Spring Start-up !!

[Mo]

Must be getting something right. Today was unseasonally warm here and I went to the boat to sand the keel and put some epoxy base on it. Much of it was good so I took it down and layed new epoxy in spots that required it. Started at 9 am and had the epoxy on by noon.

While twiddling my thumbs watching epoxy harden, decided to fire up the engine to ensure all was good. Some of you guys know that I take my carb off in fall, clean it, and put it in a plastic bag next to the engine until spring start-up. I put the carb back on and hooked up scavanger tube, fuel supply, throttle and choke. Open fuel shut off valves, then ran the electric fuel pump until I could hear it fill with gas. Double checked the spark plugs to ensure I'd tighened them after putting oil in cylinders last October.

Went to the binnacle, pulled the choke, pulled igition to on and hit the starter button. It started right up as if I'd come back to the boat on a summer's morning. Let it run for about 40 seconds then shut it back down. Sounded just wonderful,...she`s good to go...guaranteed!

Once the epoxy sets up I'll put a coat of Americoat ABC#4 on the keel and a touch up here and there on the bottom. It will take a morning to put the dodger, cushions, jib, main, water, propane, food, beer, rum and electronics back on the boat...then she is ready.

I've had a sailboat since 1999 and this is the easiest launch prep to date...had hardly anything to do. There's allot to be said for trying to stay on top of things...and thanks to the guys from whom I gain knowledge and ideas every day! Hope everyone else has an easy time of it.

[Dave Neptune]

Nice!

Mo, nice to hear good things!!!! I hope to get my beastie started this weekend if I get the wiring project done. I have been down since mid October and I'm sure the beastie is wondering why I have not done my usual monthly start and warm up practice, been a tough off season. Perhaps my luck will hold as it has in the past .
Getting time to plan my Easter venture to the Island for our Corsair Easter festivities we have held on the island for over 50 years now~~just for the kids!!! Great fun for the locals and any kids in the Isthmus are welcome.

Smooth sailing Mo ~ _/) _/)

Dave Neptune

[Marian Claire]

Mo: Good to hear. P P P P P P P. Beers to a good season. Dan S/V Marian Claire

[sastanley]

ha ha...well..I tore my companionway apart yesterday and also completely ripped out the assembly where the gauges go..including drilling out the rusted set screw for the choke, which must have been the only thing holding it together, because the whole thing fell apart in my hands after that little set screw was out of the equation.

"Uh hello Ken? Yeah, can I get a new choke cable?"

[joe_db]

Fired mine up today

[Mo]

Yes it`s that time of year guys. Winter passing by fast for me. Shawn, you reminded me of another job that I`d forgotten...I have a newer gauges and panel sitting in my garage that I could put on the boat....deferred doing it this time last year and might defer it again. LOL.

Dave, I hate wiring with a passion and that's why that gauge panel and new gauges are sitting where they are....something will have to break first before I take a run at that. Sounds like out docks will go in mid April this year...a full month early and I might wait until then to launch the boat...we'll see.

Good to hear your's fired up Joe! Dan "beers to a good season" for you as well!

[old-sailer]

I'm wondering why you need to lay on epoxy??

Is this a regular thing to do?

I checked my own hull, it's as smooth as a babies bum and to me all it needs it the anti-fouling paint renewed.

I'm new to this so I'm just wondering...

[old-sailer]

Another question for you guys.

Can you run the A4 in a pail..??

When the actually launch comes there's like a hundred guys all standing around waiting their turn and I don't want to feel the heat of trying to get my engine started to get out of the way. I'd like to know it's going to run ahead of time.

Is it possible to stick a pail say under the exhaust with a hose back up into the intake and run the engine in this way without hurting it?

If this is Ok is there a way to get out the anti-freeze and switch to water without polluting the lake?

[Ajax]

Well, I never totally laid up for the winter, but I installed the water pump-grease gun modification today, and installed the thermostat that Shawn has lent me.

The engine fired right up and after a few minutes of warm-up, I put her in gear against the dock lines to load the engine up and see where the temperature went- 130F, which is 30-40F degrees more than it registered without the thermostat. The water here is 44F degrees, so I expected it to run cool.

[Mo]

Old Sailor,

Why I put epoxy on the keel. Once I take it down to lead the epoxy holds on there for about 10 years. The stuff that was on there, done in the 90's was blistering in a few spots. That results in blisters forming.

I sanded down the whole keel to the epoxy coating level...some bad spots came right off with the sanding.... so I just layed a coat over it. Epoxy seals from water, it's not permeable like fiberglass. I did the whole bottom of my previous boat and this one was done prior to me buying it. The epoxy prevents that crusty, bubbling corrosion you get under the paint. The keel is the only part I've had to repair.

Example: we take two boats that stay in the water all year. Put bottom paint over the gelcoat on one and epoxy paint on the other..then the bottom paint. Water doesn't penetrate through epoxy as it does through both gelcoat and fiberglass so you don't get any fiberglass blistering problems. After a number of years the blistering fiberglass on the non-epoxy coated boat will be far far more than the one with the epoxy coating. The epoxy coated boat will be lighter as well because it's fiberglass below the waterline didn't absorb water.

