I Learned About Boating From That: Impellers and Snubbers

[mdevour]

It's been an educational spring.

This is our first season as full owners of the 24 foot sloop I inherited from my friend, Richard, who died last year. It's a 1963 vintage Hinterhoeller Shark 24. It's one of the first hundred built of that newfangled fiberglass, but carries enough wooden structure and trim I still feel at home here. ;)

We paid for a slip in the marina that's been storing the boat for the last several winters, since we don't live in the city that owns the park it used to stay in. Two thousand bucks later... I sure hope we get a lot of sailing in this summer.

It's hilarious. We're the smallest sailboat in the place. Twenty-four by seven by three feet, a little over a ton displacement, we're dwarfed even by other boats in our length range that are all beamier and taller. :)

We got the topsides buffed and waxed, VC-17 on the bottom, and sikkens on the toe rails and rub rails. Did I mention there's wood on this boat? Notice my high standards of craftsmanship? :rolleyes:

That takes care of the wood that's awkward to get to while she's in the water. The rest of it we'll do on calm days in the slip. More on "calm days in the slip" later...

The boys and I tested the motor in a big bucket of water for a minute or so... started easy and got a stream of cooling water. Didn't want to run for long that way, though.

Launch day, yesterday, got the motor, fuel tank and battery aboard, and made sure things were ready.

They hauled the boat in its cradle over to the travel lift, hoisted it up and into the water. I climbed aboard with it still in the slings and got the motor started.

Err... no cooling water. Wait! There it is... Ummm, no it isn't. Oh hell! :mad:

Okay, the boat's in the water what do we do? The nice fellows who launched us helped us tie up in the "service slip" next to the lift.

Off comes the motor. A ten horse Merc is not something I want to be hauling on and off a transom bracket while afloat.

Yes, I tied a safety line onto it, just in case. We wrestled it off the boat without damage to boat, motor, or us, and took it home.

Okay, Google and our wonderful new WoodenBoat Forum Search function inform me that I really should have replaced the impeller last year, seeing as it was at least three years since Dick had the motor in for a new impeller and pump housing. :o

I spent a couple of hours last night closely studying the service manual, then finally I got brave and took the gear housing off to get at the pump. There's the impeller!

There I was this morning, first in the door at the local outboard shop. The nice young lady behind the counter knew exactly what I was doing and answered all my questions confidently. She sold me a new impeller, an O-ring for the drive shaft, gaskets for the gear housing fill and vent screws... Less than thirty bucks! Woohoo! I'm saving money here folks!!!

Back home, carefully put it all back together. No parts left over. Nothing broken or lost.

Waited 'til the kids finished with some chores and errands, and headed back to the marina with my daughter and younger son, to try to get the boat into its proper slip, again.

Cont'd

[mdevour]

We pulled into the marina yard and parked by the "service slip" where our boat floated undisturbed and propulsionless since yesterday. Just in time to sit and wait for 10 minutes for a passing rain shower to finish up.

It was okay, though, 'cause a happy looking middle aged couple were busy re-painting the white topsides and broad red decorative stripe on their very pretty wooden Cris Craft cruiser. They were putting stuff away to wait out the rain, like we were, but it made for some really appealing scenery anyway.

Finally the rain stopped and we wrestled the motor back aboard and heaved it out over the transom and onto the bracket... Oops! As soon as the weight came down on it, the bracket came unlatched and swung the motor down to the lowest position. I didn't really need that little bit of excitement, okay? :p

Tighten the clamps, untie the safety rope, hook up the battery and fuel... Let's see if she'll run: Neutral. Choke. Throttle to Start. Push the button. Sputter. Choke off. Push the button... Vroom!

Houston, we have cooling water. :cool:

Allright! Let's get on with the show. We retrieve the docklines and push off with my daughter aboard while my son moves the van to our proper slip.

It's grey and raining again, and the wind is kicking up out of the northeast, which blows the water and waves over to this side of Lake St. Clair. Which means that our new slip, which is on the main channel into the marina with direct line-of-sight to the lake, also gets wave action.

