Putting in the New Muffler and Provisioning

May 26th, 2017

Continuing on the saga to get south began early in the morning with Paul arriving with the modifications to the muffler.  He had added a build up layer of fiberglass to increase the diameters of the intake and output of the new muffler.  Early in the morning he ground down the excess in the driveway to fit the new muffler.

After grinding it down and a couple of cups of coffee it was off to the marina to install the new muffler.  Down at the dock there waiting for us was Donnie on her boat.  She immediately went to work and installed the new muffler.

First it took a bit to get in place, as it was a tight fit to begin with.  Once she did fit the muffler clamping on the hoses was the next challenge.

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With the muffler in place we said goodbyes to Donnie, and set off to Donaldson's for diesel.

The CarolMarie carries 140 gallons of diesel in two 70 gallon tanks, and we filled both of them at a cost of 2.25 a gallon.  We returned to the docks at Hayden Bay Condos and added more supplies on board.

Bill Crowell was our volunteered cook for the voyage.  Between Charing, his wife Theresa and himself the boat was soon fully stocked ready to leave the next day.  It was just a matter of carting it all down to the boat from the houses.

Now we are ready to leave on the first leg to Astoria.

Never Leave on Friday

There is a tradition among sailor for generations to never begin a voyage on Friday.  I had always adhered to it until recently.  This week I flew from our new home in Southern California back to Portland.  A tradition of always photographing the carpet in the airport brings Portlanders good luck.

PDX Airport Carpet (new one)

The CarolMarie is moving down to Southern California, and I have been getting her prepared through the week.  The plan was to load up, provision and leave at 5:00am Friday the 26th of May from Portland, to Astoria the first leg of the journey.

Yesterday we ventured out to top off the diesel tanks, pump out the holding tank, and clean out the cob webs from the engine.  No sooner did we leave the dock before a hissing sound arouse from the bilge, along with black soot.  Our muffler had died, run dry because of a failure to turn on the intake hoses for the engine.

It's not easy here in Portland at 3:30pm to find a diesel mechanic willing to work.  Luckily the closest dock we could tie to had a power boat with a live aboard mechanic.  That was as far as my luck had extended because finding a muffler in Portland for a 30 year boat took a valiant effort by our friends Jim and Paul.  Between them both they'd found three possible solutions.

The mechanic was named Donnie a small framed woman who fit well in the tight engine compartment on the CarolMarie.  She agreed to swap the mufflers for free, but we offered a small bottle of Patron for compensation.  The exchange was agreeable to both of us.  Boat people are great after all at helping each other out.

Old Muffler gone with the hoses ready.

Now it should be noted that you must have the right diameter intake and output hoses to match the muffler to be fitted.   Upon reading the intake hose it read 2 inch inner diameter.  Paul, found an exact match for the muffler needed at a local engine store.  The muffler had been sitting on the self for 15 years and no one purchased it.  Once we got it on the boat we found out why.  The model SBM-20 mufflers (the model of the new one and the replacement Paul found) use a 2 inch intake and a 1.75 inch output.  Someone had cut off the output rise on the muffler such that the 1.75 inch output hose wouldn't fit.

Well the SBM-20 has a history of burning up and I was kind of glad it didn't fit. They're made of rubberized plastic and not very durable.

The second model Paul found was two big physically to fit in the previous space.

Jim found a model that would fit in physically but the intake and outputs were too small for the existing hoses.  So as I write the blog today, I have forced to push out the departure for one day while Paul modifies the new muffler to fit.  Hopefully we will be able to fill up today, provision the boat and leave Saturday.

New Muffler hopefully modified today.

A couple of learnings here: 1. Boat people are kind and helpful. 2. remember to check the seacocks before starting the engine in the spring 3. Never push the luck of leaving on Friday's again.

Up the creek with a newly varnished paddle.....

September 24, 2016

I bought a CD9 Cascade Sailing Dinghy from a friend.  It was built in 1980, so it had some wear and tear.  I spent the weekend sanding down the teak dagger board and the teak rudder to varnish them again.  I also took the time to strip down the oars with an orbital sander and 80 grit paper.

Here you can see the before and after sanding of the oars.

Once stripped down, I added a personal touch of a couple of Hawaii Kai decal's.  It made the oars look like a branded well finished product.

After decals added with Hawaiian Kai decals.

The final step was coating the oars with 6 coats of varnish.  They were both sanded with 220 grit in between coats.  This sanding provided a smooth coating of varnish and a glassy look to them.

Final finish with 6 coats of varnish on the oars and the teak boards.

Here's a look at the CD9 which is to be tackled next week.

CD9 Cascade Sailing Dinghy.

Long Weekend Around Sauvie Island

Thursday September 15, 2016

After spending too much time at work, and too little time on the boat I began to feel like Ishmael at the beginning of Moby Dick.  It was high time I took to sea.  Not having enough time for a trip to sea I took a long four day weekend to cruise around Sauvie Island.  So as the sunset on Thursday evening, after a long day on working on the boat, I made plans with my trusty dog Kona to take off and sail about the watery bits for a while.

Musings on our gazebo planing for the next day's adventure

Friday September 16, 2016

Last night I had pizza with friend Ray and Alicia from S/V Rowena, and we discussed an invitation we had from Chris and Kim on S/V Kaaluna.  Early in the morning I pinged Kim on email basically inviting myself and K-dog to stay at their marina.  By noon we'd loaded the boat and set sail for Big Island Marina (BIM).  BIM is located just down river from Fred's Marina on the Multnomah Channel, but it's on Sauvie Island.  I put our life jackets on and we set off for BIM.

K-Dog with his life jacket on.

Willamette River heading to BIM

BIM as it turn's out is a great place.   There was a huge field for Kona to run in, and use the facilities.  There is an awesome "man cave"/pirate hangout, and generous docks with power, showers, and welcoming neighbors.   The only hard part was getting into the single slips which are 45 degrees orthogonal to the current.  It means you basically pass the marina slip, then motor toward the slip you want while the entire time pointed at the slip just up river from you. To complain about that though is a bit like insisting your grapes are pealed.

Man Cave at BIM

Kona's field - He loved running around it.

BIM's docks

Chris was kind enough to help us moor without hitting anything.  Chris went back to work while I broke out the sand paper and continued to work on the bow sprit.  Although I came in about 2:30, I had finished the bow about 5:00pm.  Chris and I had a beer as we waited for the others to join us.  S/V Rowena pulled in about 8:00pm right when it got dark.  Kim cooked chicken and Alicia great sausages which we enjoyed with beer and wine, talking the evening away.

Saturday September 17, 2016

Wet rain dampened the next leg of the trip to the Gilbert River Docks.  We left BIM about 10:30am and arrived at the Gilbert about 12:30.

Rainy day headed to Gilbert River

The Gilbert River Docks are basically in the middle of the Gilbert River with no access to shore.  We met people from the yacht club there and had dinner.  It rained and rained so much. Kona and I went to bed earlier that day.

Kona sleeping next to the heater staying warm and dry.

 The next day we had a great breakfast with them.  I brought out the FLIR attachment to the camera and took a couple of photos.

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After breakfast we packed up and headed back to the docks at Hayden Condo Bay Marina. We stopped at Fred's for lunch, and to give Kona a break to go to the bathroom on grass.  He was grateful for the stop over.

We got back to the Vancouver Railroad bridge and waited a good 45 minutes for a train and then a shift change.  They swung open for us.