Can I touch it?

[Cap Erict3]

A buddy of mine had just had his boat delivered via truck. When moving from the crane to a temp slip he found shift issues with his transmission.

I climbed through the only tight access and was able to see that his shift cable was not in the retention bracket. In order to reach the bracket I would need to fold my legs at odd angles, turn upside down, lower and support my inverted self with one hand while removing the bracket with the other.

I did yacht repairs in my youth and getting into and out of these positions was common place. Those days are gone.

My buddy paid a young local fellow a couple of hundred bucks to perform the contortionist exercise. He made several trips into the hole and scratched himself up doing it. The guy put in a Herculean effort in order to do a simple task.

Someone less than 5' tall,100 lbs and limber as a snake would have had a much easier time and likely done a better job.

My experience with this issue was a driving force in choosing and modifying my vessel. It is a whole lot easier to know your equipment when you see and touch it without injuring ones self in the process.






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Looking for another pretty place to work on the boat.

[Cap Erict3]

Today I replaced my alternator belt. I had to disconnect hoses from the water pump">raw water pump and water heater and remove the belt from the raw water pump.

20 minute job with easy access to everything. Checked transmission fluid while I was at it.

While shopping for your future dream boat, it doesn't hurt to remember that hull design isn't the only thing to look for.


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Looking for another pretty place to work on the boat.

[JPA Cate]

Capt. Eric 3,

Boy, you got that right! There's another thread from last week about the difficulties incurred when you can't reach the handle for the through-hull fittings, too.

And then, consider crawl spaces to lazarettes where you can't turn around to wiggle out again.....

Or how about the boat with the stuffing box for the prop shaft aft of the engine, in such a way that you had to pull the engine to get to it!!

Limber and strong as a chimpanzee would be good.

Ann

[Cap Erict3]

A tiny contortionist would never want for work.


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Looking for another pretty place to work on the boat.

[Island Time O25]

After reading the above boy do I feel lucky to have the boat I have. I'm average height and build but there isn't a space on my boat where I couldn't fit in to fix or replace something.

[hpeer]

Last year I had to remove my fuel tank, cut it up in place. Then scrape old urethane foam off the steel. Then weld in a patch and put in a new water tank.

All under the sole of my cockpit.

It was a lot like playing a steel drum, from the inside.

5'10". 220. 63

OOOOOOUCH!

[boeing1]

Try replacing a raw water impeller on a island packet 35 with a yanmar engine.

[TrentePieds]

Originally Posted by Cap Erict3

My experience with this issue was a driving force in choosing and modifying my vessel. It is a whole lot easier to know your equipment when you see and touch it without injuring ones self in the process.

TrentePied had a "no start" on a Vetus 3M10 (= Mitsubishi K3D) all because "pretty" overrides "seamanlike" in the Vetus philosophy. The fault lay in a dinky panel installed in the cockpit so low that you had to do a headstand to read the tach and accessible only by the most simian of sailors through a cockpit locker. Toy switches operated toy relays communicating with other toy relays mounted inaccessibly on the engine block.

Harsh measures were taken. Now the wiring essential for flashing up is of a different caliber, not to mention gauge, and therefore relay-less. Properly attached to plugs and solenoid with eye terminals rather than "female spades", these wires (and the engine ground) are taken via a solid support on the engyne through a vibration damping coil to a terminal block mounted with a view to easy access on the inboard side of the engine housing so it will be easy to disconnect them (and reconnect them) when the time to yank the engine inevitably comes. The buttons are no longer toys, but proper "commercial" pattern and mounted on the engine housing.

The stuffing box is the "dripless" type, so I fully expect future trouble. When it comes, I will be in a dilemma: Will it be easier/cheaper the yank the engine or to modify the cockpit sole to be sufficiently geezer-friendly to permit me to service the back end of the engine compartment through a hatch in the sole? We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.


TrentePieds

[FamilyVan]

Originally Posted by boeing1

Try replacing a raw water impeller on a island packet 35 with a yanmar engine.

I can't imagine having a raw water pump I couldn't reach. As part of my daily start up routine I always put my hand on the impeller plate to ensure circulation.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[bletso]

I too am glad for the boat I have. I can actually move about a little in my engine room. A friend of mine has a Sabre 33 and I can't figure out how to do anything serious on the engine. This is a picture from the rear looking forward.Normal entry is from the the door in the front.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by boeing1

Try replacing a raw water impeller on a island packet 35 with a yanmar engine.

Ummmmm just pull the pump off of the engine......


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Bill Seal]

Originally Posted by Cap Erict3

A tiny contortionist would never want for work.


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Looking for another pretty place to work on the boat.

During WWII, Ford used circus midgets in their Willow Run plant to work in tight places on the B24s

[Cheechako]

Good reminders CaptErict3! I loved my Tanton 44. The engine was under the sink. All side panels were removeable, and if you wanted to get really serious... so was the top/sink/countertop!

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by boeing1

Try replacing a raw water impeller on a island packet 35 with a yanmar engine.

Ummmmm just pull the pump off of the engine......


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Roy M]

Damn, Sailmonkey! That was the final exam question and you gave it away. Now we have to find some other seemingly impossible task for these mere mortals who deem themselves worthy to wander the waters. Let's see now, there's always the new cable up the mast conduit, or maybe how to replace that holding tank macerator in the inaccessible bilge locker, or ............