On my second try, I get the boat lined up with the slip and get her close enough to the dock for son and daughter to grab on. Great! But now we're really rocking from side to side as the waves come into the channel.

The kids struggle to hang on while I get bow lines to port and starboard, and a stern line out to the dock to the starboard, windward side so they can stop holding on and just fend off if necessary. Then we let out the stern line so I can drift over and get a sternline around the piling between our slip and the next. That done, she's at least not going anywhere now. Finally, I rig a couple of springlines from fore and aft to the dock amidships, which tames the movement a little more.

Time to step back and take a look...

I'm sorry, but this is way more movement than I have any experience with. Back at the park where Dick used to keep the boat, we were far enough up the river that the only motion you ever got was from boat wakes. Here, the boat is rocking from side to side, the rails are going up and down a foot or more, my daughter's getting nauseated, and these old, stiff, and slightly frayed dock lines are snapping the boat to a halt as it works back and forth. :eek:

LESSON: When all the other boats in your section of the marina have chafing gear and snubbers on all four corners, it is a big, rollicking CLUE, you dweeb!!! :rolleyes:

Well I stared and fretted and worried for a spell, then piled everybody into the van and took off for the West Marine that's about 2 minutes from the marina.

We got there at 6:26pm. They close at 6 on Saturday. The sales boy and the manager, who looks only a little older, are moving trailers piled with inflatables into the store. In the rain.

I walk up and check the store hours, then I ask, "Is there a manager type person around?"

The sales boy looks sheepish and points to the young man at the other end of the trailer they're wrestling, who looks at me a little bit warily and says, "Yeah, that's me."

I explain my predicament. I've just got my boat into my new slip next door, and there's way more movement than I'm prepared to handle with the gear I've got, and I fear for the safety of the boat if I don't do something to cushion those docklines...

"I mean, have you closed out the registers already, or can I please buy something?" I pleaded.

Bless his heart, he said he could do it if I could pay with a credit card. He could take the information and ring it up in the morning. I agreed.

He put down the tongue of the trailer he was holding and strode off into the store with me in his wake. We reached the display of snubbers, and I bought the last two he had of the 3/8" size.

We went back up front where he copied down my info. All the while his partner was struggling with these inflatable dinghies that seemed like they wanted to blow away with him hanging on.

I thanked him profusely, apologized to the younger man for leaving him with all the extra work, and exited the scene with salvation in hand... or big chunks of neoprene rubber, anyway. :D

Back at the yard, conditions have calmed slightly, but it's still raining a few sloppy cold drops. The boat is rolling around, though, and I have to watch the movement to see where I think it would be best to use the two precious snubbers.

Finally, I decide to put them on both bow lines. It eases the load on the port line to shore, which is under the most strain, and brings the bow under much better control. There's less jerking transmitted to the deck cleat. It also seems to reduce movement at the stern, I tell myself, though it might just be that I don't want to drift back out to the piling and struggle with the port stern line while the boat heaves up and down...

Well, I hope that it'll survive until tomorrow. Meanwhile, a new dockline arrangment is shaping up in my brain that will make much better use of the pilings and cleats I have in this slip. That, and new docklines, chafing gear, a couple more snubbers...

I think I'll buy those snazzy green docklines. They'll look really nice next to the light greenish blue deck. Y'know, the deck color Herreshoff liked so much. :D

What with all this wave action every time the wind's in the east, and the wakes of all the boats going in and out, maybe I'll talk to the gal in the office about a different slip for next year?

Yep, I've been learning a lot about boating so far this year. Why, we might even get the mast up before the weekend so we can go for a sail. Ya' think? :)

Be well,

Mike D.

[Concordia...41]

Just waiting for the next installment :cool:

[Mrleft8]

I think you found the only West Marine store manager with a brain of his own!

[rbgarr]

Sharks are very fast boats for their size. You're going to be so pleased when you pass bigger, fancier, more expensive sailboats. The two grand will seem worth it, you're kids will be impressed with Dad and we'll get to read some more of your humorous writing.

