Troubleshooting Tips

What good is all the fancy electronics you spent a fortune on, if they don't work? Sometimes, as is often the case in many things in life, simple is the solution. Continuing on the previous blog, here's a continuation on tips for keeping your equipment functioning.

Pull the plug! Just like your computer, when your GPS/chart plotter, fish finder, radar or other gear locks up or fails to respond to the controls, sometimes disconnecting the power cable or switching off the set’s circuit breaker and reapplying power can restore normal operation.

 In extreme cases, when all else fails, you can perform a “master reset.” Follow the instructions in the owner’s manual for the unit. Be advised that this is a last-resort procedure. A master reset can also delete all your waypoints, routes and custom settings.

 Quick tip: Regularly back up your waypoints and other entered data on a blank data card (refer to the unit’s owner’s manual for instructions on how to back up your waypoint list and other valuable data).

Be sure you know the location of every fuse for every electronics instrument you have. And keep an adequate supply of each fuse size on board.

Redundant Systems

Consider installing a second VHF radio and GPS/chart plotter. With a modest investment you can have independent redundancy for these essential instruments.

Keep a handheld VHF and GPS as part of your electronics lineup. Basic models are very affordable, serve as portable second stations and stand ready to go with you if you ever have to leave your boat in an emergency.

 The bonus is that the radio and GPS are already connected internally, so the set’s DSC emergency button is ready for use as soon as you obtain, register and enter your personal Mobile Maritime Service Identity (MMSI) number These sets are waterproof and floatable and will operate even in the event you find yourself in the water.

Always keep fresh batteries for every portable device you carry on board. And, if you don’t already have one, install a 12-volt cigarette lighter outlet to charge all of your handheld devices that have rechargeable batteries.

Midseason Boat Maintenance Tips

Mask and Fins I
While you’re at the sandbar or rafted with friends, dive overboard and inspect the boat’s bottom. Usually, the transom can stand a scrub to remove fouling, since not much “washing action” occurs there. Ditto for the scum line above the painted waterline. You may also have a layer of slime on your boat’s bottom. The trick is to remove the growth without removing too much bottom paint. We use a scrap of shag carpet with good results. It removes soft growth without scuffing off too much paint. For hard growth, like barnacles, use a paint scraper with the corners filed round to prevent gouging.

Lights
Before buying a new fixture, clean the socket and contacts using 220-grit sandpaper wrapped around a stick. You can also purchase replacement sockets. If you do replace the fixture, consider upgrading to energy-saving LED lights

Air-Out
On a dry, windy day, open the hatches, pry off deck plates and let the boat breathe, to reduce moisture and the chance for corrosion and mildew.

Seacocks
Open and close seacocks regularly. Besides an annual disassembly and lubrication, constant use will keep them in shape and will alert you to problems before they become catastrophic.

Some of the best ideas are cheap but will save you loads in the long run. Here are a few you can bank on.

It's In The Bag

A crisp, neat, straight paint line is a delight to the eye and is easy to achieve with careful application of masking tape. Your efforts unfortunately can be marred by paint creeping under the edge of the tape, ruining the effect. This is often caused by minute pieces of dirt sticking to the edge of the tape as it is laid down. Avoid this by storing tape in a resealable zipper storage bag when not in use. The bag will keep dirt off the tape and prevent half-used rolls from drying out between uses.

Zap The Tape

Nothing is more maddening than a roll of masking tape that won't unroll, but only comes off in little bits. Before tossing it in the trash, an ornery roll of tape can often be brought back to life with a quick blitz in the microwave. Don't overcook it: 5 to 10 seconds is often more than enough to revitalize the adhesive and return the roll to taping nirvana.

Keep It Solvent

Boat owners use lots of expensive caulks and compounds in cartridges. Half-used tubes that sit for more than a day or two often dry up, then get thrown in the trash. To avoid wastage, cover the end of the cut nozzle with a good dollop of petroleum jelly. It will keep the air out and prevent the contents of the tube from hardening. Next time you need the caulk, thoroughly wipe off the jelly and squeeze out a little bit of caulk to be sure the inside of the nozzle is clear of jelly.

