The 11 Horsepower Cup of Coffee - May, 2021

There are many systems on the Perseverance. I think we've perhaps learned 64% of the boat systems by now, meaning we can point to them if asked and have basic clues regarding their operation. System mastery is still a quite a stretch for pretty much everything, except for one. We now know how to make coffee.

Those of you who know my family know that my coffee consumption mimics that of my father (perpetually "maybe later") rather than my caffeine addict mother. The only cup I've drunk in my life was forced on me by a Canadian dude named Benoit who thought I was suffering hypothermia after spending 2 hours on the -40 degree tarmac in Montreal while inspecting a baggage loader that had wiped out an Airbus tail section. Similarly, Lori managed to make it through 3 college degrees without succumbing to the evil bean, but her stint as president of her Rotary Club ruined her. Now she can't function very well, and being around her is slightly dangerous, until she's had her morning dose.

This morning broke clear and calm in Escanaba at a balmy 43 degrees. To the south, there was some lifting fog, but to the north and west, the bay (Little Bay De Noc) was glassy smooth, and only a few hardy fishermen were out stalking that 20 pound Walleye. We had wanted to take out the boat with just the two of us yesterday, but various plumbing projects and heavy chop dissuaded us. We seized on the nice conditions and started our departure. Remembering a recent rookie mistake, Lori brewed herself a cup of java before donning her life jacket and radio headset. Our departure check-lists are still being developed, but we tried to make everything secure, and managed to cast off without fouling any of our shore power or dock lines.

Shoving off a boat of this size with just one dock hand (me) means moving quickly, but the calm conditions made it fairly easy. We were already facing out the harbor channel due to yesterday's required turn-around in order to apply our Michigan watercraft registration stickers to both sides of the hull, so Lori was able to pretty much drive straight out from the marina wall where we had been moored using just a bit of bow-thruster and full-rudder forward thrust. I pulled the docking lines onto the deck (forgetting to haul the fenders in - shameful - won't do that again out of fear of my grandfather haunting me) and joined Lori in the pilot house.

Together, we got the GPS, VHS radios, autopilot, roll stabilizers and Radar units enabled and eyeballed an intended course keeping us WELL within the deep water in the middle of the bay. Conditions still looked great, so we decided to circumnavigate the bay, which extends about 10 miles to the north of Escanaba. Lori downed a slug of coffee, aimed the boat just to the starboard of the harbor lighthouse on a westerly course, and eased the throttle up to 1750 rpm, corresponding to the Perseverance's neck-snapping cruise speed (AKA ‘Ludicrous Speed’) of 8.6 knots (10 mph).

As she cleared the lighthouse, Lori spun the wheel to port to establish a north heading, but sorta forgot about the rule of feeding the rudder only a few degrees at a time when at cruise speed. You all may laugh at the concept of a moderate jogging pace being “fast,” but things can happen quickly on a boat, even one weighing 35 tons. The Perseverance doesn't lean "into" a curve like a speedboat or a motorcycle, it heels over the other way when turned sharply at speed. The roll stabilizer fins reduce the roll, but can't eliminate it.

So.... the boat turned very sharply to the left, and rolled hard to the right. My laptop computer, sitting unrestrained on a crate where I forgot and left it the previous night, came flying over from Lori's left, impacting her plastic coffee mug, causing an impressive eruption of coffee which sprayed over the entire dash of the Perseverance, the ships wheel, the helmsman's chair, and its occupant. Lori squawked for a while and said a bunch of stuff I choose not to recall, but quickly backed off on the steer input and got the boat on the proper heading without too much overshoot. I promptly fetched wash cloths, and began wiping down the instruments and the woodwork, eventually getting around to helping sop up coffee dregs off of Lori's radio headset, glasses, jacket, face and hair. I didn't even try to help out her clothes, she was just gonna need a shower and a washing machine when we got back.

Lori continued piloting north till we got past Gladstone, and we then swapped positions. I made friends with the autopilot while Lori stomped off grumbling about her sticky hair and how she got cheated out of the best part of her morning coffee. I suggested she make herself another cup, and was somewhat surprised when she agreed to try. I anticipated some hesitancy because we had learned on our first cruise that we took with Davi a few days back, that due to the nuances of system interconnectivity, one had to choose between coffee and bow thrusters.... while underway, one could not have both simultaneously. But... there was a theoretical loophole that Rick (one of the 4 Ness kids, and the one with the most time on the boat) had mentioned to us. Lori decided to go for it.

Here is how you make coffee on the Perseverance, when at sea.

1) Get clear of the harbor and underway such that you do not need bow-thrusters.

2) On the main AC electrical panel, Enable the 50 Amp Generator circuit.

3) On the main AC electrical panel, Enable the Parallel Bus A+B circuit.

4) On the helm, press the momentary contact switch that enables the hydraulic Generator and disables hydraulic bow-thrusters and hydraulic anchor capstan.

5) On the main AC electrical panel, Enable the Engine Room Lights circuit so that you can see down there.

6) Send the cook down to the engine room to turn on the DC to AC power inverter.

7) Give the cook a set of earplugs and send her back down again to the engine room.

8) On the main AC electrical panel, Disable the 50 Amp Generator circuit and enable the Inverter circuit (this restores 6% of the diesel's 180 rated hp that had been diverted to the Generator).

9) On the main AC electrical panel, enable the correct Galley outlets (this took a couple tries).

10) Troubleshoot why the outlets go dead, realize that we forgot to disable the AC powered HVAC, and that the thermostat had kicked on that load which was too much for the inverter.

11) Send the cook back down to the engine room (this time with a flashlight) to reset the inverter.

12) Successfully turn on coffee maker.

13) Brew coffee.

Note 1: This same process with minor modifications can be used to recharge your iPhone after you realize that it has run its battery flat in a mere half hour of desperately trying to establish wifi connectivity while a mile off-shore.

Note 2: It is also possible to brew coffee after completing only steps 1-4 + 9. On the plus side, there is some satisfaction in having a cup of coffee that required a dedicated 11 horsepower to brew. On the minus side, that 11 horsepower has been diverted from the propeller and forward thrust, adds a fair bit to the interior decibel level, and could reduce the maneuverability of the boat, which could cause a crash.