"

Hi Nadeane,

The tea colored leaching you are seeing is indeed the teak's natural oils and this is actually very normal. All teak decks do this and it is proof that your deck as you rightly say, still has life in it yet. There are a number of polymer sealers on the market you can put on the deck to prevent the water from soaking in when it rains and these will also prevent the deck from graying and developing mildew and to an extent will extend the longevity of your decks.

However most people (including me) don't really like to use these products as they don't always look very natural and are labor intensive to apply. But if you do chose to try one, then in my opinion "Semco" is the best. It's very close to clear resulting in a more natural look and it lasts for many months (depending on conditions, mostly sun). I've embedded a link to their website, just click HERE.

Also, I have a good friend that recently got a very nice result from a Starbright sealer and here is the link to that website. Click HERE.

Bottom line, if you want to keep your teak "natural" then you have to put up with the tea colored liquid. We keep the deck on the yacht I operate natural and each morning I use a chamois to wipe down the boat.

Best regards,

Captain Ian Fagg

"

"

Hi Phyllis,

Your trip seems pretty straight forward. My charts and tidal data is pretty limited for your cruising area, but from what I can see, the currents in your area reverse themselves as the tides ebb and flood into Neah Bay; this is very similar to the tides and currents around Narragansett Bay in Newport, RI which I know well.

Anyway, from what I can tell, the currents around Port Townsend can get pretty strong up to 4 knots or so, also similar to Narragansett Bay, so make sure you time your departure to take advantage of these currents. Also, you should be aware that strong winds in a direction opposed to the current flow can cause overfalls and some nasty sea conditions, so remember to factor the weather patterns in this area into your departure plans as well.

I would also recommend that you get your hands on a tide chart, or tidal software and run some simulations. Pre-planning and timing is everything for a trip like this, but on the boat you have, I forsee nothing that would prevent you from making a comfortable and safe passage to Neah Bay.

Be safe and best regards,

Captain Ian Fagg

"

"

Hi Ron,

Good question. If you have a RADAR fitted on your vessel, you are required by Inland and International navigation rules to use it in certain circumstances, but not "always."

Basically, you need to use it anytime it could possibly help, even in good visibility in the middle of the day. As the boat operator you also need to make sure that you and anyone else using the unit are properly trained. Offshore, by the time you see a tanker, depending on how early you spotted it, it could easily be less than 15 minutes until she poses a risk of collision. Thus, it would be prudent and possible to recognize this risk early on by having your RADAR unit turned on and scanning long range. You would then have more time to assess the risk and take the best measures to avoid them.

If you haven't already, refer to USCG Navigation Rules 5,6,7 and 19 partially reproduced below from Jeremy R. Hood from HSH Yacht Sales; Navigation Rule 5 (Inland and International) states that:

"Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances . . ."

While RADAR is not specifically mentioned here, the implication is clear - - it should be in use and used when the circumstance would make it helpful such as at night, or in restricted visibility.

Rule 6 which deals with safe speed for a vessel has a specific section (Rule 6(b)) which applies to vessels with operational RADAR. The requirements are the same for both sets of rules and are:

". . . in determining a safe speed the following factors shall be among those taken into account:

(i) the characteristics, efficiency and limitations of the RADAR equipment;

(ii) any constraints imposed by the RADAR scale range in use;

(iii) the effect on RADAR detection of the sea state, weather and other sources of interference;

(iv) the possibility that small vessels, ice and other floating objects may not be detected by RADAR at an adequate range;

(v) the number, location and movement of vessels detected by RADAR;

(vi) the more exact assessment of the visibility that my be possible when RADAR is used to determine the range of vessels or other objects in the vicinity."

Rule 7 is concerned with assessing risk of collision, and specific mention is made about RADAR. Section (a) states:

"Every vessel shall use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances to determine if risk of collision exists. If there is any doubt such risk shall be deemed to exist."

