Your next boat?

refugio said:

And it appears that Ulysses may be for sale (again?):
1963 53' Rabco 53' Romsdal Trawler LRC | Boating Life 360

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I've been on Ulysses; nice. Not yachty, but nice. I thought she was purchased and shipped to the PNW to be put into charter service. But maybe I'm confusing her with another of these lovely little ships.

Marin said:

Eric-- I don't argue the fact that a couple of FL120s in a boat like ours are not going to taxed very much. I'm not sure I'd use the term "under-loaded" but I suppose one could. I'm only saying that it's not bad for them. A bazillion GBs (and other makes) have pretty much been proving this since the mid-60s. Now I don't think an FL120 should be cruised at anything under 1500rpm because at that point and slower the engine can start running cooler than it should. We cruise at about 1650. I say "about" because the old SW tachs are nothing to write home about in terms of accuracy..

In talking to old-timers with a ton of experience with the Ford Dorset diesel-- in boats and in industrial/agricultural service in the US and UK-- they all say that engine is happiest in the 1500-1800 rpm band. Faster they say shortens their life and slower runs them too cool.

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Yeah, my FL120's sweet spot seems to be 1750rpm. Would go forever at that speed - has done in fact. I have no idea how many hourse it has done, the hr meter part of the Motorola rev counter died just after I took possession - possibly even earlier - about 10 ys ago reading 3,600hrs... still uses virtually no oil...

Me too Peter!! Hundreds of hours trolling for salmon and fishing for bottom fish all the while idling at least one of the engines. (the ultimate in engine underloading) and they still starts and runs like a clock.

The sad thing is, I'm probably facing a rebuild because the seals on the wet sleeves on 1976 Perkins 6.354's don't last forever. Eventually they let go and you have coolant seeping into the engine, so I'm told.

The question is, do I wait until they start leaking or do them now? If I pass the boat along to my son, does he end up facing the rebuild or do I
fix it and hand him a trouble free boat?

"Has anybody actually experienced engine failure do to under loading. I personally haven't heard of anybody having this kind of failure."

The failure is slobbering , a slow death , not an explosion.

Start reading National Fisherman , they have had numerous articles on the short lives of both main engines and gen sets that are operated underloaded.

Push an 85 ft trawler , tow nets , then be killed by hours of ideling to operate the hyd pumps.

OF course all the main engines there are from industrial stock,not marinizations of taxi cab or farm engines.

The small truck marinizations DO work well as ideling is part of the life of a skool bus or power loader.

None of these light engines are selected to operate near 100% power output for long periods of time. Half throttle is part of their design , industrial operation is NOT.

So the boat assembelers can and do get away with a single engine inventory ,(and lower cost due to higher purchase volume) for either single or twin installation.

FF

FF

I could not agree more that some fishing fleet vessels suffer early engine demise from idling for protracted periods or under loading their gensets. The lament I hear from fishing boat owners is the operators they lease their boats to abuse the vessels. It seems odd that if the owner is on board that the vessel would continue to be abused. Darwin at work?

What taxicab and tractor engines are you referring to? I've seen plenty of yellow cabs but none with yellow diesel engines. When my 2003 Perkins Sabre 225 engines were on the assembly line some were painted blue and some yellow then rebadged as a Cat 3056, but not for cabs I can assure you.

One of the most popular diesels during the past decade or two has been the Cummins 6BT (and variants) installed in tractors, pickups, gensets, boats, small dirt movers and commercial fishing vessels, time and again.

One of the prettiest and well kept boat is the Sovereign of Malahide. I probable will be at the Trawler Fest Anacortes WA along with the Delfin. The Ursa Major another Malahide might be there.

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/photoGallery.jsp??access=Public&currency=USD&listing_id=74772&units=Feet&boat_id=1806302&back=boatDetail.jsp&boat_id=1806302

The Romsdal and the Malahide are similar, some how related, and heavy sea worthy boats.

BaltimoreLurker said:

I've been on Ulysses; nice. Not yachty, but nice. I thought she was purchased and shipped to the PNW to be put into charter service. But maybe I'm confusing her with another of these lovely little ships.

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You are thinking of the Ursa Major a Malahide out of Seattle. She was moored a the North end of Lake Union and we were at the south. I have lost track of her, but she might be at the Trawler Fest Anacortas getting ready to head north.

Phil Fill said:

One of the prettiest and well kept boat is the Sovereign of Malahide. I probable will be at the Trawler Fest Anacortes WA along with the Delfin. The Ursa Major another Malahide might be there.

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/photoGallery.jsp??access=Public&currency=USD&listing_id=74772&units=Feet&boat_id=1806302&back=boatDetail.jsp&boat_id=1806302

The Romsdal and the Malahide are similar, some how related, and heavy sea worthy boats.

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Phil - Sovereign of Malahide is simply Out of This World Beautiful!

Thanks, for the link... been a while since I've seen her on web picts, I looked at everyone! - Art

Art said:

Phil - Sovereign of Malahide is simply Out of This World Beautiful!

Thanks, for the link... been a while since I've seen her on web picts, I looked at everyone! - Art

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Ditto.

Before you guys idle your lives away idling your engines in gear trying to be the king of the mountain of the underloaders you should be aware that that's very hard on dampner plates. Lots of fishermen here in Alaska have problems w the danpner plates. Just say'in

sunchaser said:

w

What taxicab and tractor engines are you referring to?

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Perhaps he's talking about British engines. The cabs in the UK have been diesel for decades. Mostly four cylinder I believe.

"It seems odd that if the owner is on board that the vessel would continue to be abused. Darwin at work?"

Sadly it is the working requirement of the vessel , not ignorance.

It is simply part of the cost of running the boat ,, built into every fish you eat.

Perkins are in many Brit delivery trucks and taxi cabs.

Deere uses Jap tractor base blocks to marinize.

Replacing a vibration damper is done on many diesels based on operating hours.

Like filters , injectors and pump impellers , another expense , no big deal.

The future will be interesting as the hammer of Gov continues to shrink the number of base engine mfg.

With world wide use of " clean air " requirements our boat sources will continue to get more complex , more expensive and less reliable.

In the OTR world it is now common for owner operators to purchase a pre 03 truck , and spend almost the price of a brand new truck in a total overhaul.

Pre 03 engines give better mileage and can be repaired.

A factory new truck is replaced if it doesn't work, not cheap to do.

Happily the dead hand of gov is concerned with larger engines , and the small stuff 1 to 6 GPH is a few years behind in the "clean air" rules.

FF

Tread Digression

Boy , this subject thread REALLY digressed from its original posting. The only sad thing is there are lots of good engine discussions here that might never be found due to the tread title. The only reason I found this discussion is I was looking to see if this vessel Layla had been mentioned on this forum.

FF said:

No Greater Passion for the Craft: LAYLA, a Take On John Alden's "Miniature Ocean-Going Tug"

Probably not enough sail to actually sail, but pretty!!

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This one, and it's already mine, since 1981