Installing Military-Grade Boat Monitoring and Security System & More Solar on Our Sailing Catamaran

[@jangrueter]

My husband and I just found your channel. We love it!! Thank you for sharing your life with us. He is 90 and I am 80 and you bring much joy to our lives!!

[@Bigfish300]

Love the response personally by the CEO of Seawind. New Balance owner lost a daggerboard - tough luck, you have to wait 9 months for a replacement ... Lagoon we all learned about through Colin. Leopards warranty is a circus on multiple channels. I really like the way that Seawind committed to your problems. Great

[@floydbright9169]

I might have made the external side of the tarp white to reflect the sunlight. That black will be like a heat source to the salon. But that was an excellent idea using the tarp inserted behind those screens. Good going Sierra. This old great grandpa congratulates you.

[@wjhann4836]

I never experienced a new boat without issues. But what for me is outstanding that Seawind is taking (positive) action about your issues. That's more than the average production boat owner will experience.

[@davecummings6170]

Nice to see someone who really can swim. Going after the sunglasses in the water your dive was perfect; straight legs, feet together and then classic crawl stroke and very powerful. Those years as a lifeguard were not wasted.

[@4port]

Hey sierra, to help stopping your sunshades from dropping... cut the block out screen larger and tabs or holes so they go over the snaps and then get held in place....😊

[@bumonthemove]

Tip for the blackout tarp. use the super small but powerful magnets to keep the tarp in place on the windows. just insert a small metal bit ( washer) in the mash cover that you put over it.

[@darlajean1045]

We used some powerful magnets on our boat to hold our cushions in place and we started having so much trouble with our auto pilot. Turns out the magnets were causing all the issues.

[@FixDatTing]

Don’t let these negative comments bother you if you buy a new house you still have warranty issues. I was a superintendent for a lower priced builder and a high end builder guess what they both had warranty issues and they both dragged their feet to do any of it

[@whitneylake2107]

Thank you both for the laundry list of info over the years I have been watching. You have indirectly convinced me to build my own vessel no matter what. Thank you !

[@RiverWoods111]

Hmmmm... I have seen owner-built boats crack in half in the middle of the ocean. Hope you actually know what you are doing!

[@KORKZCustomSunglassStraps]

Thank you so much for the KORKZ shoutout! That was really nice of you both. (Billy wasn't messing around when he threw his sunglasses in the water 😂.)

[@valerieb.4912]

Hi, I have a suggestion on the black shade. Sew on the outer edge surface several pieces of velcro on the screen. Then sew the velcro (make these pieces much longer. In case of adjustments) on the black shade. This way it does not slip down. Happy Sailing ⛵

[@edwardbartoneb]

As an OG inspector and lineman if you are having problems running wires throughout your boat. You can always use cheap dishwashing liquid. But after a while the liquid will dry and become sticky for a while. You can also use a light coating of grease and it should work just fine. That’s what a lot of lineman’s use for difficult problems, and it saves time and no frustrations.

[@charlesscottdoty1283]

The BRNKL system is fantastic! Good job on all of the new improvements.

[@Johnsouthshore]

I had a yanmar saildrive on my 1984 monohull for over 20 years. Never a single problem. Worked well

[@Cycle9568]

You guys do you! We are here to watch and enjoy all of the adventures and the pitfalls along the way! Happy Sailing!

[@nooneanybodyknows7912]

As you said, your repairs pale in comparison to others, say, for instance, Travel Sketch. Trent, Telicia, and Tynan have been thru hell and back with their Leopard 45. From warranty repairs, numerous poor subcontractors, delays in materials, and in their do and redo fiasco. The heartbreaking, infuriating, disgusting madness they've been thru makes your issues a cake walk. Still, I remain steadfast. Most sailboat manufacturers aren't producing high-quality boats. I love your channel. I always wish you and LaurieSue the very best. ❤

[@freedomwanderer91]

Everything we own requires maintenance and upkeep so its part of the package. Great work.

[@laurieswezey2867]

I, personally LOVE LaurieSue thank you Seawind ☺️

[@h2osmokey]

What's the origin of the boats name?

[@laurieswezey2867]

Billy’s mom (me - Laurie) sierras mom “Sue” 😊😊

[@ArmandoLazo]

Barnacle - what a clever name for a marine security and monitoring system!