The rule then continues with Sections (b) and (c) which relate specifically to the use of RADAR:

"(b) Proper use shall be made of RADAR equipment if fitted and operational, including long-range scanning to obtain early warning of risk of collision and radar plotting or equivalent systematic observation of detected objects.

(c) Assumptions shall not be made on the basis of scanty information, especially scanty RADAR information.

Rule 19 relates to the conduct of vessels in Restricted Visibility and here, as you may have imagined, RADAR is again mentioned. Section (d) reads:

"A vessel which detects by RADAR alone the presence of another vessel shall determine if a close-quarters situation is developing or risk of collision exists. If so, she shall take avoiding action in ample time, provided that when such action consists of an alteration of course, so far as possible the following shall be avoided: (i) an alteration of course to port for a vessel forward of the beam, other than a vessel being overtaken; and (ii) an alteration of course towards a vessel abeam or abaft the beam."

These navigation rules, which are in easy-to-read language not only tell you how you are required to use your RADAR, the tell you what type of information you can expect to obtain from a RADAR. You can detect other vessels when they are far off and often below the visible horizon and you can determine if there is a risk of collision. But from Rule 6 you will deduce that RADAR can give false or misleading information also!

Hope this helps answer you question.

Happy Echo Trails,

Captain Craig Bliss

"

"

Hi Richard,

I asked around a little on this one and there seems to be no hard and fast answer to your question, but I did learn some items of interest. Since ethanol has been added to gasoline a number of people have had problems with degrading plastic tanks, so if your tanks are plastic, there probably is some benefit in draining the gasoline for storage to avoid aging your tanks.

My research on draining tanks during the winter season to prevent congealing and/or separation produced hazy results. But the consensus seems to be that the colder your climate in the winter, the more important this becomes. Here's a link that my friend Gordon Hartschuh provided and it may be helpful: 

http://www.fuel-testers.com/review_gas_treatment_products.htm

The problem, as I'm sure you are aware, is the build up of condensation in the tanks during the winter season if the tanks are empty or partially filled. So here is the procedure I would follow to be safe: 1.) At the end of the season before you winterize, drain all of the gasoline from your tank (pre-plan to use most of the fuel as end of season approaches) then "run" the last of the fuel out before you haul; 2.) At the beginning of the new season, lead the fuel drain line from the tank(s) to a bucket, then take a wet vac (make sure the canister is clean), plug the hose into the filler of your tank and switch it own. This will pressurize the system and any condensation that has built up in the tank during winter will be pushed out of the tank into your bucket, now you're free to fill the tanks and prime the system. Make sure you follow the manufacturer's instructions for priming the fuel system.

As for the "Sta bil" type products, the consensus again is to use fuel conditioners for gasoline engines to prevent congealing in the injection ports/carburetors, especially if laid up for long periods.  However, to be safe, the preferred method is still to drain your tanks for the winter to avoid all the issues with congealing, fuel separation, and condensation.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Captain Ian Fagg

"

"

Hi John,

The good news is your friends are right! It's all pretty straight forward stuff and you should be able to service both of them in a day. I don't have access to a service manual, but the Crusader website has a page devoted to service manuals - - here's the link http://www.crusaderengines.com/Owners%20Info/manuals.html.

The following are the steps and general process:

1. Shut the thru-hull that supplies sea water to the engines.

2. You need to drain the coolent from the fresh water side of the exchanger/engine. There will usually be a drain plug on the lower end of the exchanger, probably the aft end. Remove the filler cap, then unscrew the drain plug and drain the fluid into a bucket. If you can get a bucket into position, use a funnel and a piece of hose to channel the fluid into a bucket. Failing that, you can let the fluid run into the bilge, but then you have a bit of a clean up problem on your hands. Remember to turn off the bilge pump at the switch panel before draining into the bilge; use a manual hand pump to pump the fluid into a bucket and clean the residual with a sponge. The bucket, if it works, serves one other purpose, it indicates the volume of fluid needed to recharge the system afterward.

