On Board with Mark Corke

How to clean a chartplotter screen

I was on a boat the other day with a really nice suite of electronics; fish-finder, standalone radar, two multi function displays and a half dozen or so engine gauges. Everything was neatly installed but all of the screens were really hard to see. Turns out that the owner of the boat had been diligent about keeping up with the cleaning but had been doing more harm than good as he had been cleaning the screens on the electronics with Windex. Windex in common with many cleaners of this type has high ammonia content and this is the very worst thing that you can use on your screens as it makes them go cloudy and/or milky.

Read the instructions that come with your equipment when it comes to cleaning, almost all say that the best thing is a little water and a clean microfiber cloth. No fancy chemicals required. Distilled water is best as it is free of impurities. For clean spot free shine just spritz the screen with a little water and wipe carefully with a clean microfiber cloth. I have a small pump action bottle in a drawer close to the nav station as shown above specially for this very purpose – two or three ounces of water lasts a whole season.

 

 

Replacing a boat fridge

 

Until now I’ve never owned a boat with a refrigerator, all my past boats have had an icebox. This was not necessarily by choice, my electrical system has been for the most part pretty minimal and I’ve not had sufficient electrical capacity to operate a fridge, but this changed when I got Seaglass my Grand banks 32. By comparison to my other boats, electricity is profligate, not only do I have a huge battery bank but additionally I have a generator, able to supply 120 volts AC at the push of a button.

Like many marine and RV refrigerators the unit fitted to Seaglass is able to operate from either AC or DC. When the boat is connected to shore power, or the generator is operating, the unit runs from this supply, but disconnect or interrupt the AC and the fridge defaults to 12 volts. Up until now I been manually selecting AC or DC on the breaker panel and it was only after I spoke to the good folks at Thetford that I found out you can leave both breakers turned on.

The fridge on the boat was, I think, original and although it had soldiered on for 25 years it was showing its age. The old fridge didn’t look too bad but after 25 years time was up.

The door seals were worn, the flap to the freezer compartment was missing, and it ran almost all the time in an effort to maintain its temperature – it had to go.

When the boat was built the buyer had two options, have a meat locker cold plate style fridge replete with solid teak door and stainless steel interior or a standalone marine fridge. Frankly I wished my boat had come with the former option and although I could have had one built, the cost, along with the siting and mounting of the separate compressor/evaporator was more than I was prepared to tackle. The simpler option then was to replace the fridge that was there with a complete new unit. I had assumed that this would be a fairly simple matter of unbolting and sliding out the old unit and replacing it with new fridge of identical dimensions. Sadly it was little more complicated than that, as a direct replacement is no longer available. So after looking at all the available options I decided on the Norcold 0788, the closest in size to the original.

Here’s how I did it.

1. The first step after turning off the power was to get the old unit out. To make this easier I first removed the door.

2. Screws through a flange around the fridge secured the fridge to the surrounding woodwork. With the screws removed the fridge could finally be pulled forward to reveal a quarter century of dirt and crud.

    3. After double-checking that the power was off I disconnected the power connections, both 12 volt DC and 120 volts AC were hard wired through separate terminal blocks.

4. With the old fridge off the boat I measured the opening, as I knew that I would have to make some adjustments to ensure a neat and tidy installation of the new unit. Because the new fridge was slightly smaller in both width and height compared to the old one it was necessary to make up a new teak surround to blend seamlessly with the existing teak joiner work.

5. To promote good air circulation and give the fridge a firm base on which to sit two half-inch marine plywood skids were screwed into the base of the cabinet.

        6.The new fridge came with a right hand hanging door so I had to swap the hinges to the other side – an easy job – so that it swung the other way to make it more convenient for the         cook.

7. Before I bolted the fridge in position I had to connect up the power cables. I’ve said it many times before but don’t be tempted to use wire nuts, which should never be used on a boat at any time. I used proper crimped connections and cable of the correct gauge to extend the wiring that was then reconnected to the terminal blocks.

8. One final check before turning the fridge on is to make sure the door seals correctly. The instructions that came with the unit explain how to do this but a dollar bill should just be pinched between the seal and door edge. If the bill slides out too easily, or not at all, then the hinges need adjustment.

