Winter 2005

Tom Davison - Editor P.O. Box 462 Empire, MI 49630 (231) 228-7044 tom@flicka20.com

s/y DART “DART” was launched in New Jersey at Liberty Landing Marina, right across from the tragic gap in the New York skyline. We, my Jack Russell Tucker and I, set off lightheartedly on a warm sunny day in May and I was on a total high. Who would have thought a little Bermuda boat would be cruising through New York City! I gave myself a “high five”. A few hours later and I was jolly cold and well wrapped up as we motored north up the Hudson River, under George Washington Bridge and past the Palisades. We passed several lighthouses and stopped overnight at Kingston and again at Troy. One of our first major stops was Waterville, just off the Hudson and at the entrance to the Erie Canal. It’s a great little town with a super visitor center.

Passing Esopus Lighthouse on the Hudson River one of the very cold days. Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2005

It is run by volunteers and offers showers, toilets and internet access - not necessarily in that order. As DART doesn't have a head, toilets would rank as number one. Tucker and I spent several days here and stocked up on groceries and books, socialized with other boaters and prepared for the flight of five locks to lift us up to the Mohawk river. I was totally nervous as we set off, a bit like bungee jumping I think, you just have to launch off and hope to survive. I knew I had to learn to negotiate locks and soon found the ones with pipe or cable to loop onto were quite easy, but in those with hanging lines I preferred to take her up the ladder. I had my English wooden folding dinghy stored on deck in a bag. It took two people to offload and assemble so it

DART, tied alongside at Waterford dock at the entrance to the Erie Canal. The home-made bimini kept me dry and shaded for months. Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2005 On the Erie Canal didn’t come out too often and eventually I left it behind in storage. My folding bike was also soon discarded for the same reason. Lake Oneida was my first major crossing and on the first attempt I turned back as the weather looked like it was going to take a turn for the worse. I headed back to Sylvan Beach marina and spent a relaxed day with the heater on and watched cable TV as a storm rolled right over us. The next day I made the crossing with ease and was glad to find a posse of fellow boaters at Brewerton public dock and the perfect space for DART on a dog-leg. Hoisting the Q-Flag in Canadian waters. Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2005

I had planned to head east on the Erie Canal but the group was turning north on the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario. So at a moment’s notice, I changed plans and decided to travel in company. The Oswego Canal was completed in a day and the other boaters vanished as I vacillated on the edge of the huge lake. It measured 150x50 miles and had a dreaded reputation for storms and shipwrecks. Crossing Lake Ontario had me so nervous I took a co-pilot on board from Oswego. Cindy needed a crossing for points to qualify for her captain’s license so it suited us both. The ten hour crossing brought us to Kingston, Ontario where I raised my yellow Q flag for the first time and cleared into Canada where I was determined to mentally drop anchor for a while. I felt I had been continuously on the move since I left New York and needed time to collect myself and decide on a future course.

The wooden folding dinghy that was rarely used - but Tucker loved it. Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2005

Would I go east to Montreal on the Rideau waterway or West to Georgian Bay via the Trent-Severn? Heading for Canada

DART snug on the dogleg of the public dock at Brewerton. Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2005

Tucker chilling out on deck of s/y DART while cruising up the Hudson River. Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2005 On the Erie Canal

Gill and DART “coming up the ladder.” Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2005

Inside a lock on the Erie Canal. The bike and boat in bags got in the way and were later stored on shore. Photo: Gill Outerbridge © 2005

My Flicka s/y CARAWAY was built in 1993 and an engine overhaul was long overdue. I love my sailboat and enjoy improving her. She could be quieter, smoother and quicker so a number of improvements were planned as well. Doing these things involves considerable work so I'd need time, help and money. My friend Benjy, owner of Dana 342 sugge sted I haul CARAWAY out in St. Tropez at the same time he was to re-paint an old French classic called Copacobana. That way he'd be on hand to help and oversee my efforts. If I did many of the jobs in one go I'd ultimately save time. However, time and money are finite resources for me so I’d have to split the work up into two batches. The first would include: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

The first step was to free the engine from the engine compartment. Photo: Benjy © 2006

New folding propeller Replace cutlass bearing Replace shaft packing Replace shaft Install flexible coupling Replace rudder pintles Replace engine mounts Anti-foul Re-paint cove & scroll work Polish hull