3. Drain the sea water side. On my engine I have a drain plug on the oil cooler for the gear box which is lower than the heat exchanger and all in the same system. Look for it as you may also have a drain plug somewhere else. Again unscrew the lowest drain plug in the system and drain the sea water into a bucket, or the bilge.

4. After draining both sides of the system, you can remove your end caps and look inside. Check for bits of impellers that may have broken off and calcium build up. Having gone this far, I would recommend going the extra mile as follows.

5. Now remove all the hoses in any order appropriate, unbolt the exchangers from the engines and take them out to the dock.

6. Take a fresh water hose and with the end caps removed, flush the exchangers with fresh water.

7. Inspect for calcium build up inside the pipes, if necessary take a metal rod similar in diameter to the inside of the tubes and pass it through to push out any calcium and debris that may be blocking the tubes. Then flush again with fresh water.

8. Once you are happy that the exchanger is clean and you can see clearly through all of the tubes, you can reassemble in reverse order. Even if they don't look worn, it's work replacing the end cap gaskets as a precaution.

9. Replace the drain plugs and open the thru-hull.  The salt water side of the engine will self bleed.

10. Fill the engine with coolent. I recommend buying a pre-mix coolent, but if you use undiluted coolent, dilute it ONLY with distilled water - - tap water will be band for both your engines and the exchangers. You will have a bleed valve somewhere on the engine, quite possibly on top of the housing for the thermostat, but look all over the engine for something at the highest point of the fresh water circuit. Open the bleed valve and fill the system until this valve begins to weep fluid, then shut it off and continue to fill the header tank until full, then replace the filler cap. If you have an expansion tank, you can now fill that to the desired fill line.

11. Recheck that all of your hoses are connected and tight with no signs of leaks. Double check that your engine intake thru-hull is open. Now start the engine (in neutral) and let it run for a couple of minutes (2-3 min). Shut the engine off and check the coolant level - - top off if necessary. Repeat this process 5-6 times until you are happy that the engine has taken all the coolent it wants. Then run the engine for at least 20 minutes, monitoring the fluid level and also checking for leaks at temperature.

12. When you are happy there are no leaks and the fluid level at temperature is stable, shut down the engines. Job Done!

Here's another tip for you. If you find your exchangers to be particularly clogged up when you inspect them, it would be advisable to take them to a mechanic for an acid bath.  While there, he can perform a pressure test just to make sure there are no leaks between the fresh and salt water sides. But this depends a little on how old your engines are and how long it has been since a full service check was performed.

In the end it is a pretty straight forward job.

Have fun,

Captain Ian Fagg

"

"

Hi Daniel,

In my opinion, the most knowledgeable guy in marine electronics is Phil Lee with Cay Electronics in Portsmouth, RI. Rather than answer myself, I called Phil and here is his answer.  Personally, I would take his recommendation.

"There are many brands of hand held GPS units available but the most economical is a GPS “Puck” that is just a receiver and is powered by your USB port on the computer. Holux make some as do other manufacturers like Garmin and they can be found on the Internet for as little as $35 plus shipping

 See this link. http://www.google.com/products?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4ACGW_enUS345US357&q=usb+gps+receiver+for+laptops&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=EJCqS7nOEdvNjAe8zuj4BA&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCEQrQQwAA

As for hand held units Garmin units tend to output a proprietary sentence and a second “Utility Program” is needed to convert this into the more common NMEA format. My advice would to look at the Magellan series as many of their units can output a NMEA sentence that is compatible with all charting software.

 See link. http://www.magellangps.com/products/product.asp?segID=425&prodID=1912 

The cable is an optional extra, but overall the Magellan will be the easiest and most economical to interface with your computer navigation software. It's a simple plug and play setup.

Phil Lee"

So, pardon me for pawning this question off on Phil, but I trust his opinion and would follow his lead in anything involving marine electronics.

All the best,

Captain Ian Fagg

"

"

Hi Tom,

Well that's an interesting question. The short answer as alarming as it may be is YES it's true, PFD's do not have to be worn to count. The long answer is it depends on who is on board. For example, are children under the age of 16 on board, if so, they MUST be wearing the PFD.

