26 Command Bridge '91

[bud37]

Good read....I like your turn of phrase...... ....

[Phrancus]

got the polyester/epoxy around the cable that went through the bottom of the anchor locker and filled it with epoxy. So no leaks there any more. Got the chain in, anchor (the old crooked one, the newer one is too large) and it dropped nicely.

Hauling was a dissapointment though; the winch slips and turning it with the handle does not engage the clutch so it seems. Something wrong in there. And sadly, turning the other way does not release the top nut as it is supposed to.

Today was not a great day at the boat. Electrics 12V part have grounding problems (bus bar corroded and wrong type of wire + connectors used) so there's another job on the horizon.....

Then wanted to do something after all but the one nut that needs to be loosened to adjust the belt tension on the power steering pump turns out to be imperial, inch size (USA pump) and apparently someone already tried to loosen it with a metric size wrench so that one is nicely corroded and not in a great shape to fit a wrench on.

Left it as it is and left the marina. Some days you just know you've got to let go.

[Viper]

Source of the post....Some days you just know you've got to let go.

I hear ya there!

[Phrancus]

Sunshine is here and on with the work: took the heat exchanger off the port engine to make sure that is or is not the cause of all overheating evil.
Old engine, dirty and rusty here and there so tread firmly yet carefully. Took it off, took it home to descale and thought it looked a bit funny.
And indeed, another curious solution by a mechanic some time ago: The did not extract the 'organ' (lots of small pipes that exchange the heat with the surrounding coolant) but CHOSE TO SAW OFF THE END! And had a lot of work to close it up again.
And of course, I had to open it up to be sure of its status. Could not let it be and then after a lot of work and searching all parts of the circuit for trouble only to discover that this was deliberately overlooked.
So spent two hours trying to put it back together watertight and almost succeeded. It drips, so I must go to the last resort and caulk a bit of flexible rubber to seal it off.

The exchanger was clean mostly, just a bit on the bottom. No anode by the way, all gone. And the new replacement was the wrong type plus the plug is rock solid in it's hole. So once I get the new anode I'll have to open that side again. No big deal, I know the route now and can do it on the engine. That lid was, however, mounted a bit out of line, misplacing the gasket that divides the flow back and forth so this may have been part of the problem: it could not perform up to spec. This also caused a bit of a short curve in a rubber connection to a pipe. Also not a full failure point but also nog helpful for a smooth flow of seawater from exchanger into the exhaust.

Replaced the gasket to the turbo (3 holes: fumes and coolant in+out, one of those rubber insets was crooked: leakage) another non-helpful situation as coolant level may have been lower than it should be. Even though I check at the expansion tank before departure.

tomorrow I check the sea water hoses that are located under the heat exchanger as I have access now. In another pipe I found some remnants of an impeller blocking the impeller pump sporadically. Perhaps something travelled on and as I can access it now anyway, I'll beter open it all up to be sure. Can't really remove the oil cooler right away, too big mess and time consuimng. It will have to wait till winter.

So much for the update for now. Hope to share more positive news soon.

[Phrancus]

Finally a relatively worryless day on the waters.

No water temp alarms, no oil pressure alarms, batteries up to their job even with a compressor-cooler-box and the extra battery I hauled out for spare was not needed to start the engines in case of too-deep-draining.

Enough smaller and larger troubles that need attention but nothing that must be pulled up to the first priority on the jobs-to-do list so I had a nice day on the water today. Even the docking went smooth; second time in a row... fingers crossed.

Thoughts of today: where to store all that stuff!!?? I can't imagine taking stuff for 4 people on an 4-overnight trip to somewhere else. Practice and build up the challenge I suppose.


In reality: SB engine leaks (raw) cooling water, no emergency but kind of an annoyance. Cooling temps were fine today, I enjoyed the feeling of having tackled that problem. Compressor cooler worked fine too, (I took a spare battery for starting in case of drama) even though I read a worryingly low voltage at some point. Safety voltage shut-off did not kick in though, and I let it do its job. (anxiously but still).

Got an en-route check by the local maritime-police today too (like a Pilot on a sea-to-river-to-port entry). No big deal and we have all the paperwork (licences) sorted. Still a bit of a moment as the gentleman used a bit of an awkward way of questioning where we were speeding and why. ( not speeding, correct area for doing so). All answers OK and on we went. good experience with the local law enforcement community I suppose.

all in all, a good day to go boating. Leave the worries and troubles so time and mind set to enjoy and leave worries behind at port.

[RGrew176]

Glad you had a good day on the water. Hope many more to come.

[Phrancus]

Almost a year later now, what a different spring. Haven't taken her out yet. Time for filling up the diesel tank, good thing the German government sliced taxes on fuel so a little less expensive.

Still don't really know how much is in the tank. I cleaned it before last season, then filled it a bit to take her to another marina. And after that replaced the fuel gauge/sender. Can't fill her up completely (that will take a decade to empty) and can't run her dry either (diesel, not looking forward to getting air out of the fuel system) so we'll just note the gauge (and how level the boat is at that moment), note how much we put in, note the gauge again. And then hope it is working in a lineair scale (doubt that, the tank is not square).