Messages

I bypassed the hot water heater until I get a new one with a 1/2" nylon splice connector from WM. The bypass is a good idea but I live on the Texas gulf coast and I don't think it is worth the effort for me.  I will be replacing the hoses to the engine.

Hi Jeff ,

Thanks for the tip about the fittings.  I had already checked them. Also there was a pretty obvious stream of water flowing out between the bottom of the water heater and the plywood shelf. In addition the whole bottom of the outer case was pretty rusted. I think I got my moneys worth from it. I am now hoping for a Black Friday sale on marine water heaters. 

While on the boat this week I noticed that the bilge pump was cycling and so was the pressure water pump. So the original Atwood water heater is shot.  Some online shopping shows that I can get the Kuuma 11812 from Hodges Marine for $297.05 and the Atwood marine S600 from Boat & RV Accessories for$385.09.  Both have the same dimensions with the rear heat exchanger connections.  Does anyone have any experience with either of these.  I am inclined to go with the Atwood since the original lasted this long. Does anyone have the Kuuma model and was it a drop in replacement.

Hi melp64,

You can repair the gel coat without spraying. You will apply the gel coat with a roller, then sand, and then buff.  Prepare the repair area by sanding, then wash with soap and water.  Wipe with acetone just before applying the gel coat.  Get a gallon of white finishing gel coat and tint to match.  It will be difficult to match.  Mix up enough for the repair. First color match then add the catalyst when you are happy with the color.  Using a 9" foam roller, roll on the gel coat over the repair area.  Observe the flow out. If it is not leveling then "tip" the wet coat with a foal brush to lay down the roller stipple. Let dry. Then sand with 120 grit. Be careful to not thin out the old the old gel coat around the edge of the repair area. Check that the applied gel coat has filled the repair area.  If not wash, wipe with acetone and apply another coat of gel coat. Sand again and if surface is fair, then move through finer grit paper until you get to a 2000 grit. (Progress throug 220, 400,800, 1000, 1500, then 2000).  The surface of the repair will become progressively smother. Now use rubbing compound the further smooth the finish.  Follow up with buffing compound and then finish off with a good wax.  A lot of work, but doable.  Even if you sprayed the gel coat some amount of sanding and rubbing/buffing would be required to get a shine.

I would not mix old batteries with new ones.  I run 4 GC2's from Advance Auto Parts. They go for ~$100 each on sale. I have 6 years of heavy use on them and they are still going.  I do check the water level at least once a month.  Letting the water fall below the top of the plates damages them and reduces capacity.

Paul,

We have a WinchRite.  We bought it so Cyndi could haul me up the mast and use it for Genoa sheeting.  Good product with long battery life.  But you should consider the physics of using it.  You trade off doing "grinding " work (using a winch handle) versus holding the thing stationary while you hold the button.  So it is a good replacement if you have a shoulder issue but not as work free as a power winch.  I too go to the mast to raise the main halyard.  I find it is easier than at the winch in the cockpit (you remove the friction of all those turning blocks ). Have you considered adding lazy jacks or a stack pack.  Those help with containing the mainsail during up/down ops and can be used with your current mainsail.  You could unzip and attach the halyard at the dock to avoid the deck while out?  I am 61 and hopefully i will be sailing our 34 when I'm in my 80's as your are!

Hi,
You will definitely want an external regulator on the 105a.  The internal regulator that comes with it is dumb and will eventually burn out the alternator due to over heating.  I would give it 4-6 months of daily use.  Don't ask me how I know this.  Be sure the external regulator you choose has a temp sensor for the alternator and battery.  There is quite a bit of discussion in the 101 topics on this site and on mainsails site about this.