9. The completed job after the fridge was bolted in place through its feet into the ply skids installed earlier. An added bonus was being able to repurpose the space above the slighter shorter new refrigerator with a new cutlery drawer, which is made of teak then varnished to match the existing joiner work.

Many thanks to the good folks at Thetford for help with this project.

How to service sailboat winches

 

 

All but the smallest sailboats have winches. Some sailors expect their winches to work year after year with little or no maintenance; others seem to think they are too complicated to mess with and are best left undisturbed. But winches are expensive, have a hard life, and are often subjected to very heavy loads when they are needed the most. It pays to look after them, a fresh water wash down is a good idea occasionally to remove salt. Overhauling a winch for the first time can seem daunting, but if approached methodically it should take no more than an hour to service one. After you’ve done it once or twice, you’ll wonder what the fuss was about.

  You won’t need much equipment for this job, but it pays to get what you do need ready beforehand. You’ll need plenty of clean rags, some mineral spirits or kerosene, and an old coffee can to clean dirty parts in. You’ll also need a couple of screwdrivers, one small and one medium size, and perhaps a set of needle-nose pliers for replacing small parts like pawls. All the major winch manufacturers supply overhaul kits, which include grease for the bearings, oil for the pawls, pawl springs, a small brush, and an instruction booklet. These are well worth obtaining. The Lewmar kit, for example, retails for around $25 and is universal to all their winches. All the major manufacturers also have helpful Web sites; Harken, for instance, has an online parts list for their complete line.

  Once you’ve got all you need, follow this step-by-step guide. The photos show a small self-tailing Lewmar winch (the differences from manufacturer to manufacturer are minor). The major parts of all winches are very similar and should closely resemble those in the photographs.

 TIP

 

Don’t be tempted to take your winches apart at sea unless it is absolutely essential. I once took a winch apart in the middle of the Atlantic and dropped some vital part over the side, rendering the winch useless for the rest of the passage. Needless to say, this did not make me the most popular crewmember on board.

 

 

1. All major manufacturers supply kits for servicing their winches. These usually include tools, pawl springs, and instructions. Winches should be serviced once a year

 

 

2 AND 3. On some winches the drum is held in place with a spiral spring clip that sits in a shallow recess in the top of the spindle. Use a small electrical screwdriver or knife to pry out one end and carefully ease it out of its groove.

 

4. First you need to remove the drum. Unscrew the collar from the top of the winch. If it’s stiff, free it by placing a block of wood in one of the dimples and giving it a sharp tap. Harken uses a screw in the bottom of the winch spindle to hold the drum in place.

 

5. The O-ring seal under the top cap prevents dirt and salt from getting into the gears. Check the condition of this where fitted and replace if at all suspect. You may have to cut out the old one with a razor blade if you cannot pry it out with a small screwdriver or knife.

 

6. If the winch is a self-tailer (as shown here), lift off the self-tailing arm. It is sometimes locked in place by salt and corrosion and might require a tap with a soft mallet.

 

7. Remove the two half-moon-shaped retaining collets. On older winches these may be seized and might require prying out with a screwdriver. If they are really in tight, spray on a little penetrating oil. Don’t hit the collets with a hammer; they may distort in their seats, making them even harder to remove.

 

8. Insert your finger into the centre and lift out the spindle. You may have to twist it slightly to release it from its seating.

 

9. Lift off the drum. Don’t be surprised if the roller bearings don’t remain on the bronze spindle; sometimes they remain wedged inside the base of the drum.

 

10. Remove the roller bearings and check for wear. If they rattle in the cage or are ridged, they must be replaced. Give them a thorough cleaning with mineral spirits or kerosene to remove dirt and grime. Make sure to use a clean rag to wipe off residue. Also clean the spacer O-ring shown at the bottom of the photo.

 

11. Use the end of a small screwdriver to lift out the gear retaining pins, which are simply drop-fit through the winch body housing. You can now remove the gears from the winch body for cleaning and inspection.

