Boating Lessons Learned: An Arranged Meeting

Have you ever met a stranger and knew right away that the meeting was arranged? That this is no accident.  Somehow you know that your purpose for the next few minutes is to be right here talking to this person. You’re not sure if maybe there is a message intended for you or whether the stranger is the intended beneficiary. You just know that this is not a chance meeting.

Well yesterday my dog Molly and I were taking an afternoon walk around the marina grounds, enjoying the January sun. An old pickup truck slowly pulls up beside us and stops. The 80ish year old man inside looks wistfully at Molly and says “You have a great dog there.  She loves you very much.”   I simply reply with my standard “Yeah, She goes everywhere I go”  all the while wondering how could he possibly know?

He tells me that he has a Jack Russell that generally goes everywhere with him but that today he needed some time to himself.  “I buried my wife two days ago. She was sleeping in the bed next to us and we heard her gasped her last breath.  I tried to revive her but it was no use.  She was already in heaven. She’s up there right now having a big time I suspect.” He turns and gazes down the river.

There was a long but somehow comfortable pause in the conversation. He turns and looks me straight in the eye and says “I’ll be there with her very soon.”   He gives me a mournful smile.

Wow!!! How do I reply to that?  I’ll tell you how … I don’t. I just nod and keep listening.

I think I see tears in his eyes but I am not sure until he reaches up with an arthritis ridden hand and gently catches a tear before it runs down his left cheek. I can tell that strength still remains in those hands. He looks over at Molly again and says “See how she looks at you. You can tell she loves you. You know you can learn a lot from her if you just pay attention. She will teach you how to love. She loves you unconditionally you know.”

He gazes down river again. I can tell his focal point is well beyond the horizon. When he turns back again I notice his ball cap. It has I❤️Jesus printed across the bill. He says “I come here often to pray …. Another long pause …… I made mistakes. Especially when I was younger. I can’t be too hard on myself though. I’m only dust of the earth. I’m not perfect but I am forgiven.”

He looks again at Molly and says “Yep, you could learn a lot about love and forgiveness from her.” He puts his truck in gear and thanks me for listening to him. I say Thanks back as he pulls away. When he rounds the corner and disappears from sight I think to myself that this man could teach me a thing or two. At that instance I realize that he just did.

Boating Lessons Learned: Everyday is a Friday

People laugh when they hear how we came to live on our boat. For years we had been dreaming of the day when we could retire, sell the house, and move onto the boat full time. We dreamed of untying and leaving on year long cruises to interesting new destinations.

It had not always been that way. When we married we saved our coins and built a house in the country. We expected to live in that house until the end. But as the years passed we spent more and more time on the boat. Eventually we began to resent the house and it’s neediness. I mean come on …do you really need your grass cut again? I just cut it 2 weeks ago! Ok, Ok, 3 weeks ago!

Like many of you we started with a small boat but eventually we succumbed to the dreaded disease referred to as Fourfootitus. The 28 footer gave way to the 34 footer; then the 44 footer; and eventually the 55 foot Plukebaum that we own today. Doing the math you can see that we had a bad case of it and the disease got worse as time went on. Compared to our 28 foot Carver the Plukebaum is palatial. People don’t measure boats by the square foot but we found the 400 sq-ft of living space to be more than sufficient. I mean good grief who wouldn’t be content with a boat that came equipped with luxuries like a washer, drier, and dishwasher. Outrageous I say … just Outrageous.

So it wasn’t too long before we began practicing retirement … well sort of anyway. Instead of going home on Sunday we just stayed at the boat and commuted the 1 hour to work. We joked that Every day is a Friday! On Friday you have to go to work but at the end of the day you head to the boat and hang out with all your friends.

The reason we had not moved to the boat before was that to live on a boat and still work the boat had to have enough space to store work clothes. Every time we talked about moving onto our 34 foot Pequod my wife would flippantly question So where would we store the ironing board? I know, I know. An ironing board? Really? Well it’s true. Try going to work all rumpled and frumpled and see how your career progresses. But Hey, the Pluckebaum has plenty of ironing board space.

While on a week long business trip I got a call from my wife. Somewhere in the conversation she blurted out “I want to move onto the boat.” Interestingly, when I shared the conversation with the two ladies that I was traveling with their first reaction was “What? She’s leaving you?” “NO. I get to go too.”

