Messages

Alex:

I bought the Lewmar front hatch for about $600 during a Defender sale a couple of years ago.  I guess it might be the 'infinite hinge."  The original "roll stop"--or whatever they called it--had long ago failed and so I decided to replace it.  So my situation was a little different because the hatch would not stay propped open.

The mounting holes on the new hatch don't exactly line up with the original, and I recall there was something a little more difficult about attaching the flange closest to the mast because my Mark 1.25 has a lip in the deck there that more recent models don't. 

But, it went in and I'm happy with the result.

Patches 

I highly recommend butyl tape.  I put in a new Lewmar Ocean hatch (trapezoidal) a few years ago and used butyl.  No leaks, and easy to work with.

Patches

Paul:

Very easy, I do this a few times a year.  I keep a piece of wooden dowel about 16 inches long in the cabinet above the head.  I typically:

1.  Close the engine inlet thru-hull

2.  Remove the hose from the thru-hull

3.  have the dowel at the ready

4.  open the engine thru-hull  (water ingress is minimal, and goes straight to the bilge)

5.  push the dowel down through the thru-hull to clear the obstruction.

6.  close the thru-hull and reconnect hose.

I have changed out my strainer to a Vetus which I find much better to access and view.  I mounted mine just below the secondary Racor fuel filter, but I have the original "R24" type filter so it fits.  I am changing out to the Racor 500fg over the winter, which will require me to move the Vetus strainer over to the fiberglass wall inside and to the right of the sink cabinet door opening.  I already installed an RV-type plastic fuel door just below the shower sump pump switch to make accessing the strainer easier once I complete the installation.

Patches

My investigation of similar noises lines up with Jim's observations.  My creaking occurred mostly on port tack when sailing in moderate-heavy winds.  Last time I was out, I had a friend steer on port tack while I went below and removed the aft panel in the aft berth to trace the noise.  It was definitely coming from the area of the rudder post where it exits to the emergency tiller head.

Like Jim I flushed the area with a sprayer and the noise seemed to abate for a awhile.  When I haul out in September I'm going to pull off the emergency tiller head and check the washer for wear, and whatever else might be present (or missing).

Patches

Alex:

I've got some spare Leece Neville OEM alternators, including--I think--a 70 amp version which is NOS.  PM me if that would help you.  I'm on Bainbridge Island, and I'll let you have it for my cost.  We can do a handoff at the Bainbridge ferry terminal.

Patches

What Ron said.

Also, check the ground to the starter solenoid bolt.  I had similar symptoms and discovered that bolt had backed out giving erratic readings on the tach.

Patches

Coincidentally, two weeks ago the Harken ratchet block with cam cleat I used for my furling line exploded spilling torlon bearings all over the deck.  After seeing Noah's set-up, I ordered his pushpit mounted block w/cam cleat from Garhauer and mounted it in the same location.  It is a much improved solution and allows for easier, more ergonomic, furling from behind the helm.

Thanks Noah!

Patches

I have a Mark 1.25 (hull no. 1016), and vented my PSS dripless into the sink cabinet in the head.  I epoxied a piece of wood high under, and to the right of, the sink, to what is essentially the back side of the liner that forms the forward wall of the aft cabin.  I ran the vent hose from the PSS vent nipple to a Taco Hy-vent air vent, as recommended by Mainesail in his article on the "Marine How To" (yet another invaluable piece of writing on how to do things correctly on your boat.):

https://marinehowto.com/installing-a-pss-shaft-seal/ 

I then used a small conduit clamp to mount the vent hose to the piece of wood I epoxied in place. 

Working perfectly for 18 months now.

Patches

I nabbed a "like new" North gennaker, snuffer, and sheets yesterday for a great price.  I've flown a gennaker before on prior boats, and am interested in hearing from others how you rigged the tack line.  The seller said he he attached a block to the bail on the anchor roller, and then ran the tack line through that block to adjust the height of the tack.  However, the elderly prior owner admitted little familiarity/experience with the gennaker.  He purchased it, and after a couple of attempts, parked it in the basement.

When swapping out my Bruce 15kg this past summer for a Rocna of the same size, I had to replace the bail on the anchor roller with a new one from Garhauer in order to accommodate the different size/shape of the Rocna.  So that hardware is pretty solid.  But I'm a little concerned about harnessing 700+ square feet of sail off that bail in 12-15 knots of breeze.

How have others rigged the tack line down to the stem?

Thanks.

Patches

Been using Walmart "Hi-Tech" 15W-40, Heavy Duty diesel oil since I bought the boat in 2018.  I like the size of the gallon container (small), the price (cheap), and usually store it in the V berth in the bottom tip out cabinet under the drawers.

Don't know about others, but an oil and filter change on my M25-xp uses exactly one gallon of this oil, which makes things very simple.

Patches

Thanks to all for your thoughts.  I'm headed down this morning to remove the old fittings for the head intake and shower discharge from the ball valve, and to do some preliminary layout.

Patches

I've got a 1990 Mark 1.25, hull no 1016.   I purchased a new Racor 500fg filter to replace the original R220.  To mount it, because it is larger, it pretty much has to go where the old one is now.  Problem is I swapped out the original raw water strainer for a new Vetus and mounted it just under and next to the old Racor near the door.  I put it their because it is directly above the thru hull, and easy to clean out when it is clogged.  There is no way I'm going back to the old style strainer.  So I have to move the location of the Vetus strainer to accommodate the new Racor 500fg.

