On The Hard... Again

It is November 1^st, 2014 and we just heard the first reports on the radio of snow flurries downtown. Seems a bit early really, but there’ll probably be another warmish spell. There usually is.

Heading past Point Au Baril Lighthouse

Mary Mary is ‘on the hard’ now in Britt, Byng Inlet, Ontario at Wright’s Marine. We finally made it to Britt after being weathered in for a few days and then forced to anchor in Kitsilano Bay, near Pointe Au Baril, waiting for the waves on Georgian Bay to subside and for the wind to give us hope. It did though, finally, and we motored out into the blue and with an off-shore wind and calm waters we made it across the Hang Dog Reef in good time and then navigated the hairpin turn at Hang Dog Channel and entered into some of the best landscape we’ve encountered thus far.

Part of Hang Dog Channel

The waters are fairly shallow through the inside route but the higher water-level overall this year helped us and despite one or two marker surprises (not where they were marked on my two-year old charts) it was uneventful. We passed a pretty large working boat slowly making its way between the islands but not much else, even when we left sheltered waters and made the last 7 mile hop on open water towards Byng Inlet. But the weather was remarkably nice with sun pouring down around and smooth waters. We only passed one other boat, headed in the other direction, in the narrow channel towards Byng. We both slowed down and, ten feet apart or so, had a short, jovial conversation, remarking on the terrific conditions and wishing each other well.

It is an amazing phenomenon of these waters that even when you are several miles out, the water in some places is only 8 or 9 feet deep. Many rock shoals can be seen just a few metres off the beaten track and cormorant and gull inhabited rocks jut out into the air every now and then. But the route is well-maintained and we never really felt threatened. Of course, it would be a lot different in harsher weather when you might be getting pushed around a bit off the line. 

Byng Inlet from the air

But such was not the case for us, fortunately, and even though we had been relatively bored waiting out the weather and a little stressed because our time window had been quickly shrinking, the eventual journey was fascinating. It overwhelmed us with a sense of joy and satisfaction even as we were now realizing just how close the end of the season was getting to be. As we motored the final stretch around the point leading into Byng Inlet, the weather started picking up behind us and we were happy to make the smoother waters of the Inlet itself. We motored the two or three miles down the inlet, eventually arriving at Wright’s Marina where we would be spending the winter.

We were greeted by the owner/manager of the marina, Graham Lacey and given a slip on the eastern dock where a boat had just been taken out. Wright’s is a very easy-going place, professionally run and maintained with the care that only a family-run business can be,  and we were quickly settled in and enjoying the dying rays of the afternoon sun. I was returning to Toronto for work having already ferried the truck up to the marina from Parry Sound (Graham, the owner, had actually given me a ride in his car down to Parry Sound where he lived. It’s about an hour away.) Although we had originally planned for me go and then return for the final haul-out, we decided instead for all of us to go back, cats included, and then Brooke and I would return later to do the painful chore.

Wright's Marina, Byng Inlet

When we returned a few days later, we had three days to do the winterizing, clean out the boat and settle things with the marina. (We actually left a day early because it was becoming demoralizing.) So we began the now-familiar routine of oil-changing and such and on the final day, we travelled over to the gas-dock for a final pump-out and shortly thereafter the big, red hydraulic trailer backed down the ramp and we were hauled out. We have decided this year not to shrink-wrap and instead covered the bright-work on the rails with the old fire-hose linings that we had obtained last year from the Toronto Fire Dept. It had worked extremely well at Sound Boat Works so we are fairly confident we will be okay. It is a little more exposed this year, but the cost, for us, was just too prohibitive.

Now it’s just a simple matter of waiting 6 months for spring.

OMG.

Mary On The Hard

The Water Heater, Part 2: The Insertion

Ah, the day has finally arrived. After a month or so with no hot water, the new water heater is here. It shines and gleams on the galley counter awaiting insertion into its hidey-hole in the engine room. And the weight of the newly acquired 11 gallon, West Marine (made in Taiwan) unit is great. It took two people to get the old heater off the boat. This one I can carry myself with no problem. (Probably because it’s made of tin… very thin stainless steel actually.) To be sure, this unit is on the cheaper end of water heaters but reviews were adequate enough online to reassure. The higher end models were up to a couple of thousand dollars, so the decision was made to go cheaper this time. Watch this space for our own review next year and whether or not you can actually pay less and succeed.

The new, 11 gal. water heater ready to go

Getting the unit up and running will require the following steps:

• Secure the unit into place between the starboard engine and the hull. (This gives some concern as the unit has two mounts protruding from underneath that can’t be removed and replaced; one of which arrived out of the box bent.)
• Prepare new water pipe and attach same to the unit. (We will be replacing the old ‘tap’ style shutoff valve at the same time, so we will have to go through the usual difficulties when replacing plumbing in this Singapore-built boat with its whacky fittings sizes.
• Attach the electrics.
• Remove the old heater-hose from beneath the stringers and replace it with new, modern hose to run coolant from the engine to the unit’s heat exchanger for heating water while underway.
• Test the results.