Anyway back to the story … She tells me that she doesn’t want to wait till we retire. She wants to sell the house now and move to the boat.” I hate to say this after all of the day dreaming and planning we had been doing, but I was a bit apprehensive. That was a huge step and I guess my natural resistance to change was kicking in. But that subsided after roughly 2 nano-seconds. “Sure, let’s do it.”

Little did I know but she already had an offer on the house. When I returned from the trip on Friday I walked into the house and was greeted by an empty living room. Hum. She is serious about this thing. She had sold the living room furniture. A stroll through the house proved the same was true with the bed room furniture. The king-size bed was gone and was replaced by a pallet on the bed room floor. Well at least we have a pile of blankets to sleep on.

Now before some of you get riled up at what appears to be a sneaky clandestine move on her part, she had been visiting her niece that week and during the course of conversation her niece commented that she wanted to move into our neighborhood so that her children had access to the good schools in our district. I guess my wife just couldn’t resist when she later followed with how much she like our house and wanted one just like it. My wife jumped at the opportunity. Well that meeting proved fortuitous for all of us. We moved out that Friday and our niece moved in a few days later, paperwork to follow.

We have lived on the boat for a number of years now and love it as much today as the day we made the plunge. Boating Lessons Learned: Don’t wait. Every day can be a Friday.

Thanks to all of you that have entered Amazon through my blog and made purchases. CLICK HERE.

This post is for informational purposes only. The content herein has a single theme: Mistakes …. or as I call them “Boating Lessons Learned”. While there may be elements of this site that appear to be advice about how to do some task you can be assured that it is not a complete and accurate “how to”. I am partially describing how I did something and what I learned. Do not rely on this information because Mcmanusboatworks.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and is not liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Boating Lessons Learned: Marrying Well

BLUF: Marrying Well.  Most of us have heard the phrase as in “Wow Charlie sure married well.  He doesn’t have two nickels to rub together but she is set to inherit millions.” Well I’m one of those blessed individuals that married well but not in the way you might think. I married a girl who loves the outdoors, specifically boating, and as such we inherited the river.

Tennessee River Sunset

I remember one warm fall Sunday afternoon back when I was about 12 years old. I was standing on our front deck looking across the marina at a man sitting on the front of his houseboat. You know the type with a bench seat across the front? He was sitting there slumped over with his head cupped in his hands. This was an unusual sight for the marina. It’s a happy place where people come to enjoy. I asked my dad what was up and he replied that the man had just sold his boat and was sad. Now that’s odd. I thought that the two happiest days in a boater’s life are the day he buys a boat and the day he sells it. He explained that this was different. This man had dreamed of owning a boat and finally in his latter years he talked his wife into allowing him to buy one. But she hated boating and refused to come down to the boat. So after a few months of boating alone he decided to give up his dream.

I couldn’t help but stare. This was the first time I had seen a grown man cry. His sadness became my sadness. I just couldn’t comprehend it. At 12 years of age my only experiences had been where the whole family couldn’t wait until Friday to head out to the river. The concept of someone being married to a person who did not love to do the same things that he loved to do was beyond me. Needless to say this experience made a lasting impression. Formative might be a better way to describe it.

I was determined not to make the same mistake that he had made. But you know it was an easy mistake to avoid. I simply married my best friend. You know … the girl who despite my geeky personality, skinny stature, and empty wallet stuck it out through the long college years and all those weekends spent canoeing, camping, and four wheeling around the mountains of north Alabama with none of those amenities at hand that the typical girl required like indoor toilets, hot showers, and hair driers. I sure am glad she did too.

I would characterize this as a Boating Lessons Learned. I married well by marrying my best friend and our 30 plus years together on the boat is the proof.

Thanks to all of you that have entered Amazon through my blog and made purchases. CLICK HERE. It costs you no more to enter through my blog but when you do I receive a small percentage and it adds up. THANKS.

This post is for informational purposes only. The content herein has a single theme: Mistakes …. or as I call them “Boating Lessons Learned”. While there may be elements of this site that appear to be advice about how to do some task you can be assured that it is not a complete and accurate “how to”. I am partially describing how I did something and what I learned. Do not rely on this information because Mcmanusboatworks.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and is not liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Boating Lessons Learned: DC Water Pump Loses its Prime

BLUF: Air trapped in a pump housing can prevent it from being primed even if a solid column of water is supplied to the pump.

