Fuel Checks

I wrote some time ago of how I ran out of fuel with the gauge showing half full, and this was on the day I took the boat over! It turned out that the owner had a new fuel tank put in and the fitter had failed to check that the sender to the gauge was in the same position as previously. I believe that if you do not know your boat’s fuel consumption and you have an engine hours meter, it is worth while making a note of your hours run, fill up the tank(s) and then when you next take on fuel make a note of the engine hours and how much fuel you put in. If you have been using the engine normally you should get an idea of what your fuel consumption is. A motor boater’s rule of thumb is one gallon per hour for each 20hp’s worth of diesel engine and one gallon per hour for every 12 -14 hp for petrol engines. Consumption will however, depend on how heavy the helm is with the throttle, the weather and the sea state. With no engine hours meter, I keep a record in my log of engine running hours.

Steering Compass

Do make sure that the steering compass, particularly those on a binnacle with wheel steering, are protected as much as possible from the weather. There are often four small holes in the binnacle which are there so a compass adjuster can remove or lessen the compass’s deviation by playing with some magnets. These magnets allow the compass to be adjusted without taking the device off the binnacle; the holes are normally protected by plugs which may deteriorate over time and with salt water ingress rusting the magnets, errors can creep in. If you have a bulkhead mounted compass, you can have the same problem. If you ever have to remove any steering compass and find there is electrical wiring nearby, do ensure that the positive and negative wires are twisted together. A single DC wire creates a magnetic field which will cause deviation.

Your Log

I find very often that with a boat moored in a river with a strongish tide the log becomes entangled with weed or sometimes a mollusc or two, if left with the paddle wheel in place whilst the boat is at rest. More often than not, the discovery is made after leaving the mooring and when one is about to set the sails. So someone has to go down below, lift the sole, withdraw the paddle wheel, put in the blanking plug, clean the clogged log and then put it back in. All rather tedious, so why not remove the log at the end of a trip and this will remove the need for a clean? If you are not the only user of the boat, it is important to leave a note on the chart table to say that the log has been removed just as a reminder to the next skipper to come on board that if he wishes to navigate, the log will have to be put back in. A well found boat will have an old toothbrush kept with the log and blanking plug so that the paddlewheel can be quickly cleared of debris.
Log

I was reading of a boat owner, who, despite having a clean log with a freely spinning paddlewheel, still found that whilst getting a reading on the instruments, it was clear that there was a definite under reading. On pushing out the retaining pin holding the impeller in position, the owner found an encrustation. On cleaning this off the log was found to be working correctly.
For those of you who sail in the Solent and would like to carry out a check over a measured mile, there are the marker posts on the SW side of Southampton Water between Fawley Refinery jetty and Hythe Village Marina. But remember to plan your checks as near as you can to slack water and make three runs to work out your average log reading.

Chafe

Sticky’s Tips No 104
April 2010
Chafe
I had two erstwhile Yachtmasters Coastal, one a Doctor the second an underwater turbine engineer who, because of committed shift work were only able to manage a cross channel passage during the first week of March. To join them, I recruited a picture framer from Cheltenham who had already become a Coastal Skipper.
It does really make a difference when you have someone, slightly longer in the tooth, and with plenty of experience, who just loves to get involved in everything. Jim was not only an outstanding cook, who took real pleasure in doing things properly, but was also a convivial raconteur, a good sailor and teacher to boot. The other two crew members learnt a lot from him.
We planned our passage the night before departure and set off with NE f7 and f8 forecast the next morning. Taking departure from the Princessa buoy off the east end of the Isle of Wight, we bowled along on a broadish reach all the way to Cherbourg. Unfortunately two of the crew were sea sick, though one recovered to do quite a bit of helming. I think that skippers may have to be a trifle draconian and insist that those who only sail once a year, and who are unsure of their ability to resist “mal-de-mer”, take a pill the night before and one before setting off. We did this for the second and third legs of our passage and there were no recurring sicknesses. It may well be that those who suffered on the first two days, had, by then, achieved their sea-legs. I tried the trick of getting the worst sufferer, to put the stugeron tablet under the tongue and just sucking the pill in the hope that saliva would take the effect to wherever it should go. Doctors advise doing this, rather than someone who has been sick, swallowing the pill whole. In this case the attempt failed; I suspect that much depends on the metabolism of the person concerned and a host of other factors.
Cherbourg was pretty empty. I needed some distilled water for the service battery and tried several chandleries and two marine engineer shops. None had any distilled water. So I resorted to the old trick which I learnt as a soldier 50 years ago. Pee into a bottle and use urine, it is the nearest thing to distilled water which is to hand on a boat and which is also free!
We set off for Guernsey the next day, making best use of the ebb tide down through the Alderney Race, then the Big Russel, round the south of Herm and into St Peter Port. The wind was still in the north east so a comfortable and fast passage was made. Once down in the Big Russel, by now it was dark and the two major lights were unlit. Noir Pute on Herm and Bec du Nez on Sark, both sectored lights would have helped our pilotage considerably. For some reason the GPS decided to go on the blink at this moment, so we resorted to feeling our way by following a depth contour which was clear of all dangers. We have heard tell that some of the GPS satellites may not be reliable because of cuts in funding by the USA, there could have been propagation problems, or it might even have been the set. I am just trying to make the point that electronic navigation is not always as reliable as it is made out to be.
We stayed two nights in St Peter Port, which, like Cherbourg was almost empty; indeed we were the only boat moored on the pontoons in the outer harbor. The harbour staff gave us a berth which was, as near as they could manage, in the lee from the harbour buildings from the northerly wind blowing, now up to f8. We went ashore for four hours and the effect on our bow spring is shown in the photograph.

