On Board with Mark Corke

Outboard fouling prevention

 

This past year I have been carrying out a test of Interlux Trilux 33 anti fouling paint for out-drives and outboards. I prepared the surface as outlined in the manufacturers instructions which I followed to the letter; sanding the new outboard with 80 grit paper, wiping the surface with the correct solvent and so on. The pictures speak for themselves I feel and are of brackets for 250 hp Yamaha outboards of the same vintage. One is the outboard bracket of an untreated outboard and the other is coated with Trilux 33. I am impressed but it seems others have been less so. A quick trawl of the internet shows that same users have reported poor results from Trilux but this has certainly not been my experience. My guess is, although I cannot be certain that the correct preparatory work was not carried out on the metal prior to application. Although it is somewhat hard to take abrasive paper to a brand shiny new outboard bracket this step cannot be skipped or done improperly if things are to go well. Outboard brackets are somewhat fiddly and have many nooks and crannies and I spent at least a couple of hours on each bracket before I felt I was ready to apply the coating. Application is straightforward once the rubbing down has been done but you do need to mask off the surrounding area well and if applying it outdoors do it on a windless day, I still have a few spots on the back of my pick up where the wind blew it.

 

 

With Trilux 33

 

and without.

Waterproof I Pad case

 

 

I have found that I have been using my I pad more and more as a chart plotting tool on the boat. I use the Jeppesen and Navionics charts and like them both but keeping the I pad safe from harm is high on the list of priorities. Setting it down on one of the cockpit benches is dangerous because I am scared that a crew member may step on it but my biggest fear is preventing damage from water. Putting the I pad into a zip-lock bag sort of works but you loose the functionality of the unit and the plastic is hard to see through and if I did that I cannot attach it to my new mount that I bought a few weeks back. I did experiment with my vacuum bag food sealer which works great but you have to cut the I pad out of the bag when you need to charge it and frankly carrying a mains voltage vacuum sealer on a boat is a bit of overkill not to say inconvenient. The Dry Case seems to overcome these problems, I can attach it to the vacuum mount system, it is almost optically perfect and the controls on the touch screen work as if the I pad was not in the case. I plan on using the I pad on a long cruise this summer so I will be interested to see how it holds up. With a price of 60 bucks it seems like cheap insurance.

Good idea, bad idea

Here is an very interesting and sensible idea that I have seen on few boats but it would not be a bad idea to include on many more. What we are looking at is the main battery isolator switches and circuit breakers which are all neat and tidy but  what is really interesting is the red and black covered battery terminal posts to the right of the picture. What these are for is to enable the operator of the boat to jump the engine start battery with a suitable spare battery or jumper pack should the main battery be flat and the engine will not start. All connections inside a gasoline powered engine room must be ignition protected or in other words there must be nothing that will produce a spark that could ignite gasoline fumes. But all that goes out the window if and owner simply opens up the engine compartment and connects a set of jumper leads to the engine start battery. It is basically impossible to connect up a set of jump leads and not produce some sparking, not a big deal under the hood of the truck but in the confined space of a boats engine room could be disastrous, thus all that is avoided with these senisble connections. Unfortunately we shall never know just how deadly jumping the batteries in the engine room can be because many of those boat owners who have used the technique are probably singing to the choir now at the great marina in the sky.

 

It is therefore somewhat paradoxical that on this same boat where there have done something very sensible they have also done something very stupid; I find a cut out above the fuel tank neatly covered by a lift out panel to offer access to the sender unit. This is all fine and good but the balsa coring is completely exposed. Now sure, this was below decks and I am sure that the manufacturer would argue that it is not going to get wet but my counter to that is that everything on a boat is going to get wet at some time. I would not have been that complicated or taken that much time to reef out some of the core, back to say a half inch or so and back fill it with thickened epoxy then there is no way that any moisture could get into the core and start rot. What is almost more troubling is what other places is the core exposed in areas that it is impossible to see or get to.

