Newsletter	December 2002

Commodore's Deck
By Dave Peoples, C42, Jammin'

By unanimous vote our 2003 Catalina Rendezvous will be at McCuddy's Landing on Multnomah Channel, Sept. 12-14, 2003.  We changed from the September 20 so we could support the Sail for the Cure.  Thank you for all your responses.

Our Holiday Party is Saturday, December 7.  Bring a recipe for your favorite, or newly created winter time boat drink (alcohol or not). I am sure the judges can be bribed with a sample. The most creative, and unusual drink, will win a surprise and be featured in our January newsletter. I will also bring a list of recipes for all the drinks to the January meeting. Warm beer and a cinnamon stick is not likely to win. Those wanting to judge, let me know, he first four get the honors. Have fun creating.

CRACA Holiday Party
By Dale Mack, C30, Celtic Myst

The Columbia River All Catalina Association will hold its annual Holiday Party on Saturday, December 7, 2002 starting at 5 PM at the Holiday Inn Express - Jantzen Beach.

As a part of our Holiday Party we will be collecting non-perishable items for the Oregon Food Bank.  Please consider bringing something to donate.

We are also going to have a White Elephant gift exchange.  Gifts should be in the range of $15 - $20.  The gift theme is Nautical/Sailing/Other. Bring a Nautical, Sailing or Other related item that you would like to have too. One per boat.  Click here to see rules.

CRACA will provide the main course, Pizza (Paper plates & utensils provided).

To complement the feast we need to you check the first letter of your last name and bring the following:

• A-G Appetizer
• H-S Salad
• T-Z Dessert
• Beverages - Bring your own Holiday Cheer

RSVP to Bill & Marla Simon 503.246.1877 or email:  wfsimon@earthlink.net

Past Commodore's Hammock
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

I knew I was on the right side of Coon Island! I hope the Cruise Officer takes note of this next year.   Use the west side of Coon Island for the heat of the sun. It goes down last there.

Here's a note from Terry Dishongh who attended the Halloween cruise on his Capri 25 River Bee.

Mike,

Great to see you at the Coon Island Cruise. I think you had the right idea being on the sunny side. I was too cold most of the time.

I read your note in the November newsletter regarding electronic charts on demand. Did you know NOAA is working to make them free? They are calling them ENC Electronic Navigation Charts. They are available at http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/.

Also there is a fun little program in shareware called Oziexplorer http://www.oziexplorer.com that I use on the River Bee. The program plugs into my GPS receiver through the serial port on my computer. Then I can download "less than perfect" (70%) imagable chart free from http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/dataexplorer/

These charts and the system will chart as I go mapping out the path on the chart. I double-check these using dead reckoning (DR) methods and paper charts (I really use DR and paper charts as primary navigation), but it is fun to play with.

Fair Winds,

Terry

OziExplorer is GPS mapping software which will work with Magellan, Garmin, Lowrance, Eagle and MLR GPS receivers for the upload/download of waypoints, routes and tracks and most brands of GPS receivers for on screen tracking of position (Moving Map).

Portland Boat Show and CRACA Booth
By Bill Simon, C270, Windswept

The annual Portland Boat Show returns in January. It begins Saturday January 4th and runs through Sunday January 12th. As in the past CRACA will be having a booth to promote our club and to sign up prospective members.

Members who participate and staff our booth will receive free admission (sans parking) to the show. This is a great way to help our club and to enjoy the show for free. 

A sign-up sheet will be available at the Holiday Party or you may call me at 503-246-1877 or email me at wfsimon@earthlink.net. Times and dates are:

Notes:

• Please show up ½ hour before your scheduled time.
• Columbia River All Catalina Photo Album (watch that it does not walk away).
• Catalina Yachts Brochure Notebook (do not give away) with business cards from Sailboats of Oregon.
• Have all non CRACA members sign up for our email list or fill out a membership application to join CRACA.

The Great Seattle Boat Shows Return!
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

We are not certain if Kathy is saying “no more boat shows” or “more boat shows” but we are off again next year by train on Amtrak, of course, on Saturday, January 18 at 8:45am, returning on Sunday at 5:25pm. We are staying at the Residence Inn by Marriott on Lake Union. This location with shuttles sets us up to visit both shows. How convenient!

