It always seemed to me if I actually did remember to bring my umbrella it wouldn’t rain... but if I forgot it then it would rain for sure!

It sometimes seems to be the same with spare parts on a cruising sailboat. Try to bring along the spares you think you might need and it’s actually something else you find broken.

Electric Heads
I know... many people "poo-poo" electric heads (warning.... there may be more head-related humour within) but we have been having a very positive experience with our Tecma electric heads on Distant Shores II. I cannot speak for other electric heads, but I have admired the simple design, solid workmanship and easy operation. And so far they have been reliable... right up until a few days ago when I began to suspect something was up with the aft heads.

Everything looked fine, and sounded fine when the button was pushed... however, something smelled funny...

I quick check of the bilge revealed the worst. A leak from the heads, and it wasn’t pretty.

Rather than start disassembling immediately I dove into the parts locker to find all the parts I had bought for these heads. Since I had not owned a Tecma until we bought this boat, a Southerly 49, (3 years ago) I hadn’t known what might need fixing. So I basically bought one of everything as a spare part.

On the right is the large and heavy-duty macerator pump that sits in the bottom of the toilet. On the top of the picture (in a small bag) is the water injector fitting and a few other gaskets etc. Then there are the two very creatively shaped hoses that move the content/effluent/poo around. Note that all this actually fits inside the body of the toilet. Cunning engineering! In fact the design of this toilet is very beautifully shown here in what must be the sexiest toilet video ever made...


Anyway, here I am admiring the large pile of expensive spare parts, confident that one of these hoses was likely to be the odiferous cause of my woes, and proud that I had the parts.

Besides, playing with nice clean spare parts beats playing in the ....

So, time to roll up the sleeves and get to work. I will gloss over the first part of the project where I had to bail out the bilge, rinse it down and sterilize all... anyway that was done with no more than a smattering of "poo-jokes" some swearing and a nice long shower afterwards. There certainly was an incremental (or excremental?) increase in toilet references during this whole procedure :-)

Now to get to the actual repair. At this point I seem to have lost my enthusiasm for photography and did not record any more pictures.

1) Detach toilet - this entailed cutting the silicone sealing the whole unit in place, and removing the 4 screws holding it down.

2) Carefully lift toilet up - extra long hoses allow it to come up somewhat until you can undo the hose clamps

3) Disconnect hoses - I removed the saltwater intake hose, but the outflow hose had already come off!!

Problem Found. the hose clamp was not tightened down enough and the outflow fitting has slipped right out.

Result - direct discharge into the bilge whenever the toilet was operated! Yikes!!

Solution - re-assemble and tighten to insure the fitting doesn’t come off again!

During the disassembly procedure I carefully inspected all the hoses and the macerator. All appeared to be in top shape. No sign of age or any problems, so I did not actually need any of the spare parts.

Looking for the "silver-lining" in a generally "s__t" day, I can say it felt good to start the project knowing I had all the parts that could possibly be needed. I would not be faced with a long delay trying to get spare parts to get the head back in action.

Just like carrying an umbrella and not worrying that it might rain.

Are you sinking??

Every once in a while you hear a story like this...

A sailor on watch pops down to get a cup of tea and finds the floorboards awash.

Or...

Waking up in his bunk the sailor puts his foot out to find he is ankle deep in water...

Or...

A couple out on deck at night enjoying a romping sail start to feel the boat is a bit sluggish... they find the boat has taken on so much water they can’t trace the leak since everything is awash... the boat sinks and they abandon ship...

All of these stories are true but in most cases I believe they could have been prevented.

One of the most common causes of sinking is simply some sort of leak that went undetected until it was too late. A hose clamp fails, a hose bursts, a pump back-syphons, an anti-syphon valve sticks, a thruhull fitting cracks... you get the idea. Modern boats are somewhat complicated and many things COULD go wrong.

The main point is that many of these potential leaks is small and easy to deal with IF you know you have a problem. Unfortunately most boats do not let you know you have that problem! A beautiful little Rule Automatic bilge pump will deal with a certain amount of water coming in to the bilge. It will continue to try to keep up with the leak but it is so quiet that you will likely not hear it and never know you have a problem.

A bilge alarm can solve this! And for a VERY affordable price it is the cheapest insurance you can buy!!

Bilge Alarm Options
Broadly speaking there are two types of bilge alarm. Water detectors and bilge-pump alarms. One will detect water that is getting to a dangerous level. The second detects when you bilge pump has activated itself.

Water detector
Bilge alarms can be a simple water detector. It sounds an alarm if water is detected in the bilge. Then you have to decide how to install it. You could set this detector above the level of the automatic pump. This means basically to set a water detector so that it will sound when it gets up above the bilge pump. So in effect you wait until the bilge pump is overwhelmed and then sound an alarm. For very wet boats this might be the right solution but it does sound a bit scary...