The first part of the mission went well as the lighter weight made manipulating the thing much easier. The mounts didn’t turn out to be a problem but I still had to remove two of the 6-volt batteries from the house bank again. It didn’t take long to get it in its space from that point, with Brooke jostling it for position as I held it up. It sure looked nice and shiny in there. (Compared to the rusting bulk of the already forgotten tub that it was replacing…)

The unit in place

Unfortunately, because of space restrictions, the rest of the installation basically fell on the Bosun with me standing by to hand tools and wires and cutting pipe as required. After some discussion about to where to run all the new white PEX pipes, Brooke attached them with Sharkbite connectors and elbows. 

Tiny Brooke in a tiny place

The electrics were a bit of a puzzle as all three wires that extruded from the running tube were black with stranded copper wire. We had marked these as they had been on the old unit but now we were finding it hard to determine which the negative was and which the ground wire. The three wires were labelled 34, 01 and 02. It seemed fairly obvious that the 34 wire was the power and that was confirmed at the panel with the multi-meter. I found that there were several other 01 and 02 wires coming up in other places, servicing other appliances and lights and such. Best possible guess was that 01 was the negative and 02 was the ground. This proved to be the case. 

Attaching the electrics

With all the attachments in place and tools out of the hold, testing began. First we tested the plumbing by filling the tank, turning on the new valve and letting trapped air out of the lines. Success… No leaks. Or so it seemed at the time.

Having tested this we made the final commitment to turn on the hot water heater at the AC panel and after an impatient 20 minutes or so turned on the hot water tap and, lo, hot water came splashing out.

When we went back down to do one last inspection, Brooke found, disturbingly, that there was a water leak coming from under the unit; in exactly the same position that the leak had occurred in the old heater. Was there a gremlin down there poking holes in our heaters? Well, of course, this turned out to be co-incidence in the end and not, in fact, a gremlin. (I later found out that gremlins are entirely mythical. Which would explain the absolute failure of my homemade gremlin traps.)

This gremlin trap (upon which I based my own version) turned out to be a hoax.

There was a leak though. The hot water out connection was sending a steady stream of water down through the housing and through the electric panel! The unit was quickly turned off and the leaking connector fixed by undoing it, replacing the pipe thread sealant and replacing it with a robust turning of the wrench. No more leak.

Brooke's fine connecting job

Brooke was the first to experiment with the wonders of the new heater by having a shower. The ooh’s and ah’s emanating from the stateroom gave signal that the job had been completed successfully.

Next we turned our attention to the heat exchanger connection. We had made the decision to use new heater-hose instead of the continuing to rely on the now 35 year-old rigid pipes that came with the boat. Although the old pipe didn’t seem to be compromised too much, it seemed like the best idea. This we did with two, 6-foot lengths of pre-cut Goodyear heater-hose. Because the engine had half-inch outlets for these hoses and the new heater had 5/8” outlet/inlets, we had to use two different size hoses and join them up. I suspect that this wouldn’t be recommended but there was little choice really. At any rate all of our joints seem to be holding well; barb connectors with clamps. Then we connected the hoses to the engine with a jug standing by for spillage and a quick turn-over system that involved quickly removing the hose and covering the exposed outlet with a finger while sticking the hose into the spill jug. This we accomplished with a minimum of mess. After connecting the new hoses to the engine we topped off the coolant and, using the relief valve, bled the system of air.

Next we had to test the validity of our coolant hose connections. We started the starboard engine with fingers-crossed (the resulting mess from a faulty hose would be very ugly). It seemed to be holding well. We let the engine reach running temperature to be sure of the integrity of the hose and it passed off well. Later, after our next short journey, we found that the heat-exchanger was working well, too.

This was another case of finding that by using our knowledge of the boat and our experience (which is always increasing), that we could save a lot of money and get great satisfaction out of doing jobs like this ourselves; especially when the results are so palpable.

Happy 'cause we're clean... now let's go wash the cat!

The Water Heater, Part 1: The Extrication

The Engine Room (L to R: Starboard Engine, Gen-Set, Port Engine)

When the Mary Mary was put together some 35 years ago, although attention to detail during the construction was correct to an obsession, scant provision was made for the inevitable day that certain objects would need to be replaced. Such an object is The Water Heater. (Sometimes redundantly referred to as the Hot Water Heater, as Brooke is fond of pointing out.) The Water Heater on board the Mary Mary is (was) located between the starboard engine and the hull. A region known to us on board as Hell’s Rhomboid. There is no room to do anything. Certainly not to swing a cat. Although if I thought Mr. Huxley could learn to do mechanical jobs, I might swing her down there. But no, this claustrophobic den is the sole domain of Brooke, the ship’s bosun who, small enough to gain access, is only one wrong move away from certain sprain.