It is not uncommon for the water storage tank to run low and the water pump begin sucking in air along with the water. Symptoms can vary from the faucets spitting an air/water mixture to the pump loosing its prime and water ceasing to flow altogether.  At some point the pump will no longer be able to maintain water pressure and it will run continuously.  Some pumps are capable of running dry without damage but others will over heat and sustain permanent damage like the big AC centrifugal pump in the photo.

This system is composed of an AC water pump and a DC water pump plumbed together into a common supply manifold.  The AC pump is the primary and it is set to maintain a 50-60 psi system pressure.  The DC pump is set to come on if the pressure drops below 25 psi and shut off at 30 psi which happens when the boat is disconnected for shore power or the generator.

This particular system demonstrated a rather perplexing symptom recently. While using the AC supply pump the tank ran low and air was entrained with the water.   The problem was quickly remedied by refilling the tank with no further issue until a week later.  The boat was at anchor with the AC power turned off.  All was well until a faucet was opened dropping the water pressure to 25 psi engaging the DC pump. The user noticed that the flow was meager but after completing the task she closed the faucet and went about her business without further thought. In the mean time the DC pump was discovered to be running continuously and the pressure gauge read 10 psi. For some reason it would supply a small flow of water but would not bring the system pressure up enough to trigger the shut off switch.

Now that’s a head scratcher but I kinda spoiled the mystery by hinting to the source of the problem. Possibly the DC pump has lost its prime. But normally when this happens the pump will not deliver any water at all.

I confirmed that there was a solid column of water supplied to the DC pump inlet by disconnecting the inlet line and watching water flow immediately flow by gravity out of the line. Hum, normally when a pump needs to be primed I find no water at the inlet. So I then turned to the outlet side of the pump.  I loosened the hose clamp, energized the pump motor, and wiggled the hose to break the seal. A very small amount of water squirted out at first but within a couple of seconds the pump motor loaded up and a good bit of water began spraying about as you can see in the photo. I quickly tightened the connection to stop the flow and within a few more seconds the water pressure came up and the pump switched itself off. Problem fixed. But why?

As a mechanical engineer I have spent my entire career studying and applying the discipline but I am still intrigued to see the principles played out in real life systems. The pump inlet is well below the fresh water tank so a solid column of water was available to flow into the pump. It should have displaced any air that may have been in the line. But what about air that may have been trapped within the cavities of the diaphragm pump?  Is it possible that enough air could be trapped in the chamber such that the air could not be compressed to the 30 psi shutoff pressure by the diaphragm’s displacement but not enough air to totally prevent water flow?

This video published on YouTube by MarineMechanik demonstrates how a diaphragm pump works:

The governing principle is that water is incompressible therefore when the diaphragm moves it does not compress the water into a smaller space, it expels the water past the spring-loaded discharge check valve and out of the pump casing.  Air is compressible meaning if air is present in the housing the diaphragm will squeeze the air into a smaller space raising its pressure directly proportional to the relative before and after size of the air space.   If the discharge spring is strong then the pressure against the value face may not overcome the spring and nothing flows out of the pump housing.  The diaphragm simply compresses the air only to allow it to re-expand again.

In this case the pump outlet was exposed to about 10 feet of water head pressure (4.3 psi) due to the difference in elevation between the pump in the bilge and the faucet. I can imagine that as the pump diaphragm attempted to expel water from the pump cavity it first had to compress the trapped air to at least 4.3 psi.  It must have been able to achieve this because when the problem was discovered the pressure gauge read 10 psi and a small amount of water was flowing out of the faucet. So the amount of air in the pump was such that the displacement of the diaphragm could raise the pressure to 10 psi but not up to the 30 psi shut off pressure.  And the flow was so low that the air would not be swept out along with the water.

Boating Lessons Learned: When I loosened the outlet pipe connection I removed the head pressure, the pump was then able to expel a lot of water and sweep out the air.

Thanks to all of you that have entered Amazon through my blog and made purchases. CLICK HERE. It costs you no more to enter through my blog but when you do I receive a small percentage and it adds up. THANKS.