Sea Sucker

 
 

Surveying various boats and writing for magazines, and this blog, means that I get to go on many different boats. Some of those boats have a good array of electronics but others do not. Not only that but you can't always rely on there being a suitable chart on board and this is especially important if you will be using an unfamiliar boat in unfamiliar waters. I have got around this in two ways I either take my Garmin 276 or my I pad on which I use the Navionics HD charts. I like the I pad because the screen is large and easy to see. The one down side is that I pads are expensive and you don't want to get them damaged. You also want to have the I pad in a position where it can be looked at easily. Until now I had been propping the I pad up but this was far from ideal and did not work all the time as there is not always some place to lean it conveniently. After a bit of an internet search I splashed out on a SeaSucker mount. This runs to about $100 but works well. Essentially it consists of two identical suction cups with a 12 inch screw in flexible arm between them. The suckers themselves have a small vacuum pump built in so after moistening the lip the pad is simply placed on a convenient smooth surface the plunger is depressed several times until the orange band disappears and hey presto the mount is held tenaciously in place, lifting a small tab releases the vacuum when you wish to remove it. I have to say that I am impressed I have also been using it in my car and I initially thought that the vacuum would slowly give out but I have had the mount in the same position for a week now and firm tug earlier today confirms that it is not going anywhere right now, in fact I would have broken something had I pulled any harder. The sea sucker web site shows a range of products from rod holders to drinks trays all based on the same vacuum mount which has a ¼ 20 threaded insert so I am toying with all the other home made accessories that I can mount.

Looking after your trailer

 

Those of us with a smaller boat that we tow behind the car seldom give little thought to the trailer. We hitch it up and expect it to perform flawlessly. Many trailers sit for weeks of even months untouched and during that time issues can develop. Most of the time the trailer works fine but trailer breakdowns are not uncommon and a little care before setting out on the road can save a lot of hassles later. Even if you are not very mechanically minded there are some things that anybody can do. Whether you are going across town or across the country walk around the trailer and make a visual check. Are the tires in good shape and correctly inflated? If they appear soft then stop off at the gas station and check the pressures. There should be no cracks in the side walls of the tires; storing the trailer with the wheels removed or at least chocked up clear of the ground will do much to prolong their life. Check that the tire have sufficient tread, insert a penny into the treads if Lincolns head disappears then the tires have sufficient tread left. While looking at the wheels make sure that all the wheel nut are in place and correctly tightened, this is especially important if the trailer was stored with it's wheel removed during the winter months. If the hub is fitted with a grease cup remove it and make sure that there is sufficient grease, a hub running dry will soon over heat leading to bearing failure. Ensure that should the worst happen the trailer will stay connected to the tow vehicle by connecting up the safety chain or cables, these should criss cross under the hitch. With the trailer lights plugged in get a helper to operate the turn signals, rear and brake lights while you check to make sure that they are working. Replace any defective bulbs. Check that the license plate is attached to the vehicle, the one shown in the picture is hanging on by a piece of thin rope, ideally it should be bolted on properly. Finally and most importantly is the boat or PWC secured properly and tied down to the trailer? The winch where fitted is OK for securing the bow but the rear of the boat shown also be strapped down. I have lost count of the amount of times that I have been passed on the highway by a large boat on a trailer and the only thing holding the two together is the winch attached to the bow eye. This is very dangerous for several reasons, if the towing vehicle has to swerve or stop in a hurry the boat can become detached from the trailer and secondly the U bolt at the front of the boat is not designed to carry the amount of stress to which it is subjected. The other very good reason if another was needed that a boat should be properly secured is that a boat unsecured on a trailer can bounce up and down independent of the trailer, if the trailer has rollers the point loadings will be tremendous and damage to the boat is a distinct possibility.

 

When you are satisfied that all is well you are set to head out on the road, don't forget to raise the trailer jack and release the handbrake first though. Take it easy remembering that with the trailer on the back you will be at least twice the length of the car alone. Allow more time for stopping, turning and over taking. Pull over after couple of mile driving and place a hand on the wheel hubs which should all be at the same temperature, if one is noticeably hotter than another it could be that there is insufficient grease in the bearing or that a brake is binding on, investigate and rectify before proceeding further or expect bad karma to follow soon.

Incidentally and in case you were wondering the boat on the trailer shown above is a Flyfisher 22 made in wood by students at the Landing School in Maine and I shot this a couple of years ago at the Mystic wooden boat show.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

House boats

Not sure if you would call these house boats or not but I took a few shots of these, dare I say 'cute' house boats while down in Woods Hole the other day. At least one looks little more than a floating garden shed the others look kind of neat.

 

 

River Walker

 

River Walker

 

This is the second in my occasional series of boats that I have an interest in. These are boats that have caught my eye or piqued my interest for a number of reasons. This one like my first offering, the Surf Scoter is designed for home building. But unlike the Surf Scoter this vessel is not going anywhere in a hurry and so I present to you the River Walker. The boat is decidedly boxy there is no getting away from that fact but the more that I look at this boat the more I like it. This boat is intended as a boat that you can spend extended periods of time on and not be tripping over each other. I see it as perfect for a couple.

