Just this morning, ABISHAG got towed over to Ferry Slip Marina to be hauled out. Yes, just today. Three days before Thanksgiving. After a snow storm last week.
We overcame a sink hole in the Marina lot right where the travel lift had to go. We overcame a blown clutch on the travel lift transmission. We overcame some seriously lousey weather including a Nor'Easter, a snow storm with 5 inches of heavy wet snow, winds of 40 mph and just regular rain. All of these delightful scenarios combined to put Eric the Shaman well behind, so far that he still has 30 boats to be hauled after hauling ABISHAG this morning. But she is ready to be lifted out of the water and snugged down for the winter. That snugging comes next and begins tomorrow. Maybe. It is suppose to rain like hell. AH, THE JOY OF BOAT OWNERSHIP!
Monday, November 19, 2018
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Well, It's Winter . . . .Sort of!
I always considered that winter arrived once I hauled my boat from the water. ABISHAG was supposed to be hauled on Friday last but she still is afloat. The reason for this is that BOAT/US who was supposed to do less-than-a-mile less haul to Ferry Slip from TYC, got kind of busy.
I was working my last Launch Driving shift on Friday and a whole host of boat owners at the club decided that it was the perfect day to get their own crafts haul-out. True they were probably inspired by the weather news which forecast the first Nor'Easter of the season on Saturday. It seemed a good idea. Unfortunately, a number of boats had mechanical problems and would not start. True most of them had been sitting unused for weeks and just wouldn't fire. And like most wise boats, they had bought "TowBoat US" towing insurance and made the call for a tow. That kind of used up the time BOAT/US had for doing the towing, so ABISHAG sat there through Friday, through the Nor'Easter on Saturday, on Sunday through the remains of the storm and on Monday for some reason. I am hoping that today will see her towed and hauled. Waiting is a pain!
I was working my last Launch Driving shift on Friday and a whole host of boat owners at the club decided that it was the perfect day to get their own crafts haul-out. True they were probably inspired by the weather news which forecast the first Nor'Easter of the season on Saturday. It seemed a good idea. Unfortunately, a number of boats had mechanical problems and would not start. True most of them had been sitting unused for weeks and just wouldn't fire. And like most wise boats, they had bought "TowBoat US" towing insurance and made the call for a tow. That kind of used up the time BOAT/US had for doing the towing, so ABISHAG sat there through Friday, through the Nor'Easter on Saturday, on Sunday through the remains of the storm and on Monday for some reason. I am hoping that today will see her towed and hauled. Waiting is a pain!
Thursday, October 18, 2018
What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been
Well, I wish the story was better, but such it has not been the case. I ran into a mechanical truism that I should have been better aware of but wasn't. It seems that something mechanical that is old dislikes to be fooled with, even when it needs "fooling."
Having removed the contaminated fuel and replacing it with 10 gallons of clean fuel, I reinstalled the access plate and gave Eric the Shaman a call. It took a week for him to get the time freed up to come over and work his magic. Try as he might, the engine would not start. There is another old Maine piece of work wisdom, one that follows "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and that is "When tracing a problem, start at the beginning."
The beginning was the "dip tube," a tube inserted into the fuel tank that goes all the way to the bottom and draws out the fuel. It will so long as there is a vacuum. But there was no vacuum as Eric discovered as he attached his portable pump to the top of the dip tube and tried to draw out the fuel. No joy there. Obviously there was a problem with the dip tube. But there was also a problem with the access plate which held the dip tube. It was made of 1/8 aluminum, was 40years old, and was corroded around all the screws holding it in place and around all the places the various hose and their fitting went through it. It was particularly corroded around the dip tube (naturally) and Eric was concerned about being able to get it out without ruining the opening for the dip tube rendering the access plate probably worthless. But he is not a Shaman for nothing. With skill and a deft touch and alot of cursing, he got it out without further damage. The dip tube was about 2 feet long, made of very thin bronzed and so corroded that it was surprising that it didn't fall apart when it was held horizontal after having been vertical for 40 years.
