/or Associate Editor of PassageMaker, Professional Boatbuilder, Sail, and Ocean Navigator magazines and a consultant on marine energy issues. He has recently joined marine energy systems company OceanPlanet Energy as a mechanism to continue his passion for constantly improving boat electrical systems.

Nigel is a 30-year veteran of the American Boat and Yacht Council’s Electrical Project Technical Committee, which writes the U.S. standards for recreational boat electrical systems, and a founder member of www.BoatHowTo.com, the online marine technical education site which is at the heart of today’s discussion.’

Dr. Jan C. Athenstädt

Jan runs KlabauterKiste, the German online magazine for boatowners and Klabauter-Shop, an online shop for boat electrics as well as BootsBastler.org, a German online community for people who love “messing about in boats”.

He holds a PhD in computer science and loves to teach people new skills.

ver since he set foot on his grandfather’s boat as a child, Jan has been dreaming of sailing around the world.

During his studies in computer science, he has worked as a deckhand and bosun on tall ships such as the Schooner Zodiac and the Bark Europa, sailing well over 10,000 miles on the world’s oceans and making it all the way down to Antarctica. In recent years, he has been responsible for rewiring and maintaining the technical systems on various yachts, such as the research vessel Aldebaran.

Jan holds a PhD from Konstanz University and a master’s degree from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. (Both in Computer Science, but for his PhD he worked with archaeologists in the Caribbean, using network science to reconstruct pre-Columbian voyages.) He also studied for a year at the University of Washington in Seattle on a Fulbright grant, which gave him the opportunity to explore the beautiful Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.

When he bought his Laurin32 Ahora in north Germany to prepare it for extensive cruising, he noticed that there is very little reliable information on the internet about boat electrics and mechanics. So he started the German online magazine KlabauterKiste where he publishes technical advice as well as stories about boatbuilding and refit projects.

In order to help boatowners acquire supplies for their rewiring projects, he started his online store Klabauter-Shop, where people can order everything from a simple cable lug to a high end radar system. And in order to connect German boatowners and help them exchange ideas, he recently started BootsBastler.org.

Jan lives and works on his boat and is currently sailing southern Europe and the Mediterranean. If you are interested, here is a 6-minute video about his liveaboard life: