The Cat's Tales
Catalinas
of
January 2004
John Celick — Newsletter Editor\Treasurer
http://www.catalinasmbay.org/
From the Captain of the
Fleet:
Greetings
to All, Happy New Year!
I
think that everyone who attended the Christmas party in December felt it was
one of the best parties we have had.
Over 30 of our members attended at the club room that Maryanne Mendel
had again provided. There was plenty of good food and drinks and the event was
a big success.
This
year’s “exchange and steal” gifts were some of the best we have seen and did
express a lot of imagination in their selection. Check out the photos of the
party showing some of the fun we were having.
Our
January meeting is Tuesday 20th January and it’s a PIZZA night. (What
no turkey!) Our guest speaker will be
Chuck Wright and we are going to enjoy his talk on the Catalina Conservancy.
The Conservancy is very important to the quality of our visits to the island.
This will be very interesting presentation.
Look forward to seeing you at SMWYC on
Tuesday, January 20th.
Your Fleet Captain, Hal Avery
PIZZA
DINNER AND SPEAKER: January 20th at SMWYC - Chuck Wright,
The
first meeting of the year is usually very well attended and we look forward to
your participation. It has been many years since we’ve heard from the Catalina
Island Conservancy and one of its Directors – Chuck Wright. The well-being of
the island and the activities of the Conservancy have a tremendous effect upon
the quality of our
Charlie Segal
TECH
TALK: Launching the Dingy and Saving Your Back
Many of us
launch and retrieve our dingy from the bow area. Generally, this means lifting
the dingy up and over the lifelines. To lessen the height you must lift your
dingy you might consider the following:
Imagine that both the upper and lower lifelines are attached
to the bow pulpit with a pelican hook. With pelican hooks, you can unhook the
life lines allowing you to launch your dingy over the edge of the boat, not up
and over the attached lifelines. To keep the lifelines tight along the rest of
the boat, attach a double gate eye at the forward stanchion. Byron Pfeifer at
Pfeifer Marine, (310) 827-2870, can do this for you as he has already done on my
boat, Windborne, at Catalina Yacht Anchorage in slip F1418 and on
Brian Frankish’s Scootchee at CYC in slip F1521.
Hal Avery
Windborne
More TECH TALK: The Dreaded Engine Overheat
Imagine my
consternation when, after a winter of caring for our boat – even having a mechanic
check the engine over extensively days before departure – the engine
temperature started increasing as we powered up leaving MDR! As it crept up
from a normal indicated of 160° to above180°, I was compelled to throttle back from a normal cruise of about
80% to about 65%. That settled the temperature at 180° for the six and one half hour trip to
Avalon. Since the boat was to remain at Catalina for the next two to three
months, I was not happy about the prospects of returning to the
Since my
mechanic told me just a week before that the heat exchanger looked good, I
ruled that out as the problem. I then removed the salt water hose from the
exhaust elbow with the engine running to confirm a good water flow. As the salt
water went flying everywhere, it appeared we had plenty of cooling water flow.
I then turned to
the thermostat, although Carl, my mechanic was quite sure that was not the
problem. Upon removal of the thermostat,
I noticed that the center piston was rubbing (and hanging up) along the outer
ring. After replacing the thermostat
($80.00 for the thermostat alone) and running the engine at the mooring, I
thought I had fixed the problem (I’m a genius!).
The next day as
we confidently left Avalon for the Isthmus, immediately UP went the temperature
@#*^$%^……(I’m a moron L). As the
boat was to remain mostly stationary for the rest of the summer and the
temperature was still controllable, I very reluctantly decided to let it go
until our return home.
I had numerous
discussions with professionals and lay persons alike throughout the summer.
Additionally, the age of the engine and components is 10 years with 990 hours
of use. The heat exchanger was boiled-out once about five years ago. I decided
not to take half measures. I would replace the heat exchanger AND the exhaust
elbow. I contacted Quivera Marine in
I then contacted
Charley at Catalina Yachts and he ordered the exhaust elbow from the
factory. In very timely fashion they had
the elbow to me for $180.00.
My next
challenge was deciding who would install the new components. “It’s either a
mechanic or me,” I decided. Because I have total access to all parts of the
engine and exhaust systems I decided to give it a go myself. It was not that
hard a job and only took a few hours. After installation of the heat exchanger
and exhaust elbow I tested the engine by trailing a flopper stopper off the
stern and increased the power to maximum RPM. Although the boat speed would
barely make four knots with all that drag, the temperature never exceeded 160°.
SUCCESS!!
The Dreaded Engine
Overheat (Continued)
Upon inspection
of the old heat exchanger, it really did not look that bad. I suppose boiling
it out would have corrected any clogging problems, but with its age etc., I am
still happy I replaced it with a new one. The exhaust elbow was the most
interesting. At the point where the cooling salt water entered the elbow, the
opening had narrowed through carbon buildup, to about 50% of what it was new. Although
the amount of water exhausting out the back of the boat seemed adequate, it
must not have been to effectively carry the cooling water overboard. This
coupled with a somewhat clogged heat exchanger must have been the problem as
everything appears to be fine now!
I will bring the old thermostat, heat exchanger and elbow to the next meeting to show anyone interested. Fair winds and normal operating engine temperatures!
Jeff
Briggs
C-36 Aloha Nui
FLOTSAM &
JETSAM (Sell, Buy or Giveaway)
This will be a
new feature for members to dispose of excess parts, equipment, and other
sailing related items. Contact John Celick at jcelick@yahoo.com to get your
items included in the newsletter.
SAFETY AT SEA: Engine Fire
!
One of the problems
with putting out a fuel fires is that the fire is usually in the boat’s engines
compartment. Opening the cover to fight the fire can change a smoldering fire
into a blazing inferno because the fire has a new source of oxygen.
One way to avoid
this is to install a Fire port. This inexpensive device
allows you to look inside the engine compartment and direct a hand held fire
extinguisher inside without allowing more air inside. Fire port is available at
West Marine for approx $ 10.
A more expensive but even more effective method is the
installation of an automatic fire extinguisher in the engine compartment. These
systems release an extinguishing agent inside when the temperature reached
about 175 degrees, usually before the operator even knows there is a problem.
The agent released is engine and electronic “friendly” (… friendlier than a
fire), meaning it leaves no conductive residue which can damage components,
unlike typical hand held units.
Hal
Avery
Windborne
Coming Events
Date:
|
Event: |
Remarks: |
|
Tuesday, January 20th |
Meeting
|
Pizza Dinner at SMWYC, Speaker: Chuck
Wright |
Meetings are on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at the Santa
Monica Windjammers Yacht Club,
Cocktails at