There was at least one hole or crack or crease that was letting air in and killing the vacuum. It was somewhere above the 10 gallon mark and below the 30 gallon mark (I never let the fuel get lower than that) and it wasn't something that could be repaired. So Eric the Shaman bult a new one, using the same fittings because they were metric (of course). After he had built the new stainless steel dip tube and attached it to the line that led to the filters, of course it didn't work. Again, no vacuum. what happen was that either when we disconnected the line when Fred and I took out the access panel,or when Eric did so, one of the fitting cracked. It is 40 years after all and because it is metric, Eric had the impossible task of finding a new one. He was unable to do and so replace the entire line with a rubber hose and easily available fittings. After he did so, he was bale to draw fuel through the entire system all the way to the fuel injector pump. We got the engine started, sort of, but could not get it to run more than a few seconds. Eric deduced that the fuel injector pump was the problem. Perhaps, because of the water in the fuel, parts within it had developed a bit of rust. Perhaps, because of the dirt and grit in the fuel from the bottom of the tank, part of the pump were block. Whatever it was, it wasn't delivering the fuel correctly to the injectors and so the engine would not run.
The next step, yet to be taken, is to pump fuel, loaded with every lubricant known to man, through the injector pump
to loosen and remove any rust and/or dirt. If that doesn't do it, the pump will have to be rebuilt.
As of today (10/18), Eric a]has not been able to get out to the boat to try it out. If he is not able to to do so today or tomorrow, it means I will not be going up to Midway in Haddam. I will have to winter at Ferry Slip Marina in New London which is Eric's base of operation. Normally, that would mean paying $45 a foot as opposed to $34 at Midway. However, I worked a deal with Eric who said that he would see to it that I would pay only $35/ft. So now it is the waiting game again.
AH! THE JOY OF BOAT OWNERSHIP!!!!!!!
Having removed the contaminated fuel and replacing it with 10 gallons of clean fuel, I reinstalled the access plate and gave Eric the Shaman a call. It took a week for him to get the time freed up to come over and work his magic. Try as he might, the engine would not start. There is another old Maine piece of work wisdom, one that follows "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and that is "When tracing a problem, start at the beginning."
The beginning was the "dip tube," a tube inserted into the fuel tank that goes all the way to the bottom and draws out the fuel. It will so long as there is a vacuum. But there was no vacuum as Eric discovered as he attached his portable pump to the top of the dip tube and tried to draw out the fuel. No joy there. Obviously there was a problem with the dip tube. But there was also a problem with the access plate which held the dip tube. It was made of 1/8 aluminum, was 40years old, and was corroded around all the screws holding it in place and around all the places the various hose and their fitting went through it. It was particularly corroded around the dip tube (naturally) and Eric was concerned about being able to get it out without ruining the opening for the dip tube rendering the access plate probably worthless. But he is not a Shaman for nothing. With skill and a deft touch and alot of cursing, he got it out without further damage. The dip tube was about 2 feet long, made of very thin bronzed and so corroded that it was surprising that it didn't fall apart when it was held horizontal after having been vertical for 40 years.
There was at least one hole or crack or crease that was letting air in and killing the vacuum. It was somewhere above the 10 gallon mark and below the 30 gallon mark (I never let the fuel get lower than that) and it wasn't something that could be repaired. So Eric the Shaman bult a new one, using the same fittings because they were metric (of course). After he had built the new stainless steel dip tube and attached it to the line that led to the filters, of course it didn't work. Again, no vacuum. what happen was that either when we disconnected the line when Fred and I took out the access panel,or when Eric did so, one of the fitting cracked. It is 40 years after all and because it is metric, Eric had the impossible task of finding a new one. He was unable to do and so replace the entire line with a rubber hose and easily available fittings. After he did so, he was bale to draw fuel through the entire system all the way to the fuel injector pump. We got the engine started, sort of, but could not get it to run more than a few seconds. Eric deduced that the fuel injector pump was the problem. Perhaps, because of the water in the fuel, parts within it had developed a bit of rust. Perhaps, because of the dirt and grit in the fuel from the bottom of the tank, part of the pump were block. Whatever it was, it wasn't delivering the fuel correctly to the injectors and so the engine would not run.
The next step, yet to be taken, is to pump fuel, loaded with every lubricant known to man, through the injector pump
to loosen and remove any rust and/or dirt. If that doesn't do it, the pump will have to be rebuilt.
As of today (10/18), Eric a]has not been able to get out to the boat to try it out. If he is not able to to do so today or tomorrow, it means I will not be going up to Midway in Haddam. I will have to winter at Ferry Slip Marina in New London which is Eric's base of operation. Normally, that would mean paying $45 a foot as opposed to $34 at Midway. However, I worked a deal with Eric who said that he would see to it that I would pay only $35/ft. So now it is the waiting game again.
AH! THE JOY OF BOAT OWNERSHIP!!!!!!!
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
YES & NO!
Friend Fred and I spent Saturday working on the fuel problem. It was a long day and only moderately successful.
