[Public-List] Axillary power

Thu Apr 21 13:25:33 PDT 2011

Hello Bart,

I gather you will be using the boat in your sea scout program?  if so I highly recommend a diesel repower.  the maintenance is next to nothing compared to a gas engine, and the dependability and longevity of a diesel is substantially longer than similar size gas engines.  You might try advertising for a marine diesel donation in the  local sailing magazine  or watch for a used $500 repower out of some guys boat- then ask him to donate to a good cause for the tax write-off.

if you put a Raycor filter between the fuel tank and the engine, you can forget about fuel contamination.  

also having no gas on board is a huge safety improvement, particularly when working with teenage crews who likely will get involved in  boat  maintenance or repair from time to time.  You will never need to worry about somebody inadvertently casing a gas spill with explosive gas fumes building up in the bilge with 5 or 6 kids on board.

final argument "for" a diesel, is that you will be giving the sea scouts valuable,  real life learning experience with a marine diesel, which will contribute substantially to their mechanical awareness and seamanship development.  

there is plenty of room to repower with a small marine diesel.  I would say go for it, and the diesel will pay for itself over and over.

Yours in Scouting!

Glenn Brooks
Dolce US 319

Sent from my iPad

On Apr 21, 2011, at 8:30 AM, J B Knapp <jbknapp at yancyd.com> wrote:

> Howdy all:
> 
> The commitment is being made to restore Hull 368 currently sitting in Lake Conroe, Texas.  Ultimately, we are wanting to move it to somewhere around Galveston Bay, so it will be able to spread it's wings, so to speak.  Right now it is effectively serving as a "lake house" but it gives me the best night's sleep of any boat I've been on.
> 
> It was taken in as a donation to our Sea Scout program with the idea of putting together one working A-4 from the parts of the 2 that came with it.  It has a very good sail inventory and is just a beautiful boat (I have a particular weakness for full keel classic boats - witness 3 Kittiwake 23's and a Victoria 18 in our inventory).  The A-4's were combined with 2 other A-4's from another Sea Scout ship in hopes of building 2 workable examples, but to date we don't have one out of the four and the other ship is replacing theirs with a diesel.  The previous owner had taken out one that didn't work and basically had gone without an engine for years, either rowing the boat to and from his mooring on the Chesapeake or sculling it - I still have the sculling oar he used, but don't really see where he set up the rig to scull.
> 
> Here is the start of my dilemma wrt axillary power.  The A-4 sounds like the logical choice as that is what was in there and has worked.  BUT trying to find one that is in good shape at price that is reasonable (read free - if at all possible) and is close enough to pick up refurbish and install is proving unfruitful.  I interject here that with whatever solution we end up with, we will have to pull the boat from the water, replace all the thru hulls, clean up the engine compartment, get the asbestos wrapped exhaust pipe out, ........., and do try to find a place where we can set the boat and be able to do it ourselves - or at least as much as possible, especially the work on the hull, at a cost that won't break the bank.
> 
> I have also been considering replacing the A-4 with a diesel.  Its safer and supposedly easier to maintain.  However, I am concerned as to how much maintenance is really required for a diesel with all the fuel filters, fuel scrubbing, bacteria growth that comes with diesel, etc. and the ease with which to do the work needed in the space available on the A-30.  I do not want to become a diesel mechanic at this point in my life plus I have never really been that mechanically inclined anyway.
> 
> Next possibility is an outboard.  All our other boats are 25 feet and under and we have outboards for them.  At least with the outboards we can pull them from the boat with relative ease - in some cases very easily as sailing on Lake Conroe we can get by with 2.5 and 3.5 hp engines.  Outboards still have their pluses and minuses, but for the organization of our ship and the support around the lake, they work out well.  The Kittiwakes have an engine well in one of the lazarettes which allows for a short shaft engine to be mounted and this works extremely well.  The A-30, though is higher off the water and while a modification could be made to accommodate an outboard, it would be awkward at best. I have seen what, I think Yves Gelinas, has come up with for an outboard mounting system, and am not too thrilled with it.  Also, I don't really know how well an outboard would work if the boat gets down to Galveston Bay and is berthed somewhere on Clear Lake.  A 10hp long shaft, or extra long shaft would work fine for Lake Conroe, but for the Clear Creek channel, I'm not so sure.  A 5hp worked fine for the Kiitiwake, and we even used a 3.5 on a second one when we moved it from Houston Yacht Club to the back of Clear Lake before Gustov made his appearance.  In theory it should work since the A-30 is about 2.5 times heavier than the Kittiwake and is similar in hull design.
> 
> What is beginning to intrigue me is the idea of an inboard electric motor.  Pluses - no gas, few moving parts, quiet, decrease in the number of thru hulls, cleaner.  Minuses - battery capacity, recharging options, cost, range especially the case if taking the boat to Galveston for Gulf sailing, very often having to motor all the way to Galveston (anywhere from 3-5 hours depending on conditions) as the course is southerly and the predominant wind is from the south, or in the winter coming back with the predominant wind from the North and the channel flow north to south.  Also for any intercoastal motoring that might be needed.
> 
> I know there have been some other discussions on powering the A-30, but going through them adds to my confusion and apprehension on selecting the "right" answer for our situation.  Slapping some type of outboard rig may be the quickest solution and one that can be done without taking the boat out of the water, but I look at that as a more tempoary fix than the right fix.  I'm seeing any solution as costing between $2,000 and $4,000 before we take the boat out of the water and come up with a solution there.  As for taking the boat out, when Lake Conroe is full and, a bit higher than normal, with the right trailer and vehicle we could load it onto a trailer as we do our other boats and not need a lift.  At the club where the boat is located there is a mast stepper and a sling that has the capacity to hold the A-30, so we have a place to work on it.  If we have to use a lift, there is only one I am familiar with on the lake and I would just as soon not do business with him.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Bart Knapp
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> These businesses support your Association:
> http://www.alberg30.org/store/A30supporters.html
> Please support them.
> _______________________________________________
> Public-List mailing list
> Public-List at lists.alberg30.org
> http://lists.alberg30.org/listinfo.cgi/public-list-alberg30.org

 1303417533.0