"Bright Ideas From Fellow Boaters To
Help You
With Your Everyday Boating Chores"
Tip for bleading fuel
lines
Phil Wrights:
I'm
currently sailing a '72 Columbine. We recently did some
modifications to
the fuel system and were faced with the old problem of bleeding the
lines.
I'm tired of diesel fuel in my mouth. Solution:
Just take a tire pump; either hand pump or the 12 volt type, very
carefully
pressurize the fuel tank through the vent line. This
does not take much pressure. The fuel will be forced through the
system
and all air can be driven out. This
will work on any liquid system.
Phil
Pendleton
Golfing
early, napping later. Retirement is just fine.
Mainsail Tie Down
Barry Hopkinson writes:
I have a small seven meter marine ply yacht named Quantum. I
have owned her for about a year and she is a well found strong fin
keeler.
As a former power boater I am learning to sail. I have developed a
furling
system for the main sail that makes it easier for me to tie it down. I
chose some old seat belt material that I have cut into lengths to go
around
the furled mainsail. I acquired Velcro material and stitched it to the
seat belt strip. So, I just twist this strip around the furled mainsail
and the Velcro sticks it together, its quick ,secure and no more tying
line around the main sail ......
Regards......
Bottom Paint Prep Tip
Wayne writes:
I recently completed a bottom job on my 22' trailer sailor that is
usually in her slip. I found out by wrapping the trailer bunk supports
in saran wrap, the bottom paint wouldn't stick to the bunks or the
carpeted
wooden blocks I used to support the boat on jacks. When I launched the
boat the saran wrap prevented any damage to the bottom paint.
22' South Coast Eclipse Pensacola Florida
Welcome to
Wayne's
World
Deep Rust Stains on Fiberglass
Patrick & Mary Murray write:
I own a 21' Chris that my wife and I bought as a fixer-uper. This boat
had sat under a tree for nearly 10 years with tools and parts inside. I
thought that we would never get all of the deep rust stains out. But
our
water here in SE Texas is very rusty and my wife has to use some heavy
duty rust remover to get the shower and lav clean, so I asked her what
I could use to get out these severe stains, as an alternative to
repainting.
On her recommendation I tried a product called Lime-A-Way, this is a
very
strong rust and stain remover it comes in two varieties I've used both
but the heavy duty toilet bowl variety worked. I just applied it to the
stain and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes and the stains were history.
Since
this product is designed for fiberglass showers and basins it will not
harm the gel on a boat. Some areas did require a second treatment, but
you should see the results. This does not work on all types of stain,
like
greasy hand prints or leaf stains, but for rust stains there is
no
equal (that I have found). An additional word of caution "Do Not use on
aluminum and Do wear gloves"
Electrical Anti Corrosion Tips
Leonard H. Lapham writes: A good anti corrosion compound for electrical
connections can be found at your local electronics supply. I has many
different
trade names. It's a non conducting silicone grease for sealing
connections
on the feed horn of a satellite dish. Its nearly weatherproof, and will
last for many years once applied.
When I restored my old Howard, I made sure that all joints that
could
be soldered were, and also I applied shrink wrap to all joints. Where
ever
I have a terminal, I try to use silicone, to slow corrosion, and keep a
good contact. Another little trick to seal a connection, is to cut a 1
inch section of plastic drinking straw or other similar tubing. Slip
the
tubing over one of the wires to be connected before connecting them.
After
the wires are connected, slide the section of straw or tubing over the
connection and fill it from one end to the other with silicone
adhesive.
I devised my own electrical system, when I restored my boat. I
didn't
want wires, of large gauge, running everywhere. Since most of the
electrical
components of my boat were in the back, I decided to make a system that
could control them, in the back, without the need for large wires going
up front to the dash. I used a weather proof box and put a main bus in
it, along with six relays. Each relay has a fused output to the
component
it supplies power to, such as fuel pump, ignition... A small piece of
six
strand telephone wire runs from the box to the dash, and connects to
weather
proof micro switches. The only large wires in the dash are two 16 gauge
wires for the instruments that require power, like the voltmeter
and fuel gauge. If a switch should fail, its just a matter of piercing
the insulation on the wires of the switch that failed with a straight
pin
and shorting them. Then the relay will close and power is restored.
