Spring - Back to work

Sorry it has been a while; It is winter here in the UK with some temperatures hitting -4 in the day. Working in a unheated barn in the day is not where I wanted to be... Instead I have been working hard on my coursework instead.

I have been researching a self build serial hybrid engine. I 48v system to drive a motor which will self regenerate power to the batteries when under power. I would also have a separate mains generator to provide power for a 48v charger, or a sellf build generator using a water cooled Kubota EA-300 with a 48v 90amp alternator fitted. If going the home build 48v genset I may play about with a Ardunio to get it to self start and monitor batter voltage.

I attended the 2012 London Boat Show at Excel in January; I was a little disappointed with the amount of boats, it seemed mostly to cater for the super rich. I was impressed with the amount of Chandlry and the Yachting Monthly practical demonstration.

Stern Stuffing Gland

With the engine out I was able finally at last able to get clear access to the stuffing gland for the prop shaft. I posted pictures on my main website www.goodtarp.com ages ago when I was trying to identify the gland type.

The area was cleaned using dishwasher detergent to break down all of the old oil, grease and smells and did a great job as you can see. I uses a toilet brush (NEW!) to get into all the nooks and hard to reach places, and was topped off with a gentle rinse from a jet washer.

With help of Practical Boat Owner forumites and Cox Engineering we figured it out.

EDIT 14/03/2012

I finally got round to removing the whole of the tube and bearings. It was a Stuart Turner type glassed in at the inboard end so was not serviceable. It uses white metal bears that have to be lathed out, and then recast and turned! I will be replacing with GRP tube and composite bearings at the outboard end. It will be a water-cooled PSS shaft seal at the inboard end.

Here are the before and after photos!

Before steam jet washing!

After dish-washer detergent and Jet-washing!

Engine Removal

This covers the removal (more like extraction!) of the old Yanmar YSB12 from my Snapdragon 27. I have no idea how long the engine had been in there, the bolts where rusted in deep! I visited the boat every evening for a few days to soak the engine mounting bolts/brackets and ancillary equipment connections in Plusgas penetrating oil. Two of the bolts came out easy but typically the last rear bolts didn’t want to shift even with the biggest socket wrench I own, a pair of stilsons, and liberal application of heat. In the end I ground off the head of the bolts, but this lead to problems later on sliding the engine out. 

Engine Before Removal

 

To slide the engine out I had to place a small bottle jack under the engine to raise the brackets off the bolt stubs; I also had to remove the alternator so the engine would leave the enclosure.

Lifting out the Yanmar YSB12

I lifted out the engine using a forklift with extension forks so that I could get them centred over the top of the engine. I lifted the engine using chain and hooks through the engine lifting eye bolt. You can see my wonderful helper for the weekend ‘Mike’ whom was repaid with the promise of a sailing trip and a few beers. 

Engine Out! Huzzah!

Extracting the engine from the engine bay was a bit tricky, I am glad I had my helper for the day doing various twisting and manoeuvring whilst I worked the folklift.

End of a hard days work!

We got the engine onto a pallet and stored in my workshop. The engine still starts and runs; I am not sure what I am going to do with it yet. I may offer it up for sale, or I may take the time to freshen it up and put it into a project next year. 

I have been looking at replacement engines and speaking to manufactures and owners and I have decided the way forward will be with a Beta 20.

Apologies!

Sorry I have not updated the site for a while! My laptop suffered a catastrophic hard disc failure due to the main fan failing and the whole insides cooking; Fan now replaced, new hard disk installed and 118gb forensically restored from the old HDD block by block… it was like taping back together a phonebook that had been through a crosscut shredder! I did have two back-up too and although when browsing and verifying them they were ok, extracting them was a different story!

I am working on some new articles which will be uploaded over the next week:

·         Antifoul Removal

·         Engine Removal

·         Bilge Cleaning Products

·         Window / Portlight Replacement

Southampton Boat Show 2011

Read More at WWW.GOODTARP.COM

I attended Southampton Boat Show at the weekend after finding a local coach trip organised by Woodrolfe Brokerage at Tollesbury Marina in Essex.