 

12. Separate the two halves of the gear assemblies and check the condition of the pawls, especially the springs. Any broken or tired ones will need replacing. These vital springs are the smallest part on any winch and are the bits most likely to be lost, so take care.

 

13. After a thorough cleaning in mineral spirits or kerosene, dry each part, and then lightly lubricate the pawls and springs with oil. Return the pawl assemblies to the ratchet gear in the same order they came out.

 

 

14. Drop the gear retaining pins back into position with the flat on the edge of the pin facing the winch spindle. These should slide right in and fit loosely.

 

15. Refit the O-ring spacer over the winch body and then the roller bearings, which should be lubricated with the special grease and brush supplied in your kit. Replace the drum then lightly grease the self-tailing arm and top cap and refit. Check the action of the winch before patting yourself on the back and moving on to the next one.

 

 

Andersen

Andersen winches have the top plate retained by four setscrews

 

 

 

 

Repairs and upgrades - Norcold and Simrad

This picture (above) was taken with taken with my iPhone at close range and as I could not get far enough back so you will have to excuse the parallax error, but it shows the fairly well, I think the progress to date on the new fridge installation. The old fridge was noisy, the seals were worn so it ran all the time, it used a ton of electricity, iced up with gay abandon and the small freezer compartment door did not properly close. With that said I am pretty impressed that it managed to soldier on for 26 years, but it had to go and is being replaced with another, which like the first is from Norcold. The fridge is a dual voltage 12/120 model which looks pretty slick, but installation has required some modifications to the cabinet work around the unit as the overall size is a little smaller. The old fridge had what can best be described as flange around the unit and this screwed into the wooden framework. This had two functions, it sealed the gap between the fridge and the cabinetry preventing dirt and debris from entering and secondly held the fridge in place preventing it from moving when the boat moved about at sea. The new fridge lacks the flange which I miss and I hope that at some time in the future Norcold sees the wisdom in reintroducing this feature to at least some of the models in their range. The 0788 model that I am installing is fixed in position with screws through the feet which are visible when the door is opened. This works well on my boat but I could see may be a problem where the fridge is located higher from the sole where a solid attachment point may not be available. Because the fridge is less tall than the original I also have room for cutlery drawer and you can see the drawer front temporarily taped into position for photography purposes.

After talking with the technical folks at Norcold I found out that I had been operating my fridge incorrectly in the past. I had always assumed that with a dual voltage fridge one had to turn off the DC breaker before turning on the AC breaker to power the fridge but it seems that I should have been keeping both the 12 volt and 120 fridge breakers on when I was aboard. Apparently there is an automatic relay in the back of the fridge which by default runs off AC voltage, if this is interrupted or unavailable then the appliance automatically switches to 12 volts DC until 120 volts AC is restored. They have been wired that way for years, it seems, but I never knew, and now you do too.

I've never liked the way that many radar and chart plotter displays just tend to get bolted down to any free bit of space with the cables sprouting out of the back. I think this messy and I wanted to do something better. Seaglass has surprisingly never had a multi function display installed at either helm and this is something that is being addressed during this winter and spring fit out season. The truth is that I have a bunch of equipment on long-term loan from the good folks at Simrad for a series of features that I have been working on about installing an NMEA 2000 network. At the heart of the system is a beautiful 16 inch NSS evo2 MFD. I've played about for ages trying to work out the best location for this with initial thoughts that it might go above the windscreen. This looked like a good bet and would have worked well with the general refit of the headliner and lighting upgrades but a mock-up showed that it was just too far forward of the helm seat to make controlling it as easy as it could be. So further head scratching and another mock up brought me to the point I am at now with what I can best describe as a teak nacelle which sits on the self and to port of the main  steering compass. The MFD can now be controlled with relative ease from the comfort of the helm seat and the large screen is easy to read from most anywhere in the salon making watching movies when swinging on a hook a distinct possibility. I am going to miss the flat surface on which I placed pilot books and charts when underway and so I have to find alternative placements for these, but I think the trade-off worth it. 