This post is for informational purposes only. The content herein has a single theme: Mistakes …. or as I call them “Boating Lessons Learned”. While there may be elements of this site that appear to be advice about how to do some task you can be assured that it is not a complete and accurate “how to”. I am partially describing how I did something and what I learned. Do not rely on this information because Mcmanusboatworks.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and is not liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Boating Lessons Learned: Engine Won’t Start

BLUF: This is a quick post to share with you a good website addressing one of the most common marine engine problems, the engine won’t start. The Family Handyman does a good job of showing us how to check the primary causes …. Click Here

Boating Lessons Learned: Check the fuel, the plug, and the fuel jets.

Thanks to all of you that have entered Amazon through my blog and made purchases. CLICK HERE. It costs you no more to enter through my blog but when you do I receive a small percentage and it adds up. THANKS.

This post is for informational purposes only. The content herein has a single theme: Mistakes …. or as I call them “Boating Lessons Learned”. While there may be elements of this site that appear to be advice about how to do some task you can be assured that it is not a complete and accurate “how to”. I am partially describing how I did something and what I learned. Do not rely on this information because Mcmanusboatworks.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and is not liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Boating Lessons Learned: Got to have a Back-up

BLUF:  It is good to have a back-up, and maybe even a back-up for my back-up.

I never know when a mechanical or electrical failure will leave me dead in the water. That is why I find myself buying two parts to replace the one that failed so I have a spare and keeping the old parts to boot. Call me crazy … A hoarder even.

We captured this example yesterday.   It just begged for a posting.

Spare Engine for Spare Engine

Small engines are often left exposed to the elements and unused for long periods of time resulting in corrosion induced electrical problems, carburetors drying out and clogging up, condensation accumulation in the fuel tank, and other such problems. The owner was on the way to haul the boat out to get the engine serviced and had mounted a second engine (left transom) to get him over to the launch ramp only to find that months of sitting idle had left his back-up engine inoperable.  So why not just mount up a third engine, there is sufficient transom to swing it 😀.

Boating Lessons Learned: Clearly I can’t have too many spares, or at least a friend who will loan me his!

Thanks to all of you that have entered Amazon through my blog and made purchases. CLICK HERE. It costs you no more to enter through my blog but when you do I receive a small percentage and it adds up. THANKS.

This post is for informational purposes only. The content herein has a single theme: Mistakes …. or as I call them “Boating Lessons Learned”. While there may be elements of this site that appear to be advice about how to do some task you can be assured that it is not a complete and accurate “how to”. I am partially describing how I did something and what I learned. Do not rely on this information because Mcmanusboatworks.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and is not liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Boating Lessons Learned: Burned Marine Electrical Shore Power Plug

BLUF: I reduce the risk of a burned shore power plug by selecting a marine grade plug, using marine grade wire, and applying anti-oxidant joint compound to the connections.

Burned Shore Power Plug

I was helping a friend disconnect her shore power cord the other day when I noticed that the plug was warm to the touch. That’s a sure sign that a plug failure is imminent. Sure enough the hot spade was toast.

Her boat is equipped with 4 wire SO cable coming from the boat that terminated in an RV type 30 amp male plug. This is the type of stranded black wire and plug you might find at any local big box electrical supply store. Connected to this and running to the shore power receptacle was your typical yellow marine grade 30 Amp shore power cord.

I noticed a couple of interesting things as I was making the repair. The high resistance point appeared to be where the hot wire (black wire) from the standard grade cable connected to the terminal of the standard grade male plug. It had gotten so hot that it melted both the male and the female plug.

The male plug was not marine grade meaning that the terminals were not stainless steel. They showed signs of rust and corrosion contributing to a high resistance which was the root cause of the plug overheating and melting.

Marine Plug vs Standard Plug

You have to look closely to see it but the yellow Marinco plug on the left has stainless steel connectors and is relatively free of corrosion. The screws on the plug on the right are rusty as is the bearing surface where the wires connect. Interestingly the Marinco Male 30 Amp Marine Plug from Amazon was $15 while the standard plug from the local big box hardware store was $18.

Marinco 30 Amp Plug

Another thing I noticed as I was striping back the wire insulation on the standard grade power cord was the film of black oxidation on the strands of copper wire. I had cut the wire back over 3 feet to remove a bad nick in the insulation and the strands were still oxidized despite being protected by two layers of insulation and being 3 feet away from exposure to the elements.