I am a great believer in rigging springs and breast lines so that the angle through the cleat is as near as damn-it a straight line and not a near 360° turn. If rigging the spring as shown in this photo, it is worth considering parceling (1) or rigging a Scotchman. (2)

Notes:
1. Parcel. To cover a rope with canvas, plastic pipe or smaller rope to prevent chafe. (I use old M&S vests or underpants)
2. Scotchman. Criss-cross of rope over a warp to prevent chafe.

Anyone fancy a weekend on the Solent? These are budget weekends where the cost is kept to the minimum and we eat ashore, share food, fuel and mooring costs and get in as much sailing, navigating and pilotage as we can. Email me if interested.

©Sticky Stapylton instructor@sail-help.co.uk, http://www.sail-help.co.uk

Umbrellas and Whistles

Sticky’s Tips No 109 August 2010
Umbrella
I searched on the internet for the list of least useful items to be found on a yacht and came up with the following:
Wheelbarrow
Spirit level
Bananas
Grand piano
Royal Navy Officer
Motor cycle
Umbrella
The wheelbarrow, though difficult to stow except on a largish boat, could well help with getting provisions delivered. The spirit level, during maintenance, could be useful in getting the water line correctly positioned. Bananas make other fruit ripen quickly, so they could be useful too. On the other hand you may, on a long passage, not wish your fruit to ripen too quickly. I have seen an upright piano installed in a 40’ yacht a few boat shows ago, though never heard of a grand piano except on boats of considerable size. Modern bicycles now can be fitted with electric motors, so maybe a folding bike taken on a yacht could be termed a motor cycle. I have sailed with quite a few RN officers and have found them to be just as good as the next man, some even better, either as skipper or member of the crew. The umbrella has a real use on board. A good strong golfing umbrella can be put to good use to keep the rain off, particularly in the dinghy, but most importantly for me, it acts as an excellent safety net to catch any screws, nuts, washers et al when working on any part of the boat which has no deck underneath. I was helping a friend fit out his new Elan 434 and was installing the bracket on which the horseshoe buoy was to be fixed. The boat was on the hard and a search for anything dropped would probably have found it in time. Yes I did drop a nut and you can see from the photo that the umbrella did save a trip to the ground and search for the lost item. If we had been afloat the nut would have been lost forever.

Anchoring
Before going into an anchorage, do you work out how much chain you need to lay out or do you make a guestimate? If you are staying overnight, it is essential that you work out what the least depth of water there is going to be at low water so that you do not ground You must also have an idea of the amount of scope to lay out, not only so that you have sufficient chain on the sea bed, but also so that there is no chance of swinging close to another moored boat. Always remember to add the freeboard (height of bow roller above the surface of the sea) of your boat to the maximum water depth needed, multiplying this by the relevant factor dependent on the likely wind and tide strengths, the size and weight of boat, anchor tackle and the nature of the sea bed. A look at the chart in well surveyed areas will give you an idea of the nature of the sea bed and it is worth knowing which “soils” hold well and which do not:
Poor Thin sand, weed, gravel, shells
Medium Soft sand, soft mud
Good Most sand and mud
Excellent Dense sand and mud, clay
Crew Briefing
What are your most important items to be covered in the initial crew briefing? I like to know if anyone has a medical problem, this can be mentioned in advance or via a booking form if the individual does not wish to talk about it in the rest of the crew’s hearing. The other important items to be covered initially are:
Lifejackets Cooker Lookout
1st Aid kit Radio Sea sickness
The heads Keeping warm Heeling for newcomers
One hand for yourself and one for the boat

Whistle
Not all yachts have a windvane or automatic pilot, and on long passage you may need to alert the sleeping watch below. The whistles on lifejackets never seem much up to the job of waking the dead, anyway it is quite a kerfuffle extracting them from the folds of the lifejacket. I have an Acme Thunderer from my days as a soldier; this whistle, made in Birmingham, like a lot of good solid English products of its time, could be heard above the noise of battle by those who needed to hear at a good 100 yards or more and apparently you can still buy them, from Mr Amazon (about a fiver), and they are still made in this country, at least according to their inscription.