In the picture above the MFD has been temporarily dropped into place just to see how it will look when finished properly; there's to be a matt black surround between the teak 'eyebrow' and edge of the MFD but this will not be installed until after the nacelle has been varnished to match the rest of the boat interior. Also, you will notice that the teak is still somewhat of a rather odd color. The nacelle is made of 9 mm marine ply onto which I have glued teak veneer with the adjoining corners and eyebrow from solid teak. Teak when freshly cut has a definite green tinge but this soon fades and the color reverts to that familiar honey tone within a few days and the nacelle is still in that phase but by the time the varnishing starts the color will be somewhat different to what you see here. I should add that the color continues to mellow even through the varnish and so with time will blend in well with the 25-year-old teak interior.

 

Water tank anode

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See that hot water connection at the top of the picture above well I bet you did not know that there is an anode in there that has to be replaced periodically. It's a fact that most water heaters corrode from the inside out, the first indication is that something is amiss is a sulphurous smell each time that the hot water faucet is opened. Often this is put down to bad water in the fresh water tank and there are lots of remedies on the internet forums of how to deal with this from sanitizing the tank with all sorts of chemicals to replacing the hot water  tank altogether. But often it is just the anode that needs replacing  as if this is completely wasted the water inside the hot water tank starts to eat up the very fabric of the tank. The insides of most water heaters are aluminum and they have a coil that comes off the closed loop on the engine fresh water cooling circuit which heats the water indirectly as the engine is running. They also have an electric coil which can be switched on when the boat is plugged into shore power which works in a similar way to the electric water heater that you may have in your home. The anode which is made of magnesium protects the insides of the tank and heating coils. There is some miss information on the internet which states that these should be zinc. This is incorrect as zinc is close to aluminum on the galvanic scale and as such will not protect the internal parts. Magnesium is less noble that aluminum and offers much better protection and in any event if a replacement anode is ordered for a hot water tank the manufacturer will supply the correct part.

If the anode is not replaced the first indication that something is amiss is the sulphur smell mentioned above, then if nothing is done to address the problem the electric hot water fails soon after as it is consumed by the galvanic action. This usually gets the attention of the boat owner who then has the difficult task of either replacing the element or most likely the whole water heater. 

Replacing the anode is fairly straight forward but the level of dificulty is directly proportional to how accesible the tank is. The first step is to isolate the water from the hot water tank. If you have a valve turn that off if not you may have to drain down the entire water system. Don't foregt too to turn off the electic element if this is on and watch for any water escaping from the water heater as it will be hot.

After turning off the water or draining it down lift the pressure release valve on the side of the heater to let built up pressure release.

Remove any hot water connections that are attached to the outlet on the tank. The boat I was working on had copper connections but alternatives may be flexible hoses or PEX type pipework. Irrespective of what you have they have to be disconnected.

With the pipes out of the way unscrew any nipples or elbows that are attached to the outlet. If they have been in place for a number of years you may need a fair bit of effort to remove these. With these removed the threaded part that actually goes into the tank will be visible. Push back white plastic trim cover to expose the non threaded part and get your pipe wrench on that and unscrew it. I guarantee that it will be tight. 

No prizes for guessing which is the new anode. The old one was completely wasted away. I was working on a 12 gallon tank and just to give you some idea that new anode is 16 inches long!

Re installation is a reverse of the procedure outlined above but use teflon tape or pipe dope as appropriate to sea threads. Once everthing is back together check carefully for leaks before turning on the water heater and Ta dah fresh hot water without the smell, no chemicals required.

Incidentally the Seward 6 gallon water heaters do not have an anode but for less than $20 you can add one. You have to removed the drain stop tap on the front of the heater and replace it with a pencil anode that you can buy from online retailers.  It's a modification that is well worth the effort as it will pro;ong the life of the heater by many years.

Propane bottle tip

A fast, easy and cheap way to stop propane bottles rattling in the locker and leaving a rust ring is to cover the bottom lip of the bottles with a length of split small diameter hose. Hopefully the pictures are self explanatory but do use a softish hose. I found the perfect stuff at my local True Value hardware store, it's soft neoprene, is easy to cut and split down it's length, does not harden up like plastic pipe is prone to do and stays put once slipped over the lip on the bottom of the bottle. Total cost per bottle was less than $1.50 and has quieted down the rattle to nothing and no more rust marks. By the way the same technique works on older metal outboard gas tanks too.

