Monday, October 20, 2008

HAMPTON TOWN PIER

Charmed and Snark spent two nights in Mill Creek in worrisome weather, weather that has you up on a regular schedule to check anchoring gear, boat location, and neighbor location.  Gales were predicted but measured maximum wind speed was just over 30 knots.  While barely comfortable for brief periods each tide cycle when current and wind caused the boat to sit parallel to the waves, the anchorage was comfortable enough.

After Mill Creek we voyaged three whole miles to the Hampton Town Pier.  Buffet breakfast at the hotel.  Laundry within walking distance at Hampton University.  Boat chores.  Dinner with Blew Yonder Tom and Tammi.  A stop at Wal Mart.

After a cold night, a few more boat chores while Charmed prepares for a short ride to Portsmouth, hopefully for a spot in the South Ferry Basin.  Snark is already off to Atlantic Marine in Chesapeake City for some alternator and engine analysis.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

MILL CREEK

Charmed and Snark lie at anchor in Mill Creek.  For a month or more, the weather has been wonderful.  Yesterday it turned wet.  Last night it also turned cool.  Today it will remain wet and cold.  Tomorrow it is supposed to clear.

There is almost no sense in going into the Hampton Public Piers today as planned.  No sense wasting the free night that we got at the Annapolis boat show to just sit there on the boat all day.  So we have books, movies, TV, and the first season of Lost that Kismet loaned us.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

AB DINGHY INFLATION VALVES

Inflatables may periodically need a little air.  They may periodically need air released from them.  It is good to read the manual about how to inflate and deflate your brand dinghy, before you need to do it.

When we bought our AB a year ago, it was delivered tight as a drum.  I was assured it was properly inflated, using a gauge.  It was hot outside.  Only yesterday did we ever have to adjust the air in the dinghy.  Some had to be added.  The dinghy had become too limp due to cold fall nights and cool days, and maybe a little leakage.

But then it got warm again, and some air needed to be released.  I should have done this at the mother ship, or at a beach or a dock.  With four persons onboard on the way to the St Michaels dinghy dock, I pushed the red button behind one of the three valve covers.  Whoosh!  Much of the air came out of the tube I was sitting on, instantly.  Worse, I learned the red button is detented!  You have to press it once to open it, again to close it.  By the time I figured that out almost all of the air was out of the one tube.  It is good to know that two tubes of the AB dinghy will easily support an idiot and three other people, a fifty pound motor, and twenty pounds of fuel!

(The Avon Lite dinghy valve is momentary.  Press and hold it to exhaust air.  Release it to close the valve.)

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

WmWAVES.COM LAUNCHED!

On October 5, 2008, Debbie and two friends, Radeen (Island Spirit) and Vanessa (Wind Runner), launched a new website for women sailors . . . www.WmWAVES.com. The site was inspired by a desire to bring women sailors together to share everything of interest to us . . . from boat recipes to how we can become comfortable handling a man-overboard situation and more. It is for women sailors (defined as "travelers by water") everywhere. Please visit the site and learn how this project got under way, what we hope to achieve and what it can do for you. Registration is free and we hope you will share your articles, calendar events, et cetera. If you like what we're doing, please pass the word around to your fellow women sailors. Let's join together and become one unified and strong group of Women Making WAVES!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

GENERATOR IMPELLER

Upon starting the auxiliary engine we check for water in the exhaust 100% of the time.  Upon starting the generator engine we used to check for water in the exhaust 90% of the time, sometimes being lazy.  We should have checked today.  The generator ran twenty minutes this morning before shutting down.  The ALARM light was on at the control panel.  The TEMPERATURE ALARM light was on at the generator.

The inlet strainer for the generator was clean, but no water flowed from it when the lid was unscrewed.  The hose was removed from the seacock.  Water flowed into the boat.  The hose between the seacock and the strainer was the issue.  Unfortunately that hose is twelve feet long.  A big blow blew dark goo and mud from the hose.  Now water flowed easily and fully to the strainer.  The generator was restarted, but no water joined the exhaust.

The good news is the impeller is very easy to get to, and a spare was back on board.  A first spare had been loaned to sistership At Last, who recently had a similar impeller failure.  The replacement spare had just been received days ago.

The original impeller had completely disintegrated.  There were no vanes left on the hub.  There were a couple full vanes in the housing along with numerous pieces.  We hopefully collected enough rubber to be the whole impeller.  We will watch closely to determine whether the cooling system remains compromised with pieces that made it out of the pump toward or to the heat exchanger.  Right now there is substantial water flow in the exhaust, and the generator is running at normal operating temperature.

We learned a few things today.  Check for cooling water flow for every marine engine, every time the engine is started:  auxiliary, generator, dinghy outboard.  Don't bother hoping an impeller will survive running dry for twenty minutes.

The original impeller on the generator ran 240 hours.  Yanmar says inspect at 300 hours, replace at 600 hours.  With the long hose run from the seacock to the strainer, and then another fair length to the water pump, this impeller may need attention more often to keep its performance high and like new.  The instant failure might have been avoided if the contaminant that collected in the hose had made it to the strainer and not restricted flow.