Some problems we have encountered for you experts to cogitate on.

Becky

Becky

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During our recent sail to the Algarve and back, the following probs were encountered;-

1)There is an anchor locker drain hole in the stem, about two feet above the waterline which when hitting waves at any reasonable speed sends a jet of water straight down the chain pipe. Any ideas on what to do?
I thought that a plate with venturi apertures either side, (but closed above and below would possibly do the trick)

2) The water tanks have their air vents opening into the anchor locker, quite high up. But, our bow was under water for quite alot of the time, and the water was contaminated; very noticeably so, even the full tank we hadn't started using yet. Cutting the pipes before they exit outside should do the trick, (and blocking the exit holes) as water doesn't get that far up the pipe, as far as I can tell. Unless anyone has a better idea?

3) Who can tell me of a good company to go to to have our windows refurbished or replaced (acryuc in aluminium frames)?

4) Has anyone else had trouble with Navman wind direction instruments, or logs? I know about the depth-sounder probs, we will soon be on our third one of those.

5) For those of you with coppercoat or similar copper impregnated epoxy antifouling, does yours work? We apparently have to burnish or resurface the stuff every year, which wasn't mentioned when we bought it. So we have just visited the scrubbing machine in Haslar, which totally failed to remove the stuff. It is THAT bad on poor Cornish Maid!

There, that is all I can think offor now. So please help me guys.
 
[ QUOTE ]
During our recent sail to the Algarve and back, the following probs were encountered;-

1)There is an anchor locker drain hole in the stem, about two feet above the waterline which when hitting waves at any reasonable speed sends a jet of water straight down the chain pipe. Any ideas on what to do?
I thought that a plate with venturi apertures either side, (but closed above and below would possibly do the trick)

2) The water tanks have their air vents opening into the anchor locker, quite high up. But, our bow was under water for quite alot of the time, and the water was contaminated; very noticeably so, even the full tank we hadn't started using yet. Cutting the pipes before they exit outside should do the trick, (and blocking the exit holes) as water doesn't get that far up the pipe, as far as I can tell. Unless anyone has a better idea?

3) Who can tell me of a good company to go to to have our windows refurbished or replaced (acryuc in aluminium frames)?

4) Has anyone else had trouble with Navman wind direction instruments, or logs? I know about the depth-sounder probs, we will soon be on our third one of those.

5) For those of you with coppercoat or similar copper impregnated epoxy antifouling, does yours work? We apparently have to burnish or resurface the stuff every year, which wasn't mentioned when we bought it. So we have just visited the scrubbing machine in Haslar, which totally failed to remove the stuff. It is THAT bad on poor Cornish Maid!

There, that is all I can think offor now. So please help me guys.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi Guys,

Nice to learn you got back OK.

1. Maybe easier to close off the stem drain hole and put two new ones in each side? With a forward facing cover over each hole vented aft - these should not take water.

2. IMHO suspect you still want a vent to allow air in / out when pumping water or taking more onboard. Why not also run these vents further aft - maybe even to the transom?

3. Sorry - do not know.

4. Sorry - no experiences with this kit.

5. I'm suprised. We have copper coat also and apart from a quick wipe using a snorkel when at anchor to remove light slime, it is stilll clean.
Ours was applied December 04.

Regards
JOHN
 
Wow, great to hear from you. Certainly missed all you guys when we set off on our own back to the UK.The return,as you may have seen from my first comments wasn't too good. We wasted so much time in harbour, that we missed out on the sights and harbours we didn't visit on the Rally. but at the end, we couldhardly manage 5 knots with the profuse weed growth.This was one of the reasons the boat performed so badly on the Rally, and of course, with the warm water, it only got worse! The thing that bothered me is that the copper antifouling is still brown. There has been no reaction with salt water to turn it green, which I believe is necessary for it to work at all.
Anyway, have been on to the Yard who did the work in the first place, so a cure will be in hand soon.
Regards Becky
 
Houdini windows have a good name.


I have a similar problem of water getting in where it shouldnt due to a poor design, but am now fitting a bilge pump to deal with the problem following last weekend where we took onboard abt half a ton of water.
 
[ QUOTE ]
3) Who can tell me of a good company to go to to have our windows refurbished or replaced (acryuc in aluminium frames)?

[/ QUOTE ]
Are you sure that this is the answer to your problem? Reading your post on SB
where you say
[ QUOTE ]
Then on the way home when we were beating into a F8 gale, we found that the windows all leaked.

[/ QUOTE ]
it sounds more like structural flexing causing the leaks since you only discovered them (in all the windows at the same time) while beating into a gale.