Oxidized Copper Wire Strands

Compare the above photo to the photo below of the relatively oxidation free and shiny wire I found in the marine grade shore power cord. Forgive the blurred photo. I was taking a shot of the plug and did not notice the stark difference between the marine grade and standard grade wire until it was too late to get a good shot of the wire strands on this end of the connection.

Marine Grade Wire

A friend of mine is an industrial electrician. He regularly sees the effect of corrosion on electrical connections and as such has some amazing stories about how much heat can be generated in a high voltage, high current connection. He is a firm believer in using an anti-oxidant compound on all electrical connections. Of course the systems that I deal with operate at a much lower voltage and current but the effect is similar as you have seen in the pictures herein. CLICK HERE to link to the compound that I use on both my AC connections and my DC connections like battery terminals and wire splices. I have lead acid battery post connections that are 5 years old without any sign of corrosion. This is some good stuff. For a splice I just dip the exposed wire strands into the compound and rub it into the wire strands. It can be messy so I keep a rag handy to wipe up any excess.

Anti-oxidant Compound

A good source for information on marine electrical systems is the book by Nigel Calder Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual: How to Maintain, Repair, and Improve Your Boat’s Essential Systems. I bought a copy back in the 1990s and go back to it time and again.

But a word of caution before I close out this post. Repair work on marine AC power systems is dangerous and should not be attempted by the novice. A lot can go wrong such as inadvertently reversing the polarity and creating an electrocution hazard. So hire a licensed marine electrician to perform any work on your AC power system.

Boating Lessons Learned: I reduce the risk of a burned shore power plug by selecting a marine grade plug, using marine grade wire, and applying anti-oxidant joint compound

Thanks to all of you that have entered Amazon through my blog and made purchases. CLICK HERE. It costs you no more to enter through my blog but when you do I receive a small percentage and it adds up. THANKS.

This post is for informational purposes only. The content herein has a single theme: Mistakes …. or as I call them “Boating Lessons Learned”. While there may be elements of this site that appear to be advice about how to do some task you can be assured that it is not a complete and accurate “how to”. I am partially describing how I did something and what I learned. Do not rely on this information because Mcmanusboatworks.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and is not liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Boating Lessons Learned: The Boating Family Thanksgiving

BLUF:  I love Thanksgiving dinner with our boating family.  Too bad Aunt Martha isn’t a boater too.

I know it is a bit early in the season but I am looking forward to Thanksgiving.   I was talking to one of the ladies on the dock and she told me that Thanksgiving was her least favorite holiday.   I was flabbergasted. “Why?” I asked.  She said that it was so stressful with all of the family demands pulling her this way and that way and all the drama that results.  Aunt Martha is still mad at having to drive all the way to Sarah’s house so she wants to do dinner at her house this year.  Grandmaw Elsie never forgave Steve for leaving early to go deer hunting and taking the turkey legs with him.  And then there is all that cooking.  Aunt Martha likes turkey but Joe wants ham.  Cousin Sarah wants scratch made cranberry sauce and Steve can’t eat turkey without the canned cranberry sauce.  She dreaded Thanksgiving.

On the other hand I love Thanksgiving spent with our dock family.   Starting back in the 90s my wife and I decided to spend Thanksgiving at anchor and take a break from the family drama.  It was not too many years later that Thanksgiving had morphed into a celebration attended by all of the dock misfits …. People who had no nearby family.  Pretty soon even people with nearby family started skipping out from their family obligations early so they could spend the afternoon with  their dock family.

Why?  Because the dock family Thanksgiving is exactly opposite of the Aunt Martha Thanksgiving.  We come together truly thankful for another year together.  There are no demands.  If you can make its great but if you can’t then we will enjoy your company next time you can make it to the boat … no sweat.  As far as all that cooking goes, we each make our specialty and bring it to the pitch-in.  And what a pitch-in it is.  Carol enjoys making banana pudding and we all love eating it.  If you  need canned cranberry sauce to enjoy the turkey then bring it along with that green bean casserole that you make so well.  The most stressful part of the cooking is what to do with all those left overs.  It’s enough to feed Cook’s Army.

You know it is a shame that Thanksgiving at Aunt Martha’s is such dreaded event.  I know she would be hurt if she knew how her family felt.  But if Aunt Martha was a boater I bet she would understand … And I bet she would send Steve off early with a sack loaded down with turkey legs.  “Cook’s Army won’t miss them.”

