Traditional start to the sailing season

[vyv_cox]

We launched today after a week or so preparing. Motored to a berth after checking below while in the slings. All OK. Ten minutes later, tried the toilet. Water on feet, bowl discharge somewhat slow. Found a split hose on the inlet side, no idea why. Incredibly, the marina chandlery has no 3/4" hose. Found a length on board and fitted that, and checked the joker valve, which as usual was heavily fouled with calcium deposits, particularly on the downstream side. This was annoying as we flushed copiously at the end of last year. New joker valve fitted from our large stock, we seem to need one a year as the deposits distort the rubber.

So once again my first hours afloat were spent crouched in the heads. With luck that is the last time this year but not holding breath.

 

[ProDave]

There's a lot to be said for the simplicity of a porta potti.

 

[rwoofer]

There's a lot to be said for the simplicity of a porta potti.

I'm a big convert to a Kampa Khazi. Far less hassle than a porta potti and just as comfortable as normal toilet. Of course it still is a bucket and chuck-it, but nothing wrong with that if it is comfortable.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kampa-153001-Khazi-Portable-Toilet/dp/B001TQ5KC2/ref=pd_bxgy_sg_img_y

 

[J Neeves]

Bad luck Vyv, Just think yourself lucky to only have a six months season, we sail 365 and have these problems continuously.

But excuse my ignorance: what's a 'Joker' valve and why the name?

Jonathan

 

[vyv_cox]

But excuse my ignorance: what's a 'Joker' valve and why the name?

The joker valve is the tricuspid non-return type fitted to toilet discharges. Reputedly when Jabsco invented it they intended to call it a choker valve but found the name already in use by an industrial pump manufacturer, so they called it a Joker valve.

Porta-potties and other portable types may be sufficient for occasional use in some locations but for full-time deployment for half the year they would be highly irksome. Particularly in the Mediterranean where disposal facilities are non- existent. I use a chemical toilet regularly in the motorhome, where disposal facilities are not too difficult to find in many countries but they become rare the further east one travels.

 

[jimi]

So once again my first hours afloat were spent crouched in the heads. With luck that is the last time this year but not holding breath.

What air freshener do you use? Must be quite good stuff!

 

[wiggy]

My season started with salt water being ejected from the heat exchanger cap overflow when on high revs. Returned to port and took off the rubber end caps to find the cooling stack 50% blocked and it wouldn't come out. Call to Barry the engineer.......HELP.

 

[Bodach na mara]

Wind meter not working. Again. I thought I had found the wiring fault and fixed it.

After the mast went up, I found that the VHF antenna co-ax outer plastic sheath was split where it came out of the mast. A job for the winter, but bodged with Sikaflex for now.

Log won't work. Worked perfectly before laying up.

Still, that is minor compared with the problem facing a friend, who suffered the misfortune of having the insulation on the engine hatch detaching and falling on to the exhaust. Lots of smoke but no fire fortunately.

 

[rjp]

Aqualarm cooling water alarm which worked fine on launching, failed by the time I berthed. New last season!
Simrad .TP22 tillerpilot failed shortly after I berthed. New last season!
Total distance logged 10.1 nm!!

 

[jac]

Discovered the fitting holding the cockpit enclosure frame is seriously loose so aft cabin will leak like a colander if the enclosure is not in place.

 

[johnalison]

So far, everything has worked swimmingly, except the skipper, who managed to attach the main halyard to the sail without taking it through the lazyjacks. Since it was blowing at the bottom of force 2 at the time, it was not unduly disastrous.

 

[vyv_cox]

And so it continues. Hope this isn't going to be the pattern for the summer.
Motoring to the north of Leros yesterday, found the bilge beneath the engine full of water, as it turned out only because I had not tightened the exhaust hose clamp sufficiently, but on looking around there seems to be a pinhole leak in the exhaust elbow.
Yesterday tried the cockpit/transom shower, reservoir is a ten gallon bottle in the aft locker with a cheap caravan immersed pump providing flow. The pump has failed. Nothing like it available in Greece apparently. Now have to use something else, far more expensive.
Last night the domestic water pump started cycling at quite frequent intervals. Investigation showed the O-ring seal in the quick connector had failed. I tried a dab of grease, ineffective, but that superb standby, liquid PTFE sealed it perfectly.
So a very expensive visit to the chandlery at Partheni today. At least some new O-rings were cheap!