These (below) are the major websites that will get you some great information and rates.

• www.seattleboatshow.com
• www.boatsafloatshow.com
• www.seattlesupersaver.com
• www.amtrak.com

This is all the information I have for now and I hope that some of you can join us. Let me know and I will attempt to keep track of the people coming and going. Or as we said at the boat show a few years ago…getting all of the kittens into the cardboard box.

S E A T T L E,     W A CHANDLER'S COVE J A N U A R Y     17-26 Weekdays: 11 am -5 pm Weekends: 10 am - 5 pm Admission $10

 

Historical Charts
Remember it used to be three islands.
Find your moorage!
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

You can have a lot of fun with these, if you are into that kind of fun. Consider this a Christmas Present.

The Office of Coast Survey's Historical Map & Chart Collection contains over 20,000 maps and charts from the late 1700s to present day. The Collection includes some of the nation's earliest nautical charts, hydrographic surveys, topographic surveys, geodetic surveys, city plans and Civil War battle maps. The Collection is a rich primary historical archive and a testament to the artistry of copper plate engraving technology of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Historical Map & Chart Project scans each map or chart and offers the images free to the public via the Coast Survey web site.

http://chartmaker.ncd.noaa.gov/

General Membership Meeting

No meeting in December

2003 Cruising Schedule
By Jim Elieff, C30, Fortune

Here is the CRACA 2003 Cruising Schedule that was submitted to the Columbia River Yachting Association. (CRYA).

Rules of the Road,
Nautical Road that is!
By Michael Lewis, C42, Wind Raven

So here we are back again with Rule 13 as I promised. We all know that the final word on the subject is the United States Coast Guard, Navigation Rules, COMDINST M16672.2D. All boats over 12 meters are required to carry a copy on board but it is available free on-line at www.uscg.mil/vtm/pages/rules.htm.

It might not be exciting reading but exciting is not necessarily what you might want when you see a vessel approaching you head on. As soon as you start your auxiliary engine and put it into gear, you are a powerboat.

So first, the rule for Steering and Sailing for Vessels in Sight of One Another:

Rule 13
Overtaking

(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Rules of Part B, Sections I and II, any vessel overtaking any other shall keep out of the way of the vessel being overtaken.

(b) A vessel shall be deemed to be overtaking when coming up with another vessel from a direction more than 22.5 degrees abaft her beam, that is, in such a position with reference to the vessel she is overtaking, that at night she would be able to see only the sternlight of that vessel but neither of her sidelights.

(c) When a vessel is in any doubt as to whether she if overtaking another, she shall assume tha this is the case and act accordingly.

(d) Any subsequent alteration of the bearing between the two vessel shall not make the overtaking vessel a crossing vessel within the meaning of these Rules or relieve her of the duty of keeping clear of the overtaken vessel until she is finally past and clear.

Just like driving a car, when you are passing, you can see better than the other driver can. So keep clear, that is “way clear.” Your wake can cause other vessel to veer off course and vice versa.

If you are in the stern light sector of the boat being overtaken, then you are overtaking. Once you are in that sector, a 135-degree horizontal sector centered directly astern (the same as the light from the stern light), you are overtaking. You are overtaking even after clearing that sector. It is over only after completing the entire maneuver.

Even if you are in doubt, assume you are overtaking. A white navigation light and no sidelights could be an anchored vessel or overtaking a slower vessel…so expect the worst and stay clear.

You must give way until completely clear or once and for always…past and clear.

See you next month for Rule 14, Head-on Situation.

The Oil Change that turned into the Fuel Filter Change from Hell
By Dale Mack, C30, Celtic Myst

It was going to be my first time changing the engine's oil.  The boat's previous owner had kept a log of all the maintenance he'd performed, so I knew my turn was coming due.  I had my new oil and filter, and was armed with a hand pump, old milk jugs, oil absorbing mats, and paper towels to extract the oil and contain the mess associated with removing the old filter.

I started the engine in order to warm things up before changing the oil.  The engine started right away, although there was a brief moment of white smoke as the engine settled into its steady idle.  I mentally wrote the smoke off as a result of the boat having sat for awhile.  To place a load on the engine, I put the transmission into gear, increased the engine's RPM's, and went about tending to other little projects on the boat.  Little did I know I'd be seeing that white smoke thirty minutes later.

