Sailing yacht CRYSTAL

– yacht with unlimited autonomous sailing

Our yacht is a true ocean cruiser capable of unlimited autonomous sailing. It is powered by powerful solar panels (1140 W), the best on the market 500W D-400 wind generator (you can see it on almost all ocean regattas), a 340 Ampere alternator and watermaker producing 200 liters of water per hour. Two Inmarsat systems and one Iridium provide safety and comfort in the form of many current weather forecasts and the ability to contact the shore regardless of where the boat is. In addition, it’s equipped with 10 kW Eberspracher heating.

s/v CRYSTAL is the best equipped ocean yacht on the Polish sailing market in class up to 15 m.

Safety is the most important

Crystal is registered for 11 people, however, we take only 8 on board for the convenience and comfort of the whole crew. We all sleep in 4 double cabins (no one sleeps in the saloon).

Over the last few years, our yacht sailed back and forth many times the Mediterranean Sea and was everywhere, starting with Spitsbergen (80 N), through Iceland, down to Cape Horn (56 S), which it has sailed twice. With the yacht we crossed the Atlantic five times, once the Pacific and the Indian Ocean. In the period 2013-2016, Michal sailed on CRYSTAL over 55 000 Nm in the Round the World Sailing Cruise. All together, the yacht has sailed over 170 000 Nm without any incident, in all kinds of weather, by which it has proven to be safe and seaworthy.

Safety equipment on s/v Crystal

Safety is our priority and we have a lot of top quality equipment that can be relied upon in a crisis situation.

All crew members have at their disposal a 270 N pneumatic lifejacket equipped with an AIS MOB transmitter that fires automatically together with the jacket. This means that in the event of a fall overboard, they will be immediately located and picked up on board.

While we sail to the farthest corners of our planet we are self-sufficient in every aspect.

Safety equipment

liferaft Viking RescYou ISO9650-1/ISAF certified
EPIRB GME MT 403G – automatic activation in the water
INMARSAT Mini C z DSC – satelitarny DISTRESS. Część GMDSS. email
IridiumGO! – tracker + satelite SOS GEOS, email, phone
Automatic lifejackets 270N with AIS MOB
AIS B transponder Easy TRX2
VHF UKF with DSC + 3 handheld VHF
flares
2 storm drogues
ręczne pompy zęzowe – 3 sztuki
automatyczne pompy zęzowe – 6 sztuk
2 times Horseshoe Lifebuoy

Engine, electricity, electric sources

Both alternators are controlled by an external Balmar Max Charge MC-612 Dual regulator. They are able to charge our 600 Ah LiFePO4 (LFP) battery bank from zero to 100% in less than 3 hours!

solary na Crystal — Solary i wiatrak na Crystal

Despite very efficient alternators, we still mainly use renewable energy. We have 1140 Watt solar panels, managed by 2 MPPT Victron Energy regulators.

Plus the D400 wind turbine from Ecletic Energy. It is currently the most efficient wind generator on the market. s/v Crystal’s generator has been spinning continuously and without failure for over 10 years. Definitely worth its high price. Depending on the strength of the wind it can put out more than 500 W. Usually at anchor in the wind of 10-15 knots it is about 100 W. It provides less than energy than solar panels, but it works day and night.

Wind and solar charging work together perfectly and allow the fridge and 2 freezers to run non-stop.

Aboard s/v Crystal we have 230 V available at all times provided by a 3 kW Victron Energy inverter.

Normally in sunny weather, panels and a wind generator are enough to power all electrical demands. We only use the engine when there is no sun for long periods.

Anchoring

In this regard our equipment is uncompromising to say the least. After all, we stay at anchor almost all of the time! Peaceful sleep at an anchorage, even when the wind is whistling through the rigging, is priceless to us.

Main anchor

As our main anchor we use a 55kg Rocna. According to the manufacturer’s guide a 20kg Rocna would be enough for the boat of our size. So why size up this much? An anchor’s holding heavily depends on the type of the bottom it sits on. As long as it’s is covered in sand or mud there should be no problems but what if it’s slippery pebbles? What if on top of that a high force wind comes along? In order to feel safe at all times we adhere to the principle that the anchor should be as heavy as what the windlass can lift.

Spare anchor

Our second anchor, a 33 kg Rocna, which stays at the boat’s stern could easily be our main one. However, since 2016 it’s been out of use and stays with us only as a spare. In an unlikely scenario where we lose the main anchor somewhere at the end of the world, we can easily use the 33 kg Rocna and continue our voyage uninterrupted.

Navigation, electronics, and communication

Access to all necessary information is right behind the steering wheel. At the helm, we have a Raymarine eS75 chart plotter with marine charts and AIS data, right next to it there is a Raymarine i60 wind vane and an autopilot control panel.
This, coupled with our EchoPilot 2D sonar, provides maximum information and safety even in poorly charted areas. Thanks to the sonar scanning up to 200 meters forward, the helmsman not only knows how many meters of water is below the keel but also what’s the shape of the seafloor ahead. For the sole purpose of redundancy, we also have a standard NASA depth sounder.

With the exception of the sonar, every instrument at the helm is doubled at the navigation desk inside the boat. On top of that our navigation PC can display our radar’s full imagery.

Having all of those navigational instruments at hand allows the helmsman to safely steer the yacht in all conditions. With this much wealth of information from our systems, the seas ahead bear no secrets to us!

Satellite connection

There are very few yachts that have a satellite communication setup as robust as s/v Crystal. With multiple satellite instruments you can stay connected anywhere and anytime.

Our primary communication system: IridiumGO! This device connects to the Iridium network using a permanently installed external antenna. Aboard the yacht we connect to the system though WiFi. With this simple setup we are able to make calls, send text and email messages from any part of the world.

Our crew members can use this satellite system without any limits and free of charge.

Using IridiumGo! we receive the most recent weather forecasts. This combined with PredictWind software gives us unlimited access to 4 different weather models. Everyone aboard is always up to date with the weather.

IridiumGo! is at heart of our online tracking. It automatically sends S/v Crystal’s geographical position to our online Google map where everyone can follow our journey (check it out here).

In the rare case of an emergency we can use the IridiumGo! to send out an SOS signal through the GEOS system. All of this under one, accessible button.

This little device covers all our communication needs when we are away from the mainland. There is only one downside: the internet connection is terribly slow 😉

Another satellite communication device operated from below the decks is the Inmarsat Mini C with DSC. It allows us to send and receive both e-mails and text messages. Unfortunately it’s data is terribly expensive so we use it mostly as a backup. This system is a part of the global SafetyNET service which free of charge provides us with weather updates, navigation warnings and SAR data. The Inmarsat Mini C is a part of the global GDMSS system and is our second independent push-button emergency call system.

Until 2018 Inmarsat BGAN was the primary communication system on s/v Crystal. It gave us access to the internet and phone calls but now it stays aboard only as another backup to our IridiumGo!

Watermaker

After five years of using the Schenker Smart 30 watermaker, which produced 30 liters of water per hour, it was time for an upgrade. In Canada, we installed a system that produces as much as 200 liters of water in an hour! Which means we can fill up our 700 litre tanks as fast as 3 hours. Water is never a problem aboard s/v Crystal. Wherever we are, be the cold Arctic or a deserted atoll, we cover all of our fresh water needs ourselves.

Heating

Aboard our yacht we have two independent heating systems. Hot water circulating around the yacht is heated by a running engine or by a powerful Eberspacher Hydronic M10 heater with a capacity of 10 kW. It’s a lot!