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“it is better to have the anchor light near deck level. “
I can second that having almost been hit one night by a powerboat. He screamed “PUT OUT AN ANCHOR LIGHT” as he zipped past at about 30kts. He never apparently looked up.
Putting a light on deck is a problem too. There are few places where it can be hung without leaving a blind spot. I find that hanging it from the backstay above the boom works best for me. I don’t have a mizzen. Maybe one on each side hanging from the shrouds would work too, but that’s twice the power drain. Then there’s where to plug it in. I’ve resorted to a not legal battery-powered lantern from the backstay and the legal masthead.
Rich
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If your masthead lights go out you still have your deck lights. I have a 12v relay setup. It is energized by the ignition key. When I turn the engine on it switches the nav lights over from masthead to deck to keep me legal. There’s a three position switch for each set. The three positions are: On, Off, auto. Both are normally left in “auto”. The whole thing is powered through the nav-light circuit-breaker. To turn on the nav-lights I turn on the breaker. I can bypass the relay and either force each set of lights on or off.
I also have a similar switch for the engine blower.
I’ve considered putting a photo-detector switch in to automate the anchor light. It would switch on at dusk and off at dawn.
Regards
Rich
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I can’t state from experience that the Yanmar 54 will cavitate. I can only estimate that it will based on converstations with my propeller manufacturer and information I got when studying the repower problem. It Tor states that he gets good performance from his 54 with the same 2:1 gear ratio I’ll take his word for it.
Rich
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Pete
If you haven’t, take a close look at my repower cost spreadsheet.
http://www.richardcarter.net/boat/pix/RepowerCost.xlsThe engine isn’t the most expensive part of a rebuild. Once you get into
it, one thing leads to another and soon your up over $20k in parts. On the
flip side is tossing a pile of money into an engine that may soon no longer
have parts available. I don’t know how long Westerbeke will continue to
support the engine nor how long they’ll still be in business. Maybe there’s
an alternate parts source. If you can’t find one, beware of relying on
Westerbeke in the future.Keeping with an engine that has the same power range (max RPM) can avoid
replacing the drive-train. Bear in mind that your V-drive, shaft, and prop
may need replacement in the near future anyway. If you make compromises
today to avoid replacing these parts you may endup buying them anyway in a
few short years. You’ll have to live with the decision for quite a while.
I had to take out a small loan to pay for my repower so I decided to do the
whole thing. You’ll be into replacing the exhaust and fuel-tank anyway.
Probably control cables too. Then there are the zillion fasteners, hose
clamps, and other things that just add-up. A Yanmar will run at a faster
RPM and therefore needs to have a different gear ratio. You can run it with
the same gear ratio, but you’ll cavitate your prop at high speeds. This may
restrict your top speed.I went with the turbo and don’t regret it. The difference in cost was
minimal and it lets me run the engine at a low throttle setting at cruising
speed. I don’t think the turbo boost will shorten engine life in the
slightest. We have two identical engines in our yacht club launches and
they have a few thousand hours on them. The turbo is overill however for
the 424. If you want to save a boat unit you can go with the naturally
aspirated engine and push your throttle up a little higher.The Cummins is probably a much less expensive solution. Since the power
curve and footprint are close to the Westerbeke the repower is simpler.
Just don’t expect much support from the guy who runs TAD. His interpersonal
skills are not very good. I don’t know how the two engines compare. I’d
like an opportunity to inspect a Cummins installation if the opportunity
arises. I would have bought that engine if it were’t for the questionable
service.Rich
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I’ve had paneling discolor because water gets behind there. Screw holes that hold the coach roof teak trim leak after a number of years. Fixing the leaks is simple once you find them. I pull the bung and inject a squirt of plysulfide in the hole. Slightly prying the teak strip up a hair to let the caulk squirt under it seems to help. I’ve had to do this repeatedly. If you get it right away its a simple matter to repair, but if you ignore or don’t see the problem in time the wood will rot. I don’t use the v-berth anymore since my daughter is now an adult and has better things to do than go out on her parent’s boat. I didn’t notice the stain on the paneling until it was too late. At least one owner removed the trim and painted on a stripe.
When I replaced the panel section up in my v-berth, I put a coat of varnish on the inside of the sheet. The theory is that if water gets in there it won’t soak into the wood. I don’t know if that will help but it certainly can’t hurt.