After looking at it for awhile, the cleanest solution appears to be to mount the Vetus strainer under the switch for the shower sump pump, and possibly put in a small access hatch there for cleaning it out. I could still see if there is plant life in the strainer basket in that location by opening the door, but might be easier to unscrew and empty through an access hatch.

To do this, it would be great to use the current thru hull for the head intake/shower sump discharge (the middle one) for the raw water strainer.  I can do this because I no longer have a marine toilet and holding tank.  I removed these in favor of a Dometic 975 MSD porta-potti short term, and an Airhead composting toilet longer term.  I also do not use the shower, but if I ever did I could move the discharge line to the current raw water intake thru hull. 

I would like to be able to plumb the middle thru hull as a "T", kind of like it is now but with new fittings, so I can remove a blockage at the intake with a long dowel by removing a cap on the top of the "T" (instead of the hose to the strainer).  I have to do this at least 4-5 times a season during the sunnier months when photosynthesis breeds all kinds of plant life in the water column.

Understanding well the need to replace all the thru hulls in this area, and after trying to find the answer in the forum archives, are all three thru hulls in this area (raw water intake, head intake/shower discharge, and head sink drain) the same size?

I want to make sure that if I move the raw water intake to the middle thru hull, there are no negative impacts to flow to the raw water strainer.  Anybody see issues here, or attempted something similar?

Many thanks in advance,

Patches

Good point on the return line.  As part of this process, I actually trimmed my return line (which seemed overly long) so I was able to get more flexible tube mounted at either end.  I also noticed the return line is 1/4" vs. 3/8".

I took this past weekend to replace the primary and secondary fuel filters on my 1990 Mark 1.25.  This followed a recent replacement of scupper hoses and the 17' exhaust hose which looked original.  In the case of the scupper hoses, one was actually cracked and leaking.

After changing out the primary and secondary filters, and the Facet fuel pump filter, I started the engine.  It fired right away and ran well for about 10 minutes at the dock, then suffered symptoms of fuel starvation and died.  It would not restart.

Because I had just changed the filters, I was stumped.  I put in a new fuel tank in 2019, and run the boat often as a charter boat.  So I didn't think it was a problem at the tank.  Because I'm lucky enough to be a member of this forum, I came back and searched around before finding Stu's excellent post on the "obscure check ball valve."  I decided to look at that, which requires removing the original Racor 220R filter housing, and draining out all the diesel from the bowl I had just filled up.

What I quickly discovered was that my (likely) original 3/8" fuel lines had lost most of their flexibility, and were nearly welded to the fittings on the filter housing and fuel pump.  After removing hose clamps, I ended up having to cut the hoses with a hose cutter close to the end of the barb, then use a utility knife to cut through the stub remaining on the barb to remove them.  Many curses.

The check valve on the Racor housing had minor debris, and didn't really look problematic.  But since I had it out, I removed the barb fittings and hit them with carburetor cleaner.  One of them definitely had some crud lodged in the elbow.  And some more gunk came out of the top of the housing after more spraying with carb cleaner. 

Because I had to cut out the old fuel hose in pieces (which I recommend), I then had to install the new hoses.  It isn't hard from the engine to fuel pump under the head sink.  But it is harder to route the new fuel line from the tank, under the sink secured with zip ties, and back down and around to the inlet port on the Racor.

Two things make this job much easier:

1. Remove the access door under the head sink.

2. Remove the sink.

On my boat, the sink is only secured to the counter with a big splooge of silicone caulk.  Using a 1 1/2" chisel (beveled side down) and a few taps with a rubber tipped hammer, you can raise the lip enough to get a thin metal putty knife underneath.  I then worked it around underneath the perimeter and soon the bowl popped off.

With the sink out, it is easier to lead the new fuel hose and wire to the Facet pump, and mount them to the underside of the sink counter.

After reconnecting all the new hoses and the cleaned out Racor filter housing, I opened the valve at the fuel tank and opened the knurled knob.  It fired and ran for 20 minutes.  Closed the knurled knob, and everything appears back to normal.

What I then learned is that the 3/4" plastic "funnel" down tube at the bottom of my head sink had been crushed due to over tightening of the hose clamp on the drain hose.  If you have an original head sink on your Mark 1, the sink drain is "custom" to that original sink, and so is the drain assembly that goes in it. About the only part that is not custom to the drain assembly is the plastic "funnel barb" which attaches with a nut to the bottom--and which I needed to replace.  And the only manufacturer to offer that particular part is: Seadog "polyethylene sink funnel drain", part no. 517336-1.  Cost:  $3.  The Forespar SW5 won't fit, and neither will the Ambassador Marine counterpart.

The alternatives are to buy (1) a new sink and updated drain assembly ($120+) or (2) a replacement "custom" drain assembly to fit our unique head sink drains ($70) from Catalina Direct.

Patches

Antoni:

I went from Port Hardy down to Tofino in September 2016 on a friend's Newport 41.  Loved that trip, only wishing I could have had another 3 weeks or so.  So much wildlife, and nobody there.  You'll get bear warnings/sitings from the locals at every stop with a dock.  Few current cruising guides when we were there.  We found fuel at a Christian camp/mission in Esperanza which was a welcome surprise,  but almost everything was already closed for the season.

I think it is a good preview of ocean sailing, especially coming around Cape Scott.  I agree with you that our C34's can sail offshore with the proper planning and preparation.  Every trip to the boat show makes me appreciate my boat all the more.

You'll love that trip, but be ready for fog rolling in quick.

Patches