Projects, the rest of them...

Click on a photo to enlarge it

After last years mad rush of 60 to 80 hours per week, working on the boat to put her back into a good, safe, cruising condition, we promised ourselves, not again!  This year we're going to slow down a little and finish those items that, while still important, were lower on the to do list  and therefore didn't get done before we took off last year.  And this year, we're going to tackle them with minimal stress cause we've got plenty of time to get our list finished before we head back south.

Reversing Gear - On our first 4,000 miles of cruising we found that the reversing gear was slowly leaking oil from the seals and there was a delay between putting the boat in gear and the prop starting to turn.  Not a grave concern, as it was only a small leak that we easily kept topped off and the delay was only about 3 seconds, but now that we're back state-side  I pulled it out and took it to a good Volvo mechanic.  He took a good look at all the pieces and parts a pronounces them all in good condition except for the cones, internal shift arm and seals.  This job was fairly easy and painless except for the cost of the Volvo parts.  The parts were $900, the labor $200.  But the gear works great now!  We also replaced the cooling system hoses running to the gear and steam cleaned the engine and ran a gallon of salt away through the raw water side of the cooling system.

Spring Cleats - Last year I removed the WAY too small, improperly installed, installed in  the wrong place, leaking like a sieve cleats that the former owner installed.  I didn't have the time to install new ones last year so I just uninstalled them and repaired the damage.  As I've said before when talking about the former owners work... "some people have no business working on their own boat!"   Anyhow, I located the cleats amidship where I could access the underside through the propane selenoid panel and an access port.  I drilled oversized holes for the cleats, filled them in with epoxy.  Drilled the hardened epoxy undersized and tapped them (this might be viewed as excessive on my part, but it only took a few extra minutes and I sure as heck shouldn't see any leaks there in my lifetime!) for the 4' long 5/16 bolts.  I then bedded the bolts and cleats before screwing them in and securing them with Nylocks over fender washers.  Since I was using 4" long bolts that only showed an inch below the teak and fiberglass deck/hull joint, I figured that adding a 1/4 aluminum backing plate was probably WAY over-kill in this location.  Hmmmm...

Cabinet hardware - This morning I had a couple of free hours before work so I got out the Dremel Tool to fix some of the cabinet hardware that just wasn't closing and latching as smoothly as we would like them too.  Nice!  Now they're so Smmoooooth...  I get points for that don't I Deb??

Former Owner BS - Ahhhhh... first, another couple  fixes for a former idi... errr owner... install.  Virtually every little project that the former owner did was done using the wrong pieces and parts or material.  Usually it was stuff that he probably got out of his garage like the bathtub caulk that he used to bed the stanchions...   Once again, I'm VERY thankful that he left all of the big projects in the hands of professionals as apposed to tackling them himself!  I'm hoping that I'm getting close to having fixed all of the former owners nifty little projects by now.  The only one that I know is left is replacing the WAY overpiched prop that he put on... but that's for a story in Sept. when I haul Fat Chance.

The first fix, was for something that I knew all along was a screw up, the second, I had no clue until I traced the wiring... 

The first was replacing a mild steel grease fitting that was installed under the rudder packing gland.  In the picture you can see the new stainless one that I got from McMasters-Carr for under $2.00.  Now I only have to clean up the melted mild steel one that's stuck to the bilge in the form of 5 foot long rust streak. 

The second fix was a 110V outlet in the pantry that wasn't working (no big deal, I didn't have time to fix it last year but I didn't really need it either.)  I have my wireless printer in the pantry and it would be nice to have a way to power it therefore, the outlet was perfect... Now... how come this outlet isn't working?  First, there were only 2 wires going to the outlet (which means no ground with AC) and they weren't tinned so I removed them and finally discovered where they were connected... can you guess???  The 12V buss bar... nice... NOT!  To save $8 the former owner is using the same household style outlets and plugs for both his AC and DC!  Amazing!  I'm surprised that this setup didn't kill someone or at the very least start a fire.   Folks, there IS a reason that you follow ABYC guidelines and there IS a reason that you use marine grade parts and pieces...  If you're too cheap to do it right, you don't need to own a boat!  You risk your boat and peoples lives doing crap like this!  Sheeesh!

Re-bed Port Lights - Not much to say here except that this is WAY easy!  You only have to remove the trim ring on the outside, clean out any loose caulk and re-bed with your favorite Polyether or Life Caulk.  I used West Marine's polyether because it flows so well that I was able to get it WAY back in all of the gaps and cracks.  As you can tell from the picture, I didn't brighten or clean up the front of the trim ring or the port.  Maybe next year I'll tackle aesthetic projects...

