Prepping my Seafarer 24

[CapnK]

Had a nice sail with Adam today. We're both exhausted. <grin>

No pictures?

It didn't happen...

;D

(Bet it not happening was fun!)

[Auspicious]

Two cameras. No pictures. Sorry. Next time you'll have to come along. <grin>

My favorite line of the day: "Geez, I'm only 40." Spoken by a tired Adam after grinding up the chute and before grinding up the main. <evil grin>

I hope Adam enjoyed himself. He is a self taught sailor who showed all the characteristics of a great guest. Aside from a lot of halyard grinding, he picked up the way I coil line and did them all up my way, he communicated effectively on the boat, he was a good helmsman noting the differences of my boat from his and make a useful conversation of it, maintained a great attitude as the thunderstorms rolled over us, and basically fit in wonderfully on a boat very different from his own.

I only hope I can be as good a guest on S/V Godot someday as Adam was on Auspicious.

sail fast, sail far, dave

[Godot]

Auspicious is a much bigger boat than Godot.  Some lessons where learned.

1. Those are much, much  bigger sails.  It took several minutes to get the spinnaker up (with a couple of breather breaks) and my arms felt like rubber afterward.   Dave was trying out a new spinnaker sock, so it is very likely the technique of raising it was not properly established yet.  It was hard, hard work, even with a big winch on the mast.

2. Exhaustion does not help.  Lots of sub lessons can be learned here.  The night before I had an emergency call out for work.  So, at ten pm I sucked down an energy drink to get me through the night.   I got home early morning and couldn't get to sleep for awhile, so that when I did get up I was still rather exhausted.  So, another energy drink as I head out the door to go sailing.  It kept me awake fine,  but I'm afraid at times I had a hard time expressing myself as my mind was in a semi coherent state.  While cranking up the spinnaker I began to feel, well, a bit green, and shortly later felt downright ill.  A different boat with an unfamiliar motion, a body overloaded with stimulants, and a mind that was working a bit sluggishly I believe all contributed to being seasick.  Fortunately I recovered fairly rapidly once I was able to lay down for a few minutes.  I HAD thought I could use energy drinks as a crutch for the first day of The Scoot as I gained sea room.  I no longer think that is a good idea.  After the sail, I sucked down yet ANOTHER energy drink as I had to meet my wife and inlaws for dinner.  This morning I have a hangover, without touching a single drop of alcohol  :(.

3. I need to make it to the gym more.  I'm awfully out of shape.

My favorite quote of the day was actually from listening to the mayday call on the radio.  The coast guard responded to the boat calling mayday by asking what the nature of their emergency was.  The boat responded "we're a sailboat, so we're fine.  A barge though has turned over."  (I'm not sure what they meant by barge.  Surely not a big commercial barge.  Perhaps a pontoon boat?).  BTW, I don't know the outcome of this event or any of the others.  I sincerely hope everyone came through without serious injury or loss of life.

(oh, btw, to show you my thought processes, I actually messed up my age.  I'm only 39.  I just felt 40. ::))

[Tim]

Thanks Adam such an important reminder, for something like SCOOT we need to be in our best shape with quite a bit of endurance at the ready.

[OptiMystic]

Adam,

I am another hopeless caffiene addict. It amazes me how we keep using it to prop ourselves up even when we keep proving time and again that it really doesn't work on muscles at all and even the effects on mental alertness are questionable at best. Awake, yes, alert, well...  ;D

[Pappy Jack]

In one of his books, Reese Palley suggests that one lays off the caffeine for a couple of days before taking off for the briney blue. Then to use it as a "magic elixir" iirc. I for one will be doing this on The Scoot. I know I'll go through withdrawal  :'( for those days but what the heck, I think it'll be worth it.

Fair winds,

Pappy Jack

[Godot]

New storm jib for $185?

3-3½% of I² = shorthanded storm jib size recommendation
3% x 28.5² = 24.36 sq-ft
3.5% x 28.5² = 28.43 sq-ft

Kelly-Hanson Sails has a 28^□' storm jib for $185.  This sounds like a very good price to me, and certainly affordable enough that I can put one on Godot for The Scoot without financial guilt.

[Godot]

An update on the original list at the top of this post...