Also,
the relays are sealed, and won't corrode as rapidly as a switch will.
The
small micro switches are cheaper than the larger ones, and can have
plug
in terminals instead of the screw down type, making them easier to
replace
if need be.
Leonard does all his boating on Lake Medina in Texas in his restored
Howard.
Friendly Non-Skid & Shop Tips
Gary Wheeler presently lives on a classic 36 ft. ketch named Ms Crumpet
in San Francisco, he has a shop nearby and is a master boat
builder.
To make a cheap and very user friendly non skid surface put some
epson
salts in a shaker can, and shake liberally into the wet paint you are
applying.
Use it liberally. Let the paint fully dry then wash off with fresh
water,
disolves the salt leaving its impression behind, and paint again.
Walla,
a positive from the negative, and it won't tear up your knees or other
tender anatomy parts.
For cleaning out putty , old glue and rust from the top of
fastenings
and the countersunk hole, find an old piece of rigging wire, 1/4 or
3/8,
wrap some tape around a 2 in section, cut it and put it in your
drill,
makes a great hard wire brush. For bleeders, polish the heads with this
tool, dab immediately with penetrating epoxy then plug or fill hole.
If you are filling the empty cardboard caulking tubes with some sort
of nasty goo, stuff it in as best you can then hold a high speed
vibrating
sander on the side of the tube and magically the goo settles and the
troublesome
trapped air goes poof.
Check out Gary's Page in The Boat Yard Mast
Mate
Great Rust Remover
Joe Varnadore lives and sails his boat on the Chesapeake Bay. He's
a member of the Herring Bay Yacht Club. Joe spends some of his free
time
writing monthly articles for the yacht clubs news letter called Boat'N
Stuff, which includes helpful tips, recipes, good anchorage's for
rafting
up, and interesting marinas on the Chesapeake.
Joe writes: I would like to share a great tip I have used for removing
rust from my boat hull. The Chesapeake Bay is fed by the Susquahanna
River
that starts near Cooperstown NY and travels through Pennsylvania Mining
country which dumps a great deal of iron into the bay thus covering
your
hull at the water line with a brown stain caused by iron oxide.
There are products that contain oxalic acid such as Y-10 in a gel form
and are expensive , moreover you have to apply with a sponge by having
extremely long arms, or from a dingy , or by getting in the
water.
You can appreciate the problem.
While cruising to the Eastern Shore of Maryland I met a Chemist that
worked for Dupont and discussed this problem with him. He
explained
the iron oxide problem and recommended that I go to the hardware store
and get a product called "IRON OUT" .....it is in granular
form......put
two or three tablespoons in a spray bottle ...fill with water and spray
it on the offending areas ......you can see the rust disappear!
....Then
rinse with fresh water.....it really works and has saved me many hours
of work.....It will also remove rust from clothing, upholstery,
toilets.....etc
etc.
jovee@aol.com
Offshore Dishwashing
Marl Anne Preston writes: Here's something simple: Joy
dishwashing
liquid is the only one that will mix with saltwater. Good for
offshore
dishwashing along with a tablespoon of clorox to disinfect.
Marl Anne's port of call is Houston, Texas and she has sailed with
her husband on "Prestwind". a 38 ft. ketch, a heavy cruiser whose
architect
is Bill Crealock. She writes, we were cruisers mostly in the
Texas
waters and a few times off shore to Key West where we lived a few
years.
This boat is now about 20 years old and going strong, fiberglass by the
way. My husband and I lived aboard Prestwind for about 10 years.
No Mess Oil Change
Pat writes: My hot tip is changing the oil in your inboard with no
mess.
Take a plastic liter soft drink bottle, and cut a 4" x 2" opening on
the
side of the bottle. Then screw a 1/2" garden hose to the mouth of the
bottle.
