I made the radar mount a few years ago out of hardwood - oak and ash.
(See Radar Pole posts)
The ash was a mistake. Ash rots outside - it takes a while, and it hides it well:
I thought that since ash was used for oars it should be safe to use in a marine environment. I guess oars aren't expected to last as long as radar poles ...
Well - I've had two bad seasons, now.
I didn't post about this, but last summer (2025) I went to Orkney and ended up coming home in a bit of a hurry after a minor medical emergency that left me unable to continue the cruise.
I was hoping this summer would be better. The replacement engine was promising - it ran well, and gave no particularly troubling signals.
Well, to be honest, there was one. I couldn't make much sense of it, and had kind of 'parked' it while I figured it out: When the engine was running, the coolant level in the header tank went up a bit (normal), but it didn't come down again when the engine cooled (not so normal).
I wondered if it has something to do with the position of the header tank, or a possible blockage in the tube from the pressure cap.
Anyhow, I kind of ignored it because everything else was working well.
I took Raasay to the Portsoy Boat show - I have quite often started the sailing season with this. Angus and I took the boat through on the Thursday and anchored off Sandend overnight.
In the morning, we were motoring round to Portsoy and I went to the aft end of the cockpit. leaning on the radar post as I did. It snapped off in my hand. I'll put up another post about this, because it was a very unpleasant surprise.
I spend a good part of the weekend repairing it, and also taking advantage of being in a drying harbour to give the boat a scrub and do some underwater maintenance.
Then I headed over to Portmahomack for two or three nights to do some visiting and some online meetings before heading to Clachnaharry to go down the canal.
After a day in the Seaport Marina, I got ready to go up the Muirtown flight, but shortly after I started the engine the overheat alarm went off. This was the beginning of a depressing sequence of investigations and false dawns. On two or three occasions I thought I'd found the problem, but after varying lengths of time - sometimes several hours - the overheat alarm would come on again.
It was particularly prone to come on after a long passage (up to five hours) under power, just when I dropped the revs to start maneuvering. I.e. at the worst possible time.
I persevered, and during an optimistic spell I exited the canal at Corpach and headed down Loch Linne. Everything seemed to be going well until I dropped the revs near the Corran Narrows to put the mainsail up.
This time, it really didn't calm down. After the engine cooled, I couldn't run it for more than 10 minutes or wo without triggering the alarm.
I discovered this after beating through the Corran Narrow, which was an interesting experience. The tide was with me. (Of course).
I muddled about a bit south of Corran trying to decide what to do, and eventually ran back up to Corpach under sail, anchoring near one of the islands opposite the sea lock.
By this time I knew I couldn't go anywhere ambitious with the boat, and should really just take it back up the canal and back to Findhorn.
I managed to get back into Corpach - partly under sail and partly using the 10 minutes that the engine would work, and spent a day in the basin really going through the cooling system (again!) and trying to figure out what was wrong. The engine ran flawlessly for two hours on a couple of occasions during testing.
Although I was getting an ugly feeling that I knew what it was. A feeling that turned out to be right ...
We had no real trouble going through Fort Augustus and up Loch Ness. We did notice that the coolant header tank had bubbles in it now. I put some K-Seal (I had forgotten this was on board!) in the coolant, which helped a bit. (Fewer bubbles). But it was becoming clear we were on borrowed time.
Angus had to go home from Inverness, and I took the boat back to Findhorn on K-Seal and hope.
The only overhead episode we had was in Gairlochy as we were tying up.
I nearly made it home without another one, but the alarm went off as I was coming in over the Findhorn bar and I had to sail in. I didn't quite manage to pick up my mooring, but I had prepared the anchor so ended up quite close to it.
The header tank now bubbles furiously, even after I tried another dose of (stronger) K-seal.
So the head will have to come off. The head gasket must be leaking.
I had a gout flare on the way home - it started just before I came back into Corpach. It didn't help.
And I'm getting old. Old boats, old men, not enough money. Maybe this is the way it goes ...
While going up the loch, with Angus in the cockpit, I did a bit of online research about gasket failures and also discovered some
Angus came to Corpach to help me to get back up the canal. The pattern remained the same
Raasay has always (in my ownership) kicked to starboard going astern. I didn't realise this was a little bit unusual, and didn't give it any particular thought. It has meant that I generally tie up starboard side to (when I have a choice) and some deck arrangements reflect this.
A particular arrangement that reflects it is that I have set up a 200w solar panel on the port side of the cockpit. It's mounted on a stainless steel tube. (See Solar panel). It can be folded down for tying up, or if it's otherwise an obstruction.
Now, with an engine swap project in hand, I've been looking more closely at the service manual for the Yanmar 3GM30, and the associated Kanzaki gearbox. The engine turns anti-clockwise (looking from astern), so the kick to starboard seemed to make sense.
Except that it didn't. The gearbox reverses the direction of rotation (this might have been obvious to me if I'd had to think about it before), so that the prop turns clockwise when forward gear is engaged.
And anti-clockwise when going astern, which should, of course, make it kick to port...
