Finally a fuel consumption solution

So we FINALLY gained some explanation for the fuel consumption problem on the starboard engine.

As it turns out, it's a kind-of well understood problem with the Cool Fuel III module (which apparently cools the fuel?).  It has a problem with peeling paint on the inside of the module, which clogs the fuel system and potentially fouls injectors.

My fix involved new injectors (at Mercury's expense), some new fuel hoses to fix cracked fittings and a new fuel system module.  The down side is that the port engine is also vulnerable to this and needs the fuel system module replaced and the injectors (Mercury's expense) to be safe.

I have no idea how deep I am into labor and extra parts for all of this, but the outcome will be engines in very good shape that I shouldn't have to worry about.  I can also run confidently at planing speeds.

Almost at the bitter end

It's hard to believe the summer season is nearly over.  It seems like just yesterday we were planning for the 4th of July.  It's been a really great summer in so many ways, I'm not sure I can remember all the highlights.

• Replaced the anchor chain-and-rode combo with all chain.  Has worked perfectly, easy up and easy down.
• Made it out 3 times with Marc Luers this summer, including grilling hamburgers on the boat twice.
• Had evening cruises with the VanFullerBents, including my second public dockage ever and first ever in Wayzata to eat at Baja Haus.
• Lots of weekends sleeping on the boat
• The water has been swimming temperature all summer, very warm the last month.  I'm kind of convinced that the temp gauge is off by a few degrees, but hey it's been just fine.
• Everything but the starboard engine and the vacuum toilet has worked flawlessly all summer

The starboard engine problem appears to have a solid solution.  I finally got another mechanic to look at it.  I called and complained to the marina and they forwarded me to another shop, "Indoor Boat Storage" and they quickly identified the problem as a bad fuel sender creating excessive fuel pressure.  This should solve the newer stalling problem and the long-term fuel consumption problem.  In fact, I kind of expect it to be finished today or tomorrow.

The toilet vacuum pump was just the duckbill valves.  The "old" ones were crusty from urea crystals -- probably not flushing enough, and most people replace them yearly.  It was real simple to replace them -- I did it in about an hour without a ton of effort.  I do worry that the head-to-tank hose is on its way out and it will be a real bitch to replace, but I'm also thinking I won't worry about it until the system totally refuses to create vacuum or leaks into the bilge.

I'm going to store the boat with Indoor Boat Storage this year, too.  I will get my outdrives serviced and inspected and maybe a couple of other items done as well.  I suspect Aaron won't be happy about this and I hope it doesn't alter our ability to keep the slip.  I doubt it should, since Aaron realizes that keeping us in the marina without access to reliable service is a problem.

Mid-summer already

It's mid-summer already.  The mostly good news is that everything has basically worked.

• Fuel consumption is still a problem -- starboard engine continues to burn about 35% more fuel than port.  Worse, we've had the engine stall three times within about 10 minutes of startup.  
• The first time happened when we got caught in a horrible rain storm, which was pretty scary because we were in about the biggest water on the lake.  It seemed like it wouldn't restart at all, but that was because I had the engine in gear and in the chaos of the rain I didn't think about that.
• The second time happened after raising anchor in a calm, secluded bay and the engine restarted and ran fine right away because I knew to make sure it was in neutral.
• The third time was in the same bay, and it would start but stall right away.  It finally restarted and ran, but not until we had to clear a channel and get into another bay.
• The stalling is a major annoyance because we get power steering via starboard engine and running on one engine is a bear by itself, let alone without power steering. 
  
  STILL WAITING for service at the "neighborhood" maintenance provider preferred by our marina.  We had a late ice-out and they were delayed launching boats (or so they said) and couldn't provide an estimate of any time.  I finally broke down and called the marina to complain, they said they would call and see what they could find out.  I feel like I will ultimately have to switch providers if I don't get service.  I know there can be delays, but I feel like a year to get reasonable maintenance response is a big problem.

• I started to dig into the stereo to find out why the factory AUX port didn't play in the cockpit.  That was a major hassle that didn't get anywhere.  I did find out that the entire control panel needs some level of disassembly, including 12v and 110 panels, if you want to do any maintenance.  I can get the head unit out, but DVD and CD changers are mounted in a way that makes them non-removable without a major disassembly project.
  