Freshwater Wash Down - While I was down in the bilge to install a new holding tank, I decided to take care of the rats nest of fresh water hoses and install a fresh water wash down system.  Yes, I used hardware store parts for my fresh water manafold.  It's all schedule 40 plastic.  Firmly mounted there's almost no chance of it breaking BUT, if it did, it would merely be an inconvenience and not life threatening!  The bottom valve drains the freshwater system for winterizing the boat.  The side valves lead to the watermaker's Flushing filter and the boats pressure water system.  The top valve leads to the new freshwater wash down pump and hose, mounted in the top deck forward locker.  Nice!

New Holding Tank - Now for the fun projects!  I'm replacing the holding tank as the old Stainless tank's seams have started to  leak.  I first looked at all of the stock roto-molded tanks.  Nothing.  Custom roto tanks cost 2K... I don't think so!  I finally found a company in Maine that does custom welded plastic holding tanks.  The prices are reasonable.  Triple M Plastic products made me a new tank, to my specifications, and had it in my hand in less than a week.  It looked beautiful, all white and shiny .  I finally got around to the task of installing it because I had a chunk of time (plus we need it now!) and it fit perfectly.  With all new hoses and a new vent fitting, all I needed to do was install the Scad ultrasonic holding tank level indicator.  The Scad monitor is an easy install and has had very high reviews.  When I finished wiring the Scad up, I calibrated the empty tank level on the  display.  Then I had to fill up the tank for the first time in order to calibrate the full tank level.  While I was finishing up the wire ties and cleaning up below, Deb was pumping the the head to fill up the holding tank with water.   All of the sudden I hear the bilge pump come on... hmmm... I didn't notice enough water in the bilge to activate the pump when I first came down here...  I quickly checked all the fittings to make sure that non were leaking... nope...  The vent hose is clear and empty.  I finally looked at the bilge water and saw a what appeared to be small flow lines coming from up forward and out from underneath the tank... I had Deb stop pumping and the flow appeared to stop... when she started pumping again, the flow lines reappeared.... #^%@#!  The tank must have a leak coming from one of the bottom or rear welds is all that I can figure!  I'm NOT happy!  Now I have to take everything apart again, including my water manifold, get a new tank, get new ultrasonic sensors and redo all of what I've already done...  I don't need this!  Not now.  We need to be able to use this tank today!  I should have done this install earlier on,  I should have also put water in the tank before I installed it, but I assumed (along with the "should haves" this one, I shouldn't have!) that the company pressure tested the tank for leaks before shipping.  Who would have thought...  I know better, I always bitch about the former owner doing things on the cheap and here I am, all because I didn't want to pay for a roto-mold or metal tank.  I'm going out to price welded aluminum tanks on Monday and will make sure that the selected company pressure tests them for leaks BEFORE shipping so that I don't have to do this again!  This is NO fun!  Sheesh...

Note - After emailing Triple M Plastic, I received this explanation from their president -

I am sorry to hear that the tank has a leak. Contrary to your claim that we do not pressure test our tanks for leaks before leaving here, we do. And we leave them full overnight.

These tanks have a weakness, and that is concussion. Should the tank be dropped during shipping it is nearly impossible to see a crack if appears along a weld.

We will build you a new tank free of charge, or refund your money, whichever makes you happier. We have no control over how that tank is treated in shipping, but I assure you that all our tanks are pressure tested before leaving here. We have successfully been building tanks since 1972, and we are truly sorry for this inconvenience. Please let us know how you wish to proceed.

Almost September-  OK, thanks to one of the members on the Kadey Krogen Forum I was able to get a non custom made, roto- molded  tank from Ronco Plastics.  This new tank install was a pain because the tank was a few inches larger in every direction.  I had to remove deadwood from 3 sides  plus some glassed in wood that the old tank sat on.  The total remove and replace time was 10 hours, along with much cussing, but the job is now done.

Injectors - No pictures here.  I installed new injectors and a new mechanical fuel pump as per last years mechanics recommendation.  In replacing the fuel pump I saw that the fuel lines to and from the engines needed to be replaced.  These are both about 2 foot long, non pressurized 5/16 hoses.  Guess how much Volvo wanted for them... Can you say $150 each!  I couldn't either as I was sputtering too much...  I will never own another Volvo.  Their parts are consistently 30% to 100% more than the same parts from any other diesel manufacturer out there.