Firstly, we had to expose the fuel tank interior which meant removing the access panel. It was held in place with 20 machine 1/2 inch screws. Access to the access panel was difficult to say the least. We ahd to reach under part of the deck to get a wrench on the nuts and loosen them. Of course, two of the nuts were blocked by the fuel fill aperture. That meant that the hose and fitting had to be removed. Try wielding a Stilson wrench on a fitting you can see and loosening a 44 year-old nut a16th of a turn at a time while laying on your stomach.Well, it did get done. Then the access panel had to be pried off. In addition to the 20 machine screws and the various fuel movement tubes, it was also held in place by 44 year-old gasket material which was aged to the consistency of cement. It took about two hours to remove it in a contorted process. Then the real fun began.
We had 8 jerry cans and three 5 gallon buckets which meant we could handle 50 gallons of fuel. Friend Fred, whose career was in pumps, rigged a set up that allowed us to pump out the fuel into the cans. We pumped out all the fuel and it was a wonderful shade of pink. Not good. We were able to get out a lot of gunk and dirt and detritus from the tank. It filled a 30 micron filter. However it was clear that we didn't get all the water out of the fuel. So we pumped it all back into the tank through the filters and pumped it out again. It was better than the first time but there was still water in the fuel.
We decided to let the fuel sit in the cans overnight so that it would distill, the more dense water sinking to the bottom and the fuel sitting on top. That was we could pump out the fuel and leave the water behind. So we called it a day and headed home to come back on Sunday.
Sunday morning, back on the ABISHAG, we opened the three buckets and discovered that the fuel was still mixed with water. It was better but really not usable. The water and the fuel had literally "homogenized," blended together. Talking with Eric the Shaman by phone, we dame to the conclusion that it would be days before it would separate again. As a result, it was decided to bite the bullet and dispose of the contaminated fuel. We pumped out what remained in the tank, sealed the cans and buckets and made arrangements to dispose of the fuel.
I contacted a friend who owns a garage and asked him where I could dispose of the fuel. He said that he had a tank at his shop where we could bring it by and dump it in. And that is what we did, after having first replacing the access panel and the hoses and tubes.
So ABISHAG is dry. There was no launch service Monday and a storm was coming in Tuesday. Winds would be a bit much on Wednesday, so Eric the Shaman said Thursday was the day. I'll bring in 10 gallons of clean fuel and hopefully, HOPESULLY she will start up clean.
AH! THE JOY OF BOAT OWNERSHIP!!!!
Firstly, we had to expose the fuel tank interior which meant removing the access panel. It was held in place with 20 machine 1/2 inch screws. Access to the access panel was difficult to say the least. We ahd to reach under part of the deck to get a wrench on the nuts and loosen them. Of course, two of the nuts were blocked by the fuel fill aperture. That meant that the hose and fitting had to be removed. Try wielding a Stilson wrench on a fitting you can see and loosening a 44 year-old nut a16th of a turn at a time while laying on your stomach.Well, it did get done. Then the access panel had to be pried off. In addition to the 20 machine screws and the various fuel movement tubes, it was also held in place by 44 year-old gasket material which was aged to the consistency of cement. It took about two hours to remove it in a contorted process. Then the real fun began.
We had 8 jerry cans and three 5 gallon buckets which meant we could handle 50 gallons of fuel. Friend Fred, whose career was in pumps, rigged a set up that allowed us to pump out the fuel into the cans. We pumped out all the fuel and it was a wonderful shade of pink. Not good. We were able to get out a lot of gunk and dirt and detritus from the tank. It filled a 30 micron filter. However it was clear that we didn't get all the water out of the fuel. So we pumped it all back into the tank through the filters and pumped it out again. It was better than the first time but there was still water in the fuel.
We decided to let the fuel sit in the cans overnight so that it would distill, the more dense water sinking to the bottom and the fuel sitting on top. That was we could pump out the fuel and leave the water behind. So we called it a day and headed home to come back on Sunday.
Sunday morning, back on the ABISHAG, we opened the three buckets and discovered that the fuel was still mixed with water. It was better but really not usable. The water and the fuel had literally "homogenized," blended together. Talking with Eric the Shaman by phone, we dame to the conclusion that it would be days before it would separate again. As a result, it was decided to bite the bullet and dispose of the contaminated fuel. We pumped out what remained in the tank, sealed the cans and buckets and made arrangements to dispose of the fuel.
I contacted a friend who owns a garage and asked him where I could dispose of the fuel. He said that he had a tank at his shop where we could bring it by and dump it in. And that is what we did, after having first replacing the access panel and the hoses and tubes.
