Expeditionyacht.org

One of the most important parts of a yacht design is its interior.  Of course it has to look good but then again, if the expression ‘there’s no accounting for taste’ applies somewhere, it’s in the yacht world!

But not only  that.  To separate it from the home interior or an ‘garage’ conversion, you also have to look at the materials used to create this interior.

To me, the ideal yacht interior meets the following criteria:

1. It looks good to more people than just the owner, designer &  yacht magazine editor
2. Even better, it continues to look good (even after intensive use)
3. It’s comfortable !
4. Of course it is safe (meets all MCA/class requirements)
5. and is easy to maintain and repair (happy crew)
6. It has “noise reduction design” written all over it
7. and it is environmentally friendly (that excludes using teak decks)
8. It is also cost effective to install and finally
9. it doesn’t depend on the workmanship only a handfull of yards can offer

Let’s see point by point how we’re trying to create  the perfect interior.

1. Looking good
   Well, I’ve already put on a few posts in the interior section on what we like. 
2. Continues to look good
   That means the materials have to be low-maintainance by design (unless you want crew to spend most of their time keeping the yacht look good), easy to repair. 
   
3. Comfortable
   I guess that speaks for itself but well, we all know examples of furniture that just doesn’t sit right.  We’re also trying to maximize the headroom and have at least 7.5 ft. of height in all areas.  The bedding has to be first class; the airconditioning silent without any unpleasant draft.
   
4. Be safe
   We will employ materials that have the appropriate fire ratings, meet all the structural fire protection required by Lloyds and MCA LY2, including a sprinkler system.  Very little real wood!   It’s amazing how some multi-million Dollar conversions use ‘Home Depot’ doors!
   
5. Easy to maintain and repair
   The meet item 4 and 5, we plan to use IMO/SOLAS-approved wall panel systems, doors, and ceilings wherever required or effective.  These very sophisticated building systems are used extensively in the off-shore industry and in passengerships and ferries where fire safety AND ease of maintainance are important issues.  By using  wall foils and coverings, they can be given any look you want and turnout as ‘yacht-like’ as you want.
   
6. Noise reduction
   Essential!  Floating floors, anti-vibration mountings of panels, it’s a whole science and industry in itself for which we’ll seek professional advice.  Luckily, there’s a lot of material available to keep noise under control but it all starts with the right design. 

7. Environmentally friendly
   A lot of these wall systems now use recycled materials, halon free foils, and there excellent alternatives to teak that are not only better for the forrest but also better on your wallet, have better isolation (sound and heat) capacity and are easier to install (see this post).
8. Cost effective installation
   That’s the beauty again of the wall systems described earlier like those of Inexa or Isolamin.
9. Workmanship factor
   Getting a yacht up to ‘Dutch yacht standards’ is an expensive proposition and not one of our goals. Finding good workmanship is hard everywhere with the yachting business booming and in part of the world is not known for building fine yacht interiors.  So we try to out-design this factor as much as possible by using professionally produced furniture like that of Maritime Mobler and their partners Ekornes.  

It’s amazing to see the kind of spaces crew on some mega yachts have to live in.  Having worked as crew myself, we’re trying to find an acceptable compromise.  This post is meant to gather some feedback from crew and yacht designers and have them share their thoughts on our crew spaces.

Below 2 drawings showing the crew quarters in respectively the aft and fore of the vessel.  We have planned a few changes including adding a dumb waiter covering 3 decks in the galley and extending the galley by removing the office but other than that and regulatory-mandated changes that might be needed, this is the plan.

May 2009 update
See our updated general arrangement in PDF here.  The  office will go to make a bigger galley (see post here) and the dummy waiter shown on the May plan will also go to provide more space and equipment in the galley. Hey, we all want to keep the chef happy right?

Let us know if you find it an improvement.  Not all the quarter will meet the future ILO180 guidelines (7 m2 per cabin, 1 crew member per cabin, all cabins aft) but the cabins and crew mess are all above the waterline and have port holes and/or skylights.

By the way, the idea is that this ship can be managed by a knowledgeable owner couple and a crew of 2 if needed but we also want to be able to go away for a week with 24 friends.   The crew cabin all the way in forward would be for occasion ‘crew’ like guides or other temporary visitors . It’s not intended to be used during a transatlantic voyage in the fall !!

