Cruising Outpost

The big unknown at this point remains the engine... I heard nothing but praise about how it runs cool,is able to reach rated rpm, pushes the boat at 7.5 kts, etc., but I will believe that when I experience it for myself.

Other than that, the boat is checking out pretty darn good - I have two clean and crisp main sails - both the same size except one is made of Dacron #4 the other Dacron #6 or higher.

Question - the upper and lower shrouds are entirely covered with plastic tubing - the split kind - and the stainless under it was not rusted, but seemed to have a light coating of some green mildew like substance on it... is this something I should worry about or is it "normal".

Paulus,
If it were me I would take all that plastic tubing off and throw it out. Stainless likes oxygen and plastic tubing will only hide defects. As long as the standing rigging is smooth it should not chafe sails, if it does it needs to be replaced anyway. MHO anyway

One thing we are doing when we refit Scout is replace the auxiliary diesel (new not rebuilt), drive-shaft, cutlass bearing and stuffing box. Beside for the shaft and cutlass bearing all may be good. So why are we replacing the engine? When we go cruising after the refit we would not like any surprises and if we start with new the only surprises should be our own, not somebody else's. That said our 3GM30 has run without any mishap for years. Guess what I am saying is there is never a "right " answer when it comes to boats.

I replaced all the standing rigging on a previous sailboat because I was worried about the "old" 18 year old rigging. That year the rig came down dew to the rigger making a mistake on the new standing rigging. No wonder the saying "leave well enough alone".

Agreed on removing the plastic... bummer is that even the tops of the uppers are covered, so I will need to "go up" to do it.

I am not afraid of engines - I have a unique ability to figure out an engine by feel, touch, and listening to it... I guess knowing exactly how and why they work helps... Once I have ran a few local trips with it before undertaking the delivery, I will have a pretty good feel of what I got and that will only get better as time goes by.

Maybe you have a similar connection with your 3GM30 and it's telling you something?

Yep, will be cursing when that darn new engine is not working saying that never happened with my old dependable 93 Yanmar. But then I will look at the wife and say.....did my best.

Okay, so Seraphim is on her mooring after a cold and eventful maiden voyage with her new owner.

Except for the cold and some stiff winds, some of the more notable events were:

1) It turns out that while motor sailing, the water pulls up on the stern high enough to submerge the bilge pump overboard. All that needs to happen then, is for the pump to start and fill the line, creating a perfect syphon – from then on, as long as the stern is squatting, we are alternately filling and emptying the bilge with about 10 inches of water, about every 20 seconds.

Remedy: check valve has been purchased and will be placed in the line.

2) The engine (V-Drive) shaft to prop shaft coupling was apparently a little loose and the three bolts in there were exposed to sheer forces each time the engine was shifted. Result: Sheered off the bolts just as we entered Greenport Harbor (Long Island).

Remedy: After making a hard u-turn so we wouldn't hit the dock, we secured the boat, removed the V-Drive, placed it on the countertop to drill and tap the coupling holes, while the crew quickly went to fetch new bolts before the local hardware store closed. Upon their return the unit was ready drilled and tapped - ready for re-installation with new bolts, but with lock nuts added for extra security. Torqued to specifications and locked – V-Drive back installed and we popped open a cold one.

3) The rolling furler does not want to roll up the sail, except in short, one -turn bursts, when it blows 25, gusting to 30kts.

Remedy: looking up to the top with the binocs it seems that if there is enough wind, the spinnaker halyard can interfere / hang up the swivel mechanism ( there’s a knot in the jib halyard). Jib will come down next time I am on the boat and it is calm - knot will be removed + the Jib overall will be lowered in its track by removing the 8” stainless pigtail now connected on the foot.

4) The HP Injection lines are apparently tired from vibrating. Just as we were traversing Hell gate the #1 Cylinder one started a crack right at its crimp at the injector and after dripping for a few hours the leak became progressively worse (attempts at tightening probably accelerated this process), to the point that it started misting onto the exhaust…

Remedy: Temporary – we wrapped a small piece of line around the fault area so that instead of spraying freely, it just squirted the inside of the wrap, thus saturating the piece of line and allowing us to guide the steady drip safely away from the exhaust. For the permanent fix I cannibalized one of the engines (with permission) on a boat in the yard that had sunk during Sandy and is awaiting a replacement enngine (which by the way will be good old Guillemot’s engine, which had stayed dry). The engine matched and so did the HP line - secure and tight. All it needs now is some pretty red paint to match its three sisters. I am thinking of adding a few brackets to secure the lines to each other where they run near each other, hoping to eliminate some movement...

All in all a memorable and chilly trip – I believe I have broken her in a bit but then again I am also sure there will be a few more surprises coming.

I would suggest a vented loop instead of a check valve. Glad everything went well otherwise.

_________________
Don Ferguson
K5DJF
S/V Nobody Knows

I forgot to mention one other small mishap....

We usually open beer bottles with whatever lays around... A lighter, screwdriver, pair of pliers, a shoe, another bottle or a can, whatever.... So I was getting a few cold ones for the team and was popping caps (pliers) when one of them must have had some built-up pressure in it... the darn thing popped with a bang like a champagne bottle and the cap hit me straight in the eye.

After the clouds cleared after a while, one could see the serraded pattern from the back end of the cap bleeding in the eyewhite next to the pupil. I guess I got pretty lucky there...

I now look away when I pop one open (pun intended).

+1

All in all it sounds like you had a "normal" first cruise with a new to you boat. Boat must like you, it didn't cut loose and sink. Just gave you a few things to think about; )

Best luck and hope long relationship looking forward.