Now, Raasay has a J-Prop, which can be set up for either right-hand or left-hand operation. It had, of course, been set up left-handed, rotating counterclockwise when the boat is going ahead. Which only works if the gearbox control linkage is reversed so that reverse becomes forward.
I have, as it turns out, been driving around in reverse gear for twelve years. Several hundred hours ...
Reverse gear is also a lower ratio than forward, but that's maybe a detail.
I don't know why this didn't do terrible damage to the gearbox. Although the oil level in it has also been too high for a few seasons, so ...
The person who set this all up is the same person who did the kack-handed prop fit that I had to repair in Stornoway (See A thought-provoking prop failure), and which might have been catastrophic if it hadn't revealed itself under relatively safe circumstances.
At the moment, I'm unutterably depressed about all this. There had actually been one or two red flags around the boat purchase, and maybe I should have paid more attention to them. The seller was a medical consultant, and I sort of imagined that his professional standards would extend to his personal dealings.
This was a bit experimental, and there were one or two false starts. It took a while to get everything disconnected, to unbolt the mounts, and open the propshaft clamp.
Then we supported the engine with a beam across the companionway and two chain hoists. This allowed us to slide it forward and disengage the propshaft.
Angus had made a box for it to sit in that supported it when we lowered it onto something - which happened a few times.
The first lift attempt was with the beam and the chain hoist. We planned to get it high enough to put a plank under it from the cockpit side, and then slide it backwards before using the boom to swing it over onto the jetty.
I thought we'd need both hoists to get control. I also didn't want to use the boom because I'd have had to put the load part way along it. In any case, this didn't work - I had to put the hooks too low down, so the engine wasn't stable.
Also, it occurred to me later that I just needed to support the boom at the same point as I was attaching the hoist - the mainsail halyard is amply up to lifting the engine, and I could attach it to a strop wrapped aaround the boom directly at the lifting point.
I don't have apicture of the strop arrangement ...
Anyhow, the lift went fine after that.
Once we got it onto the plank, we could move the lift point to the end of the boom and swing it over the trolley waiting on the pontoon.
:Then up the ramp and up a plank into the back of the Focus:
.And it's safe at home in the cellar now:
So. I found a reasonably priced 3GM30F on eBay that was in better condition than Raasay's present installation. It also has a heat exchanger, so it might be less rusty inside ...
I saw a video of it running before I bought it. It's presently sitting on a pallet in the cellar.
I've planned the swap. There are several stages to this, starting with removing the old engine.
I was going to disconnect it and record everything about that process today, but when I arrived at the boat, I found that the domestic batteries were flat. I couldn't figure out why, at first, but then realised that the bilge pump must have been running a lot and draining them faster than the solar panel could charge them at this time of year.
I haven't figured out where the extra water was coming from.
My NOCO Genius 26000 charger doesn't like my current batteries for some reason (they are AGMs, but they are an American spec, which might make a difference). I've tried various things, but haven't found a reliable solution yet. In any case, it wouldn't look at charging them from flat.
After some experimenting, I'm using the old engine to charge them. The Sterling charger seems to be better able to control them than the NOCO charger. It will take a while, though...
And I obviously can't get far with disconnecting it while it's running. So.
I think I'll take the starting battery and the air filter home (the new engine has lost its air filter) and try the new engine out, rather than disconnecting the old one.
You might wonder why I wasn't going to test the new engine first in any case - I'm now wondering that myself. Maybe I was too reassured by the video ...
In the meantime, the batteries seem to be charging (although being really flat for a few weeks will probably have damaged them) and I can switch the little mains charger for the starter battery onto the house batteries to make sure they don't go flat again. It's only a 5amp charger, but I don't think the bilge pump should use 120 amp hours a day ... maybe. Have I got the maths right?
I hope it will be safe to leave it on the shore power until I get another chance to visit. Which will have to be soon.
I had planned to make a start two or three weeks ago, but then I fell ill. It all needs to be done and dusted by March. Which now seems very close.
I had a very pleasant evening sail from Sands of Evie to Bay of Fersness I anchored in sand, and had about 2m under my keel at low water. There was a gentle onshore breeze when I arrived, but strong easterlies were forecast and I would have good shelter from them.
I spent two nights there in the end ... the wind had been around 25 knots for much of the day, and there was still quite a breeze at 8pm. A nice place to watch the midsummer eve sunset last night, though.
Midsummer day was wet mist and cloud, as well as the wind. I got some admin done and downloaded a few photos ...
So. I don't know whether trying to plan a summer cruise is really a separate entertainment from actually going sailing - there seems to be so little relationship between the two ...
I had been watching the 'Windy' long-range forecasts for a while, and trying to decide whether I should go down the canal and up through the islands, or go north and then up the canal. The first is usually the best plan, but a few days before I left it looked like the forecast was pointing to northerly airstreams as I came out of the canal.
So at the last possible minute, I decided to go North, sort of.
My first thought was to go straight to Wick from Lossiemouth - or perhaps to Sinclairs Bay, which is a good anchorage in westerly or south-westerly weather. I thought Wick, because the wind was light south easterlies on Friday when I planned to leave. Then I saw that the wind was shifting to the west on Sunday, and that I could take the opportunity to spend a day in Portmahomack and visit my sister in Tain.