Bullet2HP - I decided to upgrade my wifi from the 500mW Alfa client to Ubiquiti's 1000mW POE Bullet2 going down to a Linksys wireless router.  I also installed a mast extension to get the antenna a little higher and now all is wonderful with the world.  We now have strong wifi all around the boat so were no longer required to sit at the desk with the computer hooked to the Alfa unit.  Very NICE!

The back porches' Teak Deck was in bad shape.  The black seams and underlayment had separated from the teak in so many areas that I was starting to worry that water may start making it's way into the deck core via the teak decking screws.  While the teak looks nice and traditional, I don't have the time, nor inclination, to pull up the teak, re-bed it, re-caulk the seams, re-bung the screw holes etc.  On my last trawler, Gecko, I had the Vortex bed liner people come spray Vortex Urethane in a tan color on the decks with good results.  I was thinking of going this route again when one of my friends told me about Durabak roll on urethane.  After seeing that it had the Navy and Armies approval I decided to give it a try.  I mixed 1 gallon of nonskid textured cream with one gallon of smooth sand (color).  I was able to apply 3 coats with a little bit left over (that had to be thrown away as the stuff starts curing the moment that you open the can and expose it to humid air).  I think that I made the right choice.  This is really tough stuff!  And even though we mixed half smooth, half nonskid, the coating is excellent nonskid when wet.  I'm very impressed.  While it doesn't look quite as nice as teak decking did, it also doesn't let water through, cleans VERY easily and is actually, a bit softer under foot.  I now see that Durabak comes in clear!  Man... Oh well, that would have been the PERFECT solution, waterproof, great nonskid and still looks like teak... Oh well, at least the rest of you can profit from this info.

Teak Table - Today I'm working on converting this teak table to as smaller convertible coffee/dinning table.  Wish me luck!

September 17, 2010

I wrote the above teak table line almost a month ago!  When you're busy, time flies.  Here it is mid September and I'm still not done with all of the projects!  I did get the table done and we're happy with the results.  I cut the legs off, trimmed a bit out of the middle to narrow the table up, used Lock N' Pin seat pedestal for the legs and 3/4" black Starboard for the base.  The Lock N' Pins are extremely sturdy, pretty sleek and allows us to convert the table from 20" coffee table height to a 31" high dining table in about 30 seconds.  The use of expensive Starboard for the base was justified on 2 counts.  It's very heavy material making it perfect for use as a base for a lighter teak top and, second it ties in to our saloon with the black Starboard sliding cabinet doors.

I hauled the boat to put in a better NMEA 2000 Intelliducer into the hull, change out my zincs, paint the bottom (didn't need it but I was hauling so...) and finally try to determine the size and pitch of the prop.

Bottom Paint - Last year I put 2 coats of West Marines CPP and PCA (50/50 mix) ablative bottom paint on the hull after it had been peeled and reglassed.  Underneath that was an initial coat of West's Bottomshield epoxy bottom paint that I used as a primer coat.  When I hauled the boat it was totally free of all growth except at the bottom of the keel where the is no paint due to my exploring the shallows of the Bahamas.  Very NICE performance for such reasonably priced paints!  I went ahead and put a couple more coats on since the boat was hauled anyway.  I should be good for a few years now.

The prop... - ever since I bought the boat, I've known that the prop was greatly over pitched.  My top loaded rpm was 1100 under what Volvo said that it should be for the TMD30A.  Last year I couldn't find any markings on the hub and when I called the former owner, he said something like " don't you worry about the pitch!  You got the fastest Manatee, burning the least amount of fuel out there!  It's perfect!"  Uhhh... no it's not!  The experts (not my neighbor or the other owners of Kadey Krogens), real experts such as Volvo engineers and propeller specialists ALL  say that to get the best performance in both speed and fuel economy you need to match the prop size and pitch so that you can reach the engine manufacturers max loaded rpm.  I'm no expert on this so I'm just quoting those experts that I've talked to (remember that Kroganites)!  The experts told me that people always associate higher rpm with higher fuel consumption. Therefore they think that by overpitching their props and reducing their rpm's, that they're saving fuel and going faster.  All those same experts said that this assumption is patently false!  Apparently what dictates fuel consumption even more than rpm, is load.  By overpitching your prop (yes even just a little!) you're overloading your engine from the time you put it in gear right up through the, now lower, top end of the power curve.  This is hard on the engine, reversing gear, shaft coupler (the former owner replaced 2) and it consumes more fuel! Please, save the hate mail for the experts that I'm quoting.  As I stated above, I'm NOT an expert in this field and hence I'm relying on and quoting real expert.

