[Epoxy Paint]

Hi all

Looking around I came across a boat today that has been "resprayed" in two pack epoxy. It is an older boat but I was wondering if :

a) This is a normal thing to be doing

It would detract from the value of the boat

Thanks in advance

Wayne

[Rope around prop]

Hi all

I think my mate is going to get the boat lifted - probably easiest in the long run.

I am trying to get him to join the forum - all this "my mate" stuff sounds like I have done something I dont want to admit - it is my mate - honest!

So watch out for a newbie with a Seamaster.

Thanks all

Wayne

[Batteries]

Hi

I have kept my boat in the water for some out of season cruising. I have shore power running heaters and a dehumidifier.

However, thinking on the safe side I have turned off the power to everything else. I am now wondering if I should leave the battery charger running also?

You comments would be appreciated.

regards

Wayne

[Maneuvering with outdrives]

Hi again Mark

You are right about practising what you think is right - I was doing exactly that and reinforcing the bad habbits and wrong things to do. Also the more hashed up moorings I did the greater the cycle of dread became.

After the day's tuition I now now what and how to practice using the techniques I have been shown. I am far from perfect and I am sure mistakes will continue (hopefully to a lesser extent) but at least I dont feel scared of mooring any more and have some firm foundations to build upon.

I must admit that whilst I generally tend to agree with the RYA stance that training should be voluntary I do find it a little surpising that I was allowed to get on my boat for the first time, in quite a tight marina surrounded by expensive craft, and expected just to drive off.

best regards

Wayne

[Maneuvering with outdrives]

Hi Mark

I am a total newbie to boating and my slow manoeuvering - also twin outdrives - was .. well .. at best "interesting".

Last week I took a private tuition day and by the end of it I felt much more in control of the boat and a lot less dreading of mooring. It was'nt cheap but well worth it - the whole family went and my teenage kids were also taught to moor.(and were annoyingly good at it).

I am sure others may agree / disagree with the above but from my recent experiance I would really reccommend a days tuition as I am sure it makes for more pleasurable boating.

regards

Wayne

[Rope around prop]

Hi all

Firstly Happy New Year to you all.

I was intending spending it at WRC but her indoors thinks it would be too cold to stay on board.

Anyway, reason for the post is my mate has now got a rope caught around his prop after it fell off the pontoon whilst mooring. There are supposed to be rope cutters on the shafts but he does not want to fire up in case he does any more damage.

Probably another silly question but apart from a lift out is there any way to get the rope off.

(I told him not to change the name of his boat!)

regards

Wayne

[Engine stalls]

Hi all

Many thanks for the replies.

No power steering so not that..I have checked the cable runs etc and all seem o.k.

We got through our training today by increasing the idle speed but still had a few stalls.

The really interesting thing is when we were piddling around the marina basin all was o.k but as soon as we hit the river the engine revs dropped by 300 rpm when the tide hit the boat.

My instuctor also mentioned rope / fishing line so I will see if the drive will tilt far enough to see anything.

However the engines have never been quite right so I will advise the dealer. To be fair they have at least tried to sort the problems with no quibble up to now.

Anyway - what a lovely day it was out there today - and had it all pretty much to ourselves.

regards

Wayne

[Engine stalls]

Hi again Ian

I am not entirley sure but I dont think there is any power steering - I will have a look in the morning.

I am able to drive around the marina at tickover. I find it (the port engine) stalls on tickover when I have the wheel hard over against tide or wind. thinking as I type I will also check that the mechanism is not fouling any wires or pipes.

I have already warned the training guy about the problem and he is still coming. I think it may also be useful to have the independant view.

Thanks again for your help

Wayne

[Engine stalls]

Hi Ian

Thanks for the reply.

The rpm was set to about 800 - i increased it to 1000.

The boat has just returned from the dealer where they were looking at it under warranty. Apparently it was all o.k - the dealer also said they would check everything out under a pre-delivery inspection - I am begining to doubt this as several other things have not been attended to and I am starting to get a bit fed up with them.

Anyway - both engines seem to do the same as far as loosing revs when the throttle is just nudged froward. Presumably as the props take up some resistance from the water the engine speed will drop so perhaps I need to make sure that as the throttles are moved forward the carbs also begin to open up.

I will have a look at drive train the best I can with the boat in the water.

I have a guy coming up from Woodbridge in the morning to do some training. I just hope the engines behave so I dont waste my money.

thanks

Wayne

[Engine stalls]

Hi all

I now have a problem with the port engine (Volvo penta AQ145) on my boat. It runs fine at both idle and cruising. However if I make a tight turn at low revs the engine stalls, much in the same way as pulling off in a car without enough throttle.

I have noticed that when the throttle is engaged I instantly loose 300 revs.

Any ideas please?

thanks

Wayne

[twin engine boats]

Hi all

Following all the good advice in the above thread I returned from Brundall to WRC on mainly just one engine today, starting the other for mooring. Much quieter on board and not realy much different to drive.

I had the boat up at Brundall for the port engine to be looked at as it would cut out for no reason whilst crusing. It ran fine all the back until we had to do some slow manoeuvres and it cut out again. It was then a sod to restart with a nice smell of petrol

Maybe I stalled it - can you stall a boat?

