Small Favors

When I first got the boat, almost all of Sunrise's hatches and ports leaked, plus there were two nasty leaks coming from the deck scuppers (the hose leads inside the cabin, then down to a through-hull just above water level). The starboard scupper leak was so bad that it filled the storage compartments below the pilot berth when I got back to the boat after my vacation in Franklin County. But, the most annoying was the hatch above the Vee-berth, which would soak my bedding every time it rained.

 I found the gaskets for the Perko port lights on the Defender marine supply site--very expensive--and replaced every one.








I also removed, re-caulked, and replaced the scupper fittings, first using 3M 5200 which failed, then I found that 3M 4200 was better for metal to fiberglass sealing, and it worked.

Finally, the only leak remaining was the fore-cabin hatch.

Some research revealed that I had a Bomar hatch, and I was able to purchase 10' of Bomar gasket material for $36--pricey, but it stopped some of the leak, enough to reveal that the worst leaking came from above the gasket, where the acyclic sheet bedded into the hatch frame. I was able to remove the acrylic and use the last of my 3M 4200 to re-bed it. I used my index finger as a caulking tool, so the result is not so pretty, after all, but the seal holds.


It rained in Fort Myers all through the night, and this morning there was no leak, nowhere!

Sanitation, or the "Big Necessity"

I have been enjoying a paperback titled The Big Necessity, by Rose George, which frankly discusses much of what our culture deems unmentionable. So, I will continue in her vein and not suffer euphemisms.
When I set up the boat's plumbing system, Eric Pfeifer from Dockside Marine in Carabelle, designed it so that outflow could either go directly to the sea or go to a small holding tank (necessary to be legal in coastal or inland waters), which in turn could be pumped out directly to the sea or by a marina 'sanitation pump'. All of this was controlled by two three-way valves and a slew of 1 1/2" flexible sanitation hose going every which way under the boat's floorboards. Eric also suggested that I could use the direct outflow for a "pisser" even in the coastal area, and he thought that maybe since the toilet had a macerator that disintegrated the shit into fine soup, I could use it for a "shitter" as well.
Eric explained to me the curiosity of the sanitation law was that it was legal to piss over the side anywhere in the world, and likewise, it was legal to shit in a bucket and dump that over the side as well, regardless of coastal or deep water.
Mostly, though, while living in Apalachicola, I used the marina toilet for shitting and did use the head as a pisser.
On the trip down the Inter-Coastal Waterway (ICW), I did not want to pollute the narrow waters and anchorages, so I switched to the holding tank. We filled it right to the brim once and had to get it pumped out at a marina. Here at the Fort Myers Yacht Basin, I have my own pump-out station right on the dock and I can pump out whatever contents of the holding tank whenever I want in just a few minutes.
After a while, though, I began to notice that a bit of a sewage smell, what we would call a "pissy smell," emanating from the floorboards. Investigating, I noticed several small leaks in some of the many hose connections. I added hose clamps, but the smell persisted. So, I put "Re-do sanitation system" on my list and got to it yesterday.

I refit all the hoses and added hose clamps, heated some hoses, lubricated fittings with Vaseline (registered trademark), and tightened everything securely.
Here is a photo of the holding tank at the top, the three-way valve on the left, the discharge pump on the right, and the water tank at the bottom:

I am pretty proud of the job and so far, there is no sign of any kind of smell!

Another view showing the twisted spaghetti nature of the system. Believe me, I have stared at all those hoses going all which ways, trying to see how it works. Suffice to say that it works fine.

Sail Ho!

My new mainsail arrived Friday afternoon from Bacon Sails (Annapolis, MD). I hoisted it without inserting any tracks (because it does not have any) and it fits, just barely. It is a bit larger than my old sail, both luff (against the mast) and foot (on the boom), but it fits. Many folk have remarked that the SC 31 sail plan is light, except for the Genoa jib, and I am glad to have the extra few inches!

The next step is to remove the tracks from the old sail and place them on the new sail, although I might leave the foot loose (what is called a loose-footed mainsail), saving a lot of work and maybe improving the sail shape. The luff tracks are little stainless shackles protected by plastic covers and just need to be unscrewed, but the foot tracks are sewn on, considerable work for each one and there are about a million or so to sew, or at least a dozen or sew to so. So, it is a bit easier to leave the foot loose.

This sail lacks any reefing, which could be  disastrous in a gale. I am pretty sure that if I had reefed the old sail in time during our crossing from Apalachicola that it would not have blown out. Still, its condition was not so good, but the timing to be inspired to buy a replacement sail could not have been worse. There are two sail lofts in Fort Myers and I don't think adding reef points and cringles will be too expensive.

Once the reef points are in, I could sail away!

Real Progress

Tuesday, Bryan Conover and I pulled almost all the dirty diesel out of the Sunrise fuel tank, about twenty-five gallons, which I had to dump. Wednesday, I flushed the tank out with diesel left over from changing and cleaning the Racor 2 micronn fuel filter, then I mopped up the tiny bit of fuel along with a ton of gunk and grime on the bottom. I purchased a stiff brush from the marina office that I could tie to a stick,  then I scrubbed the sides and bottom of the tank. After that, I squirted soapy water along the sides and bottom, let it settle, then used the 'wet' vacuum to pull everything out. I then polished the sides and bottom with a rag soaked in acetone and finally used the 'dry' vacuum to finish the job. Clean enough and shiny! In the photo below, you can see the two long engine fuel pickup and return tubes on the left and the shiny, shorter, Wallas diesel stove pickup tubes on the right.