  Of course I found out the hard way that pulling out the head unit also unplugged the antenna whose cable is too short to plug back in and slide the head unit back in.  I had to buy a short extension cable to reconnect it (and spend 2 hours finagling to try to fix it without it).
  
  I also managed to somehow disconnect the in-cabin speakers, but that's not really a problem at this point.  I did rig up another AUX port using an extension cable (3.5mm <-> RCA) and now it plays in the cockpit, the why escapes me.
  
• The biggest win has been replacing the chain and rode setup with all chain.  Not without its frustrations, the first length of chain was short by 35+ feet and required shipping it back and delaying replacement by a week.  I finally got the right length, painted 10' depth markings with fluorescent green pain over self-etching primer and the last 10' in orange.
  
  The only two mistakes I made -- not securing the bitter end of the chain inside the anchor locker initially.  My son decided to "try" the hand crank for the windlass, ended up loosening it and dumping 35' of chain before I stopped it and tightened it back up.  I could have lost the entire chain & anchor!   I got a big stainless carabiner and secured the chain to the in-locker D-ring, which was a funky bit of engineering because you can't reach the D-ring through the access port.  Securing it was sort of a strategic error, I should have re-purposed the original 25' length to the D ring and then used a monkey link to link the 25' to the 125'.  Now I have a real hassle if I want to disconnect the chain.  Fortunately, I can't see why I would want to.
  
  And the good news is that the windlass runs GREAT on all chain, no more jamming like the rode used to do.  And the chain holds so much better, and even my home-brew anchor snubber works fine.  A short length of 5/16" dock line extra-wrapped around a snubber with a carabiner to attach to the chain once the anchor is dropped.  Takes the load off the windlass, and my anchor crew seems to get it.
• The toilet system has worked great.  Pump outs work, and the toilet flushes fine.  I have started to see some slight (every hour or so) loss of vacuum resulting in a vacuum pump cycle, but it stops on its own.  I picked up some spare duck bills and gaskets in case it gets worse.  It shouldn't require more than that unless the factory toilet->tank hose has started to rot (which it probably has, but not bad enough to be a problem.)  Actually using the toilet probably inhibits rot by keeping it wet and plugging any permeation.
• The fridges, old and new, keep on keeping cold.  No problems, which is great.  Those things are spendy and a pain to install.  I expect the cockpit one will quit eventually, but so far so good.
• We still haven't anchored out all night yet, but it's kind of nice having all-night air conditioning at the slip with shore power.  It's been a hot summer and I'm not sold on long-term generator run time and at-anchor AC.  I did make a "screen door" for the cabin.  It's hokey, but it would work.

Winter round-up

It seems kind of weird, but it's time to start thinking BOATING! again, even though we just got through with 2 weeks of sub-zero temperatures and have another 5 days or so of more coming.

• I have been refinishing the cockpit table.  It was worn but has cleaned up nicely.  I made a huge mistake, actually a couple, when refinishing it.  The first was refinishing the top first, and this one was made worse by the second, not separating the halves of the table when refinishing it.  I ended up with some ooze on the front which required some re-sanding and re-application of a couple of more coats of varnish.  Fortunately it will just be a minor hassle and will still look quite nice.
• I brought the sunpad cushion home with the idea of replacing the foam, which seems to have lost some cushion and is probably dry rotting a bit.  Lynn and I discussed replacing it outright with a new pad, cut larger to cover more of the bow.  I suspect this will be really expensive, although it would give us a larger cushioned area.
• I will probably replace the anchor line/chain combo we have now with 100' of chain.  I'd like more than 100', but most of our anchorages are 30' or less and we can get away with 2-2.5:1 scope with our current chain and rode setup, and probably closer to just 2:1 when the total tackle package weighs in around 90 pounds.  The overthink with this is whether to add the original 25' chain to the end of the 100' link by having a link cut and welded or whether to add 25-50' of rode at the end.  This would give me 125' of all-chain.
• Considering bottom paint -- the existing bottom paint is shot, and with the problem of zebra mussles in the bay it probably makes sense to have the bottom painted with anti-fouling paint to minimize this.  I think the outdrives should also get painted.  Downside (besides the outdrives) is expensive and time consuming.
• Probably not going to look further into a raw water pump washdown system, at least not a fixed installed one, this year.  The through-hull aspect is complex and probably expensive to have installed.  I may look at buying the pump and making some kind of enclosure for it, though, as fresh water for cleaning would be nice.
• I would still like the MFD upgrade to get mapping, depth/temperature and engine data.  Working with the guy I found has been impossible, he doesn't know the products well. It's also expensive, but the right way to do it is probably a Mercury data interface and two MFD displays from what I can tell.  Punt to 2019.
• Stereo upgrade?  It would be kind of nice to have bluetooth ability.  This isn't necessarily impossible, as it's reasonably priced and within my skillset.
• Carpets -- they still look like shit, but at least the backing is intact after coating with plasti-dip last season.  Would like some kind of sea-deck solution but will probably do nothing for this year.
• What I probably WILL do is pay money to Bayside for a more thorough investigation my boat's fuel consumption and get them to do a test drive as well.  I need to contact them soon so I can get this scheduled.

