Removing the Plug!!

[MaltaBob]

How often do you remove the speed indicator down in the engine room to clean the weed off ' paddle' wheel . Despite being reasonably clean below water level, I find this glogs up frequently. Removing the plastic holder and replacing with the dummy plug always seems a bit ' iffy', is it something folk do regularly?
Weather - Sneddon , it hasn't rained since, so guess you and Andy took it all back to the UK. We probably won't get any more rain till Oct ??? Had a great run up to Gozo & Comino last weekend - brilliant !! Overnight in the Gozo marina still less than a tenner inc. elec/water - not bad eh ! /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[Viscount]

Never! Never had a problem either but reckon the GPS gives a close enough indication of speed anyway. However, the water the Clyde might be a little colder than Malta so marine growth perhaps less of an issue.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[burgundyben]

Whenever the boat slows down I pull the log out and and clean if off, mine has a flap that is supposed to close but doesnt so I let the water rush in and then some bilgex and a clean around and pump out.

 

[peterb26]

Mine is useless. I used to calibrate it every now and then so it made sensible reading, but now I just ignore it. As Viscount says, the GPS does the same job anyway.

 

[pheran]

I had to do this regularly on a previous boat. Heart-stopping the first time but stay calm and with a bit of practice its surprising how little water actually comes into the boat.

 

[Richard10002]

Dont forget to have the right sized wooden bung handy, just in case you have a problem with the dummy etc.

First time is frightening, but it's true that not much water comes in. After a while, you might even let a bit flood in to clean around the bilge.

 

[capnsensible]

I would put paddle wheel logs up there with chocolate ashtrays and umbrellas as the most useless things on a boat. Have removed, cleaned and re-inserted them loadsa times,on loadsa boats. Lasts moments. On my own boat, the log wrapped in in 1999. Speed over ground off the GPS is the thing you really need to know anyway.
On occassion when I'm having an astro rush I stream a log in the old fashioned way. Hope this helps. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[MaltaBob]

Thanks everyone, confirmed my feelings. Hope that weather improves for all.

 

[Dave_Seager]

I think that their usefulness depends on where you cruise. We cruise on the tidal Thames and the tides are strong enough to make a big difference between the speed through the water (log) and speed over the ground (GPS). We use the GPS to check our actual progress but use the log to set the boat's speed so that we can maintain the optimum speed to reach our destination in the tidal window.

With regard to cleaing the paddle wheel, I often find that doing a couple of knots astern clears the log. Since we moor in fresh water fouling is less of a problem and I only need to pull the log out a couple of times each year.

 

[pelicanpete]

The last two seasons I antifouled my paddle wheel and have had no problems with weeds or barnacles since. I used an artists paintbrush to daub the a/foul on.

 

[omega2]

If you have never done it before it is a little daunting, but in truth not much water will be shipped, if you can have a bare foot near the hole and just put your heel on it, that will stop the ingress.

 

[DAKA]

Agreed.

Also need the log to check on fuel situation, I use the log to see how much range I have left, the log can be 10% diferent to the gps if you have punched a few 2 knt tides ( or 6 knt in the Humber would give 30 % difference @ 20knts cruise).

Of course if you had calculated your range with the current with you that would be 60% out if punching the tide.