 

Highlights:

• Speaking to the RNLI whom had a All-Weather Seven Class Lifeboat present at the show.

• Meeting the writer of the Yachting Monthly Cash Boat Test articles and thanking him for the work and giving me plenty of ideas and important knowledge.

• The team at Practical Boat Owner (PBO) and Yachting Monthly Meeting Hampshire Constabulary Marine Unit whom were present in their launch.

• Attending MCA presentation on Safety Communications devices including best practice using: EPRIB, DSC VHF, AIS, Navtex, MOD Devices, Satellite Phones, and CG66 Registration

• Free stickers and leaflets from the MCA to show: Life jacket locations, Safety Signals, and Emergency Radio Procedures.Speaking with many representatives for products that I was considering installing on my yacht: Beta Marine Engines, Garmin GPSMAP 750, Aqua Fax, CopperCoat Antifowling 

• Visiting the RYA stand and buying their new Offshore Sailing book by Dick McClary

I was sadly disappointed in some retailers at the show, perhaps being my youthful appearance and not wearing an expensive suit. One retailer in particular a blue Kubota based marine engine manufacturer whose sales reps were complaining about a customer who wanted to install a engine himself and the low profit of a sale so they wanted him to go elsewhere to save on paperwork; as this is what I am planning on doing I gave them a wide berth and continued onwards

I strongly recommend CG66 Registration. It is a FREE service provided by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency which allows boat owners to register their vessel, including contact details and next of kin. 

MCA Presentation

The show was quite busy, though as I have never attended before can not compare it to previous years; Reports were that is was 9% down on last year. The food was quite expensive from the onsite vendors: £6 for a burger and £4 for a beer, I was very glad I took a pack lunch!

Beta 20 Engine

Yachting Monthly - Crash Test Boat

HMS Bulwark

Some of the boats on show

 

Stripping (Not me! The boat!)

Greetings web fans and those interest in the Snapdragon 27 Yacht.

I spent Sunday in the shed taking measurements and stripping of more deck items; rails, pushpits, pulpit, and some of the items in the locker.

I found a rather dangerous bodged bilge pump pipe. It had a Y splitter in it and one of the inputs had just been blocked with a rag held by a jubilee clip!!! Imagine if I was taking on  water and tried to empty the bilges with the incoming water just going in circles!

I also removed the existing side loading gas locker. The drain for the gas was not all downhill. The pipe had a slight loop in it as you can see in the photo which would hold gas! I am going to build a new gas locker to current regulations.

If you are following with interest regarding Antifoul stripping methods I have received a tin from International last week kindly donated by them to help with my studies. I hope to do the test in two weekends time when i have both the Saturday and Sunday free.

I'm trying to integrate this blog with my one on the main project site at www.goodtarp.com so that I have to write the blog once and not have to cut and paste it between the two

Sat in the starboard locker unbolting the Pushpit

RATHER DANGEROUS! The bilge pump had a Y connection in it and this is how one hose had been filled!

Old Diesel Tank and Side loading gas locker.

 

Exhaust Output to Stern

Deck Stripping Underway

Please see attached two pictures from my Snapdragon 27 MKII. She is a single Keel Model

The actual waterline is really quite low. The green line in the drawing shows where the gelcoat of the hull changes from Blue for the Topside, to White for the under water area. The first 2" is painted white for the boot-top, and remaining underwater area in blue anti-fowl. I will take a picture showing where I have stripped the anti-fowl and boot top to see what was underneath.

The boot top at the bow is approximately 4-6" above the actual waterline, and about 1-2" at the transom.

A previous owner contacted me through my website to say he thought she was underweight by the way she was performing, and during the complete rebuild I have found bags of sand and stone in the bilges.

The keel is encapsulated. I got my head down into the bilges to see if I could see the top of the keel to see what it contains but it is well sealed. The only way I can think of getting in there is major surgery through the side of the keel or through the cabin floor.

UPDATE:
I measured in the barn this afternoon... The waterline is 5" lower than it should be half way along the hull... oh dear.