I finally headed (properly) north on Sunday morning, but there was too much residual easterly swell for Sinclairs Bay to be a good idea, so I did go to Wick. I spent two nights there, mainly because I had some online meetings on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. I'd thought of heading round to Sinclairs bay and anchoring on Monday morning, but I decided that paying for another night was less risky.
The westerlies had arrived by Monday afternoon, though, so I was able to make a good passage from Wick to Deer Sound in Orkney. The wind was light, and I ended up doing a good deal of motoring.
A bit south of Copinsay, the weather closed in - mist, rain, cold.
I went (I now realise) too far up Deer Sound, anchoring of Suckquoy. It's a bit stony there. I'd have been better off in the main sound where there is more sand, I think.
Strong westerlies were forecast - 20 knots - and I contemplated waiting them out. This was a good idea until the anchor dragged at 3am. At first, I stopped it by letting out more chain - in fact, the whole 40 metres (in a maximum depth of 6). I also have octoplait spliced onto the chain, but I didn't let that out.
Everything was fine then for 12 hours. But as high tide approached and the wind increased (25-30 knots), the anchor dragged again, and it didn't stop this time.
It took me an hour and a half to get it up, watching an approaching lee shore with trepidation. I did a lot of engine-powered anchor dragging to keep off and give me time to lift it. When I finally got it up, it was enmeshed in a huge ball of weed, so it's not surprising it had stopped holding.
I decided not to reset it, but to head round to Kirkwall. I had friends to visit there, and some shopping to do.
I was a bit surprised to find that there was a £5 charge per night for using electricity in the marina. When I came in, the person on watch just said 'Oh, you can plug in there.' without warning me about the cost. I think the most I've ever been charged before was about £2.50 (and may marinas just include in the overnight fee).
I stayed in Kirkwall visiting and touring for most of yesterday (Thursday). My friends took me to the Broch of Gurness. The bay there 'Sands of Evie' looked like perfect shelter, so that's where I spent last night.
I had a strange engine issue coming out of Kirkwall. When I tied up there on Wednesday night, there was a strange 'clunk' when I put it astern to dock. When I started the engine again on Thursday it was hard to start and ran rough for a minute. Then there was a lot of smoke in the cabin - as though I had a cracked exhaust.
I shut everything down and ventilated the smoke. Then I opened up the engine compartment and looked for damage. I couldn't find any, so tried starting the engine again. This time it behaved perfectly, and no smoke.
Then, leaving Kirkwall, there was a clunking from the prop or prop shaft for about a minute or two. That also stopped, and hasn't reappeared.
I spent some time at anchor this morning doing further explorations, and I haven't been able to figure out what happened. Everything is behaving properly.
I took the opportunity to grease the gearshift controls and check the gearbox oil. The controls now work more smoothly, but the gearbox oil level is far too high. This should cause problems with the cone clutch, but unless that was the 'clunk' in Kirkwall, I haven't been aware of anything. It must have been like that for a few years ...
I can't lower it just now because there isn't a drain plug that I can find and I don't have an extractor pump on board.
The only other thing I wonder is whether the engine was in gear when I tried to start it the first time in Kirkwall. This would have made it unhappy, and might have popped the jprop into a strange configuration (causing the noise on the way out). It doesn't explain the smoke, though.
I need to decide whether to explore the north and then sail back round the north coast, or head down to the canal. I don't think I fancy doing the canal with an uncertain engine/gearbox. I have a few days to think (and experiment) before I decide.
No pictures this time. I've been doing some cleaning, decluttering, and servicing.
Servicing was the diesel - oil, fuel, impeller, anodes. All good now.
Cleaning - really trying to get rid of some of the sand/dust/grime. I made serious progress with it, but am impressed by how hard it it to do. My floorboards need some protections - varnish or wood oil ... I'll see.
Decluttering - Well. It's a lot easier to take things on board than to get them off. I've made a dent, but my car is nearly full of stuff. Mostly 'useful things I might need someday'. Except that some of them have been on board for about ten years. And some are sort of duplicates - how many 'handy pieces' of ply or hardwood do I need?
I found a better place to stow the hose and the hoselock portable shower: In the semi-inaccessible, awkwardly shaped, and permanently damp locker outboard of the sink and under the counter top.
There is, as ever, lots more I could do ...
The nice weather meant I could fix the Aries (again). I had a nasty night at anchor in the Dornoch Firth towards the end of last season, and the violent movement somehow made the gear between the vane mechanism and the pendulum jump. I'm still trying to figure out how this happened - I couldn't 'force' it back.
Anyhow, I pressed the pin out in situ (see earlier post on this method) and got everything working again. This involved a lot of leaning over the stern and reaching out through the pushpit, tying tools to pieces of line in case I dropped them, trying not to swear ... I'm getting a bit stiff and old for these contortions and anxieties. It's good to get it working again though.
I also fitted a separate fuel tank for the Webasto heater:
I made the radar mount a few years ago out of hardwood - oak and ash. (See Radar Pole posts) The ash was a mistake. Ash rots outside - it t...
