I-95
Yesterday we were able to finally make it to the boat show. I am sort of proud to say that we managed to make it out of the show without buying a single thing. Not that there wasn’t a lot of cool stuff there but there was nothing that we needed! Although Rebecca and I enjoyed looking at the million-dollar-plus boats, we didn’t even waste our time going onboard any of them. We did pop onboard a Gemini 105Mc, a Tomcat 9.7, a FP Mahe 36 and a Seawind 1160. Only the first three are at all comparable to our boat and we are happy to say that after touring these brand new boats, we still like our boat better than any of those three. The Seawind was really nice but given that it is substantially bigger and more money than our PDQ, we would expect it to be.
ZTC rafted up to Desert Star, a PDQ 36.
Since getting our SSB/Ham radio installed back in Washington, one of the things that I often do is tune in to the Waterway Net each morning at 7:30. Near the end of the radio net is when boats with Ham radio rigs can call in to give position reports, where they are and where they are heading. In the last couple of days we have noticed that a large number of these boats are now on their way south, away from Annapolis. It’s pretty exciting for us because we know we’ll soon be heading that way ourselves. We hear that at this time of year the Intra-Coastal Waterway is as busy as I-95!
Before we do head south though, we have a few things to tick off our project list. On today’s agenda is the following:
- Hire a rigger to install our antenna insulator
- Finish the lash boards for our jerry cans
- Troubleshoot our engines (see below)
- Visit Sailrite to purchase some Sunbrella fabric for sewing projects
- Re-provision
This is the insulator that needs to be installed in our starboard shroud.
Sadly we are having some issues with all three of our engines, which leads us to think that we acquired some bad fuel somewhere. First our starboard engine, and now our port engine too, has started stalling when throttling up from idle. Of course this only happens intermittently, just to make the troubleshooting process more challenging. Our dinghy outboard, after having sat without running for a few days, is now refusing to even start. So perhaps I’ll get to experience tearing down a carburetor sooner rather than later.
It’s going to be a beautiful day. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving everyone!
Hire a rigger to install our antenna insulator CHECK!
who’d ya get?
and yes you seserve an award for not buying anything! Pretty damn impressive!
We went with Atlantic Rigging. They said they could do it tomorrow or Thursday.
Hey guys – I tried touching base when you were in Fells Point but didn’t hear back. You had a rough week here in Baltimore – you should have been on Frog Mortar Creek then – water up over the bulk head and in the front yard. Had to park the cars on high ground. Hope all is well and we love monitoring your trip. I see picture of your friends boat at Browns Wharf – that is the property my company manages i was telling you about to dock up. where did you guys dock up and did you have fun at the festival.
Take care
Terri Sue and Bill
Hi guys
Sorry we weren’t able to meet up with you there. I hope that water didn’t cause too much damage for you.
We were tied up on the other side of the city pier building, just behind the pirate ship.
I betcha it is not going to be a carb issue, not yet. It sounds more like some moisture, to me.
For the main engines, I am a big believer in Raycor filters. Not the big ones, but the smaller ones with a clear bowl and a thing that looks like an oil filter above it. There is prabably a picture on my blog. Put in a pair and you will NEVER have fuel problems again. If there is water, you can drain it from the bowl.
As for the tender, the tank is so small it doesn’t take much. Keep the tank vent closed all the times; e-10 can pull water from the air, just like calcium chloride.
The key factor here is a humid summer followed by cool nights. This is a common Fall problem around here. The water comes out of solution with e-10 when the temperature drops. Did you have e-10 in Canada? Anyway, here’s a little light reading:
http://www.epa.gov/oms/regs/fuels/rfg/waterphs.pdf
This is the USEPA memo documenting that they knew there was a problem.
I wrote an article on this for Pracitcal Sailor Magazine, lab testing all of the popular additives; none of them helped.
If you do need to rebuild the carbs, don’t pull the engines. It is not that hard to take them off, just a few clips and 2 bolts. But the difficulty when throttling up sounds like wet gas. I suggest motoring heavy to burn it through, before the trouble is worse. Then, fresh gas should solve the problem.