Run the garden hose out the pit cock and into your oil recycling
container.
Place the opening you cut out under the oil plug. Remove the oil
plug and let it flow. Clean and easy.
Gelcoat Stain and Grime Remover
Chris, better known as "Primate" aboard the "Kath-Lean"
Writes:
The very best topside and hull cleaner I've ever used is regular old
Vanish
toilet bowl cleaner. It's amazing, used by my marina owners.
You can get it at any grocery store. It's really used for cleaning
toilets
in your home but works wonders on dirty scummy boat bootstripes. It
works
equally well on gelcoat. It will remove any discoloration's from
gelcoat
and cut right through the grime.
Vanish, cost about $1.59 for about 14 ounces. A 26 foot boat takes
about
2 quarts or so. Spray it on, wait a few minutes, brush around a bit and
hose it off.
Chris sails out of The Bay Marina, Cattaraugus Creek, New York. That's
about
30 miles west of Buffalo, NY. E-mail: kath-lean@worldnet.att.net
If you are going to bathe in salt water use shampoo or joy. A rich
cleaning
lather will result. Add a little rice to your salt shaker to help
keep the contents flowing easily.
Formula for figuring out how much bottom paint in gallons you'll need
for
one coat. One coat = your boat's LOA x Beam x .85 divided by square
feet
covered per gallon listed on the paint can.
For two cycle engines that require a 50: 1 mix of oil to gas, use one
pint
of oil for every six gallons of gas. For a 100: 1 mix of oil to gas use
1/2 pint of oil for every six gallons of gas.
After washing the interior of your boat, add a small amount of
Mildicide
powder to the rinse water. This will keep the interior mildew free
longer.
To remove mildew from the interior walls of your boat pour two
tablespoons
of non-chlorine bleach into a spray bottle. Spray then wipe. It cleans
the mildew away and will help prevent the mildew from coming back.
Increasing a propeller's pitch by one inch will reduce the rpm by 50 to
100.
There's a lot of sail and canvas cleaners on the market. Star Bright
makes
a canvas cleaner that works pretty good on dirt, grease and mildew
stains.
Use a mild dish washing liquid like Joy or Ivory, that's if the canvas
is in good shape. It's best cleaned with lukewarm water (under 100
degrees
f) and mild natural soap. Mix a 1/2 cup of non-chlorine bleach and 1/4
cup of natural soap (not harsh detergent) with one gallon of water. Let
it soak in. use a brush for stubborn stains, then rinse with cold water
and allow to air dry. You want to use something mild, that will not
weaken
the fabric or threads
A product called Mirror Glaze works great on plastic windows. They have
several brands depending on how aggressive your cleaning needs are. The
plastic will last longer if covered from the UV rays. UV rays in a
short
time will discolor the plastic turning it brown. After cleaning make
sure
no water is left on the vinyl window, the sun will boil the water and
leave
a permanent discoloration.
Next time you haulout polish your propeller, then coat it with teflon
grease.
No living critter can hold onto it. It will last for months.
In clear water, to determine your distance from the horizon, use this
formula.
Distance from the horizon = 1.17 x the square root of the height above
the sea in feet.
To find the eye of a hurricane, face the wind and with your right hand,
point 112 degrees to your right. In the southern hemisphere face the
wind
and with your left hand, point 112 degrees to your left.
For a quick clean up of your fish blood stained and smelly cutting
board,
rub in meat tenderizer paste, let sit for 20 minutes. Rinse with cool
water
then rub with half of a lime.
Use liquid neoprene to seal electrical connections that won't stay dry.
It seals as well as insulates.
Try unplugging your trailer's light harness from your tow vehicle
before
backing up into the cold water. This will maximize bulb life, because
the
bulb won't be subjected to the thermal shock.
To eliminate corrosion, increase durability and improve serviceability
of trailer light bulbs, boat running lights, remove each bulb and coat
the metal base with dielectrical grease.
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