 

[prv]

What air freshener do you use? Must be quite good stuff!

No such thing as good air freshener. It all just adds to the miasma.

My head doesn't smell anyway, even with the outlet hose disconnected to service the pump. At least twenty strokes of clean seawater after every single use (if I don't hear pumping for long enough, I tactfully remind people ) means that human waste is a minority of what's passed through it.

Pete

 

[Corribee Boy]

I noticed a seep around the log impellor tube, so I decided (while accidentally aground) to loosen the locking nut, put in some sealant, and retighten.

The locking nut backed off quite easily, I thought - until I realised it was the tube itself shearing in two. Lashings of butyl mastic and the impellor wired back into the remains of the tube proved quite watertight, but the whole thing was rather traumatic.

 

[RupertW]

So far -
Forward nav light glass missing so needed to buy a new one (of course I checked all the boats around me first)
Bilges full of fresh water - still not sure why but probably now know why the previous owner glued shut the inlet cap on deck
Otherwise all ok and winter work seemed to be complete so not too displeased and set off on our 350 mile trip from our existing base marina to our new one. Weather v gusty and wavy (7-36 knot variation every few minutes) and boat under considerable steering strain in gusts when running even with double reefed main so glad I got a third put in.

All calmer a couple of days later for an overnighter when the big problem happened at 2am about 50 miles off the nearest coast - the steering suddenly started grinding and wouldn't turn nearly as far in one direction. We made it into our next harbour and found an I-beam holding up the rudder stock had snapped. It was so rusty the remains could be snapped like a Digestive biscuit. It had been carefully manufactured in a material than can rust, had nice water trap to ensure any drips pooled, and of course placed under the little opening lid for the emergency tiller.

I should of course have spotted it over the last couple of years when greasing the steering but didn't look up when I was buried in the stern cavity.

All fine now and a great final overnight sail last Saturday to get to our new base.

 

[vyv_cox]

Is this a Jeanneau? See http://coxengineering.sharepoint.com/Pages/Corrosion.aspx

 

[RupertW]

Is this a Jeanneau? See http://coxengineering.sharepoint.com/Pages/Corrosion.aspx

That's the one and your site was very useful in helping me explain the problem to the Italian engineer before he came to the boat, so thanks. Oh, and the one in your picture is sparkling and lovely compared to mine which had rust all the way along. All held together by memory that it used to be a beam.

The good news is that the rudder doesn't actually fall off - just drops a few centimetres and causes everything the grind together and steering wires to almost come off the D shaped thing. We were very lucky that the marina we parked up in was next door to a better boatyard than I ever found in Croatia so we left the boat there for 3 weeks and had a lot of long planned work done.

 

[DJE]

So far, everything has worked swimmingly, ....

Yes I thought that last spring then halfway between the Needles and Anvil Point all the electronics shut down! Broken negative cable from panel to engine earth point!

 

[J Neeves]

I'm not going sailing again, I'm typing this hidden under the bed

On returning to our cat once, we had been away and the boat broken into - we had sorted all that out, we went south to Tasmania. On the far south west coast we used the 40l of top up fuel before heading north up the coast, we were about 1nm off the coast, but miles from anywhere (the nearest road is 100 miles away). This was good fuel, bought at a service station - the thieves had stolen 10l from each can and topped each can up with water. There was an inevitable result and getting 20l of water out of a fuel tank (and engines) was a nightmare.

Jonathan

 

[PaulMcC]

I stayed in the water this year but have still managed to break both the log and the anomometer. Pretty sure the log is just fouled but the damn thing is really well jammed in to the through-hull sleeve so I haven't managed to extract it yet. Went up the mast on the bank holiday weekend in Poole to look at the anomometer and was inexplicably left up there for about 10 minutes whilst those on the boat ran around aimlessly.
Turned out they had spotted that the sole boards were underwater and it took them 10 minutes to find the cause - the marina hose filling the fresh water tank had caused the tank to overflow and leak from where the connection between the deck filler and the downpipe.
I've now got visions of being left up the mast as the boat settles on the bottom in Poole Yacht Haven - slightly embaressing.