Thanks to all of you that have entered Amazon through my blog and made purchases. CLICK HERE. It costs you no more to enter through my blog but when you do I receive a small percentage and it adds up. THANKS.

This post is for informational purposes only. The content herein has a single theme: Mistakes …. or as I call them “Boating Lessons Learned”. While there may be elements of this site that appear to be advice about how to do some task you can be assured that it is not a complete and accurate “how to”. I am partially describing how I did something and what I learned. Do not rely on this information because Mcmanusboatworks.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and is not liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Boating Lessons Learned: Women Taking the Wheel, Muscle Memory

BLUF: A new boat pilot who is learning the skills required to safely operate a boat benefits significantly from the development of muscle memory that allows them to subconsciously operate the boat’s controls.

I recall one night back in the day when my brother and I crewed for a friend who was fielding his first race car. We had very little money to buy tires so the driver only made a few practice laps on that first trip to the track. He basically had no track experience much less any racing experience on a crowded race track. That first night out the car performed well but he found himself caught up in a couple of wrecks. After the race was over we inspected the damage and he was shocked to find bits of concrete embedded in the front bumper. “How did that get there?” he asked indignantly. We answered in unison … “Cause you slammed the wall, TWICE.” He did not even remember wrecking much less backing out into traffic and doing a classic “Rockford Files” spin to get the car back straight again.

He was suffering from brain overload. There were too many new things going on at once and he had sensory overload. Once he got some seat time he was able to gas, shift, steer, and brake without much thought but in the early weeks those simple tasks fully taxed his brain such that he had little ability to think about how to stay out of trouble on the track. Needless to say we spent a lot of time repairing body damage on that car.

This week I spent some quality time with a woman on our dock who is in the same boat. She is in the early stages of learning to operate her single engine inboard/outboard houseboat. Every action requires thought during these early stages of learning. “Which way do I turn the wheel to back the boat to starboard?” “The boat is not reacting. Did I hear it go into gear or not?” “Why am I drifting to port? Did the wind just shift?” The mental questions come at a rapid-fire pace and create brain overload.

As I coached her through some boat docking practice I noticed that the simple act of shifting from forward to neutral was requiring multiple thought and action steps each requiring a second or two. I could literally see her brain working. “Oh I’m approaching too fast” and then a half second later I could see her turn and look at the shifter to see what gear it was in. Then after another 1/2 sec. of processing that information she would reach for that old stiff Mercruiser shifter and struggle to shift it into neutral. Sometimes she would pull the shifter back but not far enough to get it to shift into neutral and the boat would continue to drive towards the dock. It would take another couple of seconds for her to realize this was happening and to begin to figure out why. Her stress level was increasing with every second and her ability to think quickly and react appropriately was increasingly diminished as time passed. Literally the shifting and steering actions were taking so long that the wind had the boat out of shape and to the point of no return on every attempted pass. It was about then that I remembered that first night at the race track.

I was thinking to myself that she would not be struggling nearly as much if she could first master that quirky shifter. So we tied the boat back up and spent a few minutes in the slip doing nothing more than shifting from neutral to forward, forward to neutral, neutral to reverse. She did this over and over again and during the process she listened for the engine to shift into gear. She began to get a feel for how the old shifter popped out of forward and into neutral. She soon began to recognize the sound the gears make when they began to engage and shift into forward. She also experienced what it felt like when she went too far and inadvertently shifted straight from reverse into forward without pausing in neutral. It was rather tedious for her I am sure but after a while she began to gain muscle memory and she could shift without thinking.

“Ok let’s take the boat back out and try docking again”. Over the next few minutes she made nine successful passes docking the boat and she did an admirable job each time. The lag time was cut way down. I could tell that the shifter movements came more automatic to her. She did not have to think about it and this gave her more time to watch the boat as it drifted and think about her next move. Her stress level was lower and her confidence level improved markedly.

Boating Lessons Learned:  Next time out we will practice those shifter movements a few times before heading out so as to refresh her muscle memory and enable her to subconsciously operate the controls.

Thanks to all of you that have entered Amazon through my blog and made purchases. CLICK HERE. It costs you no more to enter through my blog but when you do I receive a small percentage and it adds up. THANKS.