What can we do to improve?  Give us your feedback with the form below.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

During the last year, I have been scouting the Internet for a well-developed software package to keep track of maintenance and spare parts and allows you to document maintenance and overhaul procedures.  Have the software be accepted as a planned maintenance tool by the class societies was also on my wish list.

It’s not a crowded market!    On the one end I found a product called NS 5, developed by ABS (American Bureau of Shipping)  affiliate ABS Nautical Systems LLC.   It looks very comprehensive and if you want an American product or are under ABS class, the choice is simple.    Another product out of the class society world is MsLS GL Shipmanager, a Germanischer Lloyd company product.   It seems very up to date and comprehensive and at least one engineer highly recommended it.  Documentation can be found on their website.  In the commercial sector I found a suite of programs by Consultas Maritime Software Solutions from Norway.  Their software runs under XP and has over the years been approved by the leading classification societies.  They claim  that now more than 2000 vessels have been equipped with a Consultas software. 

Bassnet, also from Norway offers a comprehensive suite of ‘future proof’ products and it has the approval of most class societies but it may be a little too much for one yacht.  German company Spectec offer its range of AMOS software and has a large installed base.  But they also offer a more suitable product for the yacht industry (see below).

In the yacht market I found Triton Administrator by Great Circle Systems.  Unfortunately, there’s nothing on their website that shows how the modules interface looks like.  The only pages that’s really comprehensive is their bug fix pages.  Nothing about number of installations or compliance with planned maintenance of class societies.  A little scary!

A new product but more geared towards the under 100 ft. market that looks very promising is Seakits. The SeaKits “Marine Maintenance System” is web-based and was named the Best New Boating Product at the 2007 Newport International Boat Show.  Being web based has some obvious advantages but unless you have a satellite broadband on board, you have to carry all data ashore.

Somebody on Yachtforums.com also mentioned a program called COGZ, “if you are looking for something a bit more simple and more engineer oriented.  I know of a couple of MCA compliant yachts using it”.   I had a look at it and while it looks capable enough, it’s certainly not geared towards the yacht market.

The only serious contender I have found in the yacht segment is a German product by Idea Vio software.  It looks up-to-date, has a comprehensive website with many screenshots so you can see what you’re planning to buy. You can even download a demo on your computer.  And I’ve received very good user feedback.

According to the company, Idea Vessel Management Software is installed today on more than 250 Super yachts, such as: Le Grand Bleu (12th largest yacht in the world), Indian Empress (17), Alfa Nero (29), Amevi (32), Constellation (33), Haida G (36), Princess Marianna (41), Ilona (46), just to name a few.

It’s also the only yacht-market product that has received the “Certificate of Operation of an approved Machinery Planned Maintenance Scheme” by Lloyds Register. The system allows the crew to carry out large parts of the class inspection themselves while operating the ship. This brings both a reducing in costs and downtimes related to inspections by the classification society.

Idea Vio was taken over by Spectec recently which suggests they will be well funded in the future to continue to develop their already impressive product.

Update October 21, 2009: Idea Yacht now offers a ’light’ version of it’s software for Euro 490.  It’s misses a few modules but it’s a great deal for the basics.  And of course you can migrate with all your data to the full package.

Another discovery at Seatrade earlier this spring. I’m not quite sure in which category to file this post . 

We’re talking about a German product, a hi-tech ceramic window film that reduces glare, rejects heat and practically stops ultra-violet light. So it’s better on the eyes, saves energy (keeping the bridge cool) and avoids the color fading of furniture & upholstery. 

Unlike the typical window films you find on cars which make your car dark inside and/or have this annoying reflection at the outside, Hüper Optik’s product line has almost no annoying reflection on the outside and is very clear.  Its ’ceramic’ line is especially suitable for the marine industry as it is free of any metals that might corrode and reduce the film’s quality and effectiveness.   I’ve seen samples and it’s really good stuff.

The film goes on the inside obviously and combined with Ritec’s ClearShield product that protects against glass corrosion on the outside I think we can’t do much more to improve the quality of our windows.

Check it out at Hüper Optik USA.