I'm not familir with the ABC class you are referring to, but here is a link to the US Coast Guard page that outlines the requirements for PFD's:

http://www.uscgboating.org/safety/life_jacket_wear_wearing_your_life_jacket.aspx

Though "NOT REQUIRED", a PFD should be worn at all times when the vessel is underway, but at a minimum, you must have a U.S. Coast Guard-approved Type I, II, III, or V life jacket "READILY ACCESSIBLE" for each person aboard, and for boats 16 feet and over must have at least one Type IV throwable device as well.

But the story doesn't end there, in addition to being readily accessible, the following are also required:

- PFD's can't be stored in plastic bags, or in locked storage lockers, or underneath equipment, lines, or other things that impeed quick access to the PFD's.

- You must show your passengers where PFD's are located and demonstrate the proper way to put the PFD on in a reasonable amount of time during an emergency.

- Inflatable PFD's must have a full cylinder and all status indicators on the inflator must be green, or the device is NOT serviceable, and does NOT satisfy the PFD requirement.

- Inflatable PFD's cannot be used for children under 16 years of age. Special life jackets are available, must be worn snugly, so as to not allow the child’s chin or ears to slip through.

There are some additional rules for children, water skiers, white-water boating, kiteboarding, etc. But the answer to your question is PFD's do not have to be worn to be counted.

Hope this helps, best,

Captain Craig Bliss

 

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"

Hi Carl,

The requirements for the USCG 100gt Masters license are listed on the National Maritime Center website - - click HERE to go to the website. The wording on the USCG website is vague and it looks like 720 days at sea are required, but it is 360 days. Remember, a sea day is not 24 hours, rather it is 4-8 hours underway and there is bonus time for continuous passages greater than 24 hours.

There are lots of schools that give the courses. I attended the Maritime Professional Training Center in Fort Lauderdale (954) 525-1014 to acquire my USCG 1600gt All Oceans license, and they are one of the best having been in business for 25 years and offering a full range of courses. I don't know about other schools, but MPT is all on-site schooling at their facility, but they can arrange economical temporary housing and they have access to limited scholorship funds. The thing I like about MPT is they tailor the coursework to your schedule. Click HERE for a link to their Reference Manual and Course Catalog.

Good luck,

Captain Bob Wellen

"

"

Hi Linton,

Your call sign is something you obtain when you get your Ships Radio License, and will look something like "ABC 1234." Here is a link that will give you all the information you need to obtain the license: www.wireless.fcc.gov/services/index.htm?job=licensing&id=ship_stations. You need to have the radio license before you get your MMSI and the radio license will contain your call sign.

When using your radio, you can use your boat name as your "handle," but your call sign comes with the Ships Station Radio License.

Best,

Captain Craig Bliss

"

"

Hello Glenn,

On your first question about the Litex product, I have never used this product, but these products are generally called "skim coatings." I did some online research (litexinc.com) and found that these finishes are designed for home applications. They cure to a very hard finish, and hard inflexible finishes on a boat are a problem. I do not recommend using this product; at the end of the day you would be covering old material that is failing (chipping) and it will continue to fail underneath the skim coating. In addition, the specific Litex finish will be inflexible and as the hull flexes, cracks will form and then you have a real problem. Although it's a lot of work, your best bet is to strip the area down using a chemical stripper and then sand smooth, prime and repaint. Then you know you have done a job that will last for years to come and look good.

Regarding your second question, wind generators are easier to install than solar, but personally I don't like them. Wind generators create extra drag, are not that attractive, and are noisy. Many people swear by them, but the constant hissing of wind generators is annoying to me. I've actually moved anchorage to get away from a boat that came in after us and had a wind generator. Wind generators however will produce more power, so if the objective is long term cruising, then perhaps wind power is the way to go.

Solar is more complex and requires a solar inverter, but creates no extra windage, makes no sound at all and doesn't detract from the lines of the yacht, although the solar cells themselves are not that attractive. So if you simply want a trickle charge to keep the batteries up during your absence, then I would go with a small set of solar cells installed in inconspicuous place.

