DATE | CONTENTS | INTEREST |
---|---|---|
GoBackTo 2003 Cruise Chapter Five | ||
1 June 2003 | Gulf Harbour Haulout | Mixed |
2 June 2003 | Motor Manual Start | SeawindOwners |
13 June 2003 | Cruise Suspended for Two Months | Mixed |
GoFwdTo 2003 Cruise Chapter Seven |
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From Whitianga we sailed up the coast to the Hauraki Gulf and had the boat hauled out at Gulf Harbour Marina in order to apply a new coat of bottom paint. As it turned out, the existing paint job wasn't bad at all; nevertheless, peace of mind for at least the next year. The nice access to the motors allowed me to service them easily.
A telephoto shot of just a tiny portion of huge Gulf Harbour Marina, with KatieKat in the middle.
KatieKat was hauled out on the larger of the two TraveLifts and I had the bottom professionally cleaned and spray-painted. We continued living on the boat "on the hard" and tried to keep the boat clean. Unfortunately, the process stretched us into and over the three-day Queen's Birthday weekend.
Kathy took this opportunity to sand and varnish the only exterior wood we have on the boat: the seating slats next to our BBQ. We've had excellent results (translation: longevity) with International's Goldspar varnish.
Little KatieKat was trundled back into the water - I say little, because right after us the TraveLift launched the huge Ulysse (sp?) which was part of the Prada Americas Cup challenge group - no, this huge yacht is NOT an Americas Cup boat.
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The Yamaha HiThrust 4-Stroke outboards have electric starters which have worked perfectly to date (I just knocked on wood). Nevertheless, the motors DO have a provision to manually start them by removing some covers to gain access to the flywheel and then attaching a pull-cord. The problem is that the engines are down low within the engine well, so in order to get the emergency-start system to work the horizontal pull needs to be translated into a vertical pull. For this, I picked up a couple of small fixed turning blocks and tried to install them.
Starboard engine installation showing the attached motor-starting pull-cord brought through the newly-installed turning block. Serves its function well. Unfortunately, unlike the portside, when the engine is retracted there is insufficient clearance between the motor housing and engine well to leave the block permanently attached and so I had to remove it. The block is stowed with the pull-cord and will have to be installed when needed.
Port engine pull-cord turning block installation. Notice how nicely it clears the engine housing when the motor is raised. The white line next to the block is used to remotely lift the engine locking mechanism.
I hadn't realized that the two engine well installations weren't symmetrical and blithely installed the starboard block after successfully mounting the port block. There are only two possible locations for a fixed turning block (front and inboard sides, as I wanted to avoid screwheads in the corner), and both interfere with the engine housing when the engine is retracted. When needed, reinstalling the starboard block will be easy because of the pre-drilled holes, so it's no big deal as long as I won't be in a hurry to start the engine. If someone wants a permanently-installed block, then one which swivels on a vertical axis can be permanently mounted offset to provide housing clearance.
This manual-start capability will only be needed if -
1. Batteries go completely flat (to date, I haven't even needed to resort to the third standby motor-starting battery)
2. Starter goes out
3. Motor-starting circuit opens up (the most probable failure mode, considering the number of connections, some in a harsh environment).
This is just another item, a relatively minor one, which provides peace-of-mind while cruising. How many inboard diesel installations have a proven manual-start backup?
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From Gulf Harbour we sailed up the coast and are leaving KatieKat for a couple of months while we go back home to California to take care of some issues - not a significant imposition, as we'll be going back into summer weather and away from the approaching winter here. Most of the other cruisers have already sailed off up to the "islands" (Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, etc.). We hope to head north ourselves at the end of August.
Still getting our daily exercise. The steepness of the climb up from the cove isn't readily apparent in this photo.
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KatieKat all trussed up and ready to brave the winter storms while we disappear into the California Summer. The last thing to be put away will be our space-age TV antenna :-)
I will be suspending updates to this website until the end of August unless some bright ideas pop into my head. Thank you for your perseverence, and have a great winter/summer wherever you are. Joe Siudzinski
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