So ABISHAG is dry. There was no launch service Monday and a storm was coming in Tuesday. Winds would be a bit much on Wednesday, so Eric the Shaman said Thursday was the day. I'll bring in 10 gallons of clean fuel and hopefully, HOPESULLY she will start up clean.
AH! THE JOY OF BOAT OWNERSHIP!!!!
Friday, September 21, 2018
Saturday. . .Hopefully!!!
If all goes as it is planned, friend Fred and I will spend a good part of Saturday filtering and polishing the fuel on ABISHAG and cleaning out the fuel tank.
We have bought a pump and bag filters (whatever they are) and have a fuel/water separator and will have it on Saturday. It will require that we removed an access panel on the top of the fuel tank to get at the fuel, along with the detritus and the water. There are five (5) tubes that go though the panel into the tank that have to be carefully removed so the panel itself can be lifted out. This means the removal of 20 machine screws holding the panel in place. It doesn't seem to be all that complex a project and, once we have done it once, should not be a problem should we have to do it again. This is a "big" job but I have found several examples on YOUTUBE on how to build and used a much smaller and simpler "machine" to do the removal of water and dirt from the fuel on a more regular basis. Simpler will make it more likely that it gets done more often, leading to less of a chance for having to go through this "major project" again.
Once we have cleans and polished to fuel so that it looks clear like cranberry juice as opposed to it current strawberry milk appearance, a call will be placed to Eric the Shaman who will come and get the engine primed and started and hopefully that will be that. It is possible that there are more problems that will have to be dealt with but I am hopeful that such will not be the case. I would like to get a little sailing in before Columbus Day Weekend and the trip up river for the winter. AH1 THE JOY OF BOAT OWNERSHIP! ! ! ! !
We have bought a pump and bag filters (whatever they are) and have a fuel/water separator and will have it on Saturday. It will require that we removed an access panel on the top of the fuel tank to get at the fuel, along with the detritus and the water. There are five (5) tubes that go though the panel into the tank that have to be carefully removed so the panel itself can be lifted out. This means the removal of 20 machine screws holding the panel in place. It doesn't seem to be all that complex a project and, once we have done it once, should not be a problem should we have to do it again. This is a "big" job but I have found several examples on YOUTUBE on how to build and used a much smaller and simpler "machine" to do the removal of water and dirt from the fuel on a more regular basis. Simpler will make it more likely that it gets done more often, leading to less of a chance for having to go through this "major project" again.
Once we have cleans and polished to fuel so that it looks clear like cranberry juice as opposed to it current strawberry milk appearance, a call will be placed to Eric the Shaman who will come and get the engine primed and started and hopefully that will be that. It is possible that there are more problems that will have to be dealt with but I am hopeful that such will not be the case. I would like to get a little sailing in before Columbus Day Weekend and the trip up river for the winter. AH1 THE JOY OF BOAT OWNERSHIP! ! ! ! !
Monday, September 10, 2018
GOOD NEWS & BAD NEWS
There is good news tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, Eric the Engine Shaman showed up on Friday last and spent a lot of time working on the engine. Good News!
He didn't get it running. Bad News!
Well, actually he didn't try to get it to run so much as to figure out why it didn't run. He spent the time tracing the fuel system and checking each part of it to make sure it was working correctly. He didn't get too far before he realized that the fuel was contaminated, that it had a lot of water and dirt in it.It would be necessary to "polish" it or get rid of it, other wise it would continue to mess up the fuel delivery system and the engine wouldn't run. That would make it difficult to figure out where the problem is.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I've got to polish the fuel, run it through a series of filters to take out the water and the dirt. Hopefully, it will not require me to open the inspection port on the fuel tank when it is empty of fuel and scrub out the inside before putting the "polished" fuel back in. That would not be a particularly difficult job, rather it is just that it is a bit difficult to access the port and do the scrubbing. I am hoping that Friend Fred and I can agitate the fuel as it is being pumped-out and then pumped back in so that it suspends the dirt nad water, allowing it to be filtered out. There is probably a good 40 gallons in the tank and I would just hate to dispose of the fuel for which I have paid over $130.
This project will not be able to happen this week as we are experiencing some nasty weather early in the week and the end of the week will see us feeling the effects of "Florence." My best bet is the weekend. Then again, who knows.
AH, JOYS OF BOAT OWNERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, Eric the Engine Shaman showed up on Friday last and spent a lot of time working on the engine. Good News!
He didn't get it running. Bad News!