With hard work this could be achieved in one spring haulout. I'd have to live on board in a mess in the boatyard in St Tropez. But it would be worth it. The second batch of work would be done the following winter. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Remove engine, clean, tune and repaint Replace twin lever control with Spinlock single lever Install brass oil change pump Enlarge engine bay so engine could be lowered and better aligned and raw water pipes no

With the engine out of the hull and resting on the port side of the cockpit, the repairs began. Photo: Benjy © 2006 A New Engine for CARAWAY 5. 6. 7. 8.

longer chafe under cockpit floor. Gelcoat flexible coupling thrust plate and engine bay cut-outs. Overhaul bilge pump and replace hose Replace worn ShieldsFlex hoses and other Yanmar engine hoses. Clean out tank and install fuel gauge plus device to prevent fuel spill from vent Install sound proofing

As you can see. I ended up getting a little “Caraway’d!”

The cockpit turned into an engine repair shop. Photo: Benjy © 2006

Benjy and I had been discussing the idea of a flexible coupling for the engine for some time. We cannot u n d e r s t a n d wh y t he s t a n d a r d installation is deemed acceptable. This is how it is. You have an engine bouncing around on flexible mounts. This engine is rigidly attached to a shaft which goes through a stern gland and cutlass bearing at the end of which is a propeller. As the engine dances about the shaft wiggles, wearing out the cutlass bearing and stern gland. All this movement causes vibrations which reverberate all around the hull, making for a very noisy day’s motoring. What’s more, the thrust from the propeller is taken by the engine and engine mounts which is far from ideal. Halyard.co.uk offers the Swedish Aquadrive system, the smallest version of which just about fits a Flicka if you’re prepared to work for it. The unit consists of a thrust bearing, flexible joint and interface to the Yanmar gearbox (or most other engines). All you need to do is glass in a thrust plate for the thrust bearing, attach the shaft to this and then connect the coupling to the engine and thrust bearing.

After twelve years of use, the Yanmar needs some work. Photo: Benjy © 2006

Simple eh! Well, not exactly but my friend Benjy and I managed it and the results are fantastic. We had to install the thrust bearing with the bolts on the vertical because the space was not quite A New Engine for CARAWAY wide enough for a horizontal install but this does not matter. The important thing is to get the shaft as happy as possible in the cutlass bearing. Before any of this began, we removed the old shaft and cutlass bearing and installed the new cutlass bearing. The rudder had been removed and the fittings sent away for machining. i.e. pintles removed and replaced with slightly larger ones, the gudgeon holes having been machined out a little. The old SS shaft was well worn and badly pitted in places; I was glad that a new one had been ordered. We were not happy with the shaft log position at all. The shaft has always been at an angle in various desperate attempts to align the engine. Poor show from PSC, they should have done better. It still amazes me how crude this system is. My guess is other Flickas are degrees better or degrees worse. The Aquadrive is a must. I would fit it as standard. I had to cut out the old cutlass bearing with a hacksaw blade and force it into the boat from the outside. This took a little time but wasn't too much trouble. We discovered that the shaft log was much longer inside the boat than it really needed to be. So we cut this down about an inch or so to make more room for re-packing the gland. Finally with the Aquadrive in place, I had bought Virtually Drip Free! packing to replace the old flax. We pushed in the new cutlass bearing. The old one was on its very last legs. So, we spent a long time getting the new shaft as happy as possible in the new bearing so we could mark up the position for the thrust plate. The thrust bearing must be installed onto the shaft at the position where the shaft is perfectly aligned in the cutlass bearing. With an Aquadrive, perfect engine alignment with the shaft is no longer as

After cleaning the engine, a layer of primer was applied. Photo: Benjy © 2006 A New Engine for CARAWAY issue. It is designed to work happily at an angle. But you must get the thrust plate and shaft perfect so the shaft turns sweetly in the bearing. Once installed, prop thrust is taken by the bearing and plate and the engine is free to move about. Vibrations no longer reach the hull via the shaft log. The difference is remarkable. I sanded the area for the thrust plate back to bare glass by hand with 80 grit paper and measured up for the plywood plate. Using cheap thin ply I gradually honed a template piece to fit. When Benjy was satisfied with the fit I traced it onto a piece of 20mm marine ply. I cut this out and we fine tuned it to fit. With a thick mixture of epoxy resin i.e. lots of microfibres added, I glued it in place and left it overnight. I attempted thick filets of epoxy all round but this was easier said than done on a warm afternoon in St Tropez. Much smoothing over would be needed before it could be gelcoated. Before glued up, we had to be absolutely sure that the position was correct. Much tweaking and checking of shaft and plate were involved here. Finally, it was done and the next day the plate could not be moved for love nor money. The folding prop was something I had been looking into for some time. I wanted three blades for better thrust and more power in reverse and I wanted a folding prop for reduced drag.