Cheap Hand Cleaner

Many jobs on the boat can leave your hands filthy. For a fast-and-effective hand cleaner that's good at removing grease and grime, pour a little olive oil on your hands along with a sprinkling of sugar. Wipe with a paper towel, then wash your hands with soap and water.

Shaft Nut Configuration

Want to start an argument in most any boatyard?

Find a boat where the shaft nuts are in this configuration (thick nut first, thin nut last) and tell the owner or yard manager who installed it that they're backward. It seems like a no-brainer that the larger nut against the prop would do most of the work and that the smaller nut should go on second, to kind of hold it in place.

In truth, however, it's the smaller nut that should always go against the load because it is the "jammed" nut, not the "jam" nut. When the second, outer nut is tightened down, it compresses and deforms the inner nut a tiny bit, rotating it a fraction of a turn. This effectively unloads the threads of the first nut and engages the threads of the second nut. Thus, the top or outer nut actually takes all the load. As the larger nut has more thread area (and more holding power), that's the one you want as the outer nut. I see prop nuts installed backward all the time while surveying. Will the prop fall off because of it? Not likely. But who wants to find out?

Corrosion

Photo: Mark Corke

Anodes are essential to protect submerged underwater metals from galvanic corrosion. Normally they should be replaced every year or when they are 50 percent wasted. How long anodes last depends on many factors, such as where you keep and use your boat and whether it stays in the water between uses or is stored on a trailer. Inspecting anodes on a trailered boat is pretty easy, but for boats stored in the water, things are a little more complicated. And because you can't easily see the anodes that are clamped to things such as shafts, line cutters, and bow thrusters, they tend to get forgotten. In some cases, it makes sense to hire a diver to check the condition and, if necessary, replace worn anodes. Doing so may be even more cost effective than hauling the boat out of the water.

Wrapping It Up

Get a rope or even some fishing line wrapped around the prop and it can be more than just a little aggravating; it can land you in big trouble and calling for a tow. The majority of ropes and lines are made from synthetic fibers, and while these may be great at tying things up, like your boat to the dock, they can be a real headache if they get wrapped around the prop. A moment's lack of concentration and fishing line can get wrapped around an outboard's propeller, where it will swiftly work between the gear housing, damaging critical oil seals and melting into a solid lump that will require considerable time and effort with a sharp knife to remove. It's bad enough on an outboard, but wrapping a rope around the shaft of an inboard-powered boat may require an expensive haulout to get things sorted. Be aware of lines on your boat that may be trailing in the water, just waiting for a spinning prop. And watch the water ahead for floating line as well as other problems.

Boat Cooler Basics

Here's an article by Michael Vatalaro in BoatUS about coolers, the unsung staple of boating.

No matter the size of your boat, a cooler is essential.

Here are a few ways to get the most out of yours.

Nothing shouts Summer Boating! like an ice-cold drink on a sticky-hot day. But if you find yourself short of ice after a long day on the water or constantly shelling out for a fresh bag from the dockside store each morning of a long weekend, you may need to upgrade your chill chest. Four factors determine the effectiveness of your cold spaces aboard: Size, insulation, gasketing, and drainage. Let's tackle them one by one.

Size

Bigger isn't necessarily better. The more volume your cooler or insulated box has, the more ice you'll need to chill down all the stuff in it, and all the air in any empty space. This is why a full cooler holds ice better than one that's mostly empty — you're not wasting thermal energy cooling down all that air, some of which, by the way, gets exchanged every time you open the lid. The ideal cooler or box will be just big enough for your normal weekend's use. If you need more space on occasion, you can always employ a soft-sided cooler bag as needed.

Coolers with wheels and handles, like this new 80-quart Elite from Pelican, make it easier to get your food and drink from the car to the boat.

Insulation

This might seem obvious, but more is better in this case. Ideally, it's thick foam, and the lid is as thick as is practical. If you don't have an insulated box on board currently and you're considering adding insulation yourself, the first consideration is how much space there is around the box (on all sides) to add foam — without it contacting the hullsides or the bottom of the boat. The second issue is drainage.