The rig:

• Pull mast and inspect.  Done.  Looks good.
• Re-wire VHF antenna.   Done.  I also installed a new PVC conduit in the mast for all the wires which has REALLY quieted things down.
• Change to all rope halyards (I'm annoyed by the wire/rope splice). Done.  It works great and is more pleasant to use.
• Probably replace stays, shrouds and hardware (I suspect they are as old as the boat).  Done, done, and done.  Old wire looked fine, turnbuckles didn't.  Replaced the whole set just to be sure.
• Install spreader boots on ends of spreaders.  Done.
• Repair "steaming" light.  Installed new steaming/deck light.  The steaming light is LED.
• Possibly add masthead LED navigation lights.  Won bid for new masthead tricolor on ebay ... they sent the wrong part.  By the time the right light arrived the mast was back up.  Oh, well.  It was only a nice to have anyhow.
• Re-step and tune.  Done.  I went to tune the mast myself and found I couldn't make it vertical before running out of wire on the starboard shrouds.  i was unhappy and complained to my rigger who looked at it himself.  It turns out the mast wasn't crooked at all; but the boat has some permanent heel to it.  Rigger did the tuning for free after checking it out, which is just as well.
• Acquire a genoa and storm jib.  Not yet.

The deck:

• Repair damaged bow pulpit.
• Possibly add additional stanchions (on the fordeck there is about seven or eight feet between the last stanchion and the bow pulpit ... in this dangerous area, an additional stanchion may provide peace of mind).
• Possibly replace stanchions with taller, double wire stanchions (right now the single wire height is just about knee level ... just right to overbalance the skipper if standing and send him swimming, or role him under the line if crawling.  Bad height all around).
• Possibly install stern pulpit (a little extra security, although I've never felt threatened while in the cockpit.  It would also provide a place to install solar panels or something.  If money allows we may see).
• Replace lifelines (30+ years old?).
• Replace forehatch.  (IMPORTANT!). Done.  I built a new wooden hatch which looked really spiffy in my basement.  When I installed it on Godot, however, it just didn't look right.  The hatch looks traditional.  The boat doesn't.  It reminds me of the time I saw a really HUGE biker riding a really SMALL motorcycle.  Odd.  I did take it sailing in some nasty weather and had waves brake on the foredeck and no water made it inside, even without the gasketing I haven't installed yet, so it will probably stay.  At least for a while.
• Possibly add dodger  (I really want this, but time and money will be the determining factors).
• Build a bridge deck.
• Change the hatch boards from ½" to ¾" and provide barrel bolts to lock them in place.
• Replace windows (currently they leak ... I have the lexan on-hand, just need to find the time).
• Install additional cockpit drains.
• Install latches to lock the lockers closed (in case of knockdown).
• Install autopilot (I would prefer a vane, but the trip is only 650 miles ... carrying extra batteries would probably be cheaper).  Done.  And it works great.  Yippee!
• Possibly work up an emergency rudder that can clamp onto the outboard motor bracket (I believe I read that a couple of folks on Jester lost their rudders.  I used to think this was over thinking things, but maybe not.  We'll see.  I think it would be fairly cheap and easy to work something up that would clamp to the outboard bracket).
• Install a cockpit mounted manual bilge pump.
• Install jack lines and hard points.

Interior:

• Get some type of gimbaled stove (a seaswing or equivalent?).
• Build lee boards or cloths for both the starboard quarter berth (oddly, it is not as secure as you would think on the Seafarer) and the port settee. 
• Add batteries and strongly secure.  I now have two Wal~Mart special group 27 deep cycle batteries.  Maybe not the best; but the price is right.  220 amp/hrs for $120.  Took the boat out for a week, used the autopilot extensively, and when I got home plugged it into the charger which barely flickered.  I think it will work.  I had them wedged into place with a cooler and some other junk, so i still need to properly secure them.
• Install a cabin manual bilge pump.
• Install a couple of red LED lights to protect night vision.  Installed one red/white combo light over the dinette.  Works great, and the price wasn't bad, even at West Marine.  I'm glad to see the LED prices are coming down.  I think i will install another over the galley and one over the head.
• Figure out some way to keep the lockers closed in the event of a knockdown.
• Possibly install AIS and/or CARD.
• Connect GPS to DSC VHF and possibly to AIS.

Hull:

• Scrape, sand, inspect, and paint.
• Glass over defunct head thru hull.

Paperwork and miscellaneous:

• Radio licenses?
• Get passport.  Done.
• Is insurance a requirement?
• Purchase Bahamas Courtesy flag.
• Purchase Quarantine flag.

Additionally, after my sail with Auspicious I determined I needed to get into better shape.  In progress.  20 pounds down, 40 to go.