[@RiverWoods111]

Yay!!!!!!!!! On the Going Sailing! Nice job on the tarps, the only thing you might down the road want to do is to make them white or light gray. Also, if you add a little bit of boning that you can get at the fabric store or order online for like corsets and fancy dresses to the vertical edges the will stay standing up. It is somewhat flexible so it will conform to your window shape. It is covered in fabric, so there should be no scratching. Oh, the white is to keep your boat cooler when it is hot out. The black will work as a solar heater, and you might want to use those when it is cooler out to heat up your boat.

[@Annette__mimi21]

You could either put velcro or glue magnets between screens and tarps at the top to keep tarps from sliding.

[@bradleyrupska4988]

I am a industrial electrician. When you have difficult wire such as this. You always use a cable pulling lube. First you pull a small rag through the conduit with lube on it. Then when you are what's called making the the wire pulling head up. You strip each wire the about four inches. Then you cut half of each wires strands off. You then fold them over the pulling fish tape. The fish tape can be a metal one or a fiberglass one. You stager the wires so you don't have a bigger pulling head than the diameter of all the wires you are pulling into the conduit. Wrap it with half wraps is good quality 3m 33 tape, at least two half wraps. Then you use wire lube on the head and wire while pulling. The person pulling should count down 123 like you where doing. To let the person feeding the wire know when to push! The person feeding and pushing the wire is the most important person. While pulling wire. The person feeding and pushing during a difficult wire pull helps the wire by over 50 to 80% of the pull. Love your videos. I wish I was there to help you on this difficult wire pull!!!!!!

[@justsomeguy6474]

Wow, I'm amazed at the tech that is available now. That Brnkl system is what I consider a must have on a boat, well a live-a-board anyway.

[@johnabriggs6044]

one thought on the tarp shade would be to add some holes at the top and each end to allow the snap of your screen to hold the tarp in place. maybe glue and a second piece of tarp as a reinforcement to the Tarp whole. simple way to keep them in place when used 🤩

[@PorscheSpeedster-kz6nc]

Learn to refiberglass the hole and gel coat to make it white and solid again. Or find an aesthetically pleasing access door/panel to cover up the giant hole. You are brave and patient to take that on. Jobs like these have ruined relationships of the weak!!! You guys are awesome. 👏

[@ImCallingYouOUT1]

I believe they are more responsive to you because of your KZbin channel and social media following. Customers without the same reach as you will not receive the same level of service. I think you will agree with that.

[@thelongs5698]

100% accurate statement

[@colinboniface194]

What a great episode... Full marks to SeaWind for their warranty service... You are right, there are some horror stories out there. You judge a company not on sales or flashy media, you judge them on follow up... There is so much going on with a new boat, of course there will be issues. That BNKL setup is first class...

[@johnabriggs6044]

a secret to pulling cable in any place is to add lube to it liquid dish soap is a good lube as no detergent in it . I buy the cheep stuff from the Dollar store and keep around for just that use. As an old man with lots of boat rigging and reworking one need all the easy extras to use. I always added a extra pull string as one way to be ahead of the next project and add a label at each end so one know where it running too. back before cell phone and note files and photos did it with a note book and tabs to keep a record of what had been added Records are a good failsafe for future

[@DYoung-vt8pq]

Love you kids! Safe travels. ❤

[@anjiemarie1]

Hey, I don't mean to put you down or anything, but I think you're getting such great help because you have a lot of followers in the sailing world. I love watching your videos; they're really peaceful and enjoyable for me, but I can't help but wonder if someone without a following would get the same service.

[@RiverWoods111]

In this day and age of social media, there is no way any boat builder can afford to not give the same attention to detail to every boat regardless of the following. Everyone now has access to sailing groups and forums that reach just as many actual sailors as this channel reaches. The Wynns boat is currently in warranty work and this is completely normal. Even more so with the time frame this boat was built being that it was during shutdown and the fact that getting employees had become exceedingly hard, and it was boat number 1 of a new model. My daddy always said, "Never by the first year of a new model of car, new models always have too many kinks to work out." My dad was talking about CARS! Years ago he said this, and it is still true to this day.

[@beebop4333]

It has nothing to do w them. Its the power of social media. Watch RV Liz. You will see that RV manufacturers wont help w warranty work, until they are publicly exposed.

