The Sailboat Cruiser

The Sailboat Cruiser is the occasional newsletter of sailboat-cruising.com and sets out to bring you the news, views and general musings of the writer - Dick McClary, a sailboat cruiser and creator/owner of sailboat-cruising.com.

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The Sailboat Cruiser #75
August '23

What's in This Issue:

• My Unexplained Absence;


• Exhausting work;


• If it ain't broke don't fix it;


• Download Our eBooks!


• This Month's Mystery Boat;


• Used Sailboats for Sale;


• Used Sailing Gear & Equipment;


• Back Issues of The Sailboat Cruiser;

My Unexplained Absence

It all started in France, where I took a tumble over a small concrete bollard, presumably installed by the French to cause damage to unsuspecting Englishmen who weren't looking where they were going. As it turned out, that French bollard did me a huge favour and deserves a hug next time I'm there.

Back home in the UK an Xray confirmed my suspicions that I'd broken my right clavicle (collar bone) but also discovered something rather sinister lurking within it which, after a number of tests and scans turned out to be an isolated plasmacytoma - which is not something you'd vote for.

20 sessions of targeted radiotherapy put paid to the plasmacytoma but fried the sheathing around the tendons in my shoulder, an injury known as tenosynovitis. And it hurt - a lot. The medics nodded wisely and added cheerily that the pain would eventually dissipate but could take around a year to do so.

While all this was going on I got a dose of covid which did little to improve my sense of wellbeing.

I hope you'll understand that writing this newsletter was not at the top of my list of priorities throughout this period.

But hey ho, it's all behind me now so onwards and upwards!

Exhausting work

We always take a great deal of time and care in laying-up Alacazam for the hurricane season so there's a good chance that we'll find her as sound as when we left her.

Some years ago I was chatting to Mike Bingley, the proprietor of Palm Tree Marine in Clarks Court Bay, Grenada about long-term storage ashore...

"Do you disconnect the exhaust box?" asked Mike.

"Er, no" I replied, "Should I?

"Definitely," said Mike, and he told me why:

"In the hot, humid summer weather, any water left in the exhaust box will evaporate and it will go two ways. Some will escape harmlessly through the exhaust outlet - unless you've closed it off - and some will rise and get back to the engine where, over a period of months, it can cause the exhaust valves to malfunction on launch day."

It made perfect sense to me, so I'm fairly confident that our Yanmar 3YM30 will behave itself when the time comes.

Only once have I started the engine without remembering to re-connect the exhaust; I'm unlikely to make that mistake ever again!

'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'

Following the Table of Contents and the Introduction is the Inventory section, in which you enter detailed information relating to the various mechanical and electrical components of your boat. As you will imagine this will not be just an hour's work, covering as it does such items as the location of seacocks and fuel valves, fuel filter make and model, hose diameters, battery info, alternator make and model and so on. Here you'll also record your spare parts list and manuals together with their locations onboard.

Next, we come to the Maintenance Checklist section in which all recommended tasks are scheduled - daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annually. The author's previous book, Marine Diesel Basics, shows how to complete all these tasks with clear drawings and simple text.

This is followed by the section Inspections, where the author introduces us to all those things we'd be wise to keep an eye on - dipstick evidence, hoses and hose clamps, wiring and terminals, drips and their sources, belts and their tensions and more along these lines.

And now we arrive at the most important section of the Logbook - Logbook Entries: 100 lined pages where you record what has been done, when it was done and who did it. You now have all the information in one organised and accessible place, and when you come to sell your pride and joy you can now present the new owner with its full service history and maintenance record - a very persuasive and reassuring document.

Interested? Then pop across to www.marinedieselbasics.com where you'll be able to buy the author's excellent publications - and download many useful manuals and publications entirely for free. Catamaran owners will be pleased to find that there's a Twin Engine Installation version of the Maintenance Logbook just for them!

Take a Look at Our eBooks!

This Month's Mystery Boat

If so, please let me know by clicking here...

And remember, the first person to convince me of the correct identification of the boat, gets a free eBook of their choice!

Cruising Boats for Sale

Used Sailing Gear & Equipment

Among the latest items listed, we have:

• Spinlock Deckvest 150 Lifejackets & Tethers;
• Parachute Anchor;
• New Harken Triple Block;
• Galvanised Turnbuckles;
• 35lb CQR Anchor;
• MPPT Solar Charge Controller;
• AIS Transceiver;
• Airmar DST810 Speed Transducer;
• Raymarine SeaTalk Converter Kit;
• West Marine Boat Buffer;
• Yanmar 3GM30 Exhaust Elbow;
• TackTick Tactical Racing Compass;
• Imray Paper Charts;
• Dock Fenders;
• KF 3.0 Large Furler;
• Lofrans Royal Anchor Windlass;
• Mast & Standing Rigging from Oyster 54;
• EVO Boat Oven;
• Revere Offshore Liferaft;
• Lewmar 43ST Winches;
• Crewsaver 6-Person Liferaft;
• Operator Manuals for Universal Engines;
• Rutland Windcharger;
• Gill Yachting Boots;
• Helly Hanson Thermal Pants;
• AIS Class B & Chartplotter

Take a look at these and all the other stuff at used cruising gear for sale...

And finally...

And this newsletter can be a two-way thing. If you've read anything you'd like to comment on, or perhaps there's an event you'd like to see announced in a future newsletter, then please let me know.

See you next month!