ENGINE: Could it be... SATAN?!
We had to get the boat from Boston, MA to City Island, NY. The engine was in rough shape; a combination of poor maintenance and cold temperature made starting next to impossible. The engine is a frankensteined Perkins 4.107 block with other custom accessories cobbled on and rebranded a 'Westerbeke'. We got pretty frustrated with it and anxious as we had only 2 weeks to get our boat out of the slip. Satan, we named it, since Westerbeke paints its engines bright red, finally sputtered back to life in time to get us on our way, and though we disparaged it and cursed it, it did get us all the way down Long Island Sound and has been running well since.
We are experiencing an overheating problem with Satan which we have yet to fully diagnose. We suspect a restricted exhaust system may be causing the engine to run over 195-200 deg/f at anything over 1500 RPMs. We're holding off on tearing it apart as we can cruise around 5kts and that is good enough for us now. It's not broke enough to fix, or break more as the case may be.
- Upgraded to Racor 500 filter separator
- Took 18 gal. auxiliary fuel tank in lazerette offline
- Took 40 gal. secondary fuel tank under engine offline
- Replaced belts, hoses, oil/fuel filters, heat exchange zinc, valve cover gasket
- Took fresh water exchange/water heater system offline
ELECTRIC: Boogey, woogey, woogey!
The DC and AC systems on board were in bad need of replacement. Since we planned on living aboard we decided to refit both systems by the book- the ABYC book that is. The American Boat and Yacht Counsel sets standards for the design and construction of marine systems. The AC wiring was built of household rated components which we stripped out and replaced with a Blue Sea panel, GFCI outlets and 12 awg Ancor wiring. The DC, system was in better shape, but we still had to replace the DC panel and about a hundred feet of new 14 awg wire.
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| 4/0 battery cable with 14awg wires tied onto it |
The battery's ground was stripped and every run on the boat was just wrapped around that. Yikes.
The new installation has a big bus bar which gives each run its own post- much safer and cleaner.
- Replaced house/starting bank batteries
- Installed ProSport battery charger
- Rewired bilge pump, water pump, running lights and macerator
Fresh Water System: Water water everywhere, so let's all have a drink!
We recommissioned the 80 gal fresh water tank and replaced all of the copper pipe with flexible PVC hose. We also installed a new pump, water heater, and shower in the head.
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