Masking tape tip

 

 

 

The blue and green masking tape is perfect for masking up paint and varnish work before applying the finish but if the rolls have been left around for any length of time you will know how frustrating it can be when the tape only comes off the roll in inch long pieces and not unroll as it is supposed to. Before you go mad and fling the roll into the corner of the workshop microwave it for 10 seconds! The heat will soften the adhesive and allow the tape to smoothly unroll as intended saving your blood pressure and few bucks into the bargain.

Cleaner screen - clearview

 

 

Maintaining a good view from inside an enclosed pilot house is essential. If you cannot see out well you will be straining to see what is ahead, what other vessels around you are doing and this could compromise your safety. The mantra that was drummed into use when I was studying for my master ticket was that you should keep a sharp lookout and this is indeed spelled out in the international regulations for collisions at sea (COLREGS). Essentially this means that you must do everything in your power to avoid a collision. You may be the stand on vessel and technically have right of way but if you do not take avoiding action in good time you are just as much at fault as the skipper of the give way vessel. Not just that but poor visibility from inside a wheel house has other effect too and leads to increased fatigue and can actually make you feel seasick if you cannot clearly see the horizon.

Of course the design of the boat has a lot to do with the lines of sight, the overall visibility from the wheel house and all the other ergonomics of the vessel that either make boating a pleasure or a chore.

Many boat manufacturers seem to have forgotten that you need to know what is behind you as well as in front and have resorted to cameras to see what is behind. I think that restricted visibility is why many owners take to operating their boats from the fly bridge even in poor weather even though they would be far better off at the lower helm where they can stay warm and dry.

It may seem like stating the obvious but keeping the windscreen clean will go along way to helping see where you are going. On navy ships the screens are cleaned everyday. I love using Rain X on glass windscreens (aka windshields) as the water runs off and you hardly if ever have to use the wipers if these are fitted. Also it is worth noting that many vessels only actually have wipers on the helmsman's side the crew often do not get a wiper thus restricting their view. Wipers are good when they work but can become overwhelmed in bad weather when they are expected to clear not only rain but large amounts of salt water spray that may be coming over the bow and hitting the pilot house. Keeping wiper blades in good shape helps, but the salt water is abrasive and can soon take the keen edge off the blade which is so important for clearing the water away efficiently.

I don't think that I would be overstating it to say therefore that I was excited to see a 'Clearscreen' on a boat that I recently surveyed. These gadgets are a central circular window inset into the main screen which are driven round and round by an electric motor water is then flung off by centrifugal force and they do a fine job. Although the bit you look through is somewhat small the helmsman's vision stays remarkably clear no matter what the weather or how much water gets chucked a the screen.

I think that many boats out there are more concerned with image and although I could see you might not one of these on your 'Sundecker 54' that spends it entire life at the marina dock I can see the attraction of these on boats that actually travel off shore. Having become familiar with these devices in the 70's they seem to have fallen from favor in recent years which is a shame because I do think that many serious yachtsmen should give these nifty gadgets a second look.

Bunged up

Nothing says good quality woodwork like well concealed screw holes. Be it in the teak deck or on some other piece of furniture either on deck or below being able to properly conceal screws is a good skill to master. Amateur woodworkers tend to use lots of wood putty or other fillers but the results almost always look poor and the results are disappointing. The best method is to bung or pellet screw holes. Faster and cheaper than applying lots of filler the results are better and best of all when done correctly the screw hole all but disappears.

 

The main tool, that you will need is a bung or pellet cutter. Some good marine  and woodworkers supply stores sell ready cut bungs but making them yourself is fast and if you cut them from an off cut of the wood you are using the grain and color of the wood will match. Bung cutters come a different sizes and there are a bunch of different manufacturers. I like the cutters from Veritas which cut a slightly tapered bung which ensures a snug fit. Cutters come in several different sizes but for most jobs you can get away with a 3/8th inch size which is good for both number 8 and 10 screw heads.

