On Board with Mark Corke

Fire on board!

     This boat is a total loss caused by a catastrophic fire that almost killed the boat owner.  The owner it seems turned on the grill late one night, got distracted and before he knew what had happened the boat was alight. Swift action by the local fire boat saved the skipper and the neighboring boats in the harbor which would have surely caught fire too if this boat had not been towed clear.

    You might think that this boat took along time to burn but I have seen a 30 footer burn to the waterline in less than 5 minutes. To make matters worse burning GRP gives off clouds of black smoke and toxic fumes. Make sure that you have suitable fire fighting equipment aboard and a fire blanket which had one been available on this boat may have been saved.

    Also consider this the USCG minimum standards are just that. For instance a private vessel between 26 and 40 feet is only required to carry two 2lb extinguishers. A two pound extinguisher will have about 8 to 10 seconds of fire fighting ability before it is spent, that's not a lot of time to put out a fire!

Clamping tips

When working on or surveying boats there seems to be a dozen things that you can rip your shirt and hands on. One of the worst of these has got to be the ends of cable clamps. A boat has ton of these and they can give you a nasty gash, I have the scars to prove it. Tail tips are fitted by some builders but not many so I like to keep a few in my tool bag so that when ever I am working on the boat I can slip one on to prevent injuries in the future.

How to get really dry bilges

This rather strange looking instrument is a bulb pump for a child's football but I have found that they are excellent for sucking up water from inaccessible areas of the boat. As they suck as well as blow they can be used for getting the last vestiges of water from all sorts of nooks and crannies that the bilge pump either leaves behind or you cannot reach with the sponge.
Nearly all boats have some water in the bilge but I was finding that there was a dip under the gearbox coupling that was filling with water which was then was picked up by the shaft and flung around the engine room. The gap was too small to get my fingers in there so now I occasionally suck up the water, when it causes problems with the bulb pump and hey presto no more impromptu showers for the batteries. Incidentally a bulb type turkey baster works equally well.

Boat simplicity

    Although it is very nice to sail on boats that have every modern convenience and then some it is almost just as refreshing to visit a well though out boat where everything is simple and there is very little to go wrong. A good case in point was this catboat that I had the pleasure of going on the other day. Simple and self contained the single burner Origo stove takes care of cooking chores, the water comes from a plastic jug and the large ice box keeps beer and food cool.

The other side of the boat was similarly simple and functional with a lift out bowl for washing and such like. No through hulls here at all, nothing to go wrong, easy to maintain. 

My first boat that had room for a head (and I use the term loosely) consisting of a cedar bucket and relied on the 'bucket and chuck it' method. But now that such practice is frowned upon the catboat shown above had gone up market and used a Porta Potti which similarly requires no plumbing electricity or other systems prone to failure.

Antique and Classic boat show

    I,ve been a judge at the antique and classic boat show in Salem, MA for several years now but this was the first year that we have had the privilege of having a steam boat come. Seeing the 20 foot boat steam about the harbor this morning was a real treat and just in case you have never seen a steam boat operating before they are almost silent.

    The engine shown above is quite small and easily fits into the hull. Made by the Reliable company the engines are still available either as a set of casings for home completion or as a complete engine. Flat out the compound engine shown produces about 5 hp and has a maximum rpm of around 500, slow by comparison with a gas or diesel engine but unlike an internal combustion engine steam engines produce a lot of torque so this little engine can swing a 22 by 22 prop which is big and something that you could never do with a small 5 hp gas engine.

    The engine itself is light weight at under 100 lbs but the boiler that you can just see to the right of the engine is the largest component of the power plant and depending on the configuration probably adds at least another 150 to 200 lbs.

Easy to build trestles or saw horses

When working on a boat it seems that you can never have enough space to spread things out. These saw horses which you can also use as trestles with a couple of planks spread over the top have proved very useful in my workshop for all manner of things. Made from just 3 pieces of 3/4 inch thick plywood they are very strong yet come apart in a snap for storage when they take up very little room.

As you can see from the additional pictures below the parts slot together egg crate fashion and weight on the top holds everything in place. Although fast to make take do take a little care, the legs should be a nice sliding fit, not too tight and not too sloppy either.

