NEW owner of a 42' Nova Sundeck, (1989)

Thanks for the marine/boat diesel link fellas. Much appreciated. Oh, I've learned so much the past few days.

it's BOATdiesel.com right? lol.

AriesEnergy said:

Thanks for the marine/boat diesel link fellas. Much appreciated. Oh, I've learned so much the past few days.

Click to expand...

what is this quote thing?

AriesEnergy said:

what is this quote thing?

Click to expand...

oh crap. ive been doing it wrong all this time. I've been putting the "@" sign like its instagram. rookie move.

AriesEnergy said:

Thanks for the marine/boat diesel link fellas. Much appreciated. Oh, I've learned so much the past few days.

Click to expand...

AriesEnergy said:

what is this quote thing?

Click to expand...

Swfla said:

AriesEnergy, it's becoming apparent that you would benefit from some hands on assistance with the boat equipment, operation and basic safety. If you'll be keeping the boat at a marina, talk to the dock master/manager for referrals to someone to show you around the boat in general. Most anyone with several years of boating experience on a few different boats can spend an hour or two on board with you and point out some basics. If you press the the wrong button or switch at the wrong time, you could cause damage or lose your anchor and chain right off the boat in 60 ft of water(they aren't always tied off to the boat). Well worth a $100 or so. You have a great new boat and I truly want to see you continue to have fun as you learn. Have you ever docked a twin engine boat of this type/size before? Lessons may even be in order!! Post more photos from your next visit please.

Click to expand...

I agree. I certainly do need hands on assistance. We are out on the water this Friday for a good 8 hours so I plan to soak up as much info as I can from the Captain. I have ZERO experience with twin engines period or of a vessel of this size. I have plenty of hours on the water, meaning like the local lakes in Northern Cali - goosin around some wake boats, I am a mechanic in my downtime (little sister of 3 brothers, all hardcore Chevy draggers) I have a REAL nice 1967 Conv. Chevelle, been wrenching all my life.

Absolutely NONE of that has prepared me for owning a 42 footer and 2 diesel engines! lol!

I am not the least bit embarrassed to say that I am a COMPLETE newbie and am humbled by the complexity of the diesel motor and extremely grateful for all that has given me advice. I am listening to all teachings and am very excited to dock twin motors!

Takoradi said:

AriesEnergy,


My setup on Uniflite 42 is exactly as FoxTrotCharlie described. You want to make sure the AC is switched off before firing up genny. On mine there are two switches side by side turning AC/DC on/off with a red slide that won't let you have access to one side if the other side isn't off first. All on the AC panel. In the attached pic you can see them near the bottom. Top left are my genny start/stop right next to my favorite friend, the blower (I've got gassers).


Hope that helps,


Tak

Click to expand...

Thanks Tak, I'll give it a go and see what happens. We are back at square 1 trying to diagnose the Gen. At this point, I'm about ready to yank the entire thing out and use the space for storage!

Takoradi said:

AriesEnergy,


My setup on Uniflite 42 is exactly as FoxTrotCharlie described. You want to make sure the AC is switched off before firing up genny. On mine there are two switches side by side turning AC/DC on/off with a red slide that won't let you have access to one side if the other side isn't off first. All on the AC panel. In the attached pic you can see them near the bottom. Top left are my genny start/stop right next to my favorite friend, the blower (I've got gassers).


Hope that helps,


Tak

Click to expand...

Takoradi said:

Hey that's not your "goofy evil seed", that's your future helmsman practicing his signaling!

Click to expand...

Ha!

Jolly Mon said:

Hi:
Am also a new boat owner in the Bay Area. I have a 1986 Nova Sundeck----good luck. Let's compare notes om our boats.

Click to expand...

Hey there fellow newbie. What in the world were we thinking?!?!?

Just kidding. Well, you asked so I must share my notes thus far.

I literally just came out of the rabbit hole, been online wracking my brain for the last week just trying to find info on the boat and parts to do a simple oil change and fuel filters on both engines. It seems WestMarine never has any of the parts, Helmut in San Rafael had more stuff.

