Topic: Who knows anything about boats?

[paulages]

One of the most important items for people on the water...Don't forget plenty of SUNSCREEN!!!  and once you get that fitting replaced, the only work you should need to do would be to bolt on a turbocharger..    I have a danforth anchor you can have if you want, I'm gone all day today, but I could get it to you sometime tomorrow..along with the anchor, you need about 3-6 feet of chain and about 50 feet of anchor line (there are no "ropes" on a boat)...

i'll take you up on that danforth anchor. thanks!  i have a little bit of line, but probably not enough. i'll have to measure and see how much is there.

[pdxPope]

Looks GREAT!
I'll try to stop by sometime this morning. I also have a bunch of old boat stuff lying around here somewhere. I'll bring it with and see if there's anything you need.


-JP

[Frankenkit]

Grnrngr, I'm still waking up and managed to read your post as "Oh hey Paul, I have this anchor and some other stuff... too bad I'll be out all day today and generally unavailable, ever."   I'm not sure how that happened.

Anyway, Good lookin' boat, Paul!!!  Time to get some armorall and give all that vinyl some lovin'. (among all the other bits of love and maintenance it'll need)

[333]

Oh no, Kit.  Armorall has alcohol in it.  Bad for many things it says it's good for.  And then there's this;

(there are no "ropes" on a boat)...

I have 4 "ropes" on my boat, 2 for wakeboarding and 2 for tubing!

See what I mean about classes?  Give someone enough rope, he will hang himself with it.

Actually, there are a couple "ropes" found on a sailboat.


Or so I'm told.

[Frankenkit]

ok. Sorry. Wolfstein's Raggtopp. That's what I use on the top of my tracker, but I figured the consensus would vote for 'cheap and easy'.  

[333]

While "cheap and easy" might describe some of us , I think the majority of us treat our vintage (insert favorite bike, boat, or car) as best as we can.

[Frankenkit]

I know, I know.

[coldright]

Hey Paul,
Congrats on the boat...  I just found this thread.  My biggest advice is to get a VHF handheld radio for use while you are out there.  "Pan Pan, Pan Pan.  Hello all stations," may become a very handy way to start a conversation on channel 16 while you are out there.  I have a 100 ton Master's License (big ass captain's license) and can give you all kinds of (unwarranted) advice.  It's good to know a little bit about the rules of the road, especially since we are on riverways here.  Pick up a chart for any area you'll be in.  Have a blast man!  What are you gonna name her?

[seaweb11]

Hey, I have one of those licenses as well

[paulages]

Hey Paul,
Congrats on the boat...  I just found this thread.  My biggest advice is to get a VHF handheld radio for use while you are out there.  "Pan Pan, Pan Pan.  Hello all stations," may become a very handy way to start a conversation on channel 16 while you are out there.  I have a 100 ton Master's License (big ass captain's license) and can give you all kinds of (unwarranted) advice.  It's good to know a little bit about the rules of the road, especially since we are on riverways here.  Pick up a chart for any area you'll be in.  Have a blast man!  What are you gonna name her?

thanks carrie! maybe i can take you out sometime? haven't come up with a name yet... might be getting her wet tomorrow!

[ieism]

Nice boat Paul. I love those older style boats, they somehow look better than new ones.

I just got the keys to my employers boat a few weeks ago, so i'm new to this boating thing too.

If anybody has some general tips on steering this thing it would be welcome. It doesn't really steer when going backwards, so it's prettty hard to park it in tight spots. And to make matters worse, it's parked in the centre of Amsterdam with a lot off busy narrow canals.

[GroovieGhoulie]

Nice boat Paul. I love those older style boats, they somehow look better than new ones.

I just got the keys to my employers boat a few weeks ago, so i'm new to this boating thing too.

If anybody has some general tips on steering this thing it would be welcome. It doesn't really steer when going backwards, so it's prettty hard to park it in tight spots. And to make matters worse, it's parked in the centre of Amsterdam with a lot off busy narrow canals.

Inboard?

I've got an inboard and the rear "draws" to the right when in reverse, regardless of rudder orientation.  RH rotation engines will draw to the left.  It's just the nature of inboards.  That is one thing I'll saw is better on sterndrives or outboards.  They actually have a useful reverse.  With my boat, I have to dock it with the "draw and throw" technique where I "throw" the back end at the dock right as I get there.  Takes some timing.  And putting into a slip isn't so bad, but reversing out of it?  Yeah, depsite using bumpers, my rubstrip looks like hell.

When launching, I don't even go in reverse, I just use the draw to start it coming around, then I basically make a three-point turn, and head out forward.  That is one thing I like about inboards, they turn on a dime.

EDITED:  The pic just showed up, it's different than I thought, so disregard my post.  (Though it might be a style of rudder-steering inboard?)