You seem like a good guy.

[Concordia...41]

Now Lefty that's not fair. The folks at our West Marine run the gamut from clueless to the seriously involved boater. That could also be said for their customer range ;)

But I think even though he was in a hurry, Mike should have helped them carry the boats inside. :)

[Bill Perkins]

The smallest boat would have the smallest dock lines of course . Look at the working load for 1/2 in. three strand nylon (stretchy ) , think the loads could exceed that ? If you oversize your dock lines you give up the wonderfull shock absorbing abilities of the nylon lines themselves . Of course chafe will have to be guarded against , but not by oversizing the lines .

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Sharks are a fabulous boat. The Kingston Yacht Club down the shore from me 50 miles has a fleet of about 30 of them... including ones they rent to members to race on. They are a very tough little boat, and will take most of what the great lakes will dish out, certainly more than most people could take.

They sail very well, and are quite resaleable. You will have a ball with this boat. I grew up around them and have sailed them many times over the years. It's hard to break them.

I work at West Marine part time... feeds my boating addiction:D

[mdevour]

The smallest boat would have the smallest dock lines of course. Look at the working load for 1/2 in. three strand nylon (stretchy), think the loads could exceed that? If you oversize your dock lines you give up the wonderfull shock absorbing abilities of the nylon lines themselves. Of course chafe will have to be guarded against, but not by oversizing the lines.

I agree with you, Bill. I thought about the size of my lines, but decided that 1/2 would be overkill. Besides that, I'd have a helluva time fitting three 1/2" lines around my only bow cleat. The cleats on this boat are just not that big.

All the other boats around me are much heavier than ours. I'll let them spend the money. ;)

I'm going out today to start buying new lines, chafing gear, and another couple of snubbers. Should cost another $150 (US). :rolleyes:

Mike D.

[mdevour]

Peter and rbgarr,

Sharks are very fast boats for their size. You're going to be so pleased when you pass bigger, fancier, more expensive sailboats.

So I've learned since I started digging up everything I could find on the class. Sleek lines, fin keel, fast, almost un-capsizable. I'm sure its abilities will far exceed my own for a while to come.

Sharks are a fabulous boat. The Kingston Yacht Club down the shore from me 50 miles has a fleet of about 30 of them... including ones they rent to members to race on. They are a very tough little boat, and will take most of what the great lakes will dish out, certainly more than most people could take.

They sail very well, and are quite resaleable. You will have a ball with this boat. I grew up around them and have sailed them many times over the years. It's hard to break them.

You mention some of the reasons I'm going to go to the trouble of re-fitting it with a fixed sanitary system that'll pass Canadian no-discharge rules. The Shark fleet is mostly in Canada, and if I'm ever going to enjoy their company I have to be able to legally visit the other side of the lake.

I've sometimes wondered if there are any plans out there for a similar boat in wood? The first half dozen Sharks were "built with plywood," according to the sources I've found. I don't know if that means cold molded or some sort of hard-chine batten construction or what. Nobody I've been able to question knows anything first hand about the pre-glass examples.

Some of the first glass Sharks had wooden spars, also.

Well, it's been mostly work (and expense) so far. I look forward to some of the fun.

Mike D.

[Rich VanValkenburg]

You sound real close to me. You at Jefferson Beach or further north? Lots of yards along that shore get hit with easterly or northerly wave action.
We're down at Kean's on the River.
Rich

[mdevour]

You sound real close to me. You at Jefferson Beach or further north? Lots of yards along that shore get hit with easterly or northerly wave action.
We're down at Kean's on the River.
Rich

Heh, yep, looks like we're practically neighbors, Rich. I'm at Miller's.

Kean's charges about what I'm paying, if I read their web site right.

How's the service there?

Mike D.

[Rich VanValkenburg]

Hello Mike,
Keans' has been a good yard. They've had the patience to tolerate my rebuild of Sonja so I don't have anything negative to say about them. Used to be pretty busy every weekend, but I think the fuel prices have kept things quiet. I've been there since 1979 and have no complaints.
Rich