Struggling with the electrics in Hell's Rhomboid

Last year, early in the season, it came to be that The Water Heater failed and upon investigation it was discovered that the internal heating element had corroded to the point of uselessness. (Damn things, every 35 years you need to replace them!) We found, fortunately, that they are fairly universal and after a quick stop at Can Tire we acquired the necessary part, replaced it and were on our way with even hotter water than we had before. Luxuriating in steaming water for showers and washing up, we relaxed into a state of ignorance regarding ‘ol Heaty, confident that it would go on for another 35 years. But, of course, such was not to be.

On August 11, after steaming from anchorage to port we heard a gushing sound coming from the engine room and discovered that The Water Heater had ruptured and emptied the entire remaining contents of the fresh water reservoirs into the bilge and hence out into the bay. We hoped initially that it was just a burst pipe; easily dealt with. But further observation revealed that the tank itself had burst. There was nothing for it now. It would have to be replaced. This would be a two-step process; remove the old unit and install a new one. Sounds easy enough, I suppose, but as mentioned before, access is an issue. (As the actress said to the Bishop.)

Thus we began phase one of the saga of The Water Heater… Extrication.

This involved several steps:

1. Re-route the heat-exchanger hoses. (This was necessary as the coolant that flowed in these hoses from the engine would spill out once they were disconnected from the Water Heater. Also, we wanted to be able to run that engine until the new unit was installed.)
2. Cut off the cold water flow.
3. Undo the electrical connections and remove the wiring
4. Remove the heat exchanger hoses from the unit. (These allow hot water from the engines to heat water in the tank while underway.)
5. Remove the cold water inflow pipe and the hot water outflow pipes. (These we had jury-rigged a few years ago while replacing certain plumbing)
6. Undo the retaining screws on the mounts.
7. Remove the unit.
8. Ingest pain relievers.

To accomplish step 1 we decided to purchase a short piece of auto heater hose and run it from the pet-cock outlet on the port side of the engine where the outflow to the exchanger was located to the return T-joint closer to the engine’s expansion tank. This was not terribly difficult in theory but of course, the pipes being full of coolant, the moment I disconnected the first hose it started to spew out old, smelly coolant onto my feet. (I admit, that I have been remiss in flushing the old coolant out of the engine on a regular basis so it was particularly stale.) We mopped that up after Bosun Brooke stopped laughing, and having learned our lesson, teamed up to make the necessary quick change-over of the hoses and the job was done. I started the engine and let it come to running temperature to ensure that we had made the connections properly and that the hose was not going to burst and cause further mayhem. Everything seemed good but now, of course, the engine room was steamy so we had to wait a while for it to all cool down. This called for libation.

Eventually it was time to proceed to step 3. Brooke removed the face plate from the Heater by leaning over the still-warm engine. Then, putting on her brave face, into Hell’s Rhomboid she dropped, or rather, burrowed, bended and squirreled. There was a groan, followed by a couple of sharp intakes of breath and what sounded like the crunching of a femur. Finally she was in place. The electrical elements, although relatively simple to remove, were encased in rust and the screws difficult to turn. However, shortly there was a sigh of relief and the first elements were handed up to me, standing by with tools as needed. 

Next were the now-vented heat exchanger hoses. These we decided to just cut away as the new water heater would undoubtedly require different fittings. (This proved to be the case.) I handed down the short-handled knife-saw that we keep by for such occasions when we need to butcher pipe or hose or repel borders and, after some muttering of expletives, this was accomplished. 

Then the hot and cold water pipes were removed. Easy-peasy. The cold water intake pipe was the original pipe attached with a bronze fitting of a size that is extinct. The hot water piping had been replaced a few years ago by the Bosun, with red pex hose and sharkbite fittings.
The retaining screws holding the tank were next and, although as awkward to get at as everything else, soon these were up and out of the engine room and The Water Heater was unseated. 

Water Heater waiting admission to the Old Water Heater's Home

Now… perhaps the trickiest part. The Water Heater measured some 17.5“ in height and 18.5“ across. It is a round model type, very similar to the Raritan 1700 series, and our best guess was that it could be removed by laying it on its side and coaxing it around the front of the engine, over the house battery bank, onto the bilge covers and then up and out the hatch and the salon door. In order to do this we had to remove the raw-water engine hose, the throttle cable and two of the six house-batteries. Then Brooke wormed herself around the rear of the engine and over the generator starter battery in order to apply some leverage from the bottom of the heater. Meanwhile, I propped myself up on top of the remaining house batteries and after a couple of scrapes and curses and Brooke pushing from below finally managed to drag the unit, all 35 lbs. of it, into a position where I could drop it to the floor. 

We considered the next move and finally, straddling the cross-beams that support the engine room hatch covers, and again Brooke giving support from below, managed to lift the unit up into the salon using the cut-away hose mounts as handles. It was out. 

Upside-down view of 'Ol Heaty

When we got the unit out into the open we realized for the first time just how truly corroded and beat-up it really was. That it had lasted as long as it had was something of a miracle really. It was almost with a tear in my eye that I carted it away to the rear of the marina to await its transportation to the dump. An ignominious end to a truly heroic piece of machinery… Ah, it’s gone and good riddance.

The Water Heater - Subdued & Defeated

 NEXT: The Water Heater, Part 2: The Insertion