After my week long sail (I returned yesterday) I have come up with some concerns.  I'm not sure what the wind was, but NOAA was claiming 15-20 gusting 25.  From the ragged looks of other sailors rushing for cover, I suspect it may have been a bit higher.  Waves where probably three feet, and close period.  The deck was a lot cleaner when done.

The second reef point in the main does help when the winds are 25+ knots (it just HAD to be at least that).  However, I can't point closer than ninety degrees to the wind in this wind and I can't tack without using the engine.  I'm not sure why.  I thought my 100% (or so) jib might have been catching too much wind and not allowing the bow to come around; but it seemed to be the same when I dropped the jib.  It may very well be a technique issue on my part.  Hopefully I'll be able to take a more experienced sailor out with me on a windy day and we can work it out together.  Trying to handle the boat and experiment with manuevers while singlehanding was a bit much, and a little help would have been useful.  I NEED to figure this out. 

ALSO, and this is also very important, there is not much to hold onto when working the foredeck.  When the boat was pitching up and down and waves where occasionally  crashing onboard, it was rather frightening to be on the pointy end.  When heading forward, there is a transition period between the forehatch to where I can grab the forestay where the only thing I have to grab is the lifelines.  Unacceptable, in my book.  I'm thinking that maybe if I bolt a stainless steel pipe horizontally on either side of the boat, up maybe four inches from the deck, it would give be something to grab onto, a good place to brace my feet, and act as a kind of psuedo bulwark to help keep me onboard if I start to slide off the deck.  I'm still thinking on it.

The boat heaved to adequately with working jib and double reefed main.  I was drifting downwind at around 2 knots, which is higher than I would have hoped.  Perhaps with a smaller jib it would have slowed the drift down?  I also succeeded in heaving to with just the double reefed main ... but I forgot how I did it.  Same 2 knots.

Probably not relevant to the Scoot; but interesting none the less (at least to me) ... the last time I hauled the boat I lowered the outboard mount by several inches.  Now, when the mount is up, the motor is still in the water until I tilt the motor.  But when the mount is down, the propeller is deep enough in the water that it never broke the surface, even when the boat was playing bucking bronco.  This helped me get the boat into shelter when I got tired of playing in the slop (I couldn't make and progress to windward under just sail, so if the motor didn't work it would have been tricky and exhausting business getting the boat back into a safe place).

Oh, and does anyone know of a place where I can get a rudder post extension?  If I can raise my tiller 4-6 inches it will give me some interesting options for storing a second 6 gallon fuel (or water) tank at the aft end of the cockpit, while also reducing cockpit volume in a place where it isn't all that useful. 

The boat is being hauled the first week of December.  Hopefully I can start knocking some of the other items off the list this winter.

[AdriftAtSea]

S/VGodot-

You've obviously been slacking... :) ;)

As for the GPS to VHF... if you have a Garmin GPS, just remember they use the 12VDC ground as the NMEA signal ground, so you have to connect the VHF - DSC line to the Garmin's 12 VDC ground for it to work properly.  Also, you have to set the serial port on the Garmin to NMEA 0183 out with the following settings: 4800 baud, 8 bits, No Parity, 1 Stop Bit.

[CharlieJ]

Might I suggest something that would shorten your time and also save you a bit of money?

Take your working jib to a decent sailmaker and have reef points installed, reefing it to storm jib size.

Although for sailing the east coast, the genoa might be better bang for the buck- the east coast is more known for light air than storm conditions.

In this picture you can see the row of reef points in our working jib. They work well. I had the same set up in my trimaran. I've used them ( on either boat) exactly once.

[TJim]

When I ordered a new 110 I had them put a reef point in at the 6' level.  Would you believe, even sailing on the SFran Bay in normal days of 15-20 knots and a lot of days between 25 and 35 knots, I have never used that reef, nor the 3rd reef on my main.  However, it's there if I ever need it.  It's a cheap way to put another sail in your inventory and it don't take up any storage space. TJ

[Godot]

Ok, you've convinced me.  I'll add the reef points to the jib, at least as an interim measure.  I'm becoming more interested in a roller reefing system, so I probably won't buy a genoa unless I can get a used one at a great price.  I'll save my money (ha! what a joke!) and maybe buy a new furler with genny.  Unless, of course, I change my mind again.  It's been known to happen.

A couple of thoughts on why I'm leaning towards the roller furler/reefer again...