[@anjiemarie1]

@beebop4333 I didn't say it had anything to do with them. They're great people. I think they're the kindest, most real sailing channel it there. It's the boat companies, not the owners. The person above you mentioned the Wynns having boat work on their new boat, but the same can be said for them; the Wynns also have a large following in the sailing world. Vagabond already had to have work on their new boat. Tula, the Wynns and Vagabond all are very nice people but they also have large followings. My opinion is that if they didn't have such a large number of followers, they wouldn't have had such an easy time getting the warranty work done so fast. Once again, I'm not saying anything bad about these 3 sailing channels. I'm subscribed to all 3 it's just that Tula is my favorite.

[@bunkyayars1179]

Captain Rick Moore has some great ideas too

[@philthomas6123]

Such a tough line to toe, sharing your experience without coming across negative... My take is that repairs are expected, and as anything in business having good follow through and good follow up makes or breaks it.... I feel for ya with the comments... the one thing I know is you two have eachother and have this handled just fine. love your channel, it is honest and it is fun

[@pammager7135]

Smooth sailing Sierra, Billy, and Jetty!

[@pken9814]

Great idea with the tarp. A suggestion if the cut out wants to slide down. Use some velcro with tape on the back, and tape a couple of pieces of velcro to the top of the tarp and shade. Or velcro the whole cut out to the back of the shade. Then snap back on.

[@paulas_lens]

Hopefully you guys are way south of Beryl. Thinking of you and sending you safety and protection.

[@UUBrahman]

Real World...love it.

[@CharleyGeorge]

if you have a tight spot running wires use silicon lubricant. That will allow it to slip without eating the wire cover and the fiberglass

[@rickcreel3657]

If you made a ramp that your dog could walk up and get on your sugar scoops, then train her to use the ramp. If she fell off the boat she could get back aboard by herself.

[@MnGirl1994]

You can add heavy-duty velcro or sew on some extra snaps to the main sunshade and tarp to make sure it doesn't slide down.

[@iamblaineful]

Cable pulling lube, I just did this at my cabin and had to pull 230ft of 8gauge PV/THWN cable in a conduit....game changer. I also went short on solar with only 1Kw, it's now 2.4Kw and that gets us charged back up in the CA Sierra Nevada winters.

[@johnmartlew5897]

This type of mil-spec security is great, but I rented a Marine Infantry squad. Hooaaah! 😂 👍

[@sandrarenwick1225]

Hi guys, if you are headed to Trinidad you can anchor around in Carnage bay by the Trinidad yacht club and then dinghy into shore for customs. The main anchorage is very deep and crowded. For Jetty coming in, Jesse James has made arrangements for the vet and rules for dogs coming in. We are meeting with the vet today and get our permit. Sandra and Dave, we met you in Antigua and you came for Dave’s birthday dinner to our condo.

[@allenwilson9656]

Wow billy, that's too many POE , POM's and POV's 😂 Congrats on your repairs

[@jhsrecordsentertainment4972]

Nice video. Safe travels. Love to you both.🎉❤

[@Keepingittocool]

Electricians sometimes use dry soap to help get the wires through the conduit. And four hard poles they have a winch for wires they will set it up and wrap the wires around it.w help other people feed the wire put soap on the wiresf🎉

[@SuzanneS2023]

Great hard work well done. I love and liked all your videos. Thanks for sharing.

[@lawsonshilingkendall4246]

Wow, that's some fancy stuff. In my day, it was LORAN navigation systems... land based reference points triangulation give you your coordinates.

[@Bamathafan]

Suggestion... The cork sunglasses should be neon so it would stand out in the water

[@EngelbertKarcovnik]

This is reality of production boats.

[@Rodrifuuu]

Hey Billy and Sierra. One thing that would be cool to add to your website would be to connect it to your SOG. "Are we sailing right now?"

[@lesterwicklein717]

Love the sun shirts !

[@jefferyholland]

Maybe some little suction cups attached to the top of your sunshades will keep them from dropping.

[@Trk09dr]

Black shades absorb heat so boat will be hotter than if you have reflective material or white on exterior

[@davecummings6170]

I sure am glad there won’t be a quiz at the end.

[@philipkontoulas4091]

Remember showing the difficulties for upgrades or additions, is what some want to see!

[@EdwardWright-t8d]

very good

[@boomerbits2297]

Just like RVs. We were fulltime rvers for 10 years and we also spent a couple of years selling rvs. Not a single rv that we got from a pny manufacturer was free of defects. Lots had major problems. Same as boats

[@robertlaird6746]

You can fiberglass those holes up and then gel coat

[@tmerema]

I'm sure y'all are done with this wiring project, but next time look for "mil spec" wire. It is just as strong and just as capable, but the insulation is able to be thinner and makes the overall wire diameter smaller. Added cost sure but worth it.