I have found that the legs if sloped at about 15 degrees from the upright they are just about perfect and if you set a carpenters bevel up all the angles are the same, including the sloping sides of the legs and the cutouts. If you get stuck send me an e mail and I'll come up with a rough drawing but to you should be able to work everything out from these pictures which you can make larger by clicking on them.

The basic dimensions are as follows

The top brace/ support 4 foot by 1 foot by 3/4 inch thick.

The legs, of which you will need two obviously, are 16 inches at the base tapering to about 7 inches at the very top although I rounded these off to avoid sharp edges. the legs are also 3/4 inch thick.

Incidentally notice that I have relieved the bottom edge of the legs with a slight curve which in effect gives the saw horse 4 feet and makes it much more stable especially if the ground is less than perfect.

Boat names

Looking around the marinas there seems to be no shortage of boat names, some clever, some not and others that refer to family members and have significance for the individual boat captain - (Aunt Judy, Elizabeth J) and so on.

But there are others that just keep showing up and below is the top 10 list of most popular boat names from last year. I know this list must be true as I for one must have sailed on at least half dozen Carpe Diem's

1. Black Pearl
2. Liberty
3. Second Wind
4. Amazing Grace
5. Aquaholic
6. Knot on call
7. Second Chance
8. Wanderlust
9. The Dog House
10 Carpe Diem or Seas the day (sic)

But this has got to be my all time favorite......................

Chopped strand mat and epoxy

    This rather uninteresting picture is of some 2 oz chopped strand mat and I include it in response to an e mail from an On Board reader who asked what was the best weight mat to use with epoxy. The quick answer is none of them.
    Binders are used when the mat is made to hold it all together which dissolve when used with polyester resins. If you have ever used polyester resin you will never forget the smell, that smell is styrene and it is also the thing that dissolves the binders. Epoxy does not contain styrene which makes it more pleasant to work with but it also means that it is incompatible with CSM. I repeat that epoxy should not be used with chopped strand mat.
Chopped strand mat is most often used in production boat building to 'bulk up' the initial layers and is next to the mold and prevents print through of the woven and knitted fabrics.

Expensive mistake

Look closely at the outboard above and you can see all the little shells and sea critters in at the back of the engine block. Click here to see a close up. The engine is now a write off and was caused by a combination of things. The engine was bolted onto the back of a sport fishing boat which sat at the dock for weeks at a time with no one looking after it, the boat had a leak in a skin fitting which no one noticed because any water that found it's way into the boat was sucked up by the automatic bilge pump. This leaking and pumping cycle went on until the battery went flat and the pump stopped working. The boat very slowly filled with water until the transom with the heavy engine on it started to sink. The water got under the engine cover  and with it the critters started to multiply ending up with the situation that we see above. When salt water found it's way into the engine it was doomed and is as you can see a total wreck.

All this damage and a 12,000 dollar repair and replacement bill could have been saved if the boat had been taken care of and the very small leak repaired.

How to tie a Rolling hitch

The rolling hitch is very useful knot to learn as it allows you to apply take the strain off another line or rope that is itself already under tension. It can be employed successfully for taking the strain off a rope that has a riding turn on a winch drum which unless the strain is released the only other alternative to free the line is to cut it, which will often render it useless.

As ever you can click on the pictures to make them bigger so you can more easily follow how to tie the knots.

Step 1. Take a turn around the rope under strain which for the purposes of this series of photos we are assuming is the white one.

Step 2  Take the working end of the rope around the rope under strain for a second turn, bringing it around on the inside of the first tun , in other words closer to the standing part.

 

Step 3.  Pass the working end over the top of the rope under strain and bring back up passing it under itself.

Step 4.  Snug everything down. Strain can now be applied to the standing part of the rope which will not slip thus enabling you to sort out the mess on the winch drum or whatever.

TIP. It also works well with chain. After anchoring for the night a rolling hitch tied around the anchor chain then taken back to a deck cleat or bollard allows the strain to be taken off the winch gypsy and prevents the constant rattle of the chain from keeping you awake at night.