McSalish,
My brother in law had this very issue while cruising in the Florida keys a couple years ago.  His tank started leaking, so he purchased a 6 gal outboard tank and added a brass barbed fitting to the temp tank for the fuel return. I think he placed it close to the tank opening to be able to attach the backing nut the the barbed fitting. After having the fuel removed from the boat tank which lives in the keel (IP 38), he installed the temp tank to get the boat up the west coast of Florida to the IP factor repair yard.  25k later he had a new fuel and water tank and salon floor.  It seams that you have to remove the salon floor to get at the water tank and remove it to be able to remove the fuel tank, which lives under the companion way tucked against the front on the engine.  Replaced the water tank because he did not want to tear up the salon floor again when the water tank started to leak.  Big job and he wanted the IP repair yard to do the repair so the temporary tank was necessary to get it there.  Worked great for the week required to get to the yard.  Just had to monitor the one tank and siphon fuel from a 5 gal Gerry can when it got low.  Really makes you thank Catalina for making our tanks so accessible!

Hi Alex,

I don't have a windless and use a Mantus 45lb anchor with 180 ft of 5/16 G4 chain.  At 30 feet of depth and 5:1 scope is 150 ft.  As Jon stated, 5/16 chain is 1.1lbs per foot. So at the most I will be pulling up 78lbs in the last 30 feet when the chain is straight up and down. The first 120 ft I am only lifting 33lbs. I have Cyndi power the boat forward as I pull in the chain she goes into neutral when I have about half the chain on the boat. Once the chain is up and down I wrap the chain around the bow cleat and Cyndi puts the boat in gear to pry the anchor out of the bottom.  I use gloves with the plastic bumps on the palm side.  This helps when the last bit of chain is caked with mud.  I have also used my bare hands which is ok for a sand bottom.   I leave the anchor at the water line to wash the mud off before I pull it up into the roller. We anchored in 30 feet quite a bit while out cruising and it was not a big deal for me, but I don't have a bad back.  And at 60 I am still able to do it.  In twenty years I may be looking for a windless.

Hi Graham,

I replaced my bilge blower about 7 years ago.  I have a MK-I boat (1988) so I am not sure they use the same blower.  Mine was located just bellow and slightly forward of the engine control panel. I was able to remove the engine control panel and use that hole to gain access to replace it.  I found a replacement on defender.com. 

My blower hoses were in good shape and I did not replace them.  There is a hose that runs from the blower to the port aft vent cowl and the other hose routes under the aft water tank and around the fuel tank support structure to the bilge area at the shaft log on the MK-I boat.  Not sure how the MK-II is plumbed?  I would imagine that you would need to do some boat yoga to get into the aft locket to gain access to the cowl connection.  I think that you could do the bilge hose by connecting the new to the old in the space under the aft berth and having a helper pull the old vent hose through the engine control panel opening while you feed the new vent hose aft. I have done the boat yoga thing to get into this aft space to replace the wiring for the wheel pilot which is mounted through the cockpit wall in this area.

Hope this helps.

Pablo

We have the Forespar Nova folding davits. They came with the boat. I would love the Atlantic tower, but can't seem to come to terms with spending the money when there are so many other items on the upgrade list. The Forespar are OK for around the bay sailing and light to med winds. But when the wind gets over 16 they creak and grown as they have a small pendulum swing to them with the 9.5' Carib and the Nissan 8HP 2 stroke, even when hoisted all the way up.  The sound drives me nuts.  It puts me on edge that they might fail when things are swinging around back there.  Also, we find the bow rides a little higher with the dingy+OB on the davits.  The dingy is 95 lbs and the OB is ~70lbs so bellow the 300lbs rating on the davits.  I would say that the tips of the davits are 2.5' above the stern toe rail. 

For short trips we will tilt up the motor and tow the dingy.  I attache a second line to the dingy as a back up.  I broke a bowline is a ship wake once, but that is another story.