This post is for informational purposes only. The content herein has a single theme: Mistakes …. or as I call them “Boating Lessons Learned”. While there may be elements of this site that appear to be advice about how to do some task you can be assured that it is not a complete and accurate “how to”. I am partially describing how I did something and what I learned. Do not rely on this information because Mcmanusboatworks.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and is not liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Boating Lessons Learned: Rebuilding a Carburetor

BLUF:  I need to be more observant and pay closer attention to the small details if I expect to improve my carburetor troubleshooting skills.

I enjoy working on carburetors.  They are engineering and manufacturing works of art.  No other engine part has more affect on how well an engine runs than the carb.  It is amazing to me that they are capable of delivering a precise mixture of fuel and air over the entire engine RPM range.  But the tiniest little thing can cause one to operate improperly.  It requires a keen eye to find it.  My friend Larry has an eye for such a thing.  It is amazing to me to watch him disassemble a part and point out the slightest flaw that is the cause of the malfunction.  It might be a tiny crack in an o-ring or faint discoloration on a bushing.

If a carb is left to sit for a long period of time the fuel will evaporate and leave behind a varnish like residue that gums up the passages.  If this happens often enough these works of art transform an engine into a cantankerous beast. Unfortunately this is the mode of operation for most gasoline engine powered boats.

One of my good friends has a small outboard engine that would no longer run. It cranked right away with a shot of starter fluid revealing the problem to be fuel related.

Given the engine sat idle for long periods of time between use I recommended that the carb be rebuilt. He was able to get a carb rebuild kit for under $50 and a can of Berryman Carb Cleaner for under $30 at the local auto parts supply house.   A carb must be soaked in an appropriate solvent to loosen the deposits hiding within the carbs passages so they can be blown out with compressed air.  Time and again I have seen repairmen remove the carb for rebuild and return in an hour with what they call a rebuild.  I just don’t see how they can remove the junk in that short a period of time.  What I do is soak a carb overnight in Berryman Carb Cleaner.  It comes in a resealable metal paint can and it includes a strainer basket to hold the small parts while they soak.  The lid reseals tightly and I can use it again and again so even though it costs $30 a can it is a good investment because cleaning out all the tiny passages is the key to a good rebuild.  But I digress.

Upon installation of the newly rebuilt carb he found that it leaked gasoline profusely and since he could not crank the engine and watch for the leak at the same time he asked that I help him find the source.  It turned out to be coming from the carbs fuel bowl vent and upon further inspection fuel could be seen streaming up and out of the main jet port within the venturi.

Main Jet Passage

So I am thinking to myself that the cause has to be a malfunctioning fuel bowl float valve.  How else could fuel be pumping up and out of the fuel bowl vent.  I tested it to see if the valve was sealing by blowing into the fuel inlet.  I really should have taken the time to find a clean length of fuel line to blow through because that petrol really doesn’t taste very good.   Must have been a bad vintage :-).  Hum.  I was sure the valve was the problem but it was sealed tightly.

But just to satisfy myself I removed the fuel bowl and inspected the float, needle, and seat anyway.  It all looked good at first glance.

Float with Needle Valve Exposed

My friend reported that he had replaced the old needle but that the kit did not come with a new brass seat which I thought was odd. Maybe the new needle was not the right match for the old seat so I asked that he see if he could find the old needle so I could compare it with the new one to confirm its compatibility. While he was gone my trusty side kick did a bit of nosing around and pointed out the real cause of the problem.

And sure enough she was right. She is so smart.

Retaining Screw Missing

So I sent a quick text and my friend who soon returned with both the old seat and the missing screw which he reports was left over after the rebuild. Well that was the cause of the fuel leak. That screw is designed to keep the float in place and without it the needle would not seat properly. Funny how it is that there is always an extra part or two left over after such a job. It really helps me to have a good diagram to go by when I do a rebuild. I have a couple of good carb books that cover the most common marine carburetors. HP Books publishes a number of very good books on engine and carburetor repair. I have a shelf half full of them. CLICK HERE for a link to a book that I find helpful. The price of the book plus a rebuild kit is about half what I had to pay for someone to rebuild just one of these carbs for me.

Boating Lessons Learned: My take aways are get a good carb book, get a can of carb cleaner and soak the carb overnight, and be organized and observant in the disassembly and assembly process.

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