My ears were the first thing that warned me something was wrong.  I was sitting in the cockpit when I first heard the pitch of the engine change.  Glancing at the tachometer, I couldn't see any difference from where I had earlier set the RPM's.  Suddenly there was another pitch change and this time the RPM's dropped.  I pulled the throttle back to idle and put the transmission into neutral, still the RPM's kept dropping.  The engine started idling very roughly and the whole process came to an end with a large discharged of white smoke, followed by silence as the engine died.

After a quick check below to verify nothing looked unusual, I sat myself down and pondered my predicament.  All I could keep thinking about was that the engine had died less than thirty minutes after starting it.  Were Laura, Sean, and I really that close to finding ourselves without an engine on the Halloween cruise?  Yikes!

After the shock wore off, I immediately assumed the problem was fuel.  Beyond refueling and adding biocide, I had been waiting for the next maintenance interval to arrive before digging into all the ins and outs of the fuel system.  What transpired over the next twenty-four hours was a journey of self doubt, discovery, and eventual success. 

The bowl of the Racor fuel filter/water black with water and sludge.

My engine is a Universal M25XP, and my fuel system is configured in the following way:

• The fuel from the tank arrives at a Racor model 220 fuel filter/water separator with a 2 micron filter (R24S).
• From the Racor the fuel travels through an engine mounted electric fuel pump with a simple screen filter and a magnetic in the base cap I assume is there to capture metal particles.
• Mounted to the engine's block is a Kubota Tractor fuel filter (part no. 70000-43081).  Alternative filters would include the Universal fuel filter part no. 298854, and the FRAM fuel filter part no. P7514 just to name two.  Why the Kubota filter?  That's what the previous owner had been using, and since the M25XP is based on the Kubota D950 engine, I figured I'd stick with the current configuration.
• From the Kubota filter the fuel enters the injector pump where it flows to the injectors, and any unused fuel is returned to the tank.

I'd always looked at the Racor as I opened the raw water intake for the engine, but not knowing how the device was constructed I erroneously assumed the lack of transparency in the lower bowl was because an element of the filter extended into the bowl, and that if there was any water present it would be obvious to me.  Well, water was present, and I didn't have a clue what I was looking at.

Feeling lucky and preparing for when luck runs out

Laura and I have plans of cruising the boat up north next summer, so I kept thinking, man, how lucky this happened at the dock where I can practice without the additional complication of having the boat pitching to and froe in  heavy seas.  I kept going back to the "how lucky" theme every time I discovered I didn't have the spares parts aboard or the correct tools.

The first missing tool discovery came when I tried to remove the Racor bowl and found I couldn't budge it.  My filter wrench was too small, so I headed off to Home Depot and purchased an adjustable strap wrench.

After finding water and sludge in the Racor, I decided to pull the filter on the engine.  The Kubota filter had a small amount of water and what looked like emulsified fuel in the bottom.  Knowing that I had allowed the system to pump this gunk through the injectors, I crossed my fingers that purging the fuel system from the tank to the injector pump would be enough to get things running again.

Clean Racor bowl free of water and sludge.

Next came the electric fuel pump.  My owner's manual showed how the thing was put together, so I unscrewed the bayonet mounted base cap and cleaned the small screen filter basket.  With all the filters removed I proceeded with draining all the fuel from the rubber hoses between the Racor and the engine.  In the case of the line from the tank to the Racor I simply used the Racor's manual primer pump to pull fuel until the fuel showing up in the Racor's bowl looked clean.  The manual primer pump on the Racor tended to mix a lot of air with the fuel during this procedure so I usually waiting a little before inspecting the bowl for contamination.  Although I never got more than a 1/4 cup of additional water and gunk, I still drew a 1/2 gallon of fuel from the tank before I was satisfied everything was clean.

By this time I was into my second day of the "learning experience".  I'd spent the wee hours of the morning searching the Internet for information on fuel filter recommendations and was contemplating Bob Gales' (C30, Imagine) advice I'd received in an email the previous evening about how many spares he had carried aboard during his trips north.  While I had a spare Racor filter onboard, I didn't have a spare Kubota filter, so I drove over to Moen Machinery Co.  (a local Kubota tractor dealer) in Gresham and picked up a filter plus a couple of spares.  I'd also exhausted my supply of oil absorbent mats so I passed by a marine store on the way back to the boat.