For open water crossings we put the outboard on the Stbd stern rail and hoist the dingy onto the foredeck using the spare jib halyard.  The boat sails better and I don't have the davit noise spoiling the sail. We secure it to the hand rails and the bow cleats.   It sits like Dave and Mick's pictures.  With the longer dingy there is just enough room to slide past it to get to the anchor locker which is free of the bow of the dingy.  One trick we have learned is to have a 6' extra bow line with a spliced eye in the end that the halyard attaches too.  If you use the eye on the bow of the dingy you can't attach/detach the halyard from the deck.  Before I made the short painter I tied a knot in the dingy bow line to do the same thing.  I use a velcro strap to attach the short bow line to the longer bow line.  So when we pull the dingy to the bow to hoist it to the deck the eye or knot in the bow line is just above the lifelines.  Just attach the halyard and hoist!

It takes my wife and I 15 min. to launch or retrieve the dingy and load up the motor and other dingy stuff.

While at anchor we attach the spare jib halyard to the bow eye and pick the bow of the dingy up of the deck 2-3' to allow air flow and provide an escape path.  The stern stays tied to the hand rails and I have a stiff foam pad the is "L" shaped that protects the deck and mast from the OB bracket. The dingy also helps funnel the wind into the hatch.

Hi Ken,
It is not so much the amps but the small surface area of the contacts and some salt/corrosion that works its way into the connection driving up the resistance of the connection and causing it to heat up.  Same problem that occurred at the boat end of the cord before I replaced it with the SmartPlug kit.  I have been checking the "Y" connections about once a quarter.  Another contributing  factor is the long run time.  With the full boat cover up shading my gray deck I can keep the boat at 70 deg.  And the unit will cycle on/off up till about 2pm after that the AC will run continuously till about 7pm.  But it will keep the boat at 70.  Without the boat cover, the AC struggled to get down to 79 deg and slowly climb above 80.

When I had the AC unit serviced a few years back, the tech put an amp meter on the supply wire and said it was pulling 18 amps running.  Well within the limit . The SmartPlug at the boat end does not show any signs of corrosion or over heating and the plug/cord does not feel warm when the AC is running.

The other cord is still the original twist lock connector but does not show any signs of overheating.  But the current draw is low.

Hi Ken,

The Marina has 240v 50A at the dock.  I use the Marinco 250V 50A male to 2 x 125V 20A Female "Y" adapter to the two shore power cords that connect to our boat.  One is dedicated to the 16,000 BTU AC. and the other is for the rest of the boat ( 110v outlets, battery charger, water heater, etc.).  We are on the Texas Gulf coast and live aboard.  Because it is hot the AC gets a lot of use.  Previously I installed the SmartGuage kit for the boat end of the AC shore power cord due to corrosion induced over heating of the female cord end and the male end fixed to the boat.  Now the male end of the cord that mates with the female end of the "Y" adapter is showing signs of overheating.  It is not bad yet but I want to replace it soon before I really start using the AC in the dog days of summer. 

In a previous job I managed a large data center where we had hundreds of L6-30 (208v 30A single phase) power cords feeding the server racks.  When it came time to replace equipment at the end of life/lease, invariably we would find the male plug fused to the female receptacle boxes.  We started converting those connections to the IEC pin and sleeve connectors. The size of the connection does not bother me as long as it is not going to burn up the cord or dock.

My first though was that SmartGuage would have long thought of this problem/opportunity for them and built a plastic housing that would incorporate the male components of the shore power inlet fixture.  You can purchase a replacement gasket and male insert kit, why not a plastic hood to go with it?  I even thought of buying the kit and 3D printing the plastic hood myself.  But I would rather spend my time sailing than re-engineering their product.

Thanks for the hope that they might have figured this out by now.  I just hope that it happens sooon.

Hi All,

Six years ago I replaced the shore power inlet and boat cable end with the SmartPlug kit for 30A 125v single phase.  I was checking where this cable meets the 50A "Y" adapter and found that those pin connections are starting to discolor despite my regular maintenance of cleaning and applying dielectric grease to slow down the corrosion.

I was hoping that SmartPlug would have made a male cable end that would go with their female cable end and I could just replace the cable ends on the shore power cord and the "Y" adapter.  I don't want to replace the connectors with the replacement twist lock cable ends because I will end up back in the same position.