[@kevbjork1]

Old boat or new boat, it's always some thing. LOL. Your boat is gorgeous and yeah, ya gotta keep tabs on Jetty1 She's the star of the show after all. Hope you have a good trip south.

[@kennisjarvis8105]

Are you able to provide what is behind the name LaurieSue?

[@Tulasendlesssummer]

Billy’s mom is Laurie :) Sierra’s mom is Sue :)

[@davidwood4427]

I had a similar issue in not being able to run the gauge cables I wanted. The only fix was to run the panels in series which multiplied the voltage but kept the amps down so smaller gauge cables could be used. Individual cables and controllers would have been ideal but sometimes just not practical.

[@gbthecamper458]

As a multiple RV unit owner the best you can expect is that any company will back up its warranty. From my point of view I expect quality issues with any RV or boat manufacturer. Issues with components that were supplied to the manufacturer are usually not the builders fault but when they can arrange their repair that’s awesome.

[@BobDorfman]

Great episode!

[@rayb3117]

I am sure that, since, the panels were laid out in the orientation we just saw, that it was the only efficient way to do it.

[@vic2265]

If I were a boat builder I would make dam sure it was correct in this day and age as everyone will see your issues. Word of mouth is still an important factor when you talk about issues on these new builds. Reputations can be made and destroyed by social media at a speed of the internet.

[@claverton]

Yes comments were definitely overblown. Bottom line is there were no structural issues, Seawind was responsive to warranty claims and these guys were able to use their boat. This is a far different situation to customers of couple of other well known brand of cats which have experienced very serious structural problems with their boats.

[@phillipmullis7904]

You will have to say seawind would be more interested in making you happy then someone that doesn’t have a KZbin channel.

[@vonderdornburg]

Very cool system!

[@kenberger1814]

I understand the idea of maximizing solar but what about adding a wind generator to the mix? Would this make sense?

[@doncastor4807]

Completely impressed with sea wind. Leopard is ridiculous especially the pricing. Making an RV that goes into the ocean would be hell on anything

[@o_oo_o1812]

i realized that their whole youtube channel is basically about this boat. they have been giving hours and hours of free advertisement to this company. if any of seawind's boats are of good quality, it should be this one. this is the most well-known of literally all their boats, but still this is the result. even if by some miracle they aren't idiots at boat-building, they are idiots at marketing. whenever I'm looking at any boat, I search for it on youtube. that's even more important than my google search, because on youtube boat owners will show you exactly what the boat is.

[@majoroldladyakamom6948]

Don't sentences start with a capital letter? Yup.

[@wallacegrommet9343]

Use armorall on wire jacket to aid fishing

[@waltsailing2009]

We have a similar solar set up on our catamaran. So I would suggest that you remount them… not what you want to read…. go buy some corrugated plastic. Put this under the panels. The air flow under them will improve things a bit, the back sides will get hot. For example, even with corrugated plastic and air flow, you can feel from the underside of the hard dodger, different amounts of heat… Mounting them is better done using some screws. A stand off made with some g10 which you can epoxy down with the corrugated plastic making an air passage will be simpler. You can then screw into the stand off, not the boat. Only the corners are glued down,. Try not to walk on them…. 😂you will find that if you tie the boom as far out as possible this will remove the shade, for half the day…. Shade is not your friend with the solar. Shade stripes from the boom can cut your entire solar array off depending on how you have it wired. Series is best for the lower current, and higher voltage, in this set up. If you can mount some standard panels on the stern davits or arch area, this will be the best, and if you can tip them towards the sun, late afternoon or early morning sun, you can have some significant gains. Unless you have the flex panels perfectly normal to the sun, and have no shadows, and the backs are not covered, with good air flow, don’t expect anywhere near full output. We suffered from a real problem of a radar pole and radar causing shade. You can watch on your Victron app, in graph mode, as the boat swings at anchor the solar power go from less than 1/3 to full as shade fills parts of the panels. Internal panel wiring and internal diodes can help but the best solution it to just get the shade off. And, you can experiment with connecting them in parallel and in various series connections to optimize the results due to small shade like from the mast or stays..when we were in the Bahamas, you could see the difference when the radar shade pattern was out of the way…, And docking in the right direction and anchoring with an uneven bridal can get you more output….good luck… ps, watch the app, and swing the boom as far out as possible…

[@MyPhone-qg2eh]

Nice web monitor product. Your boat is getting dialed in. By the way...use wire lube. Pro tip.