[ieism]

It's an inboard, but with a rudder like a sailboat has. So you're saying I need to do the equivalent of a handbrake turn in a car

So I head for the docks at moderate speed, then spin the wheel at precicely the last moment to bring the boat's side paralel to the dock, and then a bit of reverse to stop it?


I have no trouble pointing the front where it needs to go, it has an extra propellor in the front to steer it.

[GroovieGhoulie]

Sorta.  Depends on the rotation of the engine.  I've got a LH rotation engine, so when in reverse, the stern draws to the right and the boat will make a slow right turn in the water, regardless of how the rudder is turned.  A RH-rotation engine will draw to the left.

Here's a short blurb about docking inboard ski-boats.  The technique should be similar.

To understand ski-boat docking, you need to understand “THROW and DRAW”.   “THROW” is how you swing the back of the boat at the dock and “DRAW” is what you do to draw the boat into the dock or stop the momentum established from “THROWING”  the rear-end of the boat at the dock.  The first step in the process is to figure out which way your boat pulls when in reverse.  Most boats will “DRAW” the rear end over to the right when in reverse.  Correct Craft/Ski Nautiques will “DRAW” to the left.  The next step once “DRAW” is established is to approach the dock keeping in mind “THROW and DRAW”.    Let’s say we’re in a Correct Craft and we’re going to pull up to a dock so our passengers can disembark from the drivers side.   We know that Correct Crafts pull to the left.  We need to approach the dock with the intent of  “THROWING” the rear end of the boat at the dock.  We do this by slowly approaching the dock about 45 degrees from the right, pointing the nose of the boat at a point where we would like to end up.  A few feet before the nose of the boat gets to the dock, turn the steering wheel to the left.  This will “THROW” the rear end of the boat at the dock.  To prevent the rear end from hitting the dock, put the boat in reverse.  This will “DRAW” the rear end to the left and stop the boat from hitting the dock.  Done correctly, the boat will be sitting safely parallel the dock without any manhandling.  For boats that pull right, again nose the boat in slowly from the right at 45 degrees.  A few feet before the nose gets to the dock, gently put the boat in reverse.  This will “DRAW” the back of the boat into the dock.  To stop the draw, lightly bump the boat in forward with the wheel turned right.  Please note, practice at your own risk, in a safe place and with adequate supervision!

Here's a super-short video about inboard parking.  It's for ski boats, but the technique is the same.

[paulages]

got her wet! (pdxPope at the front, and my girlfriend Rebekkah behind him):



john paul (pdxPope) was kind enough to take me out on his boat, then we launched mine. it started great, first touch of the starter. we got out onto the water and opened her up, and she ran great! eventually there was a strange noise (i believe) from the gamble housing, which i suspect may have been bits of metal from the plate that i replaced bouncing around against the shaft. in any case, it stopped. then... the boat did. not in a cause/effect kind of way though.

i did a little poking around and found that the carb wasn't getting enough fuel. the ONE tool between us was a rusty flathead screwdriver john paul had on his boat, and it happened to be the one tool needed to take the carburetor apart. fiddled with it, got it running again, but the fuel delivery problem resurfaced and he towed us back.

i'm back at the shop now and got the carb apart and found a leaking float and a low fuel level in the bowl (which seem contradictory). when i hit the start button, the fuel line spews. i suspect the filter may be spotty, so i'll replace that. the carb was just rebuilt, but came with an extra rebuild kit, so i'll probably go through it again.

anyway, it was a blast and really got up and went at WOT.  

[GroovieGhoulie]

Cool "sea trials"!

What'd she do at WOT?  How's she handle?  How's the holeshot and pull?

Looks like a fun runabout!

[Retro Rocket]

Good stuff Paul,she looks great in the water, there's something about the style of these older boats that is very appealing...

Mick

[Stev-o]

Glad to hear it is running! Sounds like a minor carb issue that you should be able to repair pretty easily.

The noise that you heard is in the vicinity of the gimble bearing, hopefully that noise will not return or you may need to change the bearing:

http://www.masonmarine.net/product_info.php/gimbal-bearing-mercruiser-volvo-penta-p-1003?osCsid=ee0159869a5866c193860807e4f91bc5

[paulages]

Glad to hear it is running! Sounds like a minor carb issue that you should be able to repair pretty easily.