The river walker is designed by George Buehler who is something of a maverick in the boat designing world and in many ways is outside the mainstream in much the same way that the late Phil Bolger was. George's philosophy has always been stop talking about it and get on with it. To paraphrase his write up on the River walker he says "Do not get carried away, this is no big deal it's just a wooden box" and he is right. But that is precisely why I like this boat so much, simple to build in the extreme there are no complex curves, no lofting, on spiling of adjacent planks, you could pretty much build the boat with tools that just about everybody has in the garage. I feel that if you could build a garden shed then you could build this boat, that is not to say however that you should be shoddy about it. The design is so simple that the boat could be lengthened or shortened to suit requirements, all the frames are identical and built from 2 by 6 and 2 by 4 timbers so adding or subtracting additional frames is no big problem. Likewise the boat can be altered in width too without upsetting much. As drawn the boat is 10 feet wide which will give lots of interior space but would make the boat difficult and expensive to move by road if you had much of that to do but with the boat slimmed down to 8'6" or 9' you could reasonably expect to tow the boat behind a full sized pick up truck. On the other hand I think that the River Walker would make a great summer getaway retreat and tied up in some marina or mooring you would have a perfect summer cottage with water views for short money. If you fancy a change of scene then you could motor off to another destination. George Buehler suggests a sail drive hi thrust outboard of the 25hp variety so you will not be going anywhere very fast but you would probably move at 5 knots which is as fast as many a sailboat and anyway is it not about enjoying the journey. The boat is flat bottomed so can operate in shallow water and in many cases could be driven up onto the beach at high tide allowing you to step right off onto the sand, an idea which I like the sound of a lot.

The sad fact is that many traditional boats hardly if ever leave their moorings so if the boat is going to spend the majority of it's time at the dock why not make it comfortable, there is standing headroom everywhere in the boat and instead of cramming in bunks leave some open 'moving about' space inside the boat. The fact that it is actually a boat and has motive power should not annoy marinas in the way that pure houseboats might and as drawn does in fact have a raised pilot house which would give great visibility when underway. If I had the time a tip down the Intra Coastal waterway would be a grand idea and I could have a small sailing dinghy on the roof if I felt like a sail now and again or needed a boat to get to shore if I was moored out for the night away from the black-flies and mosquitoes. There's room too in the cabin for a diesel or solid fuel heater so further extending the season in the more northern latitudes. Space too outside on the back deck for me and the wife to sit at the end of the day with a beverage or two and in the morning space to stretch out with a cup of coffee fresh from the stove with the morning papers.

Lest you think that I am day dreaming a little you might be right but is that not half the fun and anyway I have always found it beneficial to think how any boat might be used before I start work on her.

Building any boat as I have said before is a major undertaking but this is one that even the most novice of builders should be able to finish. None of the systems need be that complicated and I think that if it were me I would keep it as basic in terms of electronics and electrics as possible; LED lights and oil lamps for illumination, charcoal or diesel stove for heat and cooking, a lead for taking soundings and my Ipad with suitable charts loaded for navigation.

I can see it all now in my minds eye and it all looks good.

 

Pictures courtesy of the builders and Buehler Boat Designs.

Teak grating - part two

 

A little later than planned or as promised but here is a series of pictures showing the arrangement that I have come up with for cutting the notches in the teak grating that I have been making. Although it is not all that elegant it does get the job done and seems to work fairly well.

A you can see I made a jig from a couple of sections of scrap three quarter inch ply wood into which is cut a slot which is exactly the same width as the notch that I required in the grating.

 

Off set to one side is another section of wood glued and pinned in position which slots onto the the groove already cut and thus gives the correct spacing.

 

 

To prevent breakout it is essential to back up the cut on both sides. On side is supported by a back fence screwed and glued to the template and the front is supported by another scrap of wood which is simply held in place as the strip is cut. Finger pressure is sufficient but obviously keep your hands away from the cutter.

 

In this shot I am holding the bearing guided cutter to illustrate how the whole system works. Of course normally the cutter would be held in an inverted router on a table and I used the one that I made some time ago.

 

The job is noisy and very dusty so ear defenders, safety glasses and a dust mask are essential. Use a sharp carbide tipped cutter, teak is very abrasive and will dull a HSS steel cutter in no time at all.