We’re very glad to announce that we have hired British interior designer Peter Sampson to develop the interior of our explorer yacht conversion.

Peter’s unique and combination of skills in both interior design and project management of yacht interior installations and his intimate knowledge of the regulatory safety requirement made the choice easy.  It just took us some time to find him!  His experience covers both yachts and commercial projects such as ferries and passengerships.  This location in Tallinn, Estonia and his extensive knowledge of  the local maritime industry supplier will certainly make this part of our project more cost effective without compromising the final quality of this important facet of the final product.

We look forward to working with Peter to find the right balance for the interior of a rugged go-anywhere explorer yacht that will be look elegant and warm, is safe and easy to maintain and won’t require Dutch shipyards skills to install flawlessly.

We will keep you posted in this section.

It’s been some since I touched this topic so time for an update.  Initially we looked at high pressure water mist systems (see earlier post).  However, their power requirements and associated cost made it impractical for our relatively small yacht like ours.  But, thanks to a tradeshow we ran into an innovative product by Danish company Novenco which made us reconsider the idea.  And upon reviewing Lloyds Register rules on fire protection, we learned we needed a sprinkler system anyway as we are over 350 gross tons. At any case, the additional safety provided by a water mist system and potential savings in case of a fire are very appealing.  Even if it weren’t required by class or MCA LY2 code, given the extensive conversion we are planning, we might as well build it into the yacht now.  Adding it later would cost dramatically more. And, a little bit extra structural safety won’t hurt the resale value either.

The Novenco XFlow water mist system is a state-of-the-art and and highly efficient water mist system, that combines the greatest benefits of both high- and low-pressure systems.

A central feature is its unique water mist nozzle (see picture above) that makes it require less water, reduce risk of clogging and requires a lot less power for the pump unit.  So, we get a very reliable system using the latest technology for a very competitive price.

The pictures show that  the water mist head is almost concealed which of course is nice.

This is also a fire extinction system for category A machinery spaces. We are currently protected by an FM200 system.   Since we need the pump unit anyway, we might as well use watermist in the engine room as well.  More importantly, in case of a fire, the system saves valuable time – and therefore potentially lives – because it can be released without first having to evacuate personnel. The system operates with freshwater and uses seawater for backup. This means you will always be able to fight the fire.

Check out the two brochures below to learn more about this innovative system works and its benefits.  If you have a yacht of 120 ft or more and you want to go the extra mile in fire safety like we do, it deserves a serious look.

• Novenco water mist for yacht accommodation (PDF)
• Novenco water mist for engineroom spaces

Keeping class clean and clear in a saltwater environment takes regular cleaning, which means: (less than exciting) work and (expensive) fresh water use.   If you can avoid cleaning the windows you save time and natural resource$.  Last year at SeaTrade I ran into a very interesting product by British manufacturer Ritec called ClearShield.   It can be used to keep glass clean and clear for years with less effort.

Glass Corrosion
Just as metal rusts, glass is subjected to a corrosion process caused by reactions between the glass surface and gases in the atmosphere. Even a single droplet of moisture on protected glass can produce sufficient damage to be visible in good lighting:

As the image to the right shows, the surface of glass is not smooth and consists of microscopic peaks and potholes. Both organic and inorganic contaminants fill these potholes and chemically react with the glass, firmly bonding to the surface. Because of this, cleaning glass becomes more difficult and visibility deteriorates.

If you would like to know more about the process of glass corrosion, why not take a look at the specialist article (PDF) written by Ritec International’s MD Stephen Byers.

But to see that it works, just have a look at this little video.  It’s truly amazing!  

Check out the website of Ritec for more information on this amazing product.
 

We looked at several options so here’ the most complete list of links to professional bow/stern thrusters on the Internet .   We saw the exciting van Velden EPS thrusters, the Brunvoll line of ‘silent’ thruster (very interesting reading by the way), Verhaar Omega thrusters and Schottel (nice stuff) but in the end we decided with our pocketbook and get a used Pleuger tunnel thruster (by Promac), 150 HP model.  Since we keep our 375 HP  generator, we can run both bow and stern thrusters at the same time.

Aft-view of stern truster

But in the end we decided to keep it simple – and affordable and go with this used bow truster.

Side view