Fall round-up

It's been a while since I updated, and since we're pretty close to the end of the season, I thought I'd wrap up what's been done and what the current issues are and what expectations have and haven't been met.

• The pump out hose replacement got completed.  It was a chore getting the old hose off the fittings -- a combination of scraping with an old knife and cutting the spiral wire was required, essentially cutting the hose loose.  The old hose had visible dry rot cracking, which I'm hoping the toilet-to-tank hose does NOT have as that hose will be very, very difficult to replace considering its routing.  The new hose is vastly superior in flexibility and ease of use and the first test of pump out was a success.|
  
• The latest "big" problem is the asymmetrical fuel consumption between port and starboard engines.  The starboard engine is consuming 50% more fuel than port, confirmed by a second full fueling that showed 61.5 gallons added starboard, and 41.3 gallons port.
  
  I made a service call to the nearby marine mechanics who couldn't provide an explanation.  They didn't put more than an hour into it, but they were able to exclude any problems associated with leakage or engine malfunction codes from the engine computer.  I don't have an obvious engine malfunction that's causing this problem, but I don't have a very good theory as to why its happening.
  
  The leading contender I have is the deferred outdrive maintenance (mild dings in props and skegs) leading to inefficient prop loading.  The steering wheel is not centered when running straight, either, and this could be evidence of this as well in addition to contributing to greater starboard engine load (or could just be a cosmetic misalignment between the wheel position and the steering mechanism caused by cable stretching).   I plan to get detailed photos of the outdrives and props at haul out and have that work done, steering alignment checked to see if it has any effect, but probably none of it will be done until spring.
  
• The galley fridge failed about a month after installing it.  I replaced it with the same model against my better judgement, but there just weren't many choices easily available or known to fit the cabinetry or cabin entry.   We had a brief panic 3 weeks ago when it appeared to stop working *again*, but we're not sure what caused it as the cockpit fridge was partially defrosted.  The new fridge returned to normal function, so hopefully it will continue working.
  
• Never did any of my battery monitoring projects.  A lot of my labor and money bandwidth went into fixing broken items (vacuflush pump, pumpout hose, refrigerator, new TV).  I'd also call the mystery of fishing wire to the helm a big part of it.   Until we start overnighting on the lake, our use cases seem to make it less useful.
  
• Never overnighted on the lake itself.  I feel somewhat disappointed by this, but it's easy to see why we didn't.  One, the dog.  If the dog is with us, he has to have access to shore for potty breaks.  Two, the slip gives us power for air conditioning.  We could run the generator for that, but it's noisier than we expected and probably not a great idea overnight.  Three, there's a certain convenience to access to land -- groceries, restaurants, etc.
  
• Never got updates maps for the navigation system.  The local "marine electronics expert" has been frustrating to deal with -- hard to get ahold of and worse, hard to talk to.  Doesn't give me options I want and does a bad job explaining the difference between products.

Out of the toilet, into the bilge

If it's not one thing it's another.   During an otherwise uneventful Saturday cruise I began noticing sewage odor.  I kind of thought it was the result of not using the blue formaldehyde deodorant at pump out (I had ordered the sewage dissolving kind from Amazon and didn't apply it until that same Saturday).