Gas heaters, beware

Have you, by any chance, fitted a gas heater to your boat recently? If you have, be aware that you may possibly have invalidated your insurance policy. Underwriters will need to be told of such installations and may well demand a survey by a CORGI registered surveyor.
Catalytic heaters can be unsafe in boats because there is no permanent ventilation into the accommodation area which cannot be permanently closed off. The closeness of inflammable materials can also be a danger, especially if the heater is fitted in a passageway past which crew need to move and thus brush up against heater screens. How many skippers know that there is a firm recommendation that catalytic heaters should not be used on board pleasure craft? A talk to insurance brokers may be worthwhile.

Black dust in the engine well

Do you ever notice black dust in the engine well or scattered round the engine compartment? If you do, it is more likely than not, due to extra wear on the drive belt connecting alternator to crank shaft. It may be that there may be misalignment, the belt may be rubbing against something or if belt tension is too loose, it may be slipping. Check the alignment with a straight edge; check the tension – the engine manual should give guidance as to how much slack there should be, and if needs be take up this slack. Has, at some stage, the wrong size belt been fitted? There is just the possibility that the belt may be too narrow for the grooves on the pulley wheels, it may be abrading on the grooves and the next item on the repair list is to fit a replacement belt. Well worth a check if you see signs of wear.

Rigging failure

How many skippers have run through in their mind what to do if they have a rigging failure and a shroud parts? I am a great believer in the “what if?” syndrome and always talk through the possible emergencies when teaching. One needs to be careful about being a doom and gloom merchant, but if crew have been talked through the major dangers of fire, explosion, man overboard, collision, grounding, mast down and abandon ship in a sensible and balanced fashion, they will be encouraged to follow the same guidelines when chartering or owning themselves. How many owners have a set of bulldog clips on board? A range of sizes to cover repair of stays and shrouds, cable controlled wheel steering systems and suchlike should be included in the inventory of the prudent boat owner. This way, if a check of standard rigging is made, a potential fracture may be spotted in sufficient time to rig the bulldog clips and prevent a serious accident happening. On a recent delivery trip, I was inspecting the standing rigging, prior to leaving, through binoculars and noticed from the deck that the wire halyard to the headsail was more than 50% chafed through. A quick hand swage repair prevented what could have been a serious incident.

Lessons from a long passage

Our plan during the middle of November was to make a long passage out into the western approaches to the Channel, and perhaps pop into a port or two on the north Brittany coast. We had on board, three boat owners, one with a 22 footer kept in Boston, another with a Sadler 32 kept also on the east coast, and a third who owned a Dehler 34 moored in the Solent. All were looking for the chance to get some experience and add some miles to their log books for eventual Yachtmaster Offshore, though one said he was more interested in having some fun. The forecast was bloody, f8’s and 9’s from the south west were to prevail for the first two days, so we spent some time playing in the Solent and fighting wind and tides. There seemed a bit of a break in the weather coming up on the Wednesday, so we planned on sailing round the Isle of Wight, leaving Yarmouth with the last of the ebb, so that on turning round the Needles we would have wind and tide both going with us.

There were two major lessons which came out of this trip. The first was lookout with buoy identification. It is so easy, if you are not following a properly prepared pilotage plan, to assume that a buoy in the distance is the one you are looking for. As we came down to the Shingles Elbow red buoy just northeast of the entrance to the Needles channel, there were occasional squalls of rain which reduced visibility a bit, but not so much that buoys could not be picked out with binoculars. However the skipper for the day did not check the buoy colour or shape properly, and assumed it to be the Bridge westerly cardinal. As a result, a course steered to put this red buoy on our port side would have placed us close to the breakers on the Shingle Bank, but luckily we correctly identified the mark, and then picked up the cardinal. The lesson brought home in such a situation as this, is to have your plan properly prepared with courses and distances between navigation marks. If needs be, zero the trip log at each mark and always try to be one jump ahead of yourself when piloting. What I mean by this, is to identify the next mark but one when eyeballing the yacht in and out of harbour. If any of you would like a beginner’s guide to preparing a pilotage plan, email me and I will send you a copy of my notes. My contact details are available on my website: Arrow Yacht Enterprises.