Congratulations on the trip BTW.
 
With regard to the airvent problem and fresh water tanks, you need a non return valve which allows air in/out, but no water. . In domestic plumbing you can get a "dumball valve", which when mouted vertically(ish) in the yachting sense. will allow air in- out, but will close when water is on the wrong side so to speak - any plumbers merchant will sell them usually 15 and 22mm varieties
 
Pleased to see you made it there and back.
A friend that applied Coppercoat to his boat himself this last winter had the same problem - he expected it to oxidise(? - can't remember my chemistry) to a green surface but it remained a lovely copper colour except under the waterline where the weed grew profusely!
The answer was to burnish the whole underside of the boat between tides since when the fouling has stopped. The company that sold the Coppercoat told him after the boat was launched that he may have to start the erosion process manualy. He wasn't pleased, needless to say.
With regard to the anchor locker drain, I would look to get a plastic bung or shroud to wrap round the chain before it drops into the locker and fit non return valves to the water tank air vents. I have the same arrangement but have a feeling that the vents on mine are partially blocked as it takes ages to fully fill the tanks.
I get a little water coming from my windows when green stuff comes aboard in volume but thankfully my kind of sailing at present doesn't include that very often! I understand from the Moody forum that the seals around the windows perish or degrade, but that it's a guty job to do - so I've put it off 'till I have to!
 
Hi Becky,

For the windows you will not do better than:-

C and J International Windows
Unit 10
Peacocks Industrial Estate
Providence Street
Cradley Heath
West Midlands B64 5DG

Absolutely brilliant to deal with and excellent workmanship.

Don't have the 'phone numkber to hand, but should be easy to get.

Talk to Jan, she's a super and very knowledgable.

Cheers Jerry
 
1/ Do I take it that you have an anchor locker with drain holes and then a pipe leading down to the bilge where the chain is kept? If so, then the anchor locker holes need blocking up - drainage holes should be at the low point of what they are are draining provided that is always above the waterline.. If your pipe leads to the bilge you will have to block up as much of the hawse pipe as poss and rely on the pump to drain.

2/ I'm sure you can get vent openings that seal when under water, but to put the tank vents in the bows of a mono that will pitch the bows into the water is bad boatbuilding. Suggest you move the vents to somewhere amidships and preferably sheltered. Coaming for example.

3/ & 4/ Cant comment

5/ Interesting. The coating works with bare copper exposed to the sea. If the copper powder has become coated and de-activated during application, it wont work. But probably all that is required is a quick rub down with wet and dry or a scotchbrite pad. You need to abrade the surface a little - a quick wipe with a soft brush prob wont work.
 
Possible answers ??

Anchor drains .... if accessible - you could fit valves just inside the hull ? Otherwise soft wood plugs from outside to seal them off. They are a real pain sometimes as good idea when inshore waters etc. .... but serious wave stuff ... close 'em.

Wtaer tanks .... ideally they should vent into the filler pipe or at least above bunk level ... to ensure as high as possible ... venting to the anchor locker in my opinion is daft. Suggest a change of vent pipe route and bolck of the old anchor locker connection.

The rest of woes .... ?? Seems you have a run of bad luck and faulty gear ....
 
I've got a Navman W3100, and had a Navman W100 onthe last boat - both have caused grief. The W3100 "looses" it's bearing on a regular basuis, and the only thing that seems to fix is a trip to the masthead, bring down the wand, attach direct to the instrument, calibrate, and then put it up again. Speed seems fine at this stage.

Navman (in Aus) have been good with support, but it's a shame I need regular support. My S3100 instument is about to go back as the glass has developed lots of cracks, apparently a problem with some batch of glue they used in 2003.

What is the nature of your problem?
 
Hi Becky, welcome back, I trust the Moody performed well, great boats. I understand the weather was not brill on the return?

Water tank vents..

on this I agree with with Nigel, really daft place to take the vent, all you are trying to achieve is to get air into the system so that the water can be used. Any air inlet system from bog basic Moody - open end, to a water service air admitance valve is going to let in sea water, if its located in the chain locker.
So as Nigel says you are going to have to re-route to a dryer position, I would suggest anywhere inside, luckly you dont need to be too fussy about position as long as you can maintain them & they are well above your highest point of use.

Navman......hmm on my old Moody I had problems with the masthead unit, direction pointing 180 deg out, not to sure in the end as to if it was software or poor construction. never had a problem with the depth sounder unit.
but I have to replace all the old instrumentation on the new boat so..... I think it may well be a compromise, the best wind instrument I can afford & a fish finder.