1) Minimizes my trips to the foredeck.
2) Since I'm not anxious to deal with a whole ton of different headsails, it will give me some flexibility in headsail size.
3) I can probably improve sailing efficiency by frequently changing sail size to meet conditions.  I can't imagine running to the foredeck to change hank on sails ten times in a day.  I'd probably just leave a smaller sail on, thereby slowing down.
4) I have a flaky motor, which I hate using.  Being able to rapidly put away and take out the sail will make it easier to enter and leave anchorages under sail, instead of motor, power.
5) My doused jib takes up a lot of room on the foredeck making anchor handling more difficult (plus it invariably gets some mud on it from a dirty anchor chain or anchor).

The compromises:
1) Not as efficient while reefed as dedicated sails.  But then, I'm not likely to ever have a large sail inventory, so this point is moot.
2) If something goes wrong it can be difficult to fix.  I understand they don't break much nowadays, though.  I guess if it gets jammed open in a blow I can always cut the sheets and watch the sail flog itself to death.  Not a pleasant thought; but at least it's an option.

My biggest issue would then become which size sail do I order?  Ideally, it would range from 150% down to about 80%.  However, it sounds like these things only reef down efficiently to about 70%; so I'm thinking perhaps a 130% roller furling genoa which can be reefed down to 91% or so would be a reasonable compromise.  Bigger is better in the light air of summer; but I sail mostly in the spring and fall (now is GREAT sailing).  I'm leaning towards the CDI Flexible Furler; but may yet change my mind before I break out the wallet.

Will this happen before The Scoot?  Damned good question.  It all depends on money.  Or maybe I'll wait until the NEXT boat (I'm thinking a Cape Dory 27 or 28 would be good).

[xirii]

As a sailmaker who has had to deal with the CDI system on various occasions, let me plead with you to pick another.  I don't really care which other, or even have a recommendation, I just have some serious issues with the Flexible Furler system.

They tout the built in halyard.  It's essentially a piece of 550 cord/alpine cord that is the length of the extrusion, so when your sail is up, you have the halyard, but if you start pulling on the sail, you have to tie another line to the bitter end, or your halyard tail will be up the forestay.  Okay, this is easy enough to do under most circumstances in port when you're doing it carefully, but if you're out in snot and need to do it for any reason... And there aren't any other halyards to pull a replacement up.  (Your normal old one won't do to pull the sail back up in the furler because when you furl the sail, the halyard will attempt to follow the furl, wrap around your forestay, put strange pressure on it, and ultimately not allow you to wrap the sail using the furler while torquing the forestay fittings.)  You can use your halyard to pull up a GaleSail or chute of some sort, just nothing on the furling system/nothing of 'normal' size.  In other furling systems, the jib halyard pulls the head assembly up the forestay, so any halyard could do the job in a pinch.

Also the built in halyard goes thru a funky turn in the top fitting.  There isn't a block of any sort for it to run through, it just has a mostly smoothed path to follow.  The path is like a bent over '?' though.  It comes up one side, over the top, and aims straight in to go out the other, but the forestay is in the way!  So it hangs another 90° turn to the right to do the u turn around the wire, then straightens back out to finish it's path and turn down to finish it's job of being a halyard.  That's 540° of turning instead of 180°!  Okay, so this adds friction, but you don't really pull it up and down that often right?  True most of the time, but what if?  Extra friction added to a bit of wind load in a sail that you're trying to pull down....  You literally have to PULL.  I've sat on/against (ow! bruises) the halyard trying to pull a sail up, and ditto with the luff of the jib to get it down, a couple of different times, and that was at the dock with no breeze or barely a breeze.  Somehow it ends up that it's a LOT of extra friction/rubbing/wear put on the line, under a lot of load, in a non-linear position.  Even when it's just in it's static UP position.  I just don't trust it.

More?!?   More....  I also don't like the metal housing/cup/keeper for the furling line.  It has sharp edges, and the furling line inevitably ends up rubbing against it at rest so another chafe point that doesn't occur as much on other systems with plastic housing and rounded edges.

Whew, I didn't realize I was so long winded!  :)  I hope I haven't dashed your dreams of an affordable furler... Go for a used better system, it'll be better than a new CDI.

Good luck choosing!

[Godot]

Curious.  I was leaning towards a CDI because so many people had recommended it to me as either the number one or number two choice.  You are the first person to discourage me from it.

Well, time remains.  I likely will not be able to afford the furler for awhile, so I have lots of time to do research.  Thinking on it, I probably WILL buy a used genoa in the meantime.  I figure if/when I go to roller furling I'll be able to sell it at consignment to recover some of my cost (or possibly have it modified) so maybe that is how I should be working in the short term.