The noise that you heard is in the vicinity of the gimble bearing, hopefully that noise will not return or you may need to change the bearing:

http://www.masonmarine.net/product_info.php/gimbal-bearing-mercruiser-volvo-penta-p-1003?osCsid=ee0159869a5866c193860807e4f91bc5

i suspected the gimble bearing... sure hope not! the noise did go away, but we'll see. if that bearing is in the same housing that the hydraulic lines pass through, then it'll definitely need changing, as the metal corrosion mess in there was awful. i cleaned that cavity out as well as possible and cleaned it with brake fluid. there was lots of old crusty grease that could have come from the zerks fitting for the bearing.i'll look at the schematics/manual and see if i can figure this out.

the speedometer doesn't work, so i don't know how fast it got. maybe pdxPope can say if he noticed when he was trailing me? definitely fast enough to get around comfortably.

i think the fuel problem may have been due to an old fuel filter. i talked to the PO and he said he drained all of the old gas though that filter when emptying the tank. i'll pick one up tomorrow and see what it does.

[GroovieGhoulie]

Is the speedo paddlewheel or pitot tube?  Paddles are finiky, but easier to fix than pitots, IMO.

What do you reckon you were getting?  30-35-40?  What RPMs are you pulling and what prop you got?  Diameter and pitch.  Tranny/outdrive ratios too.  Armed with that, and with the RPMs, you can pretty well figure the speed.

[paulages]

Is the speedo paddlewheel or pitot tube?  Paddles are finiky, but easier to fix than pitots, IMO.

What do you reckon you were getting?  30-35-40?  What RPMs are you pulling and what prop you got?  Diameter and pitch.  Tranny/outdrive ratios too.  Armed with that, and with the RPMs, you can pretty well figure the speed.

i'd reckon 40 or so? hard to tell out on the water though. don't know the speedo style.. haven't got that far yet. also no idea on the ratios, etc. at WOT it was at about 5500 RPM.

[Hush]

Hey cool ya bought a boat, hope it sees more water under it's keel than mine this year, so far it's 6 months since mine was off the trailer...my mate jokes it's got "trailer rot" an old joke but many non water folk will ask you how you're gonna fix it.
Those munts on the lower bow are probably from missing the centering roller on the back of the trailer, glass boats are pricks for recovering to the trailer.
I got in the water and walk mine on I'm so anal about it hitting the metal of the trailer.
Watched a guy with a tinnie drive straight onto his trailer at the ramp yetserday, man did that make me and Jaffa envious but hey it would take away all the fun we have swearing at each other when it wont go on staright ha ha.
We found that if she uses the painter rope attached to the front stay and one stay at the back, she has a great deal of control over the boats' direction.
Have fun while you have the sun Paul, our Summer is yet to come....Hush.

[GroovieGhoulie]

glass boats are pricks for recovering to the trailer.

Disagree. 

Got a glass boat. 

Recovering is as easy as driving it up into the trailer at idle speed, cutting it at the right time, and locking the front lift-bar onto the bow-eye.  If I run up shallow, I have to Power-Load, but no biggie.  Seriously, the longest time I've ever had from "address the ramp" to "pull out" was less than five minutes.  Me and the wife have it down.  She backs the trailer, I drive the boat.  She sets the lift-bar and lock, we pull out.  The longest time to date has been around seven-minutes, and that included pulling up and removing the plug. 

Then we're gone.

Some boats dock fast.  Glass/Metal is such a silly argument, IMHO.  Try to rise above it.

[pdxPope]

That was quite an adventure!   

Folks, don't ever doubt Paulages abilities. From "Hmmm, now it won't start" to a teardown & repair of the carb (all while drifting down the Columbia river) with one rusty, blunt flathead screwdriver that we use to pry open clams!
And without beer, people! Do you understand what I'm saying??!?!?!?!

Big props to Rebekkah for being such a good sport, too. Probably not what she had in mind when you told her we were going to take the boat out for the day....  Although, I don't trust that little gremlin-dog thing she has. It kept glaring at me with it's big, buggy, alien eyes. 

I'd guess you were doing about 30mph. I had to really get on the throttle to keep up with you and out boat tops out @ 45. I don't remember which kind of speed pickup you have. I think it's the paddle wheel type, but I have a new pitot tube pickup if it turns out to be that kind. Neither system is terribly accurate.

Eventually you might want to invest in a GPS system. It'll tell you speed (accurately), distance, heading, time, etc... All very handy to calculate how much range you have. As you found out, it's a BIG river and while there are a couple of gas docks, they are few and far between. Plus they rape you on price.

Give me a holler, when you have the carb sorted out. There are lots of cool places I can show you guys.

-JP

[333]

I have recently come across a GPS/charting solution that can be a bit cheaper, but only if you already have a laptop.  SeaClear II is open source freeware for digital NOAA charts(also downloaded free from NOAA), that allows communication with a GPS unit.  And from Amazon, I found a GPS "dongle" (GlobalSat ND-100) for $32 + shipping.  It looks like a flash drive, and works amazingly well.  With this setup, I have the chart, with my position, heading, and speed.  Cool gadget.