The Yanmar looks much better after cleaning, priming and a fresh coat of factory paint. Photo: Benjy © 2006

I came across the JF prop from Darglow Engineering in the UK. Again, it’s a Swedish design and fits the Flicka nicely. They supplied the prop and since I bought a new shaft too I was spared the problems of getting the old prop off and providing the taper dimensions. I left the taper dimensions up to them and eagerly awaited my new prop. It's a fairly elegant design and described by a local French Yanmar A New Engine for CARAWAY mechanic as “Tres chic!.” It can be adjusted for pitch and requires filling with a special grease every season and has an anode on the end that is supplied by Darglow. The prop went on without much trouble once we'd cut down the shaft to size for the thrust bearing. After sea trials, I’m happy with its performance and may experiment later with pitch. I’m delighted with the extra power and happy that CARAWAY can stop the next time a power boat pulls out in front of me. Performance in reverse is much better and a little sailing performance is gained when the prop is folded. The engine mounts were replaced without trouble. The biggest shock was the price. About £70 each which is about $130!! And they are so badly finished I'm appalled. Yanmar should be ashamed. I've heard the arguments that they're very precisely engineered but I don't buy it personally. I think Yanmar are cashing in on the owners. A few pieces of bent metal, a bolt and a block of rubber. I can buy a beautiful precision cast bronze Lie Nielson plane for the same amount.

The ultimate do-it-aboard-yourself project for the Flicka: cleaning, priming and repainting you Yanmar 1GM10 engine. Photo: Benjy © 2006

The Virtually Drip Free packing was no trouble either. Cut to fit and installed, it’s fine after over 200 hours of motoring. It definitely leaks less than the flax but time will tell if the shaft is less worn. The gudgeons and pintles were ready so we put everything back together again and hung the rudder at last. This was a hell of a job as anyone who has crawled up inside the engine locker to get at the middle gudgeon bolts will testify! It was great to have the rudder back on without play. With a new coat of anti-foul and fresh gold scrollwork and cove lines, CARAWAY was looking very shipshape. The rest of the work would have to wait until the winter of 2005-6.

The air cleaner housing and starter motor receive a fresh coat of paint. Photo: Benjy © 2006 A New Engine for CARAWAY After a season of sailing around Corsica and Minorca, CARAWAY was back in Port Grimaud for the winter. I was back in London doing some freelance IT work. I decided to ask Benjy to do the engine work since I hate living on board and working on the boat at the same time and it made more sense for me to be earning money. Benjy agreed and set to work. He disconnected and lifted out the engine using the boom and rested it on some plywood in the cockpit. Then he began cleaning up the epoxy around the thrust plate and enlarging the engine bay with hand tools and sandpaper. When he was satisfied with the finish, he mixed up some gelcoat, matching the color very closely by eye. He primed the bare wood and glass and then painted on the gelcoat. The new shift and throttle lever combined shifting and throttle into one. Photo: Benjy © 2006

Unlike the original two lever arrangement, the Spinlock lever can be removed when not needed. This prevents mainsheet complications. Photo: Benjy © 2006