Boat wish list

 

Anyone who has any interest in boats whatsoever will undoubtedly have a list of craft that they would like to own or build. For some time I have had a list of boats in my head that I have a yearning for, sure there are those boats that I would love to own if I won the lottery and in truth over the years I have got to spend some sea time on some spectacular boats but they will never be mine. No my mental list has been built up over the years of more modest craft of boats that I actually have a chance of owning. In fact last night I sat down and committed my mental list to paper. This was the first time that I had actually done this and all but two are boats that I would build myself. The reason for this is that as I have said many times before I actually enjoy the creative process. From lines on sheets of plans and boards stacked in the corner of the workshop the boat gradually evolves from pencil marks and sawdust to an almost living, breathing organic being. I am not quite sure at what point the metamorphis takes place and at what point it goes from being a collection of parts to a boat but one thing that I do know for sure and that is there is nothing more satisfying that seeing a boat take shape that you have built with your own hands. Like a child growing up there will be tough times ahead for sure, you will get angry and frustrated but patience and perseverance will see you through and like the child that turns out to be a well rounded young man or woman you can sit back and take immense pride in the part you have played. Therefore I make no apologies for the fact that most of the boats on my list are boats that I would build myself, these are my boats boats that I would like to own. Every reader of on board will have their own list and I am sure that it would be completely different to mine and like mine is apt to change over time as new boats come along and what constitutes our ideal boat changes. That's fine too. When I picture one of the boats on my list in my minds eye I think not just how I would build her but where I would take her and how I would use her in fact it it has been these very dreams that have kept me going and focused in the dark times when I felt like giving up.

So that is the background thinking behind my list of boats and I thought rather than just give you a list of the boats that are in my head I would share then with you one at a time with a discussion of each design, how they are constructed and how they might be used. So then this is the resumption of an occasional series showcasing if that is the correct word my ideas and inspiration.

 

Devlin Surf Scoter

 

I've long admired the Surf Scoter. Named after a duck this boat has been built in various lengths but the most popular is probably the 22' version. This has been built both by Sam Devlin himself or as a home built vessel. If it were me I would build it myself. Constructed using the stitch and tape method this boat like others built using this method is literally built from the inside out. The plywood hull skin panels are cut to shape then temporary wire sutures are used to wire the panels to together, a few bulkheads are inserted and the seams are then epoxy filleted before being reinforced with glass tape and epoxy resin. What is good about boats built in this way is that no complicated lofting, jigs or other preparatory work is required, the boat takes shape very quickly so this tends to keep the amateur builder motivated as within weeks there is definitely something boat shaped in the garage or workshop. I have built boats using this method and can attest to the speed that the boat goes together it is quite remarkable. The Surf Scoter has been fitted with a number of power options over the years; inboards with conventional running gear, I/O's and outboards and it is this latter option that I would choose. Having the outboard on the back of the boat, Devlin recommends a 90 hp, frees up space in the back of the boat that would otherwise be taken up by an engine box and in many ways makes for a simpler installation which with a good secondhand motor is cheaper too. The boat at just over 4000 pounds displacement is light enough to be easily towed behind an SUV or truck and this opens up distinct possibilities for cruising farther afield than would be the case with a larger boat not so easily transported. In it's latest incarnation for the boat has just been revised somewhat there is room for a separate heads so women folk will not have to use a bucket in the cockpit. The inside steering position means that we can extend the cruising season and with the addition of a small propane or diesel heater can continue to be out on the water when the cold has chased many other boaters indoors. The boat should be easy to maintain, she can be bought home for the winter months and will sit happily on her trailer when not in use under a tarp or better yet if we have room bring her inside the barn for her annual wash and brush up. Surf Scoter is a boat that I could be proud of, not boxy like some plywood boats, a boat that you admire as you pull away from her after leaving her bobbing on her mooring. Cheap to own and operate she has a good tun of speed which with a good 90 hp outboard and the correct prop will be in the 20 knot range flat out, dial back the speed and she will be cheap to run getting upward of 4 miles to the gallon of gas for she is as happy at displacement speeds as she is up on plane.

When you arrive at your destination a large double bunk can be made up in the cabin and there is still room in the pilot house to make dinner and look out through the windows at the sun sinking in the west.

So there you have it the first boat on my wish list. Modest by many standards but one that would give much satisfaction in the building and in use. It can be built by a competent amateur in his or her spare time and is a boat that I would be very proud to own.

 

The photo above is courtesy of Devlin Boat builders.

 

Titanic - One hundred years on

 

 

One hundred years ago today the Titanic set sail on her maiden voyage which also proved to be her last. This is the largest single peacetime maritime disaster with less than one third of the passengers and crew surviving.

As you watch this video annimation of how the Titanic went to the bottom to her resting place two and a half miles down spare a thought and prayer for those  who died.