Before I put in clean fuel, I added a 10 micron fuel filter and assembly that Bryan had in his shed. So now, the engine should be well protected. The new filter is left center and the fuel pump is right center. I could not get the Racor filter assembly in the picture. While I was doing filters, I also changed the stove filter as it was all gunky.

This morning I I glued down the inspection plate gasket that gives access to inside the tank, screwed down the plate with larger screws, #10 oval head stainless, put my five gallons or so of clean diesel I had on hand, and ran the engine until it was hot. I used Bryan Conover's vacuum pump to suck out the old oil, changed the oil filter, added new oil from some I had left over from the last oil change, made yet another trip to Advanced Auto Parts for more oil, and finished the job. Oh, I also bought five more gallons of diesel and added them, as well as a bit I held back from the dirty fuel. While adding fuel, I made marks on a dowel that fits into a hole in the inspection plate, which I can use in lieu of a fuel gauge. To tell how empty the tank is, I only have to move the cabin ladder, lift up and prop the floor boards, get a wrench, open the plug in the inspection plate, then stick in my marked stick. Could it be any harder to find out how much fuel I have? I have heard of these electric things that somehow measure the level of fuel and display it on a remote gauge. Magic!

A Little Bit of Progress

A little bit of success is like a little bit of sunshine! I am happy that a few hours work and the help of my old and dear friend Bryan Conover stopped the leak at the stuffing box. Bryan, my great friend from high school, Boy Scouts, Explorer Scouts, and Sea Scouts, now lives on Pine Island, FL, just a few miles down the Caloosahatchee River from my location in the Fort Meyers Yacht Basin. He owns a great Striker van full of tools and gadgets, and volunteered to help with my boat problems. Here is what he looks like now:

Like me, he has somehow managed to get older since I last knew him in Fullerton, California!

Bryan had a long stainless steel rod and I used it to bang on the stuffing box to loosen it from its lock nut. Here is a photo of a brand new unit. The stuffing nut is to the front, the lock nut behind it:

Now, realize that this stuffing box is in the deepest part of the boat and I could not reach it by hand from the port lazarette, but I could see it, and was able to hit it with Bryan's rod, loosening it. Then, I crawled into the starboard lazarette where I could feel the box, but not see it. I was able to slowly tighten the stuffing nut until the leak stopped, then back it off so that it just barely dripped (necessary to lubricate the propeller shaft while the engine is driving the boat). Bryan, from the port lazarette, was able to advise me when it was just barely dripping. Finally, I got one of Bryan's big channel lock pliers on the stuffing nut, and Bryan tapped the lock nut until everything was tight enough.
Not bad! The job took two people and could have used more, since no one could hold the light when everyone was holding other tools. So, as Bryan commented, it was a "two men and a boy" kind of job.
So, I will no longer have to pump the bilge every morning, nor worry about the boat sinking while I was away, i.e. maybe the little reserve electric bilge pump would stop working. What will I do with all that time and absence of anxiety?
Clean the fuel tank, of course! Next project is to drain all the contaminated fuel and scrub the fuel tank by hand. I will start on that today.

Not Sinking

The Sunrise has a leak due to a loose or damaged cutlass bearing, the stuffing that surrounds the propeller shaft. If I do not pump the bilge daily, water accumulates under the salon floor to a depth of about 2 inches, when a little electric bilge pump kicks in; thus, as long as the pump works and the batteries have charge, the boat will not sink. During Christmas at my daughter Lisa's, I was away from the boat for several days, all the time worrying about finding Sunrise on the bottom when I returned from West Palm Beach. But, the little electric bilge pump did not fail. Thank you, Rule!
To fix this leak, I have to either tighten or replace the bearing. Here is what it looks like:

Realize that I took this photo holding my camera with one hand at absolute arm's length, my head hanging completely inside the portside lazarette, and my other hand barely supporting myself to keep from falling headfirst into the lowest innards of the boat's engine compartment. The bearing is the green assembly around the bright metal propeller shaft. If you look closely, you should see that there are two nuts immediately in front. Somehow, I must loosen the first nut and then tighten the second; finally, I must hold the second nut and tighten the first. If this mostly impossible task is correctly accomplished, the leak will stop and the propeller shaft will still turn. If the leak does not stop or the propeller does not turn, then I will have to pull the boat.

Here is another photo from Saint Petersburg where the lack of a mainsail on the boom is clearly visible, although how one sees something that is not there is a philosophical conundrum!

Once I replace the mainsail, then cleaning the boat's fuel tank so the engine works reliably will be the last task keeping the boat in port. Until then, I guess I remain a Fort Myers man, but since I promised the local Democratic Party in Apalachicola I would help elect Steve Southerland to an open Dog Catcher position, I want to speed the day Sunrise can return to sea.