Anybody else have any opinions on the different roller reefing systems?  I am not looking for a high end racing system.  But reliability is important.

[xirii]

I think maybe the most important sentence in there is the first, before the comma.  I did encounter these systems in a professional setting, which means the sails hanging from them had issues and the boat owners couldn't get them down.  The fact that the sails are in tatters on a boat is either due to negligence or accident, I think in both the cases I dealt with CDI's who's sail I couldn't get down, the sails were abused because of negligence, so I will allow for negligence to affect the effectiveness of the furling system.  The third CDI I worked on was just an install, made the sail for the customer and he asked for help putting it back up (new boat owner).  Once we'd fetched the tail of the halyard (he'd pulled the sail down with no messenger line) it was just 'rough' to get up, not as difficult as the other two, but not as easy as I thought it should be, we noticed in furling that there was a SERIOUS wear point on the furling line.  Again, this was a new boat to the guy, so we found it together, I'd never have sailed depending on it to furl my sail if wind was building.  I can only assume that the previous owner never looked at the line as he was pulling. 

So what I'm saying is maybe it was owner negligence that exacerbated issues, but they are things you need to be aware of and prepared for if you pick the system.

It is good to hear that others have recommended it, so maybe it has positive attributes as well!  :-)  I've just never run into one that works well.  But tis the nature of the job that things aren't brought to you when they work well.   ;) 

Either way, I'm envious of your preparations, they seem to be taking great shape!

[AdriftAtSea]

I would second avoiding the CDI furlers... they're JUNK IMHO... You might want to read this thread on Sailnet.com about a boat with a CDI furler and what happened to them.  I'll quote the relevant text here though.

Because I was essentially using the Genoa as a large chute in a dead run I was able to keep much more canvas in the air than the winds would have actually allowed. What appears to have happened is the furler was over stressed and the huge load on the Genoa elevated the furler drum off the bearings and allowed a washer next to the forestay turnbuckle to bend. That prevented the furler from re- seating and thus turning.

From the description, this was probable a CDI flexible furler.

Internal halyard, washer, drum rising up.

It was indeed a CDI furler! Nice pickup. Not a piece of equipment I could recommend.

Also, be aware that as nice as roller furler/reefing systems are, they do have limitations.  On most, the sail shape starts to get pretty baggy, which is bad for high wind conditions, after you've rolled up about 30-35% of the sail.  A foam luff on the sail will help, but not too much once you've gone past 40%.

The one furler that seems to do better than most with furling down below 65% is the Harken Mk IV, which has a design that allows the top and bottom of the sail to furl at slightly different rates and seems to keep the shape of the sail better, even when furled down 50-60%. 

As for reliability, I like the Harken and Furlex brands.  Facnor is also nice, but mainly racing oriented IIRC, and expensive.  I also have a Schaefer unit, but it is a wire-luff unit that is only for furling my screecher—doesn't allow reefing.

[Godot]

Also, be aware that as nice as roller furler/reefing systems are, they do have limitations.  On most, the sail shape starts to get pretty baggy, which is bad for high wind conditions, after you've rolled up about 30-35% of the sail.  A foam luff on the sail will help, but not too much once you've gone past 40%.

Yep.  That's what I was referring to with the "Not as efficient" comment in compromise bullet 1.  Since I will have, at most, three headsails (working jib, genoa, and possibly a storm jib if I'm talked back into it), and not a huge inventory, this seems like a very reasonable compromise.

The one furler that seems to do better than most with furling down below 65% is the Harken Mk IV, which has a design that allows the top and bottom of the sail to furl at slightly different rates and seems to keep the shape of the sail better, even when furled down 50-60%. 

It looks like a nice unit.  But then, so did the CDI.  I appreciate the feedback.  I can't afford any of it now, anyhow, so it really doesn't matter yet.  Perhaps we should start a new "roller reefing" thread instead of pursuing it here.

[Godot]

Oh, a couple more things....

If I don't end up with roller reefing I think I'm going to lead my halyards to the cockpit and install a jib downhaul.  It would have been handy in close quarters maneuvering to not have to run back and forth from cockpit to mast.  I was resisting this change; but I think I'm coming around.  Single handing has enough challenges ... minimizing them where possible seems smart.  I now regret not putting a mast plate under the mast; but happily I cut my new halyards long enough.  I'll figure something out.