Alternatively it can be set up to detect ANY water in the bilge by putting it below the level the bilge pump will activate. Then you will hear the alarm whenever water enters the bilge. It depends on the type of boat you have whether you might prefer this. Our first boat "Two-Step" had a very deep bilge and all water would drain to this small space where the bilge pumps were located. Pour 1 litre of water into the bilge anywhere and it would drain down to this bucket-sized bilge where it would set off this alarm.

Bilge Pump Alarm
Another option is to connect a loud alarm to let you know the bilge pump has been activated. This is my preferred solution and I have installed these alarms on all our boats. It is really quite simple and inexpensive - the ones I installed on Distant Shores II cost less than $4 each. What a DEAL for such super insurance!!

Here is how its done...


Basically all you have to do is connect a beeper or buzzer to the manual side of the typical bilge pump control. This means any time the pump has power then the alarm will sound.

Optional - I also added a switch to turn the alarm off again. In the event the bilge pump DOES come on and you are busy trying to find the leak, you might want to turn off the alarm. I installed the switch inline with the alarm. Easy and made the price more than $5 total!!

We have recently had a few emails asking how we plan where we will sail to on our next voyage. Everyone is becoming so used to looking everything up on the web, is it possible to just get our cruising info there too? Do we still need Cruising Guides? It got me thinking about our method of voyage planning.

Background Information

For years we have followed roughly the same method. We initially read about interesting cruising destinations in sailing publications or websites as well as talking to other experienced cruising sailors about the places they love to explore. Boat show seminars are another great resource. Then if a cruising destination holds a serious appeal to us, we buy a cruising guide or two about the area. We flip through them trying to get the flavour and basic information about the places. What season to visit? What are the hotspots? What did the author find most worthwhile to include photos on? What are the anchorages or harbours like? In many cases the author’s introduction is valuable. You are learning from someone who often has many decades of experience in these waters. Compare that to reading a blog... the blogger is reporting back on his first and likely only visit, and how things went for him. He may have got lucky, or unlucky with weather, he may have had boat problems and report mainly on how easy it was to get things repaired? All potentially useful, but not the definitive account. Although we read and reference websites and blogs for insights into the experiences our fellow sailors have had cruising in a place, we would never depend on them entirely as the only reference in addition to good charts.

Harbour Entry Advice

Here is another time when we really like to have a cruising guide on hand. Entering a new harbour, planning a safe anchorage, the cruising guide is your local expert at your side. Looking at a chart is going to be necessary at the next step as you plan the actual route and when you are there navigating, but the cruising guide contains very useful hints and warnings to help you interpret the chart and cross-reference any discrepancies.

For instance, here in the British Virgin Islands where we’re currently cruising there are MANY bareboats and people who do not have local knowledge, or even any experience on the boat they’re sailing. A cruising guide is a GREAT idea and fun way to get into the spirit of the trip weeks before you even arrive. And when cruising here the guide is a great resource as you come in to a port for the first time. The sections on "Approach & Entry" to the harbours warns of off-lying danger and offers a safe conservative route in.

For example coming around to Gorda Sound here in the BVI there are a couple of options to enter the harbour. But the first convenient option south of Mosquito Island is really too shallow for most boats. "Cruising Guide to the Virgin Islands" (Nancy & Simon Scott) states...

"There are 3 entrances into the Sound but only one that is well marked. The western entrance via Anguilla Point is tricky and should only be used by those with local knowledge. Most bareboat companies place it off limits".

Sketch Charts

Cruising Guides also include sketch chart - simplified sketches showing the recommended routes, anchorages etc.. These are not at nearly the detail of the proper charts, but drawn with the author’s local knowledge. Here’s the entry to Gorda Sound from the "Cruising Guide to the Virgin Islands" .

We have gone through this entrance many times and know it quite well. There is less than 5 feet of water on the route so we swing up our keel. Last week we were heading in and a charter catamaran was following us toward it. They probably thought we were deeper than them so they could safely follow us. In fact we draw less than 3 feet and they (a Leopard 47) draws 1.5 feet more than us! Luckily they thought better of it and veered off. Perhaps they were reading through their cruising guide and changed their mind?

The moral of the story? Cruising guides are still a good idea! Up-to-date charts are important! And don’t follow other boats especially if they are lifting keel boats!

Here is the wide shot on the Navionics chart. Notice there is a "Note - See Lower Zoom" near our passage...

When you Zoom in the note recommends against it... and accurately shows the depths. Too shallow for the deeper cats!

Yes I have to put in a plug for all those iDevices we have on board! iPods, iPad and 2 iPhones, plus 4-5 other things that charge using a USB cable at 5Volts. I realized they were taking up most of our normal 230Volt outlets, some plugged in with adapters.

