Welcome aboard Wave Dancer! We hope you enjoy her as much as we do. We are immensely pleased with this fine boat, have had many wonderful times sailing her, and have tried to equip her with the quality of gear befitting her fine heritage. You will find she sails beautifully and is very well balanced. She keeps her speed in light air and is very stable in heavy weather. We have learned some "nuances" of sailing, which we've outlined for you to make your cruise more enjoyable.
We’ve been sailing the
Happy Sailing! We’re delighted
to share our sailboat with you!
Owners
INDEX:
1. Anchors
2. Barbecue
3. Batteries
4. Berths
5. Bilge pumps
6. Electronics
7. Dinghy
8. Dodger
9. Engine
10. Fuel tank
11. Head and holding tank
12. Heater
13. Refrigeration and
freezer
14 Sails and rigging
15. Sailing Characteristics
16. Shower
17. Stove
18. Water (hot and cold
pressure)
1. Anchors
- Our boat is equipped with two anchors, one forward and another located in
the aft port locker. The primary anchor
is a 35# plow with a 70’ chain and 200’ rode, which we find holds well in a variety of conditions.
The secondary is a Danforth which is smaller and with slightly less
holding power than the primary, but perfect for a stern anchor. Primary Chain length is 70 feet, the rode
(line) is marked with tags
of 30’increments. The
scope to use in the islands is 3 or 4 to 1, definitely not 7 to 1. Release the
anchor sufficiently upwind so that the actual position of the boat (and swing
circle) are clear of other boats, rocks,or other
obstructions. Check the tide tables and correction for the local area. Most coves are 15’-30’ deep, so expect to
pay out about 50’-100’ of rode. After
you have paid out the suitable amount of rode, 30 seconds of idle reverse both
sets the anchor and will test its holding power.The anchor windlass requires
power from a switch on the navigation station control panel. The hinge type
circuit breaker for the windlass is located in the aft starboard locker on aft
wall of locker. Do not use the windlass to pull the boat to where the anchor is
set. Instead, head the boat under power
toward the anchor while taking up slack by hand. Finish retrieving the anchor
using the up button on the windlass and store anchor securely. If you lose
power on windlass set circuit breaker by moving it to a horizontal position.
2. Barbecue
- The stainless steel propane barbecue sits on the stern rail. Use the hose in the propane locker to connect
the propane to the BBQ. It’s a simple
connection with a bayonet fitting and clip.
Note the T fitting on the propane tank, enabling propane to feed the BBQ
and stove simultaneously. Please
remember to turn off the valve to the BBQ after use. Also, as a courtesy to the next guest, please
use the wire brush wired onto the BBQ to clean it after use. Thank you!
3. Batteries. Two battery banks are located
rear starboard locker
#1 is a 12 volt for starting the engine. Bank #2 is 2- 6 volt house batteries. Wave dancer
is equipped with a no touch blue sea link battery management system.
NOTE:This is a no touch hands off system
4. Berths. Our boat sleeps 6, 2 in the private cabin
forward; 2 in the aft cabin and 2 in the main salon.
5. Bilge
pumps. There are 2 bilge
pumps. The emergency bilge pump is located port side
rear exit. The handle should be kept in
the cockpit alcove for quick access in event of emergency, but we keep it
stored in the starboard forward locker under lid when not sailing. The electric bilge pump does have an
automatic float switch. When turned on
at the electrical panel it remains on, but the pump will engage when enough
water comes in to cover the float switch.
We like to monitor any bilge water coming in daily. The electric bilge pump can be used manually
at the electrical panels.
6. Dinghy.
The new Zodiac dinghy with V
keel and solid bottom is stable, rows well, and tows with the
least drag if brought close to the boat--about a foot off the stern. This lifts the dinghy bow, reduces drag, and
guarantees that you won't accidentally wrap the painter around the propeller
when you back up! We tie the painter off twice--a cleat tie close and the
bitter end we tie onto the stern rail.
Others have lost the dinghy when their cleat tie slipped loose.
As owners, we would very much appreciate your
special care when beaching the dinghy.
Ours are not all gentle sandy beaches.