Next, he removed the starter motor and alternator. He cleaned the engine and components thoroughly with engine cleaner and removed the injector and took it to Eve, the French Yanmar mechanic, for tuning. He replaced the anode, checked the valve clearance and cleaned out the raw water passages. He then spray primed the engine and components and re-sprayed with Yanmar engine paint. He also painted the Aquadrive with the same paint. Meanwhile I ordered a brass oil pump from Aquafax in the UK and some sound-proofing from Halyard. Again I got a bit carried away and ordered high quality 30mm sound proofing and a roll of special tape. The material is fire and oil resistant and non absorbant and meets all the safety requirements. It has a silver foil like finish and is very durable and heavy. I wasn't too happy about adding the extra weight but I knew the results would justify it. It is self-adhesive and fairly easy to cut and apply. While the engine was out, Benjy set to work installing the sound insulation. He covered both sides of the bay, the cockpit lid, the access panel in A New Engine for CARAWAY the cabin and all the areas around the panel, including underneath the step. He had to remove most of the fittings including the fuel filter and pump and cut to fit around these. It was a lot of work indeed. Now it was time for the engine to go back in. The injector was checked and found to be as good as new. The new Sheildsflex hose had been ordered from West Marine. Ironically, it’s made in Italy but its very difficult to buy in Europe! You can buy it in the UK but only in bulk. They've never heard of it in France and there is no equivalent. So, Benjy put the engine back in and set to work installing the Spinlock engine lever. This is a nice little unit. It has a handle with a standard winch handle fitting at the end (no idea what it's called) so you can remove it when you're under sail. I always got the main sheet caught on the old one. Plus the Spinlock doesn't contravene the Yanmar engine warranty like the old one because you can't accidentally kick the engine into gear at high revs. Much more elegant indeed. Benjy had to make new teak blocks to set the lever on and he had to move the pull stop handle over to the right.

After considerable trial and error, the thrust fitting was installed. Photo: Benjy © 2006

At some point I intend to get rid of the old stop lever. It's a real pain in the backside having to lift the cockpit locker lid and reach inside to stop the engine when there's someone sitting on the lid. Why on earth they don't have a stop button on the instrument panel? I will look into a way of changing this. With the lever in, Benjy connected up to the engine again, but we had to wait for the hoses to arrive. When they did arrive, he replaced them one by one and then looked at the bilge pump. I had bought a spares kit which he used and then he removed the old hose which he found to be split. He bought a new piece of wire reinforced

Several enlargements were added to improve engine alignment. Photo: Benjy © 2006 A New Engine for CARAWAY transparent water hose from the local chandler and with much cursing he fitted it in place. The hose was very stiff and didn't want to go where it needed to go. Finally, he bled the engine and fired her up! The result was amazing. The engine is so much quieter and smoother it’s incredible. Now, the most prominent noise is the exhaust which I will deal with in March. The exhaust has always been very noisy and fairly smelly. I shall fit a silencer and perhaps a bigger outlet because the current one is a smaller diameter than the hose itself. The exhaust is far noisier than BLOWN AWAY’s who also has a 1GM10 which just makes a gurgle. With the engine out, sound proofing was added to the engine compartment. Photo: Benjy © 2006

A layer of sound proofing was also added to the engine hatch. Also, notice the new gel coat finish in the engine bed. Photo: Benjy © 2006

I went down at the end of January, 2006 to see the work and take CARAWAYfor a sail. I was impressed. However, we had some trouble bleeding the engine properly and concluded there was a fuel blockage. I knew the dreaded time had arrived. The time to clean out the tank. I took off the fuel pipe and blew the blockage out. Very frustratingly, I had just filled up and new we needed to empty out! So, using the Walbro fuel pump with the engine alarm disconnected and the ignition in neutral we pumped out all the fuel into various containers. To our horror there were lumps of blue sealant from the inspection cover in the fuel! Exactly what you need to block a pipe. When all the fuel was out, I removed the inspection cover and discovered a mechanical fuel gauge already installed! But they had never bothered to put the sensor in! It’s a clever device made by Tempo that uses magnets to show the position of a float gauge. Simple and reliable. We borrowed the sensor from Doolittle and it worked! So, I ordered up one from Go2marine.com. A New Engine for CARAWAY Next, I cleaned out the tank and inspected it as best I could. There was a good deal of sludge in there but the tank seemed to be in good order. I flushed some clean fuel through, polished the inside and put it all back together with some special engine gasket sealant and the old gasket. We couldn't find suitable material for a new gasket. Then I installed a simple transparent fuel filter in the pipe close to the tank. This would make it easy to see the quality of the fuel coming through and protect the pipe from blockage again. Now it was time to re-fill the tank. Benjy decided it would be a good idea to measure the fuel we put in and make a note of the fuel gauge position so that it could be calibrated giving me an accurate measure of fuel in the tank. In the process of doing this we discovered that I had never been filling the fuel tank up fully. This is because fuel is often forced back out of the vent during filling, giving a false impression of the level. Often the tank appears to be full because the filler pipe is full. A few minutes later the level goes down and fuel gushes out of the vent.