Running A4 via a pale: Absolutely. Put a "T" with shut off valve fitting inside the boat just above the intake valve thru hull. Run a piece of hose about 3 feet long from the "T". Fill 5 gallon can with water, and put the end of the hose in the can. Shut off the tru valve to the outside and open the valve so that the water flow from the bucket to the water pump is "open" (intake thru hull to outside the boat is closed). Fire up the engine and it will draw the water from the bucket just the same as when the boat is in the water.

Don't hook up a water hose directly to the boat...you may put a water hose into the bucket (full volume will not be needed as is will overflow) and keep the water level up and available for engine cooling.

[Mo]

Got the bottom paint on today....T-shirt weather here today. She's ready to launch. Supposed to get snow Wed and Thurs....just when I thought I was out of the woods.

[old-sailer]

So you have the same boat I do.. I've not heard of putting epoxy on it. Is this something I should be doing??

It has ACT on it at the moment. It's really smooth and when tested it wasn't all that wet. The entire boat tested at 2 out of nine by the Marine Surveyor. I was told being a MK1 they don't have hull issues as they don't have a core hull so no wood to absorb water so I was just going to renew the ACT.

As for the A4, I have two of those marine hoses, so I was thinking to sticking one on the exhaust and one in the bottom intake with both in the bucket and let it suck and blow on it's own. Just a big circle.

Hmmmm..

Old Sailor,

Why I put epoxy on the keel. Once I take it down to lead the epoxy holds on there for about 10 years. The stuff that was on there, done in the 90's was blistering in a few spots. That results in blisters forming.

I sanded down the whole keel to the epoxy coating level...some bad spots came right off with the sanding.... so I just layed a coat over it. Epoxy seals from water, it's not permeable like fiberglass. I did the whole bottom of my previous boat and this one was done prior to me buying it. The epoxy prevents that crusty, bubbling corrosion you get under the paint. The keel is the only part I've had to repair.

Example: we take two boats that stay in the water all year. Put bottom paint over the gelcoat on one and epoxy paint on the other..then the bottom paint. Water doesn't penetrate through epoxy as it does through both gelcoat and fiberglass so you don't get any fiberglass blistering problems. After a number of years the blistering fiberglass on the non-epoxy coated boat will be far far more than the one with the epoxy coating. The epoxy coated boat will be lighter as well because it's fiberglass below the waterline didn't absorb water.

Running A4 via a pale: Absolutely. Put a "T" with shut off valve fitting inside the boat just above the intake valve thru hull. Run a piece of hose about 3 feet long from the "T". Fill 5 gallon can with water, and put the end of the hose in the can. Shut off the tru valve to the outside and open the valve so that the water flow from the bucket to the water pump is "open" (intake thru hull to outside the boat is closed). Fire up the engine and it will draw the water from the bucket just the same as when the boat is in the water.

Don't hook up a water hose directly to the boat...you may put a water hose into the bucket (full volume will not be needed as is will overflow) and keep the water level up and available for engine cooling.

[Mo]

I'd have a good sealant between the gelcoat and the bottom paint if the boat is not coming out of the water every year. The 30 is a good boat, solid and stiff. There are some areas that need attention on these boats. The hardware usually holds up well. The decks usually hold up well and have no issues.

Things you can check.
-mast step
-floor ribs if water was in the boat
-drill a hole in bottom of keel for drainage on the hard....I'll send you a pic of mine.
-bulkheads, tanks, cooler etc are usually in great shape after cleaning...despite neglect of previous owners.
-chain plates leak occasionally and need monitoring...I reseal with 4200 about every 2 years but I use my boat hard...min 1000 sailing miles per year.
-when you check the mast step tighten up the keel bolts...they are huge and you will not need to reseal...after 30 years or so they may have become loose but the material between them was great, remains pliable and will be just fine....exception is if someone had is off and put silicone or something stupid like that in there.

These are good boats, solid, and well built....some elbow grease and you have something.

[ILikeRust]

Don't hook up a water hose directly to the boat

Why not?

I ran my engine that way on the hard for about 45 minutes, no problem.

I used some off-the-shelf fittings from Lowe's and a couple short sections of hose to be able to hook up a ball valve in between the hose and the T-fitting by the raw water intake. So I can fire up the engine and then open the ball valve to let water come in from the hose. When it's time to shut the engine down, I turn off the hose and shut the engine down.

[ILikeRust]

As for the A4, I have two of those marine hoses, so I was thinking to sticking one on the exhaust and one in the bottom intake with both in the bucket and let it suck and blow on it's own. Just a big circle.

Depends on where you put the bucket. If it's down on the ground while your boat is on the hard, you're asking the pump to draw a lot of hydrostatic head. I'm not sure it could do it. If the bucket is up in the cockpit, probably not a problem. But then you're asking the exhaust to push the water all the way up there, creating extra backpressure.