Most often they are rocky, covered by barnacles equipped with extra sharp
rubber cutters. Here’s what works best:
launch a person off the dinghy bow as you approach shore; then offload everyone
over the bow. Now lift the dinghy above
barnacle height and deposit it gently on the beach. We also secure the painter under a rock or to
a log—a rising tide can leave you high and dry and dinghyless!When
using forced air heat system tie dinghy off on starboard side of boat.
7. Dodger. The most vulnerable
part of the dodger is the plastic "glass". Please avoid touching it as much as
possible. To clean, use only a sopping
wet sponge, wiping very lightly with lots of water. We have had to replace the glass every few
years because of those miniscule scratches that “fog” it up. So if the glass is really clear when you are
aboard, you can thank previous guests for their care. By the way, the glass' worst villain appears
after sailing smartly into a challenging breeze. The salt spray which collects on the glass
dries in the wind, leaving behind tiny salt deposits that obscure your vision. Please don’t let an energetic crew member
wipe off those salt crystals. They act like sandpaper on the glass! Instead, let them "flood" off the
crystals with a pan of fresh water from the galley. We have installed removable
side curtains for extra warmth,wind and rain
protection.
8. Electronics:
-
Cellular Telephones. Our boat is equipped with
a 12 volt cigarette lighter type outlet for recharging your cellular
telephone. It is located (bottom of
electrical panel).
-
Depthsounder. The digital depthsounder will not give
accurate readings beyond 200'. It is
designed for use in shallow waters. In
deeper water, the sensitivity on the unit increases as the transducer tries to
get some reading back. Consequently, you
will receive many false readings caused by currents, changes in water
temperature, fish, and underwater seaweed.
Use the depthsounder only as an aid to navigation in shallow water. However, the key to avoiding rocks is not the
depthsounder--but knowing where you are on the chart at all times. (Rocks are the single biggest navigational
and safety hazard in the islands—but they are all marked on the charts.) We
do not recommend using the alarm.
Experience in the islands tells us that it goes off at the wrong
time--usually the middle of the night as a fish passes underneath.
-
-
Knotmeter: If the digital knotmeter
shows a reading of "0.00" while underway, the impeller is most likely
clogged with a piece of eelgrass.
Sometimes it will float off overnight.
You can also try removing it by traveling in reverse. The impeller is located under small door in
floor midship. You may wish to remove
the impeller to clear it if you are experienced in such things.
-
Radar: Raymarine & operation
sequence is located on chart plotter.
- VHF radio: We recommend that you
monitor Channel 16 during your cruise.
It is reserved for emergencies and boat-to-boat initial contact. After contact, move to channels 68, 69, or
79. The Bellingham Marine Operator,
formerly channels 28 and 85, are out of service until further notice. They told San Juan Sailing that they are
converting to a digital format, but the cell phones may make the marine
operator obsolete in many regions.If you are in serious trouble and can’t be at
radio push the red button on radio. It will send your position to coastguard.
We listen to weather channels 1, 2, 3, or 8
(whichever gives the best reception) before we sail in the morning and prior to
anchoring for the evening. This is
generally a light wind region but weather changes can be sudden. Listen for the "inland waters of western
San Juan Sailing monitors channel 80A
during office hours (closed Sundays) but it will be difficult to hail San Juan
Sailing after a good day’s sail into the islands due to these beautiful islands
getting in the way of the signal.
Typically, cellular phones are the best means of communication. You can reach the maintenance professional,
(Steve Pinley) at (360-303-6668) (cellular), or owner Roger Van Dyken at
9.
Engine. Starting--
1.
Check the oil level. The dipstick
is easily accessed on the starboard side access engine panel which is located
in the head. There is a wide gap on the
dipstick between the full line and the fill line. Above all, do not overfill. Use the onboard spare oil to add no more than
a cup at a time; it is stored in the engine compartment. Check the level again. This is not a car engine where you can add a
quart at a time. Over filling is the worst thing you can do to a diesel engine. Excess oil will get out somehow, sometimes by
blowing the head gasket. So if the oil
is down a bit, please add only a cup at a time.
Incidentally, the first time you pull the dipstick,
it often has no oil showing. After your
heart skips a beat, reinsert the dipstick and the correct level will show. It will be black, of course, as is all oil in
diesels after a couple of minutes. We
change the oil at 100 hour intervals.
