The Sailboat Cruiser

The Sailboat Cruiser is the free monthly (OK, monthly-ish) 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 #71
January 2022

What's in This Issue:

• What Makes a Boat 'Pretty'?


• Give Your Seawater Intake Pipework a Squeeze Occasionally;


• Just Another Shake-Down Cruise;


• The Virgin Islands of the Caribbean;


• Download Our eBooks!


• This Month's Mystery Boat;


• Used Sailboats for Sale;


• Used Sailing Gear & Equipment;


• Back Issues of The Sailboat Cruiser;

What Makes a Boat 'Pretty'?

"What a pretty boat!" said Mary, referring to the ketch on a nearby mooring. And a pretty boat it was too, but it set me thinking about what it was about the boat that made it 'pretty'.

Could it be attributed to:

• The sheer line, rising gracefully to the bow and stern?
• The generous overhangs at each end of the hull?
• The clipper bow?
• The bowsprit, complete with bobstay and dolphin striker?
• The 'moustache', which is the wooden carved nameboard at the bow?
• The spindled taffrail?
• The gold cavita line running from bow to stern?
• The well-proportioned coachroof?

This boat was destined to become this month's Mystery Boat until her owner arrived, and told me that she was a Clair Oberly designed Mariner 36 from 1972.

If you'd like to take a look at her and see if you agree with me, then here she is...

Give Your Seawater Intake Pipework a Squeeze Occasionally

Squeezing the pipe had caused chunks of it to fall off which, had I started the engine, would have ended up in the heat exchanger.

So off came the pipe and more squeezing dislodged the remaining limescale from the inside of the pipe, but I was aware that there might be a similar build-up in the heat exchanger.

A local mechanic who had come to my aid previously suggested I tried 'Barnacle Blaster'. This is a dilute acidic liquid that is poured into the heat exchanger, left to do what it does for 10 minutes or so, and then allowed to flow out.

The milky liquid that emerged clearly demonstrated that the 'Barnacle Blaster' had done its job.

Running the engine once all had been re-assembled, flushed out any remaining 'Barnacle Blaster' from the cooling system.

Thank you 'Barnacle Blaster'!

Just Another Shake-Down Cruise

The forecast was for 15 to 20 knot winds from just north of east, wave height 6 to eight feet - not ideal, but we felt it was time to be on our way.

After motor-sailing up the west coast of Grenada, we put a reef in the main, unfurled the yankee and laid a course for Carriacou, leaving the underwater volcano of Kick'em Jenny a respectful distance to starboard, just in case.

The relative wind was over 20 knots from the north-east which meant that it was blowing from exactly where we wanted to go - a couple of tacks would be necessary to fetch our destination.

On going below to check our progress on the chartplotter I noticed that the bilge pump alarm was on. Oh dear!

A hasty inspection of all seacocks commenced. We were heeling rather more than I would have liked - I should have put a second reef in the main - and with Alacazam crashing through the waves, this was not a relaxing activity. But we found no problems with the seacocks, or with the speed and depth thru-hulls.

So, now suspecting the shaft-seal I started the engine and immediately found the source of the problem; it was the seawater intake pump which was enthusiastically spraying a jet of water around the engine compartment. The cover-plate was the SpeedSeal type, which uses convenient knurl-headed securing bolts which can be tightened and loosened by hand. I tightened them vigorously which solved the problem.

Much relieved we shut down the engine and continued our lively sail towards our intended anchorage, Tyrell Bay on Carriacou.

At the mouth of the bay we started the engine and dropped the sails. There was no water emerging from the intake pump, which was good, but neither was there any coming out of the exhaust which wasn't at all good.

We turned the engine off immediately of course, and a rather concerned skipper removed all the engine covers in a big hurry and the head-scratching commenced.

I briefly re-started the engine - there was no water flooding into the seawater intake filter, which of course there should be.

With the intake seacock closed I removed the seawater pump cover plate, all looked good within - impeller blades were intact, so I replaced the cover, this time with grateful thanks to SpeedSeal.

And then I had the lightbulb moment...

Could the earlier leak have created an airlock between the intake pump and the seacock? This would explain the lack of activity in the intake filter and the pumps failure to supply seawater to the cooling system?

I opened the seacock and slowly unscrewed the clear plastic cover on the intake filter and was much relieved to see water flooding back into it, which primed the pump.

We started the engine, and peered thankfully over the transom at the water pulsing out of the exhaust.

We motored into the anchorage where I awarded myself with a cold Stag beer - and then another.

Don't you just love shakedown cruises?

The Virgin Islands of the Caribbean

Well, obviously, sometimes it's not. Let's just agree that 95% of the time it is wonderful, and 5% of the time it's anything but.

This season, the hassle and cost of PCR tests each time you leave one island nation and arrive at another, means the odds of us island-hopping northwards and on to the Virgin Islands are slightly less than zero.

But that doesn't mean I can't share a previous cruise through the delightful Virgin Islands with you...

Take a Look at Our eBooks!

This Month's Mystery Boat

But let's see how you all get on with this one...

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

The full list of monohulls and multihulls currently for sale can be seen at cruising-sailboats-for-sale.

Used Sailing Gear & Equipment

Among other items this month, we have:

• Vintage Sailor Radios;
• Catalina 36 MKII Interior Cushions;
• Lewmar 60mm Synchro Deck Organizers;
• Guy Cotton Foul Weather Gear;
• Carbon Fiber Spinnaker Pole & Two UK Sails;
• Beneteau 423 Interior Cushion Set;
• 2-Burner Pressurized Kerosene Gimballed Stove/Oven.

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!