Jump to content

Cole 26 salvage


Ken_Potts

Recommended Posts

Believe it or not, that is a river fish. I think they gorge on planted trout.

From a weedy weedy weedy little pocket on a bigger river.

We (usally) have a huge amount of snow fall, then it melts and rushes down slope in large braids, flushing alluvium onto the valley below. That's why all the food grows here.

All the rivers have been dammed though, mainly for flood control and ag storage, but also for hydro power.

It is the dams and hydro power that keep the trickles coming. Thank you, impoundments!

It is the propensity to build and use goofy little boats (including "stash" boats built cheaply and un-boatly enough to be hidden in situ, so as not to clue in yahoos as to where all the delicious dinner lives) coupled with a fatal allergy to tv and sitting still that allow one to see such off the beaten path places (the beaten path, coincidentally, ends when the trash strewn about does) as Weedy Pocket and think, "I'll bet there's something yummy in there."

Link to comment
Share on other sites


   Which river?  San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Calaveras?  I won't ask about the specific weedy pocket because we both know you'll lie :)

   I like the idea of stash boats.  You never know, there may be any number of people stumbling across them, using them and putting them back safe and sound.  Once you're past the garbage line you meet a different sort of person.

   If there were a few other people out there stashing boats you could start a club and timeshare the whole lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Man, you are good. The San Joaquin and the Kings are closest to me, but the SJ is my river. There is less and less access every year, mostly because of dumb trash people, but the peculiar laws here insist anything below mean tide or water level is public property, so the whole river is free, once you get on.

I have been kicking around this town sporadically for long enough to have met some folks, so I can get a few private access points, and I also know most of the long walks. I tell you, nothing will protect a fishing hole like a three mile walk on deer trails...

As to stash boats, I really worry about someone getting hurt or something and suing me. Ain't life grand?

As for Weedy Pocket? Brother, you get here, get some real small fluorocarbon or braid (I'm using 10# spider wire now) and we'll hit Weedy Pocket, Nothing Corner, The Forest, Deep and Clear (a lot of #10 hooks and 4 inch worms around here), heck, we'll do it all.

Maybe we'll go to another place I know and hook a 2 pound spotted bass while in a 12 foot SOF kayak. Nantucket sleigh ride!

Also, I neglected to keep the Zissou thing alive and pretend that was the fish that ate my friend Esteban. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

   Wow!  I took the engine to the mechanic Friday afternoon and had a nice talk with him.  I told him the history of the motor as I knew it, that it had been submerged in salt water and was probably toast.  I asked him to have a preliminary look at it and let me know if it was an obvious basket case or if he thought it might be fixable.  It was a friendly conversation and I told him not to push any other work back for this because I've got plenty of time.  I said that when I was considering purchasing the boat I assumed that the motor was a basket case and I would probably end up putting an electric motor in as a replacement - I really emphasized that I just wanted a general idea of the feasibility of repairing it.  Everything seemed copacetic (how long has it been since you've heard that word? :) ) until this afternoon when I received a bill for $660 to provide a report on the condition of the engine!  The bill was for a comprehensive 5-hour tear-down of a single-cylinder BMW diesel and the report resulting from the 5-hour tear-down is a half-page report with very few details.

   How did that happen?

   Looks like I'm going with hybrid diesel-electric power on this one.  The normal power requirements will just be LED lights and a digital radio receiver.  The VHF is hand-held.  The motor only really needs to run hard when we lower the mast to get under the bridges at Fremantle and that's only ten minutes or so.  My thought is a small battery bank and solar panels will be good enough for everyday life and a small diesel genset will get us under the bridges or allow us to motor through the worst of winter calms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My pat and snap answer is bugging me, as is the behavior of the mechanic.

I do work on racing bicycles, prepping national and state champion level racer's machines. Often, these athletes pay out of their own pockets, and ain't rolling in dough. Nevertheless, I would never dream of dropping a bomb like that on a person.

I always try to estimate high, and work honestly, and I really love to come in under budget.

I share a passion with these people, though. I understand their illness, for lack of better word.

Not so with your mechanic, I feel. I think he turned your honest tale into some whiny rich guy story, and his eyes glazed over at the fleecing he was going to give this rich yachtie. Understanding the engine may be well and truly dead, he might have been more gentlemanly about the work up, though, yeah?

Anyway. Sorry your motor resto hit a snag, but, hey, at least there aren't any more holes in the boat, right?

