Toews ‘r Us — a family sailing adventure

When we got the boat, the starboard engine always had a hard time priming the sea water. I thought I had a leaky hose, but couldn’t find it. No leaks coming in, but the pump must be sucking air now and again. Finally it got bad enough where I could actually see water coming in. The seal of the pump was bad. I had a spare so I changed it out. That was about a month or two ago. I ordered a rebuild kit for the old pump. It was half the price of a new pump, so by rebuilding it, I can have another spare pump on the cheap, well cheap is a relative term when it comes to boat parts.

Rebuilding the Yanmar salt water pump is pretty easy. The most helpful tool to me is the parts breakdown picture. It helps me to verify that all the parts are going back together the right way. If you don’t have the parts book, possibly the parts counter guy can copy the page for you. If you can’t get that, then I suggest taking photos while it’s coming apart as well as lining up the parts as they come out.

Removing the back cover exposes the impeller; it just pulls off maybe with a little tug and with a needle nose. If the impeller is still in good shape and will be stored for any length of time, it should be put in a Ziploc bag with glycerin. The factory guys will tell you that you can use olive oil instead (not many people have glycerin). That will keep it soft and stop it from drying out. There’s nothing like a soft, supple impeller.

After the impeller comes off, the pump needs to be turned around. The pulley can come off with the turn of a nut. Next there’s a retaining clip that can come out. They make special tools for these, and I thought I had one, but can’t seem to find it. So I resorted to the tips of a needle nose. Once it pulls out the shaft with both bearings can be tapped out from the impeller end. Make sure you use a soft block of wood or plastic. You don’t want to damage the shaft end.

After it’s out, the large bearing needs to get tapped off. I like to use a bearing puller for this, but don’t have one. So an open ended wrench that just barely fits around the shaft worked. I put that between the bearings and tapped the shaft with a hammer (first I put the pulley nut back on to protect the threads). I couldn’t get the bearings off the shaft. I resorted to drastic measures: a ride to the hardware store. I wanted a vise, but one that was portable and light. I found a Stanley that fit the bill and made the job much easier. It held the wrench and bearing while I tapped the shaft, viola, the bearing was off.

Next there’s another clip holding in the smaller bearing, taking this off and some more tapping and I was left with the shaft. I used some ultra fine emery cloth to polish this up and get it ready for the new bearings. Once clean, I pressed (tapped) the new bearings on in reverse order. When doing this, one thing to keep in mind is the bearings are intricate pieces of machinery. I like to use a small hard tube or pipe that is the exact size of the inner ring of the bearing. I put that on the bearing and tap it down. When tapping the bearing into place, don’t put pressure anywhere but the inner ring; otherwise you risk damaging the bearing and causing premature failure.

In the pump housing was left the seal, an o-ring, and a plastic piece. I took these out, being careful not to damage the bronze housing. Cleaned everything up and got ready to put it back together.

I lubricated the seal and shaft with glycerin to help slide the shaft in without causing damage to the seal. I then tapped the shaft with the bearings gently into place (still with the old pulley nut protecting the threads. Put the nuts and pulley back on and it was ready. I spray painted it quickly and let it dry. Just like new!

Because I’m using this as a spare, I left the impeller and back cover off. This will stop the impeller from getting damaged by staying in one position to long. They can go in easily and then the pump can be installed when needed.
It didn’t take much time at all, an hour or an hour and a half at most, and now I have a spare that is easily changed out in case of a failure. More importantly I know a little more about the engines and systems on the boat, making us a little more self-sufficient. Oh and I saved some money in the process.

All in all, a productive morning.

Latitude: 34°12'25.45"N, Longitude: 77°47'57.21"W
Location: Wrightsville Beach, NC, Map It

We had some weather to wait out in Wrightsville Beach, NC. I decided that it was time to start looking into the WIFI a little harder. You may recall it just wasn’t what I expected.

Here in Wrightsville Beach I can get WIFI with my laptop, but not the external bridge, something is definitely wrong.

I pulled the antenna, bridge, and box down, wired it to a temporary Ethernet cable and started moving it around to see where it works best. I put it on the boom, pulled it up the mast with a halyard, attached it to the head stay, and placed it in the cockpit. It seems to work best between the boom and the first spreader.

Now I’ll have to devise a plan to mount it under the first spreader. For now, we’ll just attach it to the boom when at anchor.

Keeping the kids on board has been a high priority of ours, especially when we’re sailing.

We installed some netting on the lifelines. We found a place that had some great pricing.  On Deck Sports  did a great job assisiting us with the size and type.  We could order just what we needed, and it comes with its own top and bottom ropes.  We don’t have toe rails so the bottom rope was especcially nice.  The top rope I just removed.

The netting is black and designed for batting cages. But the price is about half of anything else we could find. The black is actually a UV coating that makes it last longer. With the netting black, it can hardly be seen until just when you get up to the boat.

We used some wire ties to get it in position and then used an 1/8″ line to lash it down. It’s cut so it lays out on the square instead of on the diamond. This makes it much easier to hang and align.

So far not one of the kids has been saved by it and if they never have to that’ll be fine by me. The dog did slide off of the walkway and right into the net while we were traveling down the river. It saved her life.

Now keeping the kids on board in port is a different story, sometimes we just want to throw them overboard.

Photos of the trampolines in progress and installed.

The old trampolines were in terrible shape. So bad in fact that the week prior to putting on the second one, Cassidy fell through it and right into the water. I was right there, but she got soaked, scared and cold.

