off topic Newport 30

[Ript75]

Hey Everyone,

I've been rebuilding my A4 out a recently acquired '74 Newport 30... last October recent. I haven't been sailing in many years. Though I spent a good bit of my youth sailing on Lake Ontario/Sodus Bay Area, on a Sunfish and my dad's Islander 24. My boat has been on the hard for the last 4 years. And she needs lotsa TLC. She'll be launched in the spring, and home port will be Rochester, NY. I'll have much to learn and relearn this season coming. Looking forward to getting out there!!!!


Regards,

Jon

[congoboard]

In a similar "boat"

I am in a similar "boat" as you. Just bought my Newport 30 in Sept. and it needs a bit of TLC. It is my first "own" boat.

My family had a Seaquest 26 in Dana Point CA back in the 1970s where I learned to sail. We motor sailed the 50 +/- miles to Catalina with our trusty 10 horse mercury OB regularly! I also sailed out of some of the clubs here in Boston over the last few years.

If I come across any good resources I will share them with you. Things I need to address are a leaking water tank, smelly head, bad mast wiring, new oil & water temp gauges, non functioning instruments (depth, knot log etc), and a couple of soft spots on the deck.

As far as my A4 goes the only time I used it it it stalled mysteriously twice after running beautifully for an hour or so. It was as if someone just turned it off. It wouldn't restart initially but after about 10 minutes it kicked back on as if nothing had ever happened and ran for hours with no issue. I am thinking a coil, bad primary wiring, or air leak in the fuel line may be the cause.

I think I also possibly need to look at exhaust back pressure too based on the condition of the plugs. There is funky water lift muffler set up that is far from the original.

Good luck with your N30 !

[sastanley]

If I come across any good resources I will share them with you. Things I need to address are a leaking water tank, smelly head, bad mast wiring, new oil & water temp gauges, non functioning instruments (depth, knot log etc), and a couple of soft spots on the deck.

congo..the only real fix for a smelly head is new hoses. Buy the Odorsafe brand made by Sealand Sanitation. It is $8/ft but worth every penny. A few other companies, such as Trident, have started making a similar product, but I have no personal experience with their stuff. Back in the day when our boats were made, they often used plain old exhaust hose for the head lines.

Also, make sure all fittings do not leak, double clamps on everything, and the holding tank is sound. The fitting on mine had cracked off the tank (I am gonna guess it was never properly winterized), so I replaced my tank too while redesigning the system. I also recommend trying to get all the tank fittings up on top so they are not going to fail and let stuff ooze into the bilge. I had a 'pick up tube' built into my discharge fitting so that the pump out pump does the work and pulls it out thru the tube like a fuel pump pulls fuel from the bottom of a fuel tank. The inlet and two vent fittings are also on top. If the head is in good operating order, sometimes a new joker valve ($8-10) will help a lot too..it is the first line of defense to keep the waste out of the toilet once you flush. It is a maintenance item..every two seasons or so it seems. We also try to flush with fresh water..at least the last flush of the day. Salt water & urine react with each other and crystallize on the inner walls of the hoses and that eventually permeates thru the hose wall and smells.

Look up "Peggy Hall" on the Internet, she is the resource on boat odors, which usually means the head. You can also find her on the sailboatowners.com forum. The other key to a non-smelly head is ventilation of the tank. Put the biggest vent hose (preferable two for cross ventilation) on the tank as you can. I've also found that the natural enzyme type products ( I use the Raritan line which I think was developed by Peggy H.) work better than the "blue" RV style chemicals..those just cover up the smell with strong deodorizers.

Good Luck. I've completely redone the head system on two boats now, so I can help further if needed. It is a sucky job, but once it is done the admiral will think you are a rock star! There's nothing worse than stepping on a buddy's boat and smelling the head either. I take pride in having one of the oldest boats in our "fleet", yet it smells the least.

As for the instruments..my boat had a Humminbird installed which didn't work and an ancient Mariner speed log. I replaced them with a Raymarine ST40. I had to add another hole in the boat for the depth transducer, but it is a nice unit. One display does depth, log, speed, water temp, and it is compatible with all Raymarine products (talks to them) if you add on in the future.

[Dave Neptune]

No more stink!

What Shawn said is good advise.
I just want to share something I stumbled across at a friends shop and incorperated on my head system last winter.
Well it was time to change out the head hoses from end to end and while I was at it I installed a new maserator and valve. The only thing I did not replace was the holding tank, thru hulls and the head itself. The plumbing was very easy to do and it turned out far "neater" than I could of imagined were it not for my bud's shop. He is in the plating industry and deals with transfering and cycling a lot of different acids and nasty stuff. I noticed he was using the PVC sanitation hose like Shawn recomended but no clamps so I got curious and took a look. He used the PVC "hose" for all the runs requiring flexibility and PVC pipe for the rest. By using "sched 80" pipe and fittings and a bit of turning on a lathe he made PVC pipe "ends" into slip fittings and did them smooth with no barbs very easy if you have lathe access as I do. That PVC hose is a bitch to get over the barb fittings and due to the spiral nature of the hose a good seal is difficult and temporary at best. I built all of my hard plumbing that I could do in straight runs and made all the angles in PVC pipe. The runs with the PVC hose were then glued with the PVC cement to the turned PVC pipe. It made those tight corners and getting under or over things a breeze. The pipe and hose bond together since they are both PVC and absolutely no leaks or even discoloration. I did put a hose clamp around a couple of the exposed connections "for looks" and have removed them since. It made a very neat instalation and was very simple to do.
Another hint is to use a bit of vinegar once in a while if you raw water flush it really helps on the dead bio-mass smell so instead of smelling like an outhouse the boat smells like a salad.

Dave Neptune

[congoboard]

N30 Instruments

Question about the Raymarine ST40 instruments. They look really nice with their large digital displays however they have rectangular back plates. Would I be foolish or overly picky to be looking to the MOOR brand of instruments so that the round back plate will match the existing openings of my original in place SR Mariner instruments ? Is there a simple / clean way to mount the Raymarines to cover up the existing holes - they are a bit smaller than existing holes?

Is there anywhere to send the SR Mariner instruments (knot log, depth sounder, and wind speed direction) to see if they can be serviced / salvaged ?

[sastanley]

Congo...on Raymarine's website you can download the user manual in PDF format. Near the back of the document is a cutout template. If I remember, the cutout for the ST40 was a 2.25" diameter hole & it secures with a large plastic ring in the back with a thumbscrew.

here is a link to the St40 bi-data which is the unit I have. Open 40bidata.pdf in their "manuals & docs" section and check out page 50.

http://www.raymarine.com/ProductDetail.aspx?SITE=1&SECTION=2&PAGE=227&PRODUCT=396

I left my SR Mariner in place, because I am too lazy to fix the hole in the cabin right now if I removed it. However, that type of fiberglass work is not difficult, just a little tedious. Check out West Systems fiberglass & repair manual free on their website & maybe $5 at West Marine. I have no idea what your skill level is so I hope I am not insulting you if you already know this stuff.

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/fiberglass-boat-repair-and-restoration/

Another option would be a nice piece of HDPE (white cutting board) to cover the hole from the old instrument & mount the new instrument(s) to that. That is a pretty common repair on race boats as they change out instruments over the years that are different sizes..people get tired of fiberglass work, and cutting out a new piece of cutting board and mounting stuff to it and then mounting it to the boat is a lot easier & doesn't look half bad!