My second issue has me scratching my head.  While raising anchor one morning I grabbed the forestay to stabilize myself, while my other hand was holding on to the anchor chain which was still in the water.  I got an unpleasant electric tingle as I apparently completed a circuit from the mast to the water.  But I don't know what the source of the energized mast (or, if not the mast, at least the forestay) was.  The nav lights where all turned off at the breaker.  The VHF was turned on but not transmitting.  Where did the electricity come from?

[AdriftAtSea]

Oh, a couple more things....

If I don't end up with roller reefing I think I'm going to lead my halyards to the cockpit and install a jib downhaul.  It would have been handy in close quarters maneuvering to not have to run back and forth from cockpit to mast.  I was resisting this change; but I think I'm coming around. 

That might be a good compromise. :) 

Single handing has enough challenges ... minimizing them where possible seems smart.  I now regret not putting a mast plate under the mast; but happily I cut my new halyards long enough.  I'll figure something out.

No reason you couldn't retrofit a mast plate at this point.  You probably have enough adjustment in the shrouds and stays to accommodate the thickness of a mast step plate.

My second issue has me scratching my head.  While raising anchor one morning I grabbed the forestay to stabilize myself, while my other hand was holding on to the anchor chain which was still in the water.  I got an unpleasant electric tingle as I apparently completed a circuit from the mast to the water.  But I don't know what the source of the energized mast (or, if not the mast, at least the forestay) was.  The nav lights where all turned off at the breaker.  The VHF was turned on but not transmitting.  Where did the electricity come from?

You need to find this, as this may also be causing galvanic corrosion on the parts of the boat in the water.  If you have an outboard or bronze through-hulls, this could get very expensive. 

I wrote this post on checking for DC ground leaks for another forum, and think it might be useful for you.

If you want to test to see if you have a DC-based ground leak, the test for that is rather simple. The steps for seeing if you have a DC-ground leak are as follows:

First—the preliminary diagnosis test:

1) Turn off all equipment and disconnect any solar panels
2) Disconnect the positive side of the battery banks.
3) Leave the main battery isolation switch turned on for the bank in question
4) Set the meter to VDC mode, range appropriate for your battery bank
5) Connect the meter between the positive terminal and the disconnected cable

The meter should give no reading. If it reads XX volts for your XX VDC system, one of two things is happening.

1) You've left some equipment connected and turned on. This could be a bilge pump, a power feed to a stereo for the radio's memory and clock functions, or a hard-wired fume detector.

2) If you've disconnected all the "hard-wired" equipment and still get a reading, then you've most likely got a ground leak in your boat's DC system.

The Ground Leak Check:

1) Set the meter in Ohm mode and set it to the lowest range (x1).
2) Connect the leads of the Ohm-meter (or multimeter in Ohm mode) to the disconnected positive lead and the negative terminal of the battery.

The meter is now reading the resistance of any circuit to ground that exists in the boat's wiring. The reading on the Ohm meter display can help you identify the cause of the leak.

0-10 Ohms means it is most likely a piece of equipment left on
10-1k Ohms is a low-drain piece of equipment left on, or a serious ground leak
1k-10k Ohms is a minor leak
10k+ Ohms is an insignificant leak

How Big is The Leak?

The ammeter function of the multi-meter can tell you what the current leakage is. If your meter can read up to 10 Amps DC, then you can use it to measure amperage for leaks down to about 1.3 Ohms resistance on a 12 VDC system, or 2.6 Ohms for a 24 VDC system.

To see how big the leak is, put the probes on the positive battery post and the disconnected cable. The meter readings can be interpreted as shown:

<1mA — insignificant leakage
1–10mA — minor leakage
10mA–1A — major leak or some equipment left on
>1A — Usually some equipment left on.

I hope that helps.

[TJim]

Everyone is different and we all do things our own way....but I'll be darned if I can figure out why anyone would want to put a furler on any boat less than about 40'.  I wouldn't want one then, they are just too much trouble and some of it can be serious trouble.  I couldn't tell you how many head sails I've seen just blown to pieces while the boats are sitting in the marinia tied up to the dock and partially sheltered from the wind.  Sometimes it gets a little wet (like almost drowned) changing a head sail but hey...to me that's part of what sailing is about.  Gets your adrenalen up. They have done it that way for ever almost.  I see no real reason to change and make something that is relatively easy and trouble fee into something that is just trouble waiting to happen.  Guys when I can't change a headsail or get one down, I'll quit sailing.. or fall overboard trying.  TJ