I have been looking at pin and sleeve connectors as a possible replacement.  These are what I was considering: http://www.elecdirect.com/pin-sleeve-devices/30-amp-pin-and-sleeve-devices/ip67-iec309-pin-sleeve-connector-30a-125vac-2-pole-3-wire-watertight  and http://www.elecdirect.com/pin-sleeve-devices/30-amp-pin-and-sleeve-devices/ip67-iec309-pin-sleeve-plug-30a-125vac-2-pole-3-wire-watertight  They are IP6y rated as "watertight".  Has anyone else tried this or have you just replaced the cables or the cable ends with the standard NEMA twist lock marine connectors?

Thanks,
Paul & Cyndi

Hi MQ,

My wife and I made that trip both ways in 2016 on our trip to the Bahamas and back to Texas.  We traveled the GICW from Galveston to the Pensacola Pass then across the Gulf to Destin.  From Destin to Port St Joe to get back into the ICW to Carrabelle.  From Carrabelle straight overnight to Tarpon Springs and then down the ICW to Ft Myers Beach. On the return trip we left Tarpon Springs and entered the ICW at Apalachicola. Why did we go this way?  Our 88 is a tall rig with a fin keel, so air draft is 53' and draft is 5'-7" plus an inch or two for all the cruising gear ;-)  The ICW stretch from Pensacola to Port St Joe has three bridges with 50' clearance at strategic points requiring that we go out in the Gulf.  We took the ICW because we were not in a hurry and wanted to stop and visit the waterfront towns along the way ( Plus we like to sleep 8 hours at a time at night).  Saw a lot of bald eagles in the LA ICW.

First I would recommend that you pick up a copy of Skipper Bob Cruising the Gulf Coast. https://www.amazon.com/Cruising-Gulf-Coast-Capn-Skipper/dp/0972750142/ref=sr_1_6?hvadid=174248571742&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9027847&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=5468286673446506859&hvtargid=aud-676677759524%3Akwd-7886148071&keywords=skipper+bob%27s&qid=1556075692&s=books&sr=1-6.  It has two sections dedicated to the path between Carrabelle and ClearWater/Tarpon Springs.  It is one of the best guides I have read for this particular stretch of Florida coast.  One section is on the straight across path (what we took both ways) and the longer skip along the coast path.  The water along this part of the Florida coast is particularly skinny and we wanted to avoid it if possible.

Second is look for a good weather window for your crossing.  This part of the Gulf is realitively shallow and you get a short period sea when the wind picks up.  We used Buoy Weather and found it accurate in both wave height and wind direction strength.  You want a forgiving window with a day of good weather on either end in case  the weather prediction is off.  We waited in Carrabelle for 5 days (early April) for the right wind conditions ( a weak front with NW wind at 12-18kts and seas less than 3 feet).  Like wise on the trip North (first week in Sept), we waited three days for a fair SE wind of 0 building to 18Kts seas 3 feet. 

The straight across distance is ~160 miles, which a C34 with good wind can travel in 24 hours.  We used a 5 knot average as a planning tool which was a good measure of actual progress.  So with a conservative estimate 160/5 = 32 hours.  So plan on some where between 24 and 32 hours on the water.  I don't like to make landfall in a new place in the dark.  So we adjusted our departure time so that we would arrive before dark.  On the trip South we left at 9AM and arrived at off Ancolote Key at 7AM and were tied up in Tarpon Springs by 9AM.  An average of as little over 7 knots and I rolled the jib up to slow us down so we would not get to the coast in the dark.

As a side note, on the trip South, when we were motoring in flat water in the Gulf about 30 miles offshore, we say what appeared to be a big puff on the water heading our way.  It turned out to be a pod of about 50 dolphins moving together at speed heading North.  About 20 pealed off and joined us for 20-30 minuets playing about the boat.  It was a great day to be on the water!

Hope this helps.

Paul & Cyndi
Pablo's Girl