With the cover removed, this is an excellent time to check the coolant
levels, but never do so when the engine is hot.
2.
Make sure the gearshift lever in center pull knob located
under shift it is now in neutral.
3. Push the accelerator handle forward to
about ¼ throttle.
4.
Turn key to the right. The buzzer should sound. This is the warning buzzer you would hear if
the engine overheats or if there is loss of oil pressure.
5.
Press the starter button above the key.
This engine usually fires right up in just a couple seconds.
6.
If it doesn't fire right away, give a little more throttle.
7. After she starts, gradually
ease the throttle back to just above idle about1300
8. Please allow 5 minutes of
warm up before placing a load on the engine.
Pushing a cold engine is very hard on diesels.
9. When engine is warm and
ready to go, push the button in and move the shift level forward to go ahead
and back to go in reverse.
Operation: We
have found this little 27 HP Yanmar engine to be very reliable. We have insulated the engine compartment to
muffle engine noise. Cruising speed is 6
knots at 2500
Engine Overheat: If the buzzer sounds while
the engine is running, immediately check the oil pressure and temperature
gauges. If oil pressure is flat, shut down
the engine, check the oil level, and contact San Juan Sailing. (We have never had an oil pressure problem
and we hope you don't either). Most
likely a buzzer means the engine has overheated. Check for water gurgling out the
exhaust. If gurgling, check the coolant
level. If there is no water gurgling,
the water strainer is likely plugged with eelgrass. Eelgrass looks like an exploded view of lawn
clippings. They are about 3 feet long,
brownish green, flat and about 1/2 inch wide. Look for them in two places--floating masses
undulating on the water, and in "tide lines", those soapy lines in
the water that contain other intimidating debris as well. Best solution here is prevention--keep an eye
peeled for eelgrass masses, tidelines, and semi-floating logs and steer around
them. If eelgrass gets sucked into the
engine cooling water intake, it jams the raw water strainer located (aft of
engine under aft berth). Use flashlite to see if this is the problem. To clear
it, close the seacock located(aft of strainer ). Remove the filter element of the
strainer. Remove the eelgrass. Close
cover of strainer. Open the seacock to assure that it is not clogged. Close it again and carefully reinsert the
filter element. Reinsert and tighten
simultaneously to assure the ((lid or casing)) remains flat on the
strainer. Reopen the seacock. If the engine overheats again upon
restarting, check that the seacock is open and check the lid seal. If it draws air, it won't draw water.
Engine shutdown: Please never touch the power switch while the
engine is running! First make sure the
engine is at idle and the gearshift in neutral.
Then pull the fuel cutoff handle by your right ankle. When the engine dies, flip off the power
switch.
10. Fuel Tank. The (30) gallon diesel tank (port aft
cockpit locker). The engine burns
(one half) gallon of diesel an hour. The
fuel gauge is located (starboard side steering station). If it dips much below half, add fuel (running
out of diesel involves a lengthy bleeding process that you would really rather
not do.). Please be very careful when
fueling. Never allow maximum flow from
the filler hose. If you do, the fill tube
will surge and diesel will spill onto the hull from the vent located (starboard
aft), and put you into the ever-caring hands of the EPA. Fill slowly and carefully. When the pipe begins to gurgle like it’s
full, you are probably full. You may
also be able to see the diesel when looking down into the fill tube. Check the
side vent and, with soap, wipe up any excess fuel to avoid yellowing the hull
and polluting the water. Also, be very
careful of drips when removing the hose.
Diesel and shoe bottoms are very slippery and a dangerous combination. After wiping, please use soapy water to scrub
down any drips.
11. Head
and holding tank: Please do not put anything in the toilet that has not
been eaten. Experienced sailors deposit
toilet paper in a plastic bag or in a waste basket, not down the toilet. The head has a 30gallon holding tank located
under the starboard locker. San Juan
Sailing staff will discuss holding tanks and pumpouts on your arrival. Our one plea is this--if you use the holding
tank, please monitor it carefully!
Exploding or leaking sewage is most unpleasant! The tank should be pumped out, filled with
fresh water through the deck fitting to rinse, then
pumped out again. Thank you! When appropriate, you may wish to use the
macerator. The switch is located on the
electrical panel. On the navigation station there’s a button—push to activate macerator. Stop
pumping when you hear a change in pitch.