[@captainsensible298]

EVERY boat has a list of work needed to maintain seaworthy status. New or preloved. Consequently BOAT stands for Bring On Another Thousand. If you have the enviable position of having a manufacturer cover some of your costs then happy days.

[@trulyamazingsailing7056]

I must have missed the brand of panels you purchased can you let me know?

[@srperk6163]

I think it helps that you have a KZbin channel. Their response is faster and more thorough.

[@elizabethjocollins4313]

Hello to my favorite couple, and definitely the most beautiful and handsome. I love you guys. I so enjoy your videos. Do you have a security system? It's very important. Prayers, Love, and Hugs. Happy sailing!

[@lawsonshilingkendall4246]

No No! Yes, Yes! that's how i make my decisions.

[@georgebarber1343]

Why not use a white tarp???

[@BudaPeter]

Great video, thanks. Is locating the security camera externally an opportunity for criminals to steal the camera, or otherwise disable it? My landlord installed cameras on his estate and the thieves stole those in addition to other stuff. Budapeter

[@juliazentner681]

More patients than me. I'd have said a big *-+% it and used the outside cable anran it outside majority of the way!

[@tedboender]

What brand of panels are these?

[@larrylegg8245]

Would it be stupid to suggest you use some lubricant like liquid dish soap to help push the wires?

[@sailingsvsolution]

Can you please provide a link to your solar panels.

[@Tulasendlesssummer]

Here’s a link to the panels we used amzn.to/3xLuGPk the ones we installed were 175 watt which looks like are not available but 200w are available

[@FBurck]

I would change the notification sound so you do not have a heart attack every time you get a text message.

[@jenmartino3021]

Canada ❤

[@hanssolo4ever]

Hull #1 of any model of any company will have problem.

[@bokendrick6553]

What "cycle9568" said.

[@Coleen-Love]

Very Interesting! - QUESTION -- We want to get the most reliable strongest built Catamaran and watched Sailing Zatara with their Privilege 585. From what we read, this boat is considered to be very well built from a structural and material point of view. Would you agree with that view? Have you heard this too?

[@laurence9695]

It is also extremely heavy and sails like a dog, which is why they never sail it. Max top speeds around 7 knots, with at least 20 knots of wind, not a good way to sail out of trouble.

[@Coleen-Love]

@@laurence9695 hmmm... not from what I have seen. They sail it all the time and reach high speeds. The 585 sails beautifully from what I have read and seen. Are you sure that you are thinking of the same boat? Although any sailboat doing over 10 or 11 knots becomes uncomfortable.

[@mariusgrobler4235]

Hi guys, just check ~20mins your IP address seems to show onscreen. Not sure if that could be dangerous...

[@jellybean7253]

Ruby Rose has had big problems too

[@RiverWoods111]

And they have been fixed. Try buying a newly built house, and you will have just as many warranty problems, but your builder will be nowhere to be found.

[@ronaldwarren5220]

She is a beauty!

[@dsante56]

AIR CONDITIONER?!? You can get a portable one that will work perfectly in your cabin.

[@earlhunt2815]

You chose wisely with seawind. Even Otremer, HH, and other preferred brands have issues brand new; but, these brands DO build structurally sound and seeworthy vessels as opposed to Leopard and Sunsail since taken over by the Czech investment fund PPF. Produced in South Africa, Leopard's defects so egregious these cats are neither structurally sound or sea worthy enough for me. The company seems to slow roll owners into NDAs and payouts that don't actually fix the problems. PPF is also a majority shareholder of Dream Yacht Group. Since Robertson and Caine's sold the company ultimately run by PPF, Leopard quality and warranty appears to be a scam. Travelopia Marine also under PPF and KKR.

[@GeorgeWalker-hg5yt]

I'm not a hater✌️, just think by now all cats should have a separate conduit line for just solor😂🎉, easy enough to lay out when it's being built, more and more are going solor, bigger solor, bigger conduit line,God bless🙏, have fun , lantana♥️

[@jackdbur]

Water based sex lubricant or dish washing liquid to pull cables through conduit 😊

[@jeffa61]

BOAT= Break Out Another Thousand

[@KB_OMeara]

I always thought your boat name was Tula…