Once everyone was off the boat, though, I got the ugly reality -- the septic tank had filled and had discharged into the bilge (I'm not sure how just yet).

I came back early the next morning and brought the boat to the gas/pumpout dock and found out what I had kind of suspected -- my previous 2 pump outs didn't actually pump anything out.  The pump out is drawing air, you can hear it hiss as it tries.  I pulled the fitting normally for the macerator discharge and we managed to get the pumpout hose into the tank itself and drew out about half so it's not totally full.

So the hose between septic tank and pumpout needs to be replaced.  The challenge here is access to the back of the pump out fitting on the hull.  The hose snakes up behind a bulkhead over the port gas tank, so it's not reachable at all from the engine room.

My first idea was to pull the hull fitting and pull the hose out, but after talking with Bob at Bayside Marine that sounds like a non-starter.  The cutout is likely no larger than the fitting barb (about 1.5", the ID of the hose), meaning neither the hose nor the hose clamps would clear the opening.

After looking at pictures, it appears the fitting is behind the wet bar.  The hope right now is that there is an access panel behind some part of the cockpit wet bar setup, either behind the garbage cabinet or behind the fridge that will allow access to the hull and this fitting to disconnect the hose.

If I can get access through there, it should be doable.  If not, off to the boat yard it goes for repairs, which include a variety of options including widening the cutout with some kind of access panel with the fitting over it or possibly relocating it with a new hull fitting.

Of course we're not out of the woods yet with a new hose alone.  Even if that solves the pumpout issue, I'm worried the septic tank itself is compromised somehow via ovepressure, because I don't have a great explanation as to where all the sewage came from.  Leaking from fittings alone doesn't explain it in my mind, so I think there will have to be some post-hose testing with food coloring to check for leaking.

Update:  7/12/2016

I went out Monday and indeed there is an access panel behind the cockpit fridge that allows access to the pumpout fitting and hose.

I reviewed the hose choices and went with Raritan SaniFlex, and I should have a 10' length arriving tomorrow.  I also stopped by West Marine and bought new stainless hose clamps (4) for clamping the hose to the fittings.  I was also cursed into buying the extremely overpriced Sealand vent filter from West Marine -- I've surely fouled the AirForce knockoff I bought from Amazon and Amazon was out of stock until August.  But I plan to rehab the AirForce as a backup, and I wish I had kept the one I tossed when I rebuilt the vacuum pump.

The other good news is there was no new sign of leakage, almost no odor in the bilge (the slightest trace, which I assume is just because the whole thing wasn't fully washed) and a test flush of the head didn't produce any leaks and did produce proper pumping action.

I suspect the replacement task will be putzy, but not hard in any sense.  As I see the biggest wildcard will be removing the old hose from fittings and the boat and getting the just right length of new hose.  I'm not sure how exactly to cut it, I think I will need to use a hacksaw.

Generating some anxiety

One of the desired features I wanted in a boat was a generator -- it makes long anchorages more practical from a power perspective and provides power for higher power accessories like air conditioning and normal 110 volt appliances.

We got lucky and our 310DA has a generator, a Kohler 5ECD, but it didn't come with the generator noise shield and we're finding it to be louder than we'd like.  From what I can tell, the noise is actually engine running noise and not exhaust noise.  The noise from the exhaust is muffled by the "wet" exhaust system which mixes exhaust gasses and raw cooling water and is generally acceptable.

From what I've been able to determine, there's two solutions.  One is an aftermarket sound shield, a custom-sized "soft" frame-based structure that surrounds the generator and muffles the noise.  The other is the Kohler OEM sound shield.

The aftermarket solution is $1250 plus my labor to install it.  It has a number of challenges, mostly correctly marking the openings necessary to accommodate the inputs and outputs and then the challenge of mounting it.  The manufacturer also says the generator should be mounted on a separate base to effectively isolate noise.  While there is a pan underneath mine, I don't think it's mounted on any separate mounting point.

(As an aside, I often find myself wishing I had photos of these things when I don't, and think to myself I need to just take a 5 minute detailed video of the engine room, slowly panning over everything.  This way I will get at least a glimpse of something I'm thinking about if not a decent still I can extract.)

As it happens, the OEM sound shield is still available from Kohler but it's extremely expensive, over $2000 and probably half that to retrofit it to the boat.