Rich
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I have a hundred-feet or so of half-inch line tied to the end of the chain. The end is tied to a shackle that’s too large to go through the windlass fairlead. Simple enough. The line isn’t intended to use as anchor rhode. Its just there in case something unexpected happens. The gypsy lock slipped once when I was not on the boat. I found her sitting about 300 feet from where I expected after dinner ashore. The line had run out to the end until the shackle took the load. I now use a chain-hook and snubber.
Rich
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Pat
My hat’s off to you! You sure are doing a great job on your boat. None of the 424s are the same. I don’t think I have a tie-in piece or anything else under the plywood veneer. I cut out the damaged piece with a multi-tool and straight-edge to make a clean cut. The old piece came out with no trouble, not glued to the coach sides. The multi-tool cut the wood but not the fiberglass just the way its supposed to. I used the old piece as template to make an exact replacement piece. I put the new piece back where the old one was. I had to use shims made out of thin veneer to get the surface even because the new stock was slightly thinner than the original plywood, maybe .04 inches or so. I put thin strips over the seam similar to what Pearson did. Pearson put their seams where the portlights are so there’s only a short seam to cover. I didn’t want to replace a whole sheet of veneer just because a short section had rot so I have a seam on each side of the portlight. The curtains hang there so you don’t see it anyway.When I replaced the portlight, it pulled the repair up tight against the inside of the coach sides. The grab rail evened it out when I screwed everything back together. I sent out photos a few months back. The new piece looks great and only took a few hours to replace. I give it 2-hammers. The only issue is that the color of the repaired section isn’t a perfect match. Heck, the boat’s over 30 years old. If a color match bother folks maybe they need a factory new boat.
Rich
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Pat
There are five portlights on each side to hold the panels in place. There is a grab-rail piece that runs the full length of the bottom and there are pins to hold the molding at the top edge. This all worked to hold the small section I replaced. Offhand, I can’t see why it wouldn’t work for the entire interior. I of course haven’t tried it, so I’m interested to hear how their project turns out. The section I replaced had no adhesive to hold it in place. I had assumed the portlights make this unnecessary.I have a small rotted piece between the two aft portlights on the port side. This area is behind the bulkhead and galley cabinets, difficult to see and almost impossible to replace.
Rich
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Dawn
I replaced a small section of teak plywood around one of the portlights a few months back. I’m surprised that you find it difficult to bend the panels. When cut to the appropriate width, the stock I used was quite flexible. I used teak plywood, a little less than 1/4 inch thick, probably a metric equivalent. There was no adhesive used to hold the plywood in place and I suggest not using any. It would make subsequent repairs difficult.Rich
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Pat
I’m not sure the instructions are quite clear. You need to grind the interior surface of the hull to insure good adhesion. When I read sand, I think of a different level of work. You need to remove some material. I suggest using an angle-grinder with coarse paper. A fap-sander attachment might work. I had this done in Bermuda a few years back. I hired a local glass man to do the work. He spent a whole day grinding and the next day glassing. Its a lousy job, well worth hiring it out if you can.The shelf, v-berth and forward bulkheads reinforce the hull much like an interior skeleton. You must make sure the secondary bond for both these bulkheads and shelves don’t separate. If they let go the whole interior will come apart. A coarse surface for bonding and proper fiberglass technique should do it.
Wear protective clothing and a respirator. Use a fan to keep air circulating to save your brain-cells.
Good luck
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Dan
You are correct. The case top corrodes just as the interior. When it gets thin it can break.My marine-tex repair held up quite well for several years. It still wasn’t leaking when I repowered and replaced the V-drive. I think these things could outlive us if we could just keep the water out of the cases.
Rich
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Dan
Did you contact Walter to see if they had a replacement or did you just figure it easier to make a new one?Rich
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Pat
I tried everything, various cleaners, sandblast, wire-brush, dremmel tool, die-grinder and wheels. I finally used an old chissel and hammer. I carefully chipped away anything that could be removed. Then I went over it again with the die-grinder and various bits.I eventually replaced the damn thing. I think if you keep up with it every couple of years its not a bad job. Let it go and expect to have a mess.
Good luck.
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