I hope the problem has not returned and it's something simple like the idle is too low for the torque needed for the slow manoeuvre and I just flooded it when I tried to restart it.

Great - booked a days boat handling training for Monday - dodgy engine is all I need

Wayne

[twin engine boats]

Hi Antares_9

I am not sure what sort of choke arrangment there is - they are Volvo Aq145 's. The boat is up at Broadland Boat Centre so we will see what they find out.

So should it be that they start in a similar way to a car engine - turn the key and go?

I ask because I was told by the broker that they have to be warmed up cos they are in the water, although I cant see them being any colder than a car engine in winter.(Although they are 1986 so not as technically advanced). I must burn more fuel warming them up than cruising!

thanks

Wayne

[twin engine boats]

Hi all

Seems like most of you run one engine on the broads. The only problem I can see is that I need to keep the engines very warm to get them to start which may be a problem if I need to get one going quickly.

When I start them I have to run them at around 3000 revs for about 10 mins until the temp gauge is well up else they just stall - is this normal for petrols?

thanks again

Wayne

[Which frost thermostat?]

Hi

I am a newbie so dont really have any idea on much about anything boat wise . However this link was given to me on the owners forum and that's what I put on my boat - any good - too early to say - but thought it might be of interest:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/ ... index.html

Also it was suggested that a put a thermometer in the engine bay to ensure the stat is set right to allow the heaters to come on at the right time:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=28841

The guy who advised this said "I find with 4-5deg setting the measured temperature never drops less than 2-3deg but this will depend on your bay so its worth having a method of measurement."

Hope this is of some use.

regards

Wayne

[twin engine boats]

Hi all

I had to take my boat up to Brundall from WRC today to get one of the engines looked at. It runs fine for about a hour then just turns itself off and is a pig to re-start. This happened on our trip today so in the end we gave up and ran on just one engine. That was fine (apart from making mooring even more difficult) so it got me thinking it must be a little cheaper to run the boat a low speeds like that so does anyone do it on the rivers as a matter of course?

regards

Wayne

[Engine Winterizing]

Hi Guys

Many thanks for the replies. I will get on with it tomorrow as I think I am starting to push my luck with mother nature!

regards

Wayne

[Engine Winterizing]

Another question:

On one of the articles I was reading it told me to disconnect the pipes from the engine to the calorifier and join them together, but as there there is anti-freeze in this side of the engine is this necessary - just it's a pain as they are Hep fittings so difficult to get off.

I will of course drain the calofier of fresh water.

Many thanks

Wayne

[Engine Winterizing]

Today I got the engine bay heaters heaters in and set them on a stat at 5 deg. I have a min /max thermometer in the bay so I can keep an eye on how low the temp. gets. Dehumidifer also set going, draining into the sink. The instuctions for this were vague and made no reference to the different settings - "Wet, Comfort, Dry or Continious" - I chose Dry - not sure if thats right

I was planning on draining all the domestic water also but I needed a fitting to couple the engine pipes from the calorifier, and then the sun came out so I thought sod it and went for my first single handed cruise.

I must say I am very pleased with myself, several practice moorings, spinning around in the river (under control) and safely back in the marina.

Now I have got to find a couple of hours during the week where I can escape from work and do what I really should have been doing today.

[Engine Winterizing]

Thanks for that - Same ratio as Gin to Tonic then!

Wayne

[Engine Winterizing]

Hi

Just bough some sea safe antifreeze from Norfolk Marine. On the bottle it says concentrate but nowhere does it say what the usual dilution is - they guys in the shop did not know either. I am guessing 50:50 sounds about right - can anyone advise.

Thanks

Wayne

[Engine Winterizing]

Hi all

I have been following this thread as I hope to be using the boat during the winter - I have some warranty and I want to get the boat used to find out if anything crops up. I could also do with the practice while it is quiet.

Anyway - I am going to try a DIY job. I am fitting engine bay heaters and dehumidifier and a appreciate there is a small risk regarding power. I plan to drain the domestic supply completely and use bottled water.

My question is about the toilet and the seacocks. With the boat in the water I obviously cannot drain these and I have had mixed opinions as whether to leave the seacocks open or close them.

thanks

Wayne

[Anchor vs Mudweight]

Wow - so much information thanks.

I'll head off and get a mudweight then for now and an anchor when funds allow, but I do like the idea of having the anchor as an emergencey brake so it will be high on the list.

thanks again

Wayne

[Anchor vs Mudweight]

Hi

Trip rope? - Afraid I am in the land of silly questions again, but I guess thats a rope attached to the little hole near the end spade end to pull in the "wrong" direction. And is that attached to a buoy or the boat?

Wayne

[Anchor vs Mudweight]

Hi Guys

Looking through my survey the surveyor recommends a 10kg anchor but does not say which type. Can anyone advise which is best for the broads mud?

thanks

Wayne

[Salty Bottom Cruisers]

Hi - Likewise Saturday is not possible but I would be interested in knowing about any trips - new to all this boating but it would be a shame not to use my boat at sea on occassion, and I like the idea of going out with others. Not sure her indoors will be joining me just yet though!

Wayne