Anyway... after brushing down the bronze prop I finally found the size and pitch marking and with some ink tricks was barely able to make out the 22x16.  3 inches overpitched from the 22x13 that the Manatees come with from the factory and 4" overpitched based on a 90hp Volvo and a cruising displacement weight.  I have a new prop coming from Ron at Wolverine Propellers.  It's a Michigan Wheels mp (machine pitch) 22x12.  Ron will refine the prop to within thousands of an inch and tune and balance the prop before sending it to me.  You pay msrp for the prop that you buy from Ron, but everything else is included as a free customer service.  Ron is very competent engineer that actually listens to his customers and then tries to guide them to a prop that will work best for their needs and therefore make them happy.  I haven't experienced the customer service and support that I got from Ron in some time.  Thanks Ron!  And for the nay sayers at the Krogen owners group, if Volvo, Michigan Wheels, Boat Diesels, Wolverine and Deep Blue, as well as the many pitch calculators that I used (all of the calculators figured 22x10 or 22x11) are wrong, it's simple and cheap to increase the pitch by an inch.  Right now though, I'll go with the experts...  12/5/10 - And am I glad that I did!  Even this prop is a hair overpitched!  I do mean a hair.  In calm waters I do 7.5kts @ 3000 rpm, 8.0kts @ 3300 rpm and 8.5kts @ 3600 rpm. I top out at 3700 rpm with no gains in speed.  Volvo specs say you should top out at 3800 rpm under load with correct prop, but hey, this is close enough for me and WAY closer than the 2700rpm that the last prop would allow the engine to top out! The engines reversing gear doesn't clunk when being put into gear anymore.  The 120 amp Balmar alternator is happier with a few hundred more rpm and I actually have better control of the boat when docking.  The big question, yet to be answered, is fuel consumption.  I'll post the Fuel #'s when I get some good ones. I tried to fuel up in NC but had problems due to mud daubers clogging the fuel vent so I won't be able get a Beaufort to Ft. Pierce #.  ****Fuel #s -with the old prop (overpitched) I went slow so as to not stress the engine.  So my average fuel consumption was running at 6 to 6.5 kts and burned 1.9 gal/hr, my 7 to 7.5 kts with that same prop burned an average of 2.7 gal/hr.  With the new prop I've been happy to run the boat at 7.5 kts average because I knew that I wasn't stressing the engine.  My initial average fuel consumption at that speed is 2.45 gal/hr.  So my feeling is that I'm burning a little less fuel with the properly sized prop doing much higher rpm's... I'm certainly not burning more...  So the experts are right... imagine that.  3/5/11 - I just filled up in George Town, Exuma and my fuel consumption since filling in Nassau has been 1.91gal/hr.  My average speed was probably a little lower than 7.5kts when you figure in all of the slower motoring into anchorages.  Still tickled with having the properly sized prop!  No down sides at all!

Solar Panels - I've been putting this job off, both so that I could think about different ways to do it and because I know that it will be a bitch no matter how I go about it.  I want to put the solar panels on the pilot house roof, out of site, out of mind and out of danger.  But the roof is a hollow fiberglass structure of which the top half has caved in about 1.5 inches and attached itself to the bottom half.  I have to find some way to pry the 2 halves apart and make the roof structurally sound.  In my research, I found that there was no way to get a 2 part high density foam (8lb) poured in place and have it flow throughout the structure before curing (60-90 seconds).  So I decided to cut the roof open, along the edges, where I will be glassing in some lumber to attach the framework for the panels.  This made using a 6 foot long piece of flat steel, to separate the 2 halves, WAY easy (If you can call 6 hours of pushing steel easy...).  With the fiberglass separated I'm going to install treated 1x4s, with a slight crown, approximately every 16".  I'm then foaming the rest of the cavity with a low density 2 part foam spray kit, fiber glassing over the openings and and repainting the roof with my new favorite coating, Durabak.  I'll then install 2 SS support posts that I'm having welded and polished, one of which is hollow to act as a wire chase, run the cables from the roof down to the batteries, install a regulator and breakers along the way, attach the solar panels to the frame and mount the frame on the pilot house roof...  That's the plan anyway!  Piece of cake huh?