A clean engine pan and inboard diesel engine/. Photo: Benjy © 2006

I've always hated this problem due to the pollution but never realised that in addition my tank had only ever been about half full! So, I've ordered a special unit made by Racor which when installed in the vent line prevents fuel getting out the vent but does allow air out. I'll comment on this at a later date. So, CARAWAY has a great engine installation at last. She looks absolutely shipshape and runs like a dream. All I have to do next is replace the standing rigging and she'll be good for another 10 years. But, hot water would be nice and new bedding is a must, and one of the ports has started leaking...

Final installation is nearly complete and s/y CARAWAY is ready for some sea trials. Photo: Benjy © 2006 A New Engine for CARAWAY

The new folding propeller will reduce drag, three blades will increase performance fore and aft. Photo: Benjy © 2006

They said installing an Aquadrive on a Flicka was impossible. Photo: Benjy © 2006

Here is an underwater view of the new folding propeller. Photo: Angus Beare © 2006

Charlie and Margaret Dewell at the christening. Photo: Charlie Dewell © 2006

Charlie Dewell aboard KAWABUNGA! Photo: Hal DeVaney © 2006 Charlie Dewell is ready for the christening. Photo: Charlie Dewell © 2006

Charlie enjoying his Flicka KAWABUNGA! Photo: Hal DeVaney © 2006

KAWABUNGA moored at the Isthmus on Santa Catalina Island. Charlie Dewell © 2006 s/y KAWABUNGA! By Charlie Dewell s/y KAWABUNA! P.S.C. # 171 This has been a crazy time and I’m still in shock over selling my Flicka. I feel like I am the father at my daughter’s wedding and we’re sending her off on her honeymoon. The new owner is from Seattle and will be trucking the boat up to Seattle later this month. The agent is the Pacific Seacraft dealer in Seattle (Seacraft Yachts) and they have hired a truck to come down and pick up a new Dana at the factory. They will take s/y KAWABUNGA along for the ride! I can't believe we’re selling her. It’s going to be different.

Cheese! Charlie taking a photo of Hal taking a photo of his Flicka. Photo: Hal DeVaney © 2006

KAWABUNGA! — Ready for some maintenance. Photo: Charlie Dewell © 2006

A few weeks ago, I replaced the existing factory bowsprit because is was rotten. The bowsprit had split along a glue line. The original bowsprit appears to be made from fir. Although fir is one of the strongest hardwoods, I chose yellow cedar as the replacement wood. Yellow cedar is almost like teak for its rot resistance and it is very beautiful. It is not as strong as fir, but the bowsprit is a spar that is in compression loading (like an arrow in a bow or a pillar) and so it’s not really a big deal. Even if the loading were different, I can’t imagine the strength difference being an issue. I highly recommend yellow cedar for this job and it’s my favorite wood at the moment. This is the second bowsprit I have made from yellow cedar.The other was on a different boat. It really is wonderful and, when milling it through the table saw, it is like pushing frozen butter through and the aroma is amazing. It’s almost a perfect wood.

Here is the old bow sprit and the new replacement. The new one has a larger cross-section than the factory original allowing the platform holes to be drilled closer to center. Photo: James Boles © 2006

The new bowsprit was built from seven laminated layers. The finish is tung oil and this allows the natural color to show. If I had used a rot prone wood, I would have painted it. The new bowsprit is a little beefier. This is because I didn't incorporate the taper on top and bottom that the original had. I finished it with a hand door plane and couldn't be bothered with all that work. There were a few advantages. This made for a deeper sprit and allowed me to bolt the platform a little lower (closer to center) thus providing a little lip between platform and top of sprit to stand against while heeling. I don't really know how useful that will be but it’s there anyway. Also, I replaced the most forward bolt with a longer one for when I install the inner stay. It will go there and the bolt will be cut down to size.

The cranze iron had to be chiseled off, thus the reason for the chewed up tip. Photo: James Boles © 2006

The finished bowsprit aboard my Flicka s/y MIRA. Photo: James Boles © 2006 On Your Flicka

Detail image of s/y MIRA’s new yellow cedar bowsprit. Photo: James Boles © 2006

The first bolt will be used to secure the staysail. Photo: James Boles © 2006