2013-06-02 Furnace work

OK, so the name of the blog is "Mike's Boat Trips 2013" and this is not a boat trip.  So feel free to skip it if you like.  This is the saga of the work I did on my Espar D5 Airtronics diesel furnace.

This is what it looks like after I got it up to my shop.  I neglected to get pictures of it before removing it from its home in the engine room, but the "After" pictures will be almost the same.

Kudos to my friend Len who took it out of the boat for me.  It is mounted on a bulkhead just forward of the port engine, and you have to have the body of a 10 year old boy to squeeze in there to work on it in place.  Len is a diesel mechanic who works on all sorts of loaders, excavators, man lifts and the like and seems to be able to bend in places that I cannot.  Thanks Len!

I had two primary reasons for wanting to take it out of the boat.  First and foremost, it had started to stink pretty badly of diesel fumes when it fired up.  I knew that if I could smell it, then wife Lisa would really notice it.  It had not been cleaned after almost 6 years of use and so I knew it had to have some soot built up in it.  Secondly, the glow plug had been replaced in mid summer 2010, and since the unit was going to be out of the boat it would be much easier to replace the glow plug and screen in the shop rather than in the boat.

Here's the glow plug that I took out.  It's not in that bad shape and surely would have worked another season or two.  But you can see it was starting to deform down near the end.

This is the screen that I took out.  The little ring on the top actually separated from the main part of the screen while I was working it out.  The glow plug comes out easy, but the screen, not so much.

This is the end of the fan where most of the soot build up was.  There was some around the threads of the glow plug too, but more here.  I thought I could blow it off with canned air - no chance.  I had to use Q-tips, lots of them, to wipe it off.

I'm hoping this was the primary source of the diesel smell when it fired up.  I sure hope it doesn't smell the same after I get it back in place!

This is the original exhaust hose back in the shop.  I didn't intend to swap out the hose, but it broke right at the through hull fitting and then we could see it was badly corroded and really needed to be replaced.  Since it was covered with 3 layers of insulation I could not see how bad a shape it was in.

The exhaust hose connects to a 90 degree elbow that connects to the exhaust port on the furnace itself.  This was my undoing when I ordered the replacement exhaust hose.  The furnace manual clearly states that it has a 24 mm exhaust port, so I ordered 24 mm exhaust hose.  You can't see it in this picture because of the insulation, but the output side of the 90 degree elbow is actually 30 mm, as is the through hull fitting.  So the exhaust hose I ordered was too small, which caused delay in the project.  My fault for not being precise enough.  Len would have caught this.

This is the old exhaust hose with most of the insulation removed.  For some as yet unknown reason there was a small section in the middle, about 18" I suppose, that was encased in what appears to be a ceramic type collar.  None of the replacement hoses that I could find had anything like this, so I am ignoring it for now.

Some time passed because I ordered the wrong size replacement hose, and had to re-order, but eventually I got all the parts and pieces that I needed.  I also ordered new insulation, of a slightly different type, and some clamps to secure the hose on both ends.  I got some SS hose clamps locally to secure the insulation to the hose.

Thanks again to my friend Len who came down and put the new exhaust hose in place.  It went smoothly enough I guess, especially since he did all the work and I just fetched tools.  The new hose doesn't lay (lie?) exactly like the old one did, and it obscures the furnace in the following pictures.  But you can see the furnace up against the bulkhead, and the new exhaust hose, and through-hull exhaust port.

We fired it up and it started up just fine.  There was some smoke curling up around the base of the unit which disturbed me greatly, but Len did not seem concerned.  He said brand new exhaust hose usually has som oil on it.  The oil on the inside of the hose could just blast out of the boat, but the oil on the outside would be trapped and the smoke would probably be forced down through the insulation.  So we hope this was just a temporary issue and that it will go away with use.  I will keep an eye on it.

Hopefully this project is finished!

2013-06-16 First trolling

Tried my first trolling of the season this past Father's Day.
Back and forth at Mountain Point for 3 hours.
Got skunked.
'Nuff said.

2013-05-25 Memorial Day Trip

The 3 day Memorial Day weekend marks the "official" beginning of summer in these parts.  In a previous life I used to fish the King Salmon Derby obsessively, but nowadays I don't start trolling for salmon until later in the summer.  Guess I've lost my patience.

Here is a quick overview of the track for this weekend's trip.  You'll recognize the area as I go here often.

In any case wife Lisa and puppy dog Bambina ('Bina') were the designated crew for this weekend's voyage. 

I fired up the engines and we pulled out just a little before 9 AM.

The weather was overcast, but calm and warm, with very light NW winds.  All in all, pretty good boating weather.

On the way out through Tongass Narrows I lingered in front of the ASD (Alaska Ship and Drydock) facilities which are very near the harbor, and shot a couple of pictures.  This is a huge facility and it is still growing. 

In this picture you can see the Alaska Marine Highway System state ferry Taku sitting on one of the drydocks.  I came up to Alaska for the first time on the Taku in 1965.  These floating drydocks are set up to sink down into the water.  Then the ship drives in, and divers somehow place keel blocks under it in just the right positions.  Then they float the drydock with the ship in it, and there she is, high and dry.  It's an amazing process to see.  ASD has two of the drydocks, but only one in use in this picture.

This picture shows why wife Lisa decided to come along on this trip.  And Bina seems to be enjoying it so far as well.

As we made our way out towards the Pond Reef area we passed a couple of kayaks.  They looked like they were enjoying their time on the water today.

As we turned North into Clover Pass I stopped for a bit as I prepared and baited my shrimp pots.  I dropped a halibut rod over just for fun while I was working on the pots, but it yielded nothing.

I dropped the pots in my usual spot in Clover Pass.