Wrong!  What a PAIN this little project was!!!!  This one has fought me from start to finish!  It has taken about 4 times a long as I planned and has cost... well what do you know... exactly what I thought it would cost...  What can I say but, "give a monkey a bowling ball and every now and then, he's gonna get a strike."

After prying the fiberglass panels apart, I cut some 1x4 to lift the top fiberglass panel and give it the proper crown for good water run-off and extra strength.  I then used a low density, 2 part, spray foam kit to fill the air pocket between the fiberglass.  Unfortunately, because I believed what I was told by the company selling me the foam, I had 2 problems that left me with less than a perfect job.   First, the foam was supposed to be totally expanded and mostly cured within 90 seconds and therefore allowing  for a slow fill without overexpansion and "bubbling", wrong!  Even injecting the foam slowly, to allow all of the expansion to fill the empty void as apposed to pushing up on the top panel, didn't work well.  Several areas kept expanding well after 90 seconds even though the temperature was at the optimal recommended level.  The result was a finished roof, that, while strong, is somewhat lumpy.   Second, and even worse, "the foam is so easy to control that there's no reason to cover the rest of the boat," wrong again!  Yup, the foam was easy to control, but the spray tip securing mechanism was not strong enough to hold the tip on.  When it popped off,  it spattered the side deck.  Duck tape kept that from happening again but the damage was done...

Before the slots cut on each side of the roof were fiberglassed, a treated, dry, 2x4 was inserted and held flush with the top.  Polyester resin was then poured underneath to support them.  The roof was then finished with 2 coats of white Durabak.  While I was finishing up the roof my metal guys were making me 2 stainless support posts.  These were not necessary for support, but we wanted them to use as handholds when moving around offshore and one would make the perfect conduit for running the 2 sets of #6 cable from the roof top down to underneath the pilot house seats.  The cables then went down through the head before hooking up to the Blue Sky Solar Boost 50 (with Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) technology) regulator and the batteries.  I also installed a remote panel for the Solar Boost in order to be able to monitor the system.

The easy part off this project was assembling the 2 arrays of 4 - 85W panels.  After a bit of research, I settled on 8 - 85W panels.  As apposed to 3 - larger wattage panels, the losses due to panel shading by the mast and radome, are minimized with the smaller panels.  These panels are light and easy to handle.  Putting the arrays on the roof and wiring them to the cabling going to the batteries was a 3 person, half hour job. 

While doing all of this I also found time to install a wind generator, increase my battery bank and replace all of my batteries.  Whew!  If we weren't such energy pigs I wouldn't have had to do...

All of the Electronic parts and pieces, including the solar panels, wind generator, MPPT regulator came bundled from the nice guys at eMarine in Ft. Lauderdale.  They made sure that I not only had the right gear for my needs but that I had all of the little incidentals that make putting it all together that much easier.   They sell the best products and better than that, they stand behind them!  I don't get to say it enough so... eMarine... Thanks!

 Propeller - Next, I'll be testing the new prop out.  Cast by Michigan Propellers and Tuned and balanced by Ron at Wolverine Propellers.  I just painted it with Propspeed and am waiting on getting a quick haul to install it.  Results are posted in Red above where I go on my diatribe about fellow cruisers thinking that over pitching a prop is a good thing...

Hinges - Well, since the last update, I finally finished the last big jobs and a bevy of smaller jobs that won't be posted.  After searching the world (literally!) for matching hinges for the rear door/swim platform I finally had a local welder make me a custom set that would guarantee that they'd fit and be strong enough.  Only $65 per hinge!  Oh well, they fit perfectly and are strong so now the door works again!

Teak Trim - "What!  You painted the teak trim!!!  Are you crazy!!"  Nope, I'm not.  After almost 30 years of keeping teak bright, I'm over it.  We first sealed the teak with Interlux wood sealer so that if some future owner wants to take the teak back down to where it can be varnished, he can do so without too much fuss.  We then painted the teak with Brightside single part urethane paint in the "Sundown Buff" color.  We love it!  Looks great to us and we shouldn't have to do more than touch it up here and there as needed for the next 7 or so years!  That gives us weeks of extra time to enjoy life every year cause we won't be spending it keeping up teak.  Yeah!  Time to go cruising!

Enjoy!

Please note, when I mention the "former owner" on these Projects pages, it refers only to any, all or non of the real former owners, there associates, friends or mechanics that had a hand in doing whatever " bad or stupidly done repair" that I'm bitching about at the time.