Gasketing

Just like the weather stripping around the doors of your house, a good thick gasket prevents air from leaking in or out of your cooler, in this case, stealing your precious cold air and melting your frozen H2O. If the lid of your box or cooler doesn't have a gasket, consider using a $4 roll of foam tape or door kerf to seal the gap. It won't hold up as well as the proper rubber gasketing of a high-end Yeti or Engel cooler, but it should get you through a season or two.

No livewell? No problem! An old cooler makes a great portable livewell. A simple 12-volt
aerator kit, which can be bought for around $30, will transform a cooler into a bait keeper. (Photo: Dan Armitage)

Drainage

Yes you need to be able to drain your box or cooler, but not at all times. You want a removable plug so you can spill excess water and weight at the end of the weekend, or leave it open to melt and drain in your absence, but until then, that chilled water is your beverage's best friend. Water transfers thermal energy way more efficiently than air, so when your ice melts and becomes an icy bath, your drinks will never be colder. The flip side of this is that your sandwich will never be soggier. But rather than drain that cold water away to keep your foodstuffs dry, pack them in zip-top bags instead.

If you're considering adding insulation to a box on board, make sure it drains overboard, but also figure out how you're going to plug that drain while the box is in use. And while you're at it, figure out a way to stow the plug so you always know where it is when you need it on Saturday morning

How To Stop A Boat From Sinking

Based on an article by Michael Vatalaro

Quick action — and these three items — can keep your boat afloat in an emergency.

Putting Archimedes' "Eureka!" moment aside, a boat can be said to float because there's more water on the outside than on the inside. And while the concept of displacement might baffle some of us, it's a safe bet that every boater knows when the water on the outside starts becoming water on the inside, something has to be done, and quickly. Here are three ways to stop a sudden leak, before your boat ends up looking more like Archimedes' bathtub.

Cram It: TruPlug

Designed as a replacement for traditional wooden bungs, which often need to be hammered into place to staunch the flow of water, TruPlug is made from closed-cell foam, the elastic type that springs back into shape after you compress it. Like foam earplugs, TruPlug is designed to be installed by hand.

Yes, in a perfect world, should a hose pop off your raw-water intake, you'd just close the seacock. But in reality, these valves are frequently neglected and stuck in the open position. Or perhaps, in a truly disastrous turn of events, a heavy battery or piece of equipment breaks loose and shears off an aged, corroded, or fatigued seacock. In such a case, you'd be glad to have the flexibility of TruPlug's foam, which can conform to somewhat irregular shapes.

But you don't have to imagine a worst-case scenario to find a reason to keep this $20 item in your toolkit. The plastic "mushroom"-style thru-hulls through which scuppers, bilge pumps, and livewells drain overboard are notorious for cracking and leaking after years of UV abuse. Having a plug handy to jam into one of these openings might just get you back to the dock without having to bail all the way home.

Wrap It: Rescue Tape

I've had an engine-cooling hose burst while underway. It's not pretty. When I opened the engine-compartment hatch, water — under pressure from the engine's circulating pump — was spraying from a gash in the hose all over the engine compartment. The boat in question was a twin-engine cabin cruiser, so the solution was to shut down the port engine and continue on one engine. But if I'd had Rescue Tape aboard, I could've wrapped up the busted hose and been back underway at normal speed.

Rescue tape is self-amalgamating silicone. It comes with clear backing that you have to peel back as you go. To repair a leak, stretch and wrap the tape over the hose and itself, overlapping each wrap by about half. Don't be shy on the stretching — the tighter you pull the wraps, the better the seal. Using the tape to cover an extra few inches on either side of the leak should allow you to seal just about any leaking hose or pipe in an emergency, even high-pressure hydraulic lines. However do read the packaging for limitations, such as for common rail pipes or pipes from injector pumps to injectors. For $10 to $12 per roll, this tape is cheap insurance.

Mend It: Epoxy Sticks

These epoxy putties can be mixed by hand to create a self-hardening patch for repairing small holes or gashes in the hull or an outdrive. They even cure underwater, though you may have to hold it in place for 5 to 10 minutes to give it time to set up. It's easier to find uses for this type of repair tool when your boat is out of the water. But if your boating takes you to remote places or you value self-reliance, throw a $24 package of this in the toolbox, just in case