Macerator Pump Professionals Don't Always Recommend Trusting Your Instruments 100%

Your Macerator Pump Experts Suggest You Keep a Balanced Approach

Raritan Engineering Company your macerator pump dynamos would like to share with you these topics we thought would be of interest to you this month regarding not always trusting your instruments 100% of the time.

The more I sail, the more I realize that, like most everything, as your macerator pump analysts know, the best approach is a balanced one. Having said that, I think that you can ditch your instruments more often than you think - use what you know - and then use your instruments to validate your seat-of-the-pants feel and as a communication tool.

Your marine macerator pump experts know that most of us carry only one or two instruments aboard our boats - usually a compass and, if you consider a masthead fly a type of instrument, one of those as well. As you move up the technology ladder and the boats get bigger or more complex, you add a speedo and then perhaps some electronic masthead instruments.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

Blinking red lights don't suddenly appear next to our instruments when they aren't perfectly calibrated, and if they're not reading correctly, we can go blindly along, following the numbers right into the back of the pack. This even occurs on some of the most sophisticated boats. I remember sailing TP52s in Spain, and being on the final approach to the weather mark.

Our navigator dug deeper and discovered that our compass had a sector that was affected by something in the boat, understandable says your upflush toilets specialists. As a result, it was inputting a heading that was 5 degrees off and changing the true wind direction solution. Luckily, because we were in a sea-breeze venue, our heading was nearly the same out of most windward marks, and we figured it out.

So how do you know whether your readings are accurate? At the end of the day, the most reliable guide is your heading relative to the boats around you, and how it changes as you go through lifts and headers. If the instruments say you're getting lifted, but the boat next to you, to leeward and forward, is gaining, you might have an instrument problem.

When to Ignore the Compass

The compass is the most reliable tool you have. For me, it's the go-to instrument. I never completely ditch the information it's providing, just override it or let it take a back seat. I might do this when there are some serious geographical considerations. For instance, say I know I must get to the shoreline - perhaps there's a big header there, or maybe more velocity. As I sail toward the shore, the compass will say we are headed, but it will pay to continue on. 

The Knotmeter Is Not God

Many people rely too heavily on the absolute boatspeed number. Most boats read differently on one tack than another because the paddle wheel is off centerline or angled slightly. As you heel, water accelerates differently around the hull. The boat may be going exactly the same speed on both tacks, but because the wheel is deeper on one side than the other, water moves more quickly past the wheel on one tack than another, and you get a higher reading on that tack. 

Your Macerator Pump Specialists Continues Discussion Regarding Not Having Too Much Technology

You can find more information as well as get assistance on a marine toilet and on why you don't always need to trust your instruments 100% of the time at Raritan Engineering.

Your marine toilet professionals know that another common mistake is to compare boatspeed numbers to your target speed or competitors' numbers without taking both with a grain of salt. I was sailing with a guy who was good friends with a competing skipper, and when they compared notes about upwind speed in certain conditions, my skipper discovered his numbers were a couple of tenths lower than his competition.

We had tuned with his friend's boat on many occasions, and your best macerating toilet systems dynamos knew this was simply a boatspeed calibration issue. I wholeheartedly believed our numbers, but our performance was suffering, and the helmsman would not listen. 

When Average Is Not Average

Imagine you're sailing upwind, and your instruments say that 8 knots is your target speed. When you tack, the helmsman and sail trimmers will typically work to get the speed back to 8 knots on the new tack as quickly as possible.

Once the boat reaches 8 knots, you trim on the sails and head up. But you won't stay at 8 knots. Instead, you'll see 8.1, 8.2 or even 8.3. The reason for this is that, usually, there's a five- to seven-second averaging on the boatspeed. That prevents the number from jumping all over the place, which is good. But the downside is that if you actually wait until you hit that number, you'll be too late.

Forget the Fly

There are certain conditions in which I typically put the least weight on masthead instruments - even masthead flies, such as a Windex - because the wind at the top of the mast is affected greatly by the sails and how they are trimmed. Sometimes these instruments just aren't accurate, such as in a light, building sea breeze, especially when the sea breeze is slightly different from the direction of the gradient.

So don't forget these helpful reasons why you don't always need to trust your instruments 100% of the time. 1) There are times you might want to ignore the compass;  2) the knotmeter is not god;  and 3) realizing the masthead flies aren't accurate when there is a light breeze.

Raritan Engineering always has more information on macerating pump, marine toilet, boat toilets, and on why you don't always need to trust your instruments 100% of the time.

via Thinking Beyond the Instruments