Winterizing A4 and General Boat Preparation

[Mo]

SMP,

If you are going to be using a Thermostat it is imperative that you check it regularly and ensure it is clean, rust free, and working. I have to give my personal preference on the T-stat....leave it out and use the by-valve. Have a look at the T-stat thread on the go here and decide for yourself.

If you stripped the threads you will need to replace what failed...either the nut or stud. Otherwise set them to the torque specified in the manual. Those studs and nuts are part of the procedure tightening down the head so you have to ensure they are tight. A stripped one isn't good. If you went a bit tight and left it there without it stripping it will likely be fine.

As for going back for the rest that's normal. Mine is not completely done yet either due to weather. If you are expecting frost get all the water out of your tanks and winterize your toilet next. Don't forget the small things that need to be done on the engine as well, lubrication of top end, dist centrifugal springs, shifter cables etc....very important come spring time.

[Mo]

Neil, my sailing is over for the year....and it was a beauty of a day out there today....ughh.

Edward, I cleaned it up a bit. I have a rack of tires in the forward part of the garage as well. Soon be time for winter tires on everything...the car has two sets of alum rims but the truck I have to swap them off the rims which is a drag. The worst thing is all the summers are still half decent so they end up back in there as well. Tires take up allot of room!!

[thatch]

"Mo stole my garage!"

Mo,
I can easily see a TV series built around your garage... Many years ago a friend gave me a "Smurf" poster that reads "Genius's are Rarely Tidy", a theory that I heartilly agree with. You are definately not alone.
Tom

[Mo]

TV wouldn't know where to start.

So, I cleaned up the garage a bit in preparation of getting things off the boat. Took about 10 hrs to straighten out and organize the garage and that's not touching the mess on the bench. Threw out a truck load of junk, everything from old sails to chairs etc...gone.

Spent 4 hrs this morning taking things off the boat and getting it home. It's the things in the boxes that will need time to sort out and stow properly. Some electronics etc come in the house. There's lots of room in the rafters to put most of the stuff. Still have sails, dodger, cockpit curtains to come home....tomorrow. There is way too much gear on the boat and it seems to be allot of piddly stuff that gets taken aboard, stuffed into an opening, and forgotten about. Going to have to get a grip on that. I had 2 extra sets of docklines for when I cruise, 2 anchor rodes...the list goes on. If I left it off I suppose I'd end up needing it.

Attached are a couple of pics...everyone likes pics There's one there with the truck loaded...Loaded the truck up twice!!!

Anyway...my thought for the day. "it's all fun and games until the boat comes out of the water".

Still thinking of the boys in the North East that have bigger problems (Hurricane Sandy) than me putting my junk away....all the best to them.

[Mo]

I`m winning

Got back at the winterization process past couple of days. On the winning side now.

Left to do:
-grease furler bearings
-loosen rig
-pressure wash the boat out....everything is out that matters.
-put battery chargers aboard.

Took a few pics. Most everything is packed in the rafters, sails are laid in the basement for a few days to ensure they are dried. I rinsed them with freshwater 3 days ago. Once I`m sure they dried well I`ll put them on the sail shelf. Snuck in a pic of my back-up engine I had to drive a few nails in places to hang up the wet weather gear, ropes etc. I used to dry them out and put them in a trunk but decided to just hang them now. Even took the anchors home...one about around 15 lbs for dinner stops and a 25 lb one for when I`d want to sleep peaceful.

[sastanley]

Mo...where do you put the cars? That is a criteria that I need to apply to to keep the wife happy in the winter. The loose agreement is that during the week, cars go in the garage...on the weekend we can park them outside, but projects should be stored/completed/packed up by Sunday evening so the cars are back in the garage when it is time to go to work Monday AM.

However, she did get some birch sawdust on her car this morning since I used my half of the garage to run the table saw and cut the trim to fit her new oven I installed this weekend.

I can fortunately store most of my sailing stuff in the attic...cushions, sails, etc. but they are currently still on the boat as I hope to extend my season a bit longer.

[Mo]

Hi Shawn,
There only one car going in there now...truck wont fit. Have 2 ft benches on one side and about 5ft taken up by shelving, snowblower, lawnmower etc on the other. My truck has the hi-rise cap back on it, so it won't even come in under the door.

Wife's car not a problem...right now but I will start another project for sure and create another total mess. Typically, don't put the cars in the garage anyway unless working on them or have a snow storm on the way in.

When I first built the garage it looked so big...24x24 with nothing in it....now I was just mentioning I need a 60x100. Wife said "that would be bigger than the house"...to which I said "and your point is?" Had an Isuzu Trooper and a Landcruiser in those days and they parked next to each other fine. The dodge ram I have now is 22 ft long and with the gear in the front of the garage I wouldn't be able to close the door...that's no fun.

It is nice to have a spot to be able to put the gear off the boat. Was busy all day today so should get winterization finished up next day or so.

[Mo]

Boys...I have the plan.

Today went down and pretty much finished up my winterizing.