When I have experienced skippers on board, I let them prepare and execute their plans without my input, unless something is going to go pear shaped. We had rounded St Catherine’s Point and had a strong spring flood pushing us along; we were sailing with just one third headsail and two reefs in the mizzen, making 6 – 7 knots through the water, and sometimes up to 9 knots over the ground. David was doing the navigation for the day and was quite relaxed about it all. It was he who had come along for the fun! The wind was up in the 20 – 25 knots range so we were making good progress, but it was quite clear that if we did not harden up in the SW wind fairly soon, we would end up being taken a lot further east than would have been good for us, and would have ended up with quite a beat back into Portsmouth. Rex, who had a lot less experience than the others on board, had clearly taken in what he had learnt during his theory courses, and pointed out what the tide was doing to us, and what the end result would be. David saw the wisdom of Rex’s point, and we hardened up and sailed on that point of sail all the way to the entrance to Portsmouth. The lesson here is to make use of your instruments, monitor your course over the ground (COG) and speed over the ground (SOG) and deduce what is happening to you. A quick estimated position (EP) on the chart will tell you what is going to happen to you in two hours time and often will save a lot of unnecessary sailing, particularly if you are trying to make that pub for supper or a pint before closing time!

Fire! Or just an old starter motor…

I experienced my first, what seemed to be initially, on board fire a fortnight ago and it was certainly educational.  I hope it will be the last.  I was giving some own boat tuition to the owner on his four year old Beneteau, and we were coming into Ocean Village Marina in Southampton a little before midnight having completed a night pilotage exercise.  The owner had piloted us up to the entrance to the marina and taken over the helm.  There were four other crew on board, and they were ready with warps and a couple of wandering fenders as we came in to the outside visitors’ pontoon.  The wind was coming from the south west, so it was on our port quarter, and when we were literally 10 yards from the pontoon, thin blackish grey smoke started rising up from the companionway.  The owner saw the smoke first and shouted “Fire, fire, fire”.  I told him to get the boat alongside, whilst I tackled the fire.  Luckily I knew there was a fire extinguisher at the base of the companionway steps, and taking a deep breath, I went down below, grabbed the fire extinguisher and opened up the smallest side hatch to the engine compartment.  More thin blackish grey smoke came out, but not much, and there were no signs of any flames, luckily.  By now the engine had stopped and the smoke became less, so we opened up all the portlights and got a good breeze going through the boat and the smoke cleared pretty quickly.   One of the crew had the presence of mind to grab a fire extinguisher from the cockpit locker, and had waited at the top of the companionway in case it was needed.  No doubt readers will think that our actions were precipitate, but there were a number of relevant factors:

• The smoke was not all that thick and it did not appear to me to be fire driven; luckily I was correct in this assumption.
• The engine had not died on us and we assumed that the fire was not fuel fed.
• The automatic fire extinguisher had not gone off, so the heat was less than one would have expected.

The owner then carried out a detailed examination of the engine and found that the starter motor was extremely hot.  We called in a marine engineer the next day and the diagnosis was simple.  The bendix on the starter motor had failed to disengage from the fly wheel, and with the engine running the starter motor became a second alternator and overheated to such an extent that it produced the clouds of smoke.  We were lucky that it happened so close to the marina, and with plenty of light to see the nature of the smoke.

Two further interesting things came out of this incident.  The smoke alarms in the cabins either side of the engine did not go off until well after the smoke had filled the cabins, which made me think they were just about useless.  I suspect that in this field “you gets what you pays for”, and more expensive alarms than those sold at your average DIY stores may be a worthwhile investment.  The second point is what the marine engineer said, and he had been on a special “starter motor” course.  He told me that this was not an unusual occurrence, and he advised that starter motors should be taken off engines and the lubrication checked to ensure that the bendix worked properly.  He recommended that this was done annually.  I wonder what other marine engineers think of this advice.

We sailed from Yarmouth that evening and had a good SW wind the whole way, so we managed a reach for most of the trip.  Those of you who sail in the Solent well know that there are unlit buoys on the starboard side of Southampton water which need to be avoided.   This is where it is important that you have some navigational tool to ensure you go nowhere near these buoys; either a transit or a clearing bearing is the answer, and I believe that the latter would be the better in these circumstances.   Some might use a clearing depth contour line, but I feel the clearing bearing is simpler and needs less calculation.   The other thing I do is to have someone up in the bow with a powerful spotlight, to light up any unlit buoys which may be on the route.  All very well, I hear some of you saying, but when beating and the weather is bloody, it is not much fun.  All I say in answer to that is, “What is more important, a bit of comfort or the safety of the boat and crew?”

If there are any of you out there who are not sure about how to set up and use a clearing bearing, email me and I will send you a little brief on how to do this. My contact details are available on my webiste: Arrow Yacht Enterprises