Then I saw this excellent small 12Volt plug that has 2 USB outlets built in. Its for sale at one of the local super-chandleries Budget Marine! Its made by Blue Seas who make many high quality electrical systems for boats.



It’s nice that it connects right into 12Volt so you don’t have to run an inverter and double-convert to run the special chargers. And its better than the typical cigarette charger since it has 2 outlets in one. It was just $29, so we bought 2!!

Blue Seas even lists on the specification that it has a small "parasitic" draw of 15ma. Parasitic draw is what it will use when plugged in but not in use. I am impressed that they list this since it is important - and nice and low compared to leaving a normal charger plugged in.

Now I’m going to go around the boat and count the number of devices we have on board that charges with a USB connection...

How many USB charged things do you have onboard??

Before enlightenment man chops wood and carries water.
After enlightenment man chops wood and carries water.
Zen Proverb

So it is in the boatyard. Annual maintenance must be done and we have the choice if we will enjoy it and make the most of it... or not. Here in the St Maarten Shipyard we are enjoying being hauled out.

Of course we could also just pay someone to do the work and come back when they are finished, which we have done from time to time... but I like getting up close and personal with the hull, at least every year or so to see what it going on down there. Any fittings that need replacing? Anything we might have scraped coming through the French canals and forgotten about? Any problems with rudders or prop? Any zincs corroding faster than they should? I like the sense of accomplishment of a job well done.

Here are some thoughts on maximizing the productivity and enjoyment of the "Zen of Haul-out"...

Finding a good yard

We always look for a yard where you can do work yourself, and also have reasonably priced options if you want help with jobs. I like to see a tidy yard with a well maintained travel hoist. Ideally there are some local facilities close at hand, such as a place to buy supplies and provisions, while hauled out. St Maarten Shipyard excels on all fronts. They have a crane and sealift both in good condition, a very knowledgeable and helpful staff, and a tidy yard. They also have a very nice restaurant on the premises (Boca Marina with great chef!) and of course they are in Dutch Sint Maarten so they have access to the best chandleries in the Caribbean.

Antifouling

The bottom of our Southerly 49, Distant Shores II, was very grown up with coral and worms so we definitely had to update the antifouling despite it just being 8 months old. The Cruiser Uno (one coat one season) which served us well in European waters doesn’t seem to be able to handle the high fouling here in the warm waters of the Caribbean. We are going to give one of the local favourites a try. I am planning 2 coats of "SeaHawk Islands 44 Plus" and another around the waterline. It’s an ablative paint so it will come off when scrubbed, and it can handle being left hauled out for hurricane season. I will report back next year after it has done a cycle here in the tropics.

In case you are wondering, all this growth came off with the pressure washing - a benefit of the ablative paints, I think. Then we asked the yard to do a quick sanding to get rid of the last of the barnacle bases - it took just 2 hours to get back to a smooth hull.

Gelcoat touchup

We had a couple of small chips in the gelcoat from a run-in with the dock in Morocco when the catwalk we were attached to on starboard side broke lose in a gale, and another at the bow from the anchor swinging around as we brought it onboard too quickly one time. Working on this kind of thing is possible while in the water but is much easier when hauled out. I always carry a pot of gelcoat that matches our hull so we can do quick repairs. Otherwise the hull is still in factory perfect condition - she is just 3 years old after all and the gelcoat is perfectly glossy/shiny. In the 3 years we’ve owned her we have gone through nearly 300 locks travelling through Holland, Sweden, Scotland and France but didn’t put a scratch on her in that time! Well maybe a couple of "scuffs". Easily repaired and buffed out.

Zincs

The modern cruising boat has a number of zincs. We have a big hull zinc, a specialized zinc on the "Autoprop", another I have added on the shaft, a zinc on the bow thruster, and small zincs protecting the fridge and freezer heat exchanger plates. Your boat may have others. Some places are more corrosive than others - we always found zincs disappeared quickly in the southern USA Intracoastal Waterway. In northern climes they seem to last longer.

Bottom Checkup

Taking a closer look at the "wet side" of your boat is worth a bit more time during the annual haul-out to maintain a fully seaworthy bottom. Is anything out of the ordinary? How much play is there in the shaft and stern bearing? Will the bearing need replacement soon? Any barnacles stuck up the thruhulls? I also take a few pictures of any details to help me remember how it looks down there when we’re back in the water and to plan for future jobs. I also take pictures during the lift so I can show the next boatyard how to lift her safely.

Other projects

If you have other bigger projects the haul-out can be a good time. Many installations are safer in the boatyard since you don’t lose a part dropped overboard. I can get out the sander or power tools and not worry about annoying the other people in the marina or anchorage. A boat yard is the proper place to get your boat in shape for the sailing season ahead.

Enjoy

It’s fun, this cruising life... and the enlightened cruiser enjoys it all - even time in the boatyard!