As for a resource center for wind and solar power for yachts, I would recommend eMarine Systems at this link: www.e-marine-inc.com. This site has a lot of information about both wind generators and solar systems and is a good place to start.

Best of luck,

Captain Craig Bliss

"

"

Hi Tom,

You are quite right - - if there is no continuity between the bonded ground system of the boat and the water, then the anode is doing nothing to protect his boat. The wire needs to be connected to the anode and the bow roller (or any other part of the boat connected to a common ground).

However, a connected extra sacrificial anode is a great idea if you leave your boat for long periods of time in marinas because not only will it protect your boat from any stray current issues that may develop on your own boat, but will also protect you from stray currents from other boats around you.

To test for stray current on your boat, throw the positive terminal of a volt meter in the water and the negative lead to a ground (a stantion, if grounded, is fine) and see what the meter reads. It should read less than 1 volt, there will always be a small voltage 0.8 volts or so, but if it's much more than this, then you need to investigate where the stray current is originating.

You can also use this to test your friend's "hot" zone (positive in the water, negative on a ground on the dock). If the meter is reading significantly more than 1 volt, then the likely culprit is AC wiring under the dock where the insulation is compromised from rubbing or chafe. This can be dangerous and must be repaired. If the dock is not the source, then test the boats on either side of your friend's dock.

Best regards,

Captain Ian Fagg

"

"

Hi Robert,

Ultimately your boat is going to have to come out of the water, so you are going to have to find a marina that will haul wooden boats. Of course some people do leave their boats in during the winter and light ice forms around them, but I am sure that Shakleton would agree that this is generally a bad practice.

On the cover, I would well recommend this as well. The shrink wrap system to keep off snow, ice, leaves, etc., works very well indeed and will seriously reduce the amount of clean-up and maintenance that needs to be done when you come to re-commission the boat in spring.

I would also recommend posting your question on the SailAngle.com "Forum" and throw it out to other members of the community and perhaps others can give you some specific advice on marina's that will haul wooden boats in your area.

Best regards,

Captain Ian Fagg

"

"

Hi Armand,

Excellent question! Now I have a question for you . . . Is your radar by any chance one of the new Navico Broad Band Radar's? If so, because of the frequency it uses, it will not trigger the RAYCON beacons, consequently you will not see them on your radar. Large ships use a frequency known as "S-Band" and these also will not trigger the RAYCON beacons. The only frequency that will trigger the signals is the standard "X-Band", the most common radar frequency.

However, I understand that the Navico Radar is a very nice compact unit, so it's not a bad purchase by any means, and the lack of triggering the RAYCON beacons is a small trade off for the convenience of a compact unit.

Here's a tip for you to help build your confidence. Use your radar during day trips that you know very well so that you get used to the display and the various reflections. Then repeat those same trips at night to build your confidence and trust in the unit. Once you get used to your display, your confidence will build and you will find it to be a valuable navigation tool.

Last, I would like to give credit to Rufus van Gruisen, the founder of Cay Electronics in Portsmouth, R.I. who I consulted to help formulate the answer to your question.

Cheers,

Ian Fagg, Captain - Inukshuk

"

" Hi Bert,

Without being there to look at the engine, I'm not sure I can be much help here. From what you described it sounds like you may have some pretty significant issues going on there and I would need a bit more information to accurately point you in the right direction. A best guess would be a loose timing chain that drives your camshaft via a gear, that could cause chipping of the teeth you are referring to, and would certainly explain the missing. I suppose the good news is the engine still runs which means it isn’t the crankshaft, bearings or pistons. It sounds like the timing chain, but without knowing more, my best advice is to have a certified Mercruiser technician take a look. If it is the timing chain, depending on how handy you are it's a relatively easy repair. However, don't run the engine any more until you know, because a miss-timed engine can cause more extensive damage.

Good luck,
Craig
"