I was able to identify all of the "vintage" nav instruments, pretty cool, they will stay for "80's nostalgia". I just have iNavx on a 12 inch tablet on the upperhelm and just a simple depth finder.

The generator is a bit of a nightmare, I actually have a mechanical background, but boy! oh boy! These diesel creatures are just so tricky! I may just pull it out and go solar.

Then I pulled out all of the fluorescent lighting to install LED inserts, (luckily I only drilled a 3' hole only on port side), only to find out that the LED's don't work. I had install some cheapie LED strips for the meantime so my wife doesn't kill me.

Some good things are - the full canvas enclosure is done and we are moving AriesEnergy on her own bottom to SF this Friday from Stockton. She made it to Stockton from Antioch with no incident and I was very pleased. So I'll have a little more time on the water getting to know her and she could kick all those old cobwebs out from sitting around, the voyage is about 70 miles/9-10 hours.

I'll post pics of the canvas top sometime this weekend.

LMK if you have had some breakthroughs. Like, do you know how to check your holding tanks? i.e. do you have a gauge?

None of my gauges are working (no chance to check the senders as of yet). I just fill up the water tanks until they're full. I also keep the gas tank as full as possible and have tied a small object to a string (tied very sturdy) to drop in the tank (the line is curved so I cannot use the "dip" stick method. That has been working quite well. We have not used the heads, but I am not sure if the previous owner has and well, I'd rather not use the "dip" stick method.

TTYS fellow newbie. Hope all is well with you and your Nova.

To "pilot, navigate, guide, steer, control, direct, drive?" from West Coast Canvas shop in Stockton to SF (bout 70 miles).

rbigsby said:

Where do you plan to moor in SF Bay? We brought a v similar boat, Ponderosa 42, down from Isleton in 2019. We’re in Emeryville Marina. I invite you to join us in this fine location. We can swap ideas and share in solutions.

Click to expand...

Hello there Rbigsby! As an SF native, you know we don't do bridges! The marina where I dock AriesEnergy is just a hop, skip and jump from where I live. However, you are really close to IKEA. lol

I would still be more than happy to sharing ideas and solutions and commiserating.

ghost said:

Go to the hardware store and buy some new wax toilet bowl rings. They are the perfect consistency to seal even good sized holes quickly. Also, they are dirt cheap, like about five bucks or less.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. Always great to have a few options for solving problems!

Comodave said:

Congrats on your new boat.

Click to expand...

Thank you! It was a give to myself after putting two kids through college!

AriesEnergy said:

Hi all!

A quick briefing. My wife and I are the proud (and now broke), new owners of a 1989 42 foot Nova Sundeck and we just adore her to bits!

We are San Francisco natives, recent empty nesters and love to be out on the surrounding waters of the Bay Area.

We have gotten AriesEnergy all dolled-up with newly painted teak trim, a new canvas enclosure, her engines serviced and will be commanding her from West Coast Canvas in Stockton to SF.

My question to all of you kind folks is

Does anyone know/have/can share an Owner's Manual?

Other than turning everything on and testing stuff we have no idea how to work anything. (We're also very new to a vessel of this size with many amenities)

Even identifying some of the equipment (she's and old boat) has proven to be difficult.

Any input is very much appreciated! Thank you.

Click to expand...

IT IS AN 85 NOVA. NOT 89. I stand corrected.

Jolly Mon said:

Hi:
Am also a new boat owner in the Bay Area. I have a 1986 Nova Sundeck----good luck. Let's compare notes om our boats.

Click to expand...

If you have upgraded electronics, you may be able to give him an idea about all his dead electronics. Starting with how to check fuses and circuit breakers. Even turning on some of the old stuff can be non-intuitive.

regarding all your nonworking electronics: old systems can have a glass fuse in the power supply line as well as circuit breakers that supply power. I think it unusual than none of them work. Probably a shared power source is off, or fuse blown.
Even though you mentioned local waters, certain electronics could be considered crucial. Let us know how the fuse, breaker search went and what still works ok.