Hi Drew
We do have those same Racor filters on our main engines (not on the dinghy though). I remember you saying before about keeping the vent closed so I have been (mostly) doing that.
Well, I would still try fresh fuel (even out of a temporary tank, perhaps).
If you do decide it is the carbs, they are not hard to remove. there is a white plastic clip that rotates outwards to release the throtle link. A few hoses. 2 metric bolts that you will need a 1/4″ drive and a long extention to reach (reach in from aft). I think one screw on the top somewhere, holding the auto choke, and a wire. That’s about it. The air intake comes off with it–no need to take that off. No special tools to take the carb apart. Generally no parts are needed for the problem you describe; just a can of carb cleaner and paper towels. Honestly, the less you take apart the better the first time, if it is just a little dirt. Just take the bowl off the bottom and blast all of the crannies the best you can.
Still, the fact that all 3 engines got weird at once does make one suspect the fuel first.
If you don’t have the Yamaha factory manual…. It’s a life saver.
The yamahas seem to be behaving (I have them idling now) and I finally got the tohatsu started. I let it run the tank dry. I’m now going to get some GOOD fuel and run it through it.
And yes, I have that manual!
At least one of the engines uses gasoline. Do they all? If so; suspect your gasoline and the ethanol producing water that will quickly foul your carbs. We had major trouble with gas last year especially in warm weather. Get some gas treatment and use additional remote fuel filters with water separators if you don’t already have them, even on the dinghy ob. And ya may have to get the carbs cleaned or rebuilt to remove the crap already in them.
Cheers, Jay
SV Screech
Hants Harbour, NL
Hi Jay
Yes, they are all gas engines and I am pretty sure it is the fuel. We have been adding startron to the fuel and the main engines do have fuel filters. Apparently that’s not enough though.
All three outboards stalling when revved up? I’d tend to agree with you, that sounds like wet or crappy fuel. I think I hear more “my fuel is junk” complaints from friends in the Maryland-to-Florida region than anywhere else- something about bad ethanol blends that, apparently, don’t have the additives that allow Canadian ethanol-gas to burn just fine after sitting in the tank for eight months of winter.
It’s the end of the boating season back in Kingston- the marina parking lots are filling up with cradled yachts, and I just finished winterizing Sunset Chaser‘s engine- oh, to be on the way south right now! Keep on livin’ the dream, M & R 🙂
I remember being one of the last remaining boats in the water this time last year. How sad. 🙁
Excellent! Now, on to the engines! If you do decide to tear down a carburator (or anything else, for that matter!), do it in or over a bucket, so as to catch escaping small parts. Also, don’t dispose of any fluids from said object without assuring that they don’t contain any small parts. Itty, bitty, essential springs are particularly prone to leaping away from one’s workspace and must be provided with a safe landing spot if they are not to be forever lost! This is a quote from my eldest son, who is a mechanic.
We lost a nut to Poseidon yesterday. Fortunately it was not a nut from an engine. That would have been a much bigger problem.
Still on the water in gas theme – get an empty clear water/soda bottle and sample the gas from each of the tanks. Shoot fuel into the bottle, let sit for 5 minutes and see if you have water separating out from the fuel.
BTW, the SailRite guy in Annapolis is a hoot (and knowledgeable to boot!).
Fair Winds,
Mike
A hoot is one way to describe him. 🙂 He seriously needs to relax or he’s going to blow a gasket!!!!
I’ll see if I can do that with the fuel. Thank you.
With reference to leaving your engines for a few days or weeks without starting them, I have spent many a holida,y in my dim and distant past, trying to start outboards and have found that the only way for me to be able to have an efficient outboard, was to run it dry( ie turn off the fuel and let it stop by itself) when leaving it, so that the carb bowl is always empty. A couple of pumps and full choke and it works every time. Try it, it works for me! :o))
I think we will be doing that from now on. Thanks Rob.