With everything purged and cleaned, I put it all back together and followed the fuel priming instructions in my owner's manual.  The only part of the process I struggled with was bleeding the air from the system near the injector pump.  I didn't realize that turning the ignition key on my control panel to the "ON" position would energize the fuel pump and allow me to open the bleed value to let the air escape and then shut it once there was an air free stream of fuel (I learned this later from Bob).  With the control panel in the "ON" position, the panel's low oil pressure warning sound device starts going off, so I couldn't hear the electric fuel pump running.  If I turned the key passed "ON" to the glow plug position, the warning stopped and I could hear the pump.  This left me with the incorrect impression that the only way to get the fuel pump energized when the engine wasn't running was to keep the key in the glow plug position, which isn't possible because the ignition key is spring loaded and wants to return to the "ON" position if you let go of the key.

I was stuck.  I knew I hadn't properly bleed the air out of the system, and I didn't have someone near by who could hold the key in the glow plug position.  I gave Bob a call, only to find out from Gail that Bob was out, darn!  I wasn't feeling particularly lucky, but I decided to begin a process of cranking over the engine for ten seconds followed by a two minute rest for the starter motor, followed by draining the aqua-lift muffler after every second attempt (the fuel filter bleeding procedure warned that the muffler could fill with water and run back into the engine if the engine were cranked for more than thirty seconds without starting).

I drained the muffler four times, but finally on my ninth attempt the engine sputtered to life and then settled down into a nice steady idle.  Oh the joy, and relief.  An inspection of the Racor showed the bowl still clear, so I placed the transmission into gear, advanced the RPM's, and let the engine tug at the dock lines for the next thirty minutes.  I finally hooked up with Bob, and had described to me the simple method of bleeding the fuel system (described earlier).

I never got to that oil change, but along the way I learned a whole lot about the fuel system, my tool bag, and that I actually was pretty lucky (the boat could have been away from the dock when I experienced my engine problem).  From the despair of thinking I'd broken the boat, I eventually emerged a little wiser and more motivated to tackle and learn all the boat's various systems before something breaks. 

Notes:

• Don't be afraid.  None of this stuff was rocket science.  While I started off pretty intimidated, I found the fuel system to be logically organized and simple to understand.
• Check and drain any trapped contaminants found in the Racor's bowl before starting the engine.  I suspect with my recent experience I'll probably be checking the bowl while underway until  I've restored my confidence in the integrity of my fuel system.  I may also go to a shorter maintenance interval for piece of mind. 
• Tear everything apart at the dock, even if the learning experience costs you a set of filters or gaskets.  Short of rebuilding the engine underway, here's a short list of some of the engine related things I'm going to practice at the dock before heading north next summer:
  • Get back to that aborted oil change.
  • Pull the raw water pump and learn how to change the impeller
  • Change the belt
  • Change the transmission fluid
  • Check the values' adjustment
  • Check the engine/shaft alignment
  • Pull the end cap off the heat exchanger and inspect inside
  • Change the heat exchanger zinc
  • Change the coolant
  • Inspect the shaft packing
  • Inspect the inside of the fuel tank and the screen at the end of the draw tube.  Bob Gales recommended this one after he had to perform this task off of Cape Flattery in a pitching boat (I'll let you imagine the rest).  I did pull the fuel level sensor from the top of my tank and peer inside with a flashlight.  I also created a swab on the end of a coat hanger and tested the bottom and sides of the tank all of which appeared to be pretty clean.  I'm considering pumping the tank dry for a better inspection.
• Practicing at the dock helped focus attention on whether I was carrying the correct combination of tools aboard the boat, which I wasn't.
• Put more thought into which spare parts to carry onboard.
• Carry more oil absorbent mats in the future, they were great.

December (no meeting)

• 7, CRACA Holiday Party

January

• 4-12, Portland Boat Show
• 17-26, Seattle Boat Show
• 17-26, Lake Union Boats Afloat Show

See the calendar