Webasto Heater

For some reason, I've never posted anything about my heater installation. Possibly because it's a bit idiosyncratic.

Other installations I've seen generally put the heater in a cockpit locker. This keeps the heater body outside the living area, but requires long ducting runs and quite a lot of wasted heat. It also takes up valuable locker space ...

After a bit of thought, I decided to install my heater (A small Webasto Airtop) in the back of the wet locker opposite the heads. This was dead space, and very out of the way. It also meant I could run a very short duct into the forward end of the saloon.

The main worries were to do with exhaust leakage and where to put the actual exhaust outlet. In fact, I was able to seal the exhaust joints very effectively, and I put the exhaust outlet fitting in the side of the coachroof. It does get a splash now and again, but I've put a gooseneck in the exhaust pipe and also fitted a drain so that any water that might get in ends up dribbling into the wet locker beneath the heater.

This is the main layout:

This is the exhaust:

And this is the drain in the exhaust elbow:

The loop creates a natural water seal.

I have a CO monitor in the saloon, and it has never shown the presence of any gas. All zeros.

The waste heat keeps the wet locker dry (!) and warms the heads.

A gruesome experience ...

 

I've been doing some rewiring - of which more anon - and had disconnected the electric bilge-pump.

As I struggled with a torch and screwdriver in an awkward place, I heard a trickle of water. At first I thought it must be coming from outside the boat. Then I looked in the bilges ...

It didn't take me long to find its source. The cooling water feed to the engine has a take-off in it - a t-piece - to supply the salt-water tap at the kitchen sink. The little barbed insert was obviously brass, and had rotted away.

I always close all the seacocks when I leave the boat for any length of time. Sometimes it seems excessive.

Sometimes it seems like exactly the right thing to do.

Short Summer Cruise ...

For a variety of reasons, some unexpected, I'm not going to get much sailing this summer. I did get a week or so in July, and took Raasay to Orkney. Two days of this were spent sort of storm-bound (30+ knot forecasts) in Kirkwall, which is a nice place but I wanted to go sailing ...

Here's a video of the wind in Kirkwall:

https://gopro.com/v/eQ99DgaZ1ewMJ

A highlight of the trip was a pod of Orcas that paid me a visit a couple of hours out of Kirkwall. I didn't get great photos, unfortunately:

The toe rail, and associated issues ...

Raasay is a little unusual in having an aluminium toe rail instead of a wooden or plastic cap on the gunwales.

I don't know if this was an original fitting or a modification. I suspect the latter.

It has some pros and cons. The pros are that it is sturdy and provides a convenient place to tie off halyards back from the mast. And it's surprising how handy it is to have lots of places to clip things on...

There are two cons.

The first is that it sits on top of the hull/deck joint, with a flange down the outside, but no flange down the inside This means that the joint isn't neatly closed. The whole thing is held together with through-bolts at fairly close intervals, which makes it strong but lets the deck molding flange bulge a bit here and there.

The second is that the fairleads that came with the toe rail (and were clearly made for it) are impossible to source. I managed to get a couple of close matches to replace the bow pair (which were damaged), but they aren't an entirely satisfactory fit.

Here are a few illustrative photos:

Raasay's Toerail

Prop Shaft Removal

 

I've been further investigating the possibility of getting the prop shaft out. The inboard end is easier to access than I though (although I had to remove a chunk of the exhaust to get at it).

The big problem is the hex bolts in the coupling. They are very rusty, and although I've been able to clean out the heads I can't move them. I've tried WD40 and heat, but no luck so far. I could cut them through the slot in the side of the coupling, but starting that would completely commit me to the whole process, so I'm pondering ... 

New Cutless Bearing

 

The new bearing has a nice bevel. I had thought I might need to adjust the edge to avoid it being exactly where the ring of pit corrosion is on the prop shaft.

The bearing is a snug fit in the housing, but I can get it in and out by hand. I think I'll ass a couple of retaining screws, to be on the safe side.

Cleaning up the Cutless housing

 

The tool and the outcome. I just hope I haven't taken out too much material. I'll know when the new bearing arrives ...

Cutless Bearing Renewal

The left-hand picture shows the old Cutless bearing removed from the housing. Clearly, the installer had failed to get it the whole way in, and had just cut it off - it was only about two inches long. I suspect this was the same person who installed the propellor (see 'A thought-provoking prop failure...').

A curiosity, and further to the off-centre prop shaft:

The second picture shows that the bearing housing is clearly asymmetrical. This may not be associated with the prop-shaft alignment, of course. But ... ???