Making your own trampolines is a rather large project. Homemade items that are too large to be laid out in the living room are hard to work with. It was a real exercise in patience for both Debi and I, but we got through it just fine. What is it they say? “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

We used a ¼” mesh that we got at Sailrite. Our tramps are rather large so two sections of the fabric needed to be sewn together. We used their vinyl glue prior to sewing, making the job of keeping it aligned much easier.

We used Tenera Thread made by Gore. It’s basically teflon . It’s supposed to last for nearly ever, at least it will outlast the rest of the trampoline. This is good because I don’t want to put that much effort into RE-sewing a project. We used the double strand type, it’s twisted together and has a 15 pound break strength. We needed to use a #20 needle in order for it to work properly without getting bunched. Use the directions on the Sailrite site to set the machine up. We found the best price at Southern Textile Group.

Our broken down sewing machine was stretched to the limit, frustrating both Debi and I. After completing the first one at a cost of over 10 needles, a base plate, and a couple of other plates, I realized that the arm of the machine needed a slight adjustment. We completed the second tramp with only 2 needles and no other broken parts.

On edges we put in a 3″ fold and sewed it 5 times. We then put Shelter-Rite truck tarp material as a border, more for looks, but I’m sure it added some strength. We put in grommets just under every 4 inches or so and laced it in. I used a 3/16″ rope and cut it to lengths that would lace up ½ of a side. This way if a line were to break, it would only be a short section that would be affected, averting a complete failure.

It sounds pretty easy looking back on it, but the first one was a real bear. Once we got that one complete the second one was put together in no time.

The energy project has been wrapped up. The arch installed, wires run, solar panels put in, wind generators mounted, and it’s a wrap.

What do we have? I’ve been running our refrigerator and freezer for several weeks now and every day the batteries have been 100% charged before lunch. I know we’ll be using more energy once we’re on board, but those are the two biggest energy hogs that we have. Well I will be on board with 4 women, so we’ll just have to see if that fact stands. At least the women don’t look like pigs.

One thing that isn’t working as I expected is the diversion water heaters. When the wind generators go into divert mode, the load is at max and the generators bog right down and really haven’t been putting out the power required to heat the water. I’m going to play with it some more and come up with a workable solution.

What’s amazing is the amount of power that the solar panels are generating. I’ve got them wired in series and the controller is reading them at approximately 86 volts at mid day. They generate power on cloudy days, and right down to dusk. The Outback MPPT controller really does a good job in squeezing every last bit of juice out of them. These really are the highlight of the project. They can pour over 25 amps in to the batteries during the bulk charge.

Here’s the photos of our boat energy project.

My Father came up for a few days to be a heavy lifter during the power arch installation. Without his help it couldn’t have been done, thank you Dad.

The arch is pretty light, I’m guessing around 75 pounds and the main halyard was used to move it around. We hauled it up, put it in place and it didn’t fit. What? No, it didn’t fit. The feet weren’t sitting where they should have been. A nervous call to Redman Marine Manufacturing was placed, and a quick prayer was made, “please let him answer the phone.”

They recommended some gentle coercing. So we got down to the fine art of persuading. It took a little nudge, well more of a soft tug, actually it was a lot of force to get the foot pads to sit right where we wanted them. The forward legs had to be spread a little, the aft legs had to be brought in and pulled a little further aft. We had some planking to do the spreading and some ratchet straps to do the pulling. Once we finally got it all in place we marked it and then had to take it off, that’s right - it was just a dry fit for marking.

 Next came drilling and wiring. Drilling the holes - pretty strait forward, wiring well that’s a little harder, but generally not too bad. The starboard wind generator wire went the hardest, not sure why, but it was a struggle the entire way down. Thankfully my Dad, the “master boat electrician”, was on hand to do the pulling.

I figured a day to get it all done, so in typical boat work timing it took a total of two days. Why do all boat projects take twice as long as they are planned for?

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I’ve placed three orders now with BestBoatWire for a total of several hundred dollars. I’ve been pleased every time.

They sell Pacer Marine Wire, some Blue Sea items and assorted miscellaneous items that have to do with boat wiring. I’ve found they have the best pricing around. They were one of the few places that I could find the coax recommended from my VHF manufacturer.

On my first order, I decided after I placed it online that I wanted to change something. I emailed them and got it changed - no problem. They even refunded the difference without a problem.

Sylvie has handled all my orders and she does a great job. I believe they run the enterprise out of Canada, but all the shipping is done from the factory in Florida, so it’s easy shipping to the States.

Next time you’re looking for marine wire check them out, I’m sure you’ll save some money.

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Latitude: 41°54'40.92"N, Longitude: 70°57'58.43"W
Location: Mack Boring Middleboro location, Map It

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I figured that spending several hundred dollars for a three day training course with hands-on time with an engine just like mine could pay for itself in no time. I’m here to tell you: the amount of maintenance that a Yanmar Marine Diesel “should” have will pay for the class before summer starts.

Mack Boring is the Northeast distributor for Yanmar and a bunch of other diesel engines. Larry Berlin is their Trainer. He knows his stuff, and knows how to teach it.

I was very impressed with their operation and all the extras that they put together for us: kuzies, mag light, parts discounts. It all made the course worthwhile. Plus I can now do nearly all my own maintenance saving hundreds of dollars a year or more.

Our Engine is a Yanmar 3GM30FC. The 3 is for three cylinder, GM is the model, 30 is peak horse power, f is for fresh water cooled, and the C stands for sail drive (why not “s”?).

I’ve put together a maintenance plan based on the class. I’m sure in their ten year - 1600 hour life they haven’t gotten all the love they need, so I’m going to give them a little caressing.

If you’ve got a Yanmar Diesel I would highly recommend a Mack Boring Class!

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