No valves or sea cocks need to be opened.Reccomend you use the macerator
when gage shows half full.
12. Heater : The heater is a diesel forced air cabin heater
with thermostat mounted nav. station. To
operate, turn switch on adjust temp to high with dial.We like to burn hot so
heater does’t carbon up. The heat is
dry, comfortable, and on those occasional rainy days or cool evenings, makes a
huge difference in cruising comfort!When warm turn off.Repeat as needed.
13.
Refrigerator: The refrigerator must be
turned on at the electrical panel. Then
find the thermostat located inside right side.
This is a well-insulated refrigerator and will functional well when
adjusted to level 3 on the dial, if turned all the way up, everything will
freeze! Best to run during the day to keep house battery charged.
14. Sails
and rigging:
Mainsail - The mainsail is easily
furled out by pulling the blue line marked furl out on cabin top. All the reefing controls are on the blue line
marked furling in pull till you are happy with the sail position while letting
the out haul run in. When furling in main a little tension on out haul will
give a tight wrap on main. Do not furl sail past blue sail cover. You may have
to go on deck and pull out haul by hand to get sail started.
Headsail - The jib is on a roller
furling. It has good sail shape at the
full out position. During periods of
heavier winds, furl the headsail as desired.
Boat heel will be greatly reduced when sailing under reefed main and
partially furled headsail in winds over 20 knots.
Please note that slight
tension on the roller furling line when deploying the headsail, and on the
sheets when furling, prevents problems from either a rat's nest on the drum or
"candy striping" of the furled sail.
15. Sailing Characteristics: Wave Dancer is a delight to sail. Her sloop rig makes for easy sail handling, and
gives a variety of options for various weather conditions. Wave Dancer is a
cruiser that handles well under power with a close turning radius and little prop walk. her all around perfect breeze is10 to 15 knots,heel at 20 to
30 degrees. Full sails can easily be carried in winds to 15 knots.above that,partially furl the jib and main.
16. Shower: Water is heated
automatically by the engine running under load (after about a half hour) but
running it at idle in the morning won't do it.
The hot water is stored in the insulated 6 gallon tank located under the port side of
the seating area.. It can also be heated
electrically when on shorepower.Turn sink taps to desired temp.Pull ring
located on shower hose up this routs water to shower. Experienced cruisers know the sailor's
shower: get wet, turn it off. Soap
up. Rinse off. If we overflow the shower basin we've used
too much water! The basin will drain
by itself. There is no sump to
pump. CAUTION: the engine can heat the water to scalding
temperatures! There is a shower at stern starboard side.
17. Stove: The gimbaled propane stove has 2 burners
& oven. Propane is heavier than air
and requires caution. For your safety,
please follow these procedures:
1.
Open the hand valve on the propane tank all the way open and very
slightly snug.
2.
Make sure all stove controls are in the "off" position. Turn on propane solenoid switch at the
electrical panel labeled propane, then turn switch port side of counter. 3. turn knob to the flame icon push in while pushing the spark
button when lit turn to desired heat.
4.
When finished with your cooking, immediately turn the electric solenoid
switch off, for your own and the boat’s safety.
Please note that both propane valves (and
one control) are located in the propane locker in the aft of the cockpit, which
is vented and isolated from the rest of the boat. Any leaks there will move
down, out, and away from the boat.
San Juan Sailing staff fills the propane tank every 2 weeks. One tank normally lasts much longer than that.
18. Water:
Water pressure: The water pressure switch is located on the
electrical panel. Please switch this off
when motoring or sailing. You could burn
out the water pump should one of the tanks run dry (and you would not hear the
pump running over the sound of motoring or sailing).
Water tank: We have 1-75 gallon, located below the v-
berth. State parks have no pressurized water to refill tanks, but all points of
civilization do. If your crew does not
let the water run continuously while they brush their teeth or shave,and shower you shouldn't have a problem.
* * *
We have continually improved wave dancer
for our own and your enjoyment.Her sailing ability, both in light air and in a
blow, her very comfortable cockpit, her ample storage, roominess below, and
just the generally cozy feeling we get when aboard.We have installed an
inverter for the TV and