Somewhat inspired by the 'Sailing Brothers' ugly discovery when they checked their Cutless bearing prior to their Atlantic Crossing, I thought it was about time to have a look at Raasay's prop shaft. The bearing definitely needed replacing, and I was worried about what I might find - particularly since it looks as though the prop shaft can only be withdrawn with the engine removed (which is what the Brothers found).

Raasay's prop shaft isn't showing signs of cracks or fissures (to the naked eye), but there are definite signs of pitting and wear. And the taper has some damage (see 'A thought-provoking prop failure ...').

It might (false hope?) be easier to replace that I thought, though. With the prop and bearing removed, two things seem clear: the shaft is slightly angled to starboard, and there is a fair bit of movement (even without disconnecting the inboard end). I think I can get it out past the rudder skeg ...

If I can, I'll get quotes for replacement or repair. If not, I'll investigate getting the pitting repaired in situ.

Oil pressure switch repair ... er ....

 

After making several attempts to clean the broken parts and epoxy them back together (all failures) I explored the depth of the remaining hole in the crankcase.  I put a long screw into in and turned the engine over to make sure no moving part fouled it.

Then I had a hunt through a spares box and found an M8 machine screw that could be gently screwed into the hole. This almost sealed it, and after the application of some sealant, succeeded in sealing it completely.

I could run the engine without losing oil, now, but had no oil pressure alarm. Which was fine, for getting us home.

The trip to Corpach and back up the canal was quick and almost uneventful. Angus met me in Corpach to help with ropes in the locks (the canal won't let single-handers transit the long flights this year).

The 'almost' needs qualification:

- The outboard decided not to start. This turned out to be an oiled plug, but I didn't have the right size of spark plug spanner to discover this until after we got home.

- The pickup line had wound itself round the mooring chain in Findhorn, and it took some ingenuity to get it unwound. We spent our last night on the boat lying to a couple of ropes lassoed around the mooring bouy, but got it all untangled in the morning.

Another Week ...

I left the boat in Mallaig for two or three days to collect a starter motor from home, and to do a few other things. I was planning to continue up the canal as soon as I had a working engine.

When I arrived back in Mallaig on Tuesday night I was feeling a bit under the weather, and when I wakened up on Wednesday I had a nasty urinary infection accompanied by a high temperature. I couldn't face doing anything except getting some minimal groceries and getting medical advice. I managed both of these, but mainly spent the day in bed.

By Thursday morning I was feeling a bit better, managed to fit the starter and confirmed that the engine was working. There was still a problem with oil loss, though. I wasn't up to sailing on my own, but my son (A) (who had been going to accompany me up the canal) came to Mallaig.

I have a friend with a mooring in Loch Aline which he had previously said I could use. I checked back with him and he said he was happy for me to put the boat on it for a couple of weeks. I was more than grateful. I really needed to get a proper rest. I was happier leaving the boat in Loch Aline because it was south of Ardnamurchan and into the 'sheltered waters' part of the return trip. Also, it was less expensive than Mallaig and on a swinging mooring rather than on a pontoon.

The oil loss problem was too bad to try the canal, and I needed time to investigate and consider. We left Mallaig on Friday morning at about 7:45 and had enough wind to take us the whole way. We only had to motor for about twenty minutes at each end. Again, there were some slow passages that might previously have had me starting the engine, but always our patience was rewarded.

A went home this morning on the bus, and I stayed for a day to tidy up and investigate the oil leak further. It turned out to be a crack in the crankcase casting near the oil pressure sensor. At first I thought the sensor might be loose, but when I tightened it the casting broke completely.

The drip was certainly enough to explain the loss. I'm a bit surprised I didn't notice it before, but I was previously looking for a leak in a different place. Which seems a bit inexplicable in retrospect ... 

So why did the casting crack? Raasay has both an oil pressure warning light and an oil pressure gauge. They are both driven by the same sensor. The gauge, and the sensor, were almost certainly later modifications, and most 'dual' sensors of this type have a 1/8" NPT thread which is very close to but not identical to the original Yanmar item.

It's so close, in fact, that it can be fitted so long as it isn't tightened home and so long as you are willing to put up with a small oil seepage. If you tighten it up, as I did in Torridon, you will damage the thread or the casting. If the casting cracks without obviously breaking oil will leak out quite badly while the engine is running ... 

A proper repair is going to be a fairly serious business and I'll need to get professional help. I might get up the canal with a careful epoxy job, though ... which will be worth trying, in order to get back to Findhorn.

Tomorrow I'm going home to have a rest from all this for a week ot two and remind myself of life's other problems...