1. Took 5 turns off all side stays...put pins back in...pic attached.

2. To clean an engine, bilge, under cockpit area at low cost:...I bought a can of oven cleaner at the dollar store and sprayed my engine, under engine, under cockpit, bilge then hosed it out. Didn't even have to pressure wash. Whole thing took 20 minutes and done. Oven cleaner cuts the grime and the fiberglass rinses clean. Note that I have a plug / hole in the boat that is removed and allows it all to run out...and no residue outside. Pics attached...one pics shows how grimey it was under the engine...that came up real nice with no effort....slick. That hint came from a mechanic friend of mine.

3. Cleaned bilge....note pic of bilge pump strainer. If you have one ensure no water in it so it doesn't crack. If you have a bilge that doesn't drain ensure to run antifreeze through the pump.

Can also see the green antifreeze in my raw water strainer.

[sastanley]

Oven cleaner...goin' old school there! Great tip.

My garage is 20x24 and it is not big enough.

[Mo]

Shawn,
Garages and boats....they both will never be big enough. Laughing

[Mo]

That's a take!

Every last detail is done on my boat for winterizing. Have a few projects before she goes back in the water.
-need to do the brightwork...didn't touch it at all last year.
-need to put the polyglow to the topsides as I didn't touch that last year either.
-need to come up with and install a new flipper whale pump and reinstall the sink in the head area.

More may come down the pipe before winter is out but that's not an overbearing "to do list"

....twiddling my thumbs waiting for warm weather again

[keithems]

hi mo!

as u know, i have almost the exact same boat as you [c&c 30, 1976]....blue, etc. -- even the name in gold lettering on the side...though yours is much prettier than mine -- r & r-ing my a4 last spring ate up lots of rehab time....

anyhoo - as i just posted elsewhere in more detail....

the original a4 manual i have gives the option of winterizing the cooling system by just removing the drain plugs and the water pump impeller cover and letting everything drain.....is that a bad idea, esp. since i operate in fresh water [no t-stat], and it looks like a mild winter's in store?

and more importantly -- i'd like to drill a bilge drain hole like you have -- i know at first you had some leaking problems, etc. -- so do you still recommend it? can you send me details as to exactly where, the specs, the drill bit to use, etc.? you can p/m me if you prefer

thanks and have a good winter....

keith

[Mo]

Hi Keith,

Will get you some pics holding a tape. I just showed another C&C 30 owner where to put one today....took about 2 minutes to mark....but harder to write it

I may even take the measurements off his boat if he went ahead and drilled it today. He had a nice visable C&C smile and mine is faired etc. On it tomorrow, almost dark here now and I have the kids.

Would that be OK?

[keithems]

of course!

my smile is faired as well

would also help if you can tell me what size and type drill bit, die, tap..whatever else i need to do it right..since once the boat goes into the h2o if it's leaking i'm s.o.l.

thanks

keith

[Mo]

First, wait until I give you measurments: LOL

Then drill the hole where I tell you (I'm starting to sound like my wife LOL). Then sand an area about 5 inches all around that hole...all the way to gelcoat. Bronze fittings can be had a plumbing supply store. Hardware stores generally don't have this stuff and they are better than the ones made for boats...once in it won't be knocked out or sheared off.

Part 1:
Bronze Hex Reducing Bushings. 1/2 inch inner diameter. Pic attached. Procedure is to drill the hole the same size as the thread diameter on the fitting. Once done, screw the reducer into the hole and then take it back out. You just tapped it. Next mix some epoxy and put some on the threads in the fiberglass...this will seal the fiberglass from absorbing water. Now, cover the threads of the fitting with epoxy as well and screw it in all the way and leave the whole thing for 24 hrs.

Next day come back and put fairing compound, fiberglass, epoxy or what ever you want and cover the hex on the fitting. Make it all nice and smooth.

Part 2: Bronze Plug...to fit inside the reducing fitting. Then put your plug in...then put some bottom paint over it. When the boat is out of the water the plug stays out as well. When you put the plug in in spring tighen it up and then put about 20 lbs of torque...no teflon required, if put too tight will destroy the plug trying to get it back out (did all that)...remember they are pipe threads and bind as they tighten.

The pics are not proportional. The reducer will be bigger than the plug and the plug screws into the center of it. When completed the square portion of the plug and a few threads will be extruding...it doesn`t screw in all the way as it tightens up after about 10 turns or so....small price to pay to keep water out of the boat.

3rd pic is the boat with some marks. The red line follows the C&C smile...note that it is on a slight downward slant as it comes forward. I marked the other little deviation in our keel with the green. So, we want to continue forward with the now " imaginary" line to the forward part of the keel. The actual smile follows the green line. Inside that green area is solid glass. up to the red line. So, now drill the hole about an inch above the red line...we have to allow for the thickness of the base of the boat fiberglass floor. You should come in just above the bottom of the boat and touch you finger on the bottom...mine came right in over it perfect. Yellow circle is the hole...note that it is above the red line.

4th pic is the hex `sort of `fared and the plug is out.

http://www.aymcdonald.com/en-US/Bronze-pipe-fittings.html