It is also appropriate that the motor on the "Bellafonte" went bad and blew the budget...:) Cheers, brother, and keep up the good fight!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pin your mechanic down for the details. If he went to the bother of a full tear down inspection, he should have a book on all the specs and conditions he found. A professional will present these in a way easily understood, possibly with an explanation as to what much of it means. Just tearing it apart and calling it spent and attempting to justify the time with a few sentences isn't professional nor acceptable, especially given the price for finding out what he knew would be the answer 10 minutes into the tear down.

 

If you're interested I have a source for small air cooled diesels (5 - 15 HP) that are nice marine conversions. These little puppies are very reasonably priced (about 2k on a 5 HP) and all are electric start.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My pat and snap answer is bugging me...

 

   It's not bugging me - How often to you get to bring up naptha engines? :)

   I'm actually pretty confused by the mechanic's behavior.  I am perfectly willing to believe there was a miscommunication - I just have to wait and see how my complaint is managed.

   Unfortunately I don't have the space for a naptha engine although the legal climate here is similar to that in the US during the brief naptha years.  Anyone wishing to operate a reciprocating steam engine must first get a license and I think there may actually only be one business in this country that offers the training course (so it is likely prohibitively expensive).  I have wondered in the past whether there was a loophole for naptha engines like there used to be in the US.

 

It is also appropriate that the motor on the "Bellafonte" went bad and blew the budget... :) Cheers, brother, and keep up the good fight!

 

   Additionally, it's probably appropriate that the boat that plays Belafonte in the movie started life as a minesweeper...

 

Pin your mechanic down for the details...

 

   I don't doubt that he spent the time doing the work.  I'm just mystified as to WHY he spent so much time (5 hours).  As you said, he would have known the answer 10 minutes into the tear-down.  I would have been happy to pay for a full hour of work if he only spent ten minutes getting the answer, because business is business, but five hours?

 

If you're interested I have a source for small air cooled diesels (5 - 15 HP) that are nice marine conversions. These little puppies are very reasonably priced (about 2k on a 5 HP) and all are electric start.

 

   Very tempting but I think I'll look into the electric motor first - I don't think I want to know what it costs to ship an engine to Australia ;)

   A co-worker is building an electric "bicycle" at the moment that has just about the same capacity as I need for the boat. I'm going to take advantage of the research he has done and see what an electric installation would look like.  Once I've gotten over that sticker shock I'll probably be back to ask about the 5hp air cooled diesel...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

D'oh! Did I say Naptha? That's so 90's. I guess it would be iFumes today, eh? ;)

As to your mech, Good luck on that.

As to your motor, there are a few pretty heavy electric boat threads and fellows on this forum. Math is flying around like high school, man! Perhaps there are some that can lend advice, even if simply to suppliers. Electric motors really do seem to be making a huge comeback in boats. Good luck on that, too.

I'm not motors, of no kinds. They dislike me. Always.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have a naphtha engine, you can convert it (is it external?). The little diesels don't weigh much and come out of Germany, though some are produced elsewhere. I'd have to check, freight shipping isn't that bad, with a relatively small 75 pound box (smallest engine).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

   Yes, a naptha engine is an external combustion engine design that uses the naptha not only as fuel but as the working fluid (steam).  As I understand it they had a brief popularity in the US during a short period of time between the outlawing of amateur operation of steam and the rise of internal combustion engines.  The law change was intended to reduce the occurrence of boiler explosions but an unintended side effect of the law was the popularity of naptha engines for amateurs which tended to catch fire instead of exploding.  Since the working fluid wasn't really steam the engines weren't covered by that particular law.

   Although my current plan is to go with electric, the little German engines sound intriguing.  I would probably be interested in the smallest one.  The BMW that needs to be replaced was only 6hp and from the look of the little folding prop I bet that engine never actually reached its maximum power.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

   I'm sitting in a nice cool house trying to postpone a trip to the driveway to run a grinder in the heat of the setting sun so I thought I'd come here and type up a quick question.  What's the best way to fix about 90 little screw holes in a fiberglass hull?  I've got to fill all the holes that were made during the initial re-floating of the boat as well as all the screw holes that secured the mold to the hull when I made the patch.  They're all about the size of a #8 or #10 screw.

   Oh well - I'm off to the driveway now...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

   The weather was actually quite nice when I went out to do some grinding.  Sometimes the drive home from work in a hot truck skews my perception of the actual conditions. Here's a photo of my prep work for the final tape joint on the hull patch.  I've cut through the gel coat on either side of the seam with a  flap sanding disk on an angle grinder.  In the next day or three I'll install a strip of cloth on the seam and add a flow coat.

post-234-0-75370200-1447680934_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...


Supporting Members

Supporting Members can create Clubs, photo Galleries, don't see ads and make messing-about.com possible! Become a Supporting Member - only $12 for the next year. Pay by PayPal or credit card.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.