 

 

 Using a scrap of the same wood that you are making the main components from use the bung cutter to swiftly drill out as many as you need. In this scrap of wood there are about 40 or so and they took little more than two or three minutes to make. Although you can at a pinch use a hand held electric drill a drill press is the way to go, it's safer and faster because as the cutter has no point the bit will tend to wander badly if you try to use it in a hand held drill.

 

The bungs are then simply broken out with a screw driver.

 

I am using 3/8^th bungs so have drilled a couple of 3/8^th holes in a scrap of mahogany for illustrative purposes .

 After the holes have been drilled a clearance hole would normally be driven through and the components screwed together but as we are just showing the bunging process I have forgone that step.

A little glue or epoxy depending on requirements is then squirted into the hole.

 

Place the bung into the hole making sure that the grain orientation lines up with the work.

 

The bung should be a snug fit and may require a few light taps with a hammer.

 

Allow the glue to dry then pare down the bung to almost flush with the work with a sharp chisel.

Use a block and abrasive paper for final smoothing.

 

The completed bung, you have to look hard to spot it. (click on the picture to enlarge it) The mahogany could now be varnished or painted and unlike filler will accept the finish as well as the surrounding surface.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking after your trailer

 

Those of us with a smaller boat that we tow behind the car seldom give little thought to the trailer. We hitch it up and expect it to perform flawlessly. Many trailers sit for weeks of even months untouched and during that time issues can develop. Most of the time the trailer works fine but trailer breakdowns are not uncommon and a little care before setting out on the road can save a lot of hassles later. Even if you are not very mechanically minded there are some things that anybody can do. Whether you are going across town or across the country walk around the trailer and make a visual check. Are the tires in good shape and correctly inflated? If they appear soft then stop off at the gas station and check the pressures. There should be no cracks in the side walls of the tires; storing the trailer with the wheels removed or at least chocked up clear of the ground will do much to prolong their life. Check that the tire have sufficient tread, insert a penny into the treads if Lincolns head disappears then the tires have sufficient tread left. While looking at the wheels make sure that all the wheel nut are in place and correctly tightened, this is especially important if the trailer was stored with it's wheel removed during the winter months. If the hub is fitted with a grease cup remove it and make sure that there is sufficient grease, a hub running dry will soon over heat leading to bearing failure. Ensure that should the worst happen the trailer will stay connected to the tow vehicle by connecting up the safety chain or cables, these should criss cross under the hitch. With the trailer lights plugged in get a helper to operate the turn signals, rear and brake lights while you check to make sure that they are working. Replace any defective bulbs. Check that the license plate is attached to the vehicle, the one shown in the picture is hanging on by a piece of thin rope, ideally it should be bolted on properly. Finally and most importantly is the boat or PWC secured properly and tied down to the trailer? The winch where fitted is OK for securing the bow but the rear of the boat shown also be strapped down. I have lost count of the amount of times that I have been passed on the highway by a large boat on a trailer and the only thing holding the two together is the winch attached to the bow eye. This is very dangerous for several reasons, if the towing vehicle has to swerve or stop in a hurry the boat can become detached from the trailer and secondly the U bolt at the front of the boat is not designed to carry the amount of stress to which it is subjected. The other very good reason if another was needed that a boat should be properly secured is that a boat unsecured on a trailer can bounce up and down independent of the trailer, if the trailer has rollers the point loadings will be tremendous and damage to the boat is a distinct possibility.

 

When you are satisfied that all is well you are set to head out on the road, don't forget to raise the trailer jack and release the handbrake first though. Take it easy remembering that with the trailer on the back you will be at least twice the length of the car alone. Allow more time for stopping, turning and over taking. Pull over after couple of mile driving and place a hand on the wheel hubs which should all be at the same temperature, if one is noticeably hotter than another it could be that there is insufficient grease in the bearing or that a brake is binding on, investigate and rectify before proceeding further or expect bad karma to follow soon.

Incidentally and in case you were wondering the boat on the trailer shown above is a Flyfisher 22 made in wood by students at the Landing School in Maine and I shot this a couple of years ago at the Mystic wooden boat show.