We stopped for lunch off the North end of Hump Island and had lunch.  Again I dropped a halibut line over while we were there, with the same results as before.

We went out to my apparently not so special halibut hole in front of Naha Bay and just drift fished without anchoring for about 2 hours.  I sometimes anchor here to bottom fish but on this day the winds were very calm and slow drift took us across the plateau quite well, so did not need to anchor.  No fish though.

About 3 PM we moved in closer to Moser Island and Stack Islands and again drift fished, but again no luck.

We left there about 4:30 PM and headed in to the Naha USFS dock for the night.  I had my doubts that there would be room for us there, since it is a very popular tie up spot in the summer, and especially over a long Memorial Day weekend.  But there was only one other boat there so we were able to tie up for the night.

I got this shot of them as they were leaving the next day.  This is Stan and Cheryl Stromme on their 34' metal boat the Miss Claire.  They were nice enough to give us a King Salmon fillet from one of the fish they had caught earlier in the day.

Lisa and I and Bina took a walk around "The Loop."  I consider it a requirement whenever I tie up here.

Here are a few pics that I shot on that short walk.

Lisa and Bina near picnic area

The Naha River dumps into Roosevelt Lagoon, which is just around the corner to the left in the shot above.  This is a right angle turn as the water then dumps out into Naha Bay.

Before the water reaches salt it goes through a rapids, shown here at about a half tide.  At a full incoming tide people can bring small skiffs up through here to access the lagoon and the river.

If the tide is such that you can't run your skiff or canoe or kayak through the rapids then you can drag it along this skidway that runs alongside.

Roosevelt Lagoon.  Off to the right you can just see a small runabout tied to a section of dock.  That belongs to Jerry, the caretaker for the Orton Ranch, which is up the trail aways.  He lives up there full time.

And once we got back to the dock I just had to have another picture of the Faraway, because you know I don't have any.  I call the Naha dock my second home.

We prepared dinner, which this evening consisted of hamburgers cooked on the Foreman Grill, that wonderfull King Salmon fillet donated by the Miss Claire crew, and veges.  A real feast.

Chris Pihl and crew pulled up in his 2452 Bayliner, just like the one I used to have.

Stan came over to see the boat and visit a bit.

There was a beautiful sunset this evening.

We sacked out about 9:30 PM this evening.

About 4 AM I heard a bird shrieking like a banshee very nearby.  I tried to ignore it, but it woke me up and I'm sure it woke everyone else up as well.  I finally decided to get up and check it out.

When I swung back the curtain and opened the back door, there was a huge eagle sitting on a bucket I had on the back deck.  I had been low on hanging bait for the shrimp pots and so had brought along a freezer burned turkey that had been in the freezer for years.  I had chopped off some pieces for hanging bait for the shrimp pots and had neglected to cover the bucket that contained the remains.  Yikes!  My bad for waking up everyone at the dock.  Wish I had been prepared with my camera, but I sure did not expect that.

On Sunday morning we were up about 7 AM and had quick breakfasts.

We discussed a project I had in mind which was to pull the Espar D5 Airtronic diesel furnace out for cleaning and glow plug replacement.  It was running fine, but I had started to notice a distinct smell of diesel fumes whenever it fired up, and since it had not been cleaned in almost 6 years I knew there must be an accumulation of diesel soot in it.  We went down to the engine room and scoped it out.  More on that in a later posting.

We pulled away from the dock at about 8:40 AM.

Weather was overcast, but calm.

Saw a little deer on the beach just as we pulled away.

There is a privately owned lodge/home just between the Naha dock and the small village of Loring.  We read an article about it a couple of years ago in a magazine.  It was built by a man who lived in Oregon, and he acted as his own general contractor for the project.  I have heard that he was getting a divorce, so not sure the status of this property at this time.  I come by here a lot and rarely see any activity.

Here are a couple of pictures of the village of Loring.  I have no idea what the official population is, but I'd say there are fewer than a dozen homes.  When I come by here in the winter it is rare to see lights on and smoke coming from the chimney on more than 1 or 2 homes.

Above is the state owned dock at Loring.  It is open for first-come first-served moorage.  I have stayed there a few times when the Naha dock is full.  It is an OK place to hang out for the night, but be sure to tie up facing out towards Naha Bay, because sometimes the swells come rolling in and it can be an uncomfortable place to be.




Houses and cabins at Loring

We motored out to that halibut hole in front of Naha Bay upon which I place so much hope and trust, and anchored there at about 9:40 AM in 240' of water.  I only have 245' of chain and rode on the anchor that is on my winch, so for deeper anchoring for halibut fishing I carry a second anchor and rode that has about 500' of chain and rope.  I don't have it on a winch so I use a buoy pull system for retrieval.  If you don't know how the buoy pull system works I will describe it in a separate posting.

We stayed there for 4 hours, with me checking the lines every 15 minutes, and occasionally changing bait or lures.  No action at all - very disappointing.  At least the water was calm and I got a lot of reading done.

After pulling the anchor we headed for the shrimp pots.  Only got 31 this time.  2 of the pots were pretty tangled up, so that must have had an impact.

The original plan was to go fishing again, and then find somewhere to stay the night.  But Lisa was not feeling well, and as any married man knows, "If wifee ain't happy, nobody's happy."  So we made the decision right then to cut the trip short and head into port.

On the way into port we saw this cruise ship dwarfing the salmon derby fishing boats in the area.  Cruise ships are a common sight this time of year.

We were in the stall by about 6:40 PM, logging about 52 nm for this trip.  It was unfortunate that it had to be cut short, but there will be other trips.

2013-05-13 Marguerite Bay Trip with Karen

My daughter Karen is in the Army, currently stationed in Everett WