I just finished helping Dennis move his 1979 Mainship 34 from Maryland to Waterford, NY. The following is a description of the boat, its systems, some of the problems and fixes along the way and the cruise in general. It is long, so bear with me or ......
The boat was purchased as a project and it is. It has no marine head and holding tank- just a Porta Potty, no autopilot, no DC fridge although it does have a small 120v fridge. And there are lots of cosmetic stuff that needs work.
But the engine is a jewel. The boat was repowered some years ago with a Detroit 8.2 taken from a bus and marinized with J&T manifolds, a sea water heat exchanger and a dry turbo (or maybe that is what the bus used). With the exception of a starting problem, the engine ran beautifully over 50 hours and burned about 3 gph of diesel at 1,500 rpm making 7.5 kts.
So, lets go day by day and combine solving problems with where we cruised that day:
First before I got there, Dennis was starting the engine every day and one day it wouldn't start, ie turn over. So he looked for a mechanic and finally found one. I was going to laud the mechanic and give his name, but if you read about what happened two days later, maybe not. He sent the starter out for rebuilding and changed the oil, the Racor filter and replaced the R/W impeller and pronounced the boat ready for a 600 mile trip.
I arrived the next day and after poking around a bit, I concluded that the starting battery (an 8D) wasn't getting charged by either the engine alternator or the shore power charger- a 100 amp Freedom 20 inverter/charger. But after poking around a bit with a meter I found a blown 100 amp fuse that feeds the ACR. It had a replacement fuse taped on and after changing it out, the starting battery charged just fine.
So we left Pasadena, Md the next morning after fueling up. The very first thing I noticed was the uppper helm steering was 10-12 turns lock to lock. That makes it really hard to hold a course. Someone replaced the upper helm pump and used a 1.7 cu in per rev pump which is probably half the size needed. So after struggling with that situation from Pasadena to Chesapeake City we decided to run the boat from the lower helm. Fortunately Dennis brought a bar stool to use as a helm chair below.
Then the next morning the engine wouldn't start. I won't go into all of the details but I disconnected the wire from the starting relay to the starter solenoid and touched it to the heavy pos lug on the starter and it cranked right up. Was this the problem all along? Maybe so as Dennis said that the symptoms- buzzing sound (from the fuel pump?) and no start were the same as before.
So we used that wire manually to start the engine each time. A bit of a kluge, but where were we going to find a starter relay in Chesapeake City early in the morning?
The wind was moderate and the tide was fair heading down to Cape May once we got the engine started. We pulled in for fuel just to make sure how much fuel was being used. Some opined on this thread that it would use up to 7 gph but it actually used about 3.3. We then anchored in Sunset Lake a few miles inland from the more popular Coast Guard anchorage in Cape May. I learned about Sunset Lake from another cruising friend and will never again anchor near the Coast Guard station. Sunset Lake is large and totally protected from all sides.
But then the next problem hit us. The fresh water tank having been filled before we left and not used except for a few gallons was empty. We needed to find the leak, be in a place where we could get parts if necessary and refill the water tank.
So the next morning we checked the NOAA forecast for the Jersey Coast and it was 15 kts with seas 2-4'. We decided to go outside to Atlantic City and maybe even to Barnegat Inlet and find a marina.
Once we got outside the waves were tolerable (as long as we steered from below) so we made it all of the way to Barnegat. I now have a better appreciation for twin engines and/or bowthruster after backing down that marina's narrow fairway into our slip with niether. It wasn't pretty but we finally got in.
A quick look in the engine compartment indicated the water hose had slipped off its T fitting and we had it hooked up in 5 minutes. Filled the tank and we had water pressure. But only for another 5 minutes until the belt broke on this ancient water pump and we had no spare. But Dennis jury rigged several wraps of cord to substitute for a belt and it worked. But we didn't trust if to work for long, so showers were out for the rest of the trip.
The next long day from Barnegat to Nyack, NY (just past the Tappen Zee bridge) was uneventful. The wind and waves were lighter but were right on the stern. It did take a bit of wheel working to keep in a straight line, but not a killer. We took a mooring at the Nyack Boat Club and went ashore for a well needed shower. The wind kicked up about dark as a front came through and that made for a bouncy night. But the mooring held us fine.
The next morning we started the engine (using the jury rigged wire) and headed up the Hudson. The wind started out at 10-12 kts on our nose, but finally turned light and the sky was crystalline. Steering was finally easy with light winds and no seas on the Hudson.
We anchored in a beautiful little creek off the Hudson at Saugerties and spent a peaceful night in calm, no waves and no current conditions.
The next morning we headed up the Hudson on our (well my) last leg. We stopped in Castleton Yacht Club (the one with a DIY crane for lowering and raising your mast on a sailboat) and fueled up. We had gone 33 hours and used 85 gallons of diesel for 2.6 gph. Not bad making 7.5 kts (and mostly 8.5 with the favorable current).
We pulled in to Waterford at about 2:00 pm today. My wife met us and chatted with Dennis for a few minutes and we drove home- about 2 hours away. Tonight I owe here dinner out, but Dennis is stuck on board by himself although he still has lots of provisions on board. A friend from Toronto is meeting him in a few days to continue the journey up the Erie and Oswego Canals and across Lake Ontario to Toronto where he will keep the boat. I hope that the surprises are over and Dennis will replace the fresh water pump before they leave so they will have the basics of civilization again (if you discount the Porta Potty).
David