Whats your plans now??


poter
 
The water in cahin locker problem should not be under-estimated.

I'm not sure of how to fix the problem on your boat, but your posting is a reminder of how small amounts of water soon add up. My son crewed on a 72 luxury yacht on a delivery trip out of Ft Lauderdale last January and was pretty upset to find himself bailing with a bucket after just a few hours of heavy going into head-seas. It seems that water was getting into the chain locker because the chain exit was not sufficiently sealed up for ocean going. Every time the boat took water over the bow (often) a bit more shot down the hawse pipe, evry bit that went down added to the bow weight.... you can guess the rest.

They were safe in the end but it was not a good experience.
 
Re: tank breather

Re air bleed for fresh water tank, try taking a hot needle, or a very small drill and drill a hole, preferably at a diagonal pointing downwards, through the wall of the water filler pipe just below the deck cap. The amount of water that can leak, upwards, through that hole while filling the tanks is negigible, but it will be enough to bleed air into the system to allow water to be pumped out, unless you are going to run a fire hose from the tank. Then you can seal the breather pipes completely. The only drawback is that filling the tanks might be slow, depending on the configuration or route of the filler pipe.

It worked for me back in the 70's so it should still work.
 
Re: tank breather

Re Portugal-England in depth boat test .

If you anticipate having to bash upwind ,offshore- ? Consider removing the anchor and stow down below . Attach rubber ball on string and small pelican clip to end of chain ,let the weight of the chain pull it tightly into/onto the hawsehole..you can now fit a cork to the anchor locker drain hole...

..and ,if the ends of the watertank tubes are swan-necked correctly ,all should be fine on that count too....

Window seals ..Are an absolute pain in the rear to remove if you have to remove the frame from the hull first to send them away for refurbishment ( I am not familiar with Moody ,try owners club)... If you have to use screwdrivers ,use a really top quality new one and smack it hard with an 'ammer to drive the blade securely into the slot ,and consider trying to tighten each screw slightly before undoing . Its a question of alloy and s/steel together.
If (unlikely) you cannot replace the seals ,you can bond the window to the frame by setting it in Sikaflex! Needs lots of masking tape and Sikaflex but it will NEVER EVER leak again.

Dunno about copperbot ,they all seem to need scrubbing,whatever is on there.
 
I'd run the water tank vent out the hull, with a clamshell cover over the thru-hull--or a vent thru-hull designed to prevent taking on water through it when the decks are awash--or both...and a high arch in the line, so that any sea water that does get in would have flow uphill to make it into the tank.

All waste and fuel tanks MUST be vented to the outside of the hull...and IMO, water tanks should be too...'cuz the air in bilges and chain lockers is often rather foul from the animal and vegetable life in sea water and anything else pulled up with the anchor rode dying and decaying...and who knows what else in a bilge doing the same thing....and that air, along with any airborne bacteria, is pulled into the tank as water as drawn out by the pump.

That's my .02 worth anyway...
 
Must totally agree with HM ...

I find it amazing that FRESH Water tank would vent to chain locker .... I would soon block that off and vent separately.

Boatman mentioned fixing the windows back in with sikaflex ... reminded me of a silly leak that I had in one main cabin window .... not having time to strip and reset .... I thought sod it ... I'll run car windscreen sealant run ... and then when I get back from abroad - I'll do job properly .... that was over a year ago and the bloody window has never leaked since ... leak actually is overstating it .... it was like a condensation drip from the frame down the bulkhead .... just every so often ... so I assume the goo managed to get into the slight weep ....

One old tip .... with the older windows that were set into a rubber edging and then 'sqeezed' by the alloy frames screwed together ....... bicycle inner tube rubber is a good substitute ...... if you can't get marine stuff ...

/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Drains to sink ...

Two boats of mine have had bilge overboards combined into the sink overboard - with vlave shut off.

I'm a Marine Surveyor by Trade etc. and have no argument with it - in fact I consider it better than cutting more holes in the boat .... but bothe boats have had 'other' surveyors comment that they do not agree with it and would prefer it set separately !!! One even said - Better to have it pump to the cockpit .... he failed to observe that the cockpit was NOT self draining !! and would have flooded back to origin !! ( For those who didn't realise ... I am not allowed to assess or survey my own boat ... I can't even issue a letter of responsibility for condition etc. - so I get kicked into same arena as you guys !!!)

Luckily I have enough oomph to make sure it is NOT remarked in the reports .... !! That would be a mistake.

/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
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