Well, actually he didn't try to get it to run so much as to figure out why it didn't run. He spent the time tracing the fuel system and checking each part of it to make sure it was working correctly. He didn't get too far before he realized that the fuel was contaminated, that it had a lot of water and dirt in it.It would be necessary to "polish" it or get rid of it, other wise it would continue to mess up the fuel delivery system and the engine wouldn't run. That would make it difficult to figure out where the problem is.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I've got to polish the fuel, run it through a series of filters to take out the water and the dirt. Hopefully, it will not require me to open the inspection port on the fuel tank when it is empty of fuel and scrub out the inside before putting the "polished" fuel back in. That would not be a particularly difficult job, rather it is just that it is a bit difficult to access the port and do the scrubbing. I am hoping that Friend Fred and I can agitate the fuel as it is being pumped-out and then pumped back in so that it suspends the dirt nad water, allowing it to be filtered out. There is probably a good 40 gallons in the tank and I would just hate to dispose of the fuel for which I have paid over $130.
This project will not be able to happen this week as we are experiencing some nasty weather early in the week and the end of the week will see us feeling the effects of "Florence." My best bet is the weekend. Then again, who knows.
AH, JOYS OF BOAT OWNERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, August 26, 2018
NOPE! NOT YET!
I am hopeful that this will be the week when Eric the Shaman finally has the time to fix the "iron genny." It is really annoying not to be out sailing on ABISHAG. I could get her off the mooring without much of a problem, it is getting back on the mooring. As Shakespeare was won't to say, "Aye, there's the rub."
The "rub" is stopping at the right spot, the place where I cant get from the cockpit to the bow, grab the pickup stick and pull the pennants on the boat and secure them to the cleats. When you are mooring a boat without an engine, you don't have the relatively instant breaking power and direction control that you do when you have a working engine. One has to manipulate the sails rather perfectly the have her make the correct speed for it to happen.
To stop a boat under sail and pick up a mooring, one has to know which way the wind is blowing and how hard. ABISHAG weighs a svelte 11 tons and when she is moving has a lot of kinetic energy: ie. she don't slow down quickly, doesn't stop on a dime. If you get too close to the pickup, you will drift by at speed. Try stopping 11 tons by hand! If you don't get close enough, you'll stop before you cna reach the pickup and drift away. It gets even more fun when you are dealing with any sort of current. IS it flowing in the same direction as the Wind? Then the boat will take longer to stop. Is it against the wind? The it will stop short. If the wind is blowing from the side, then you will be push away from the pickup and you miss it all together.
You have to work out all these things ahead of time because if you mess up, when the mooring is not out in the middle of nowhere. It is smack dab in the middle of other moored boats and without a certain amount of speed you are without steerage control and you can easily whack another boat, or two. Unfortunately, ABISHAG, at slow speed, handles like a semi on an icy road and any impact is going to do some serious damage, not to her, but to the poor boat(s) she hits. Across an ocean, in bad weather, in a lot of winds and waves, ABISHAG is marvelous. In a tight mooring field, er... not so much.
AH! THE JOYS OF BOAT OWNERSHIP.
The "rub" is stopping at the right spot, the place where I cant get from the cockpit to the bow, grab the pickup stick and pull the pennants on the boat and secure them to the cleats. When you are mooring a boat without an engine, you don't have the relatively instant breaking power and direction control that you do when you have a working engine. One has to manipulate the sails rather perfectly the have her make the correct speed for it to happen.
To stop a boat under sail and pick up a mooring, one has to know which way the wind is blowing and how hard. ABISHAG weighs a svelte 11 tons and when she is moving has a lot of kinetic energy: ie. she don't slow down quickly, doesn't stop on a dime. If you get too close to the pickup, you will drift by at speed. Try stopping 11 tons by hand! If you don't get close enough, you'll stop before you cna reach the pickup and drift away. It gets even more fun when you are dealing with any sort of current. IS it flowing in the same direction as the Wind? Then the boat will take longer to stop. Is it against the wind? The it will stop short. If the wind is blowing from the side, then you will be push away from the pickup and you miss it all together.
You have to work out all these things ahead of time because if you mess up, when the mooring is not out in the middle of nowhere. It is smack dab in the middle of other moored boats and without a certain amount of speed you are without steerage control and you can easily whack another boat, or two. Unfortunately, ABISHAG, at slow speed, handles like a semi on an icy road and any impact is going to do some serious damage, not to her, but to the poor boat(s) she hits. Across an ocean, in bad weather, in a lot of winds and waves, ABISHAG is marvelous. In a tight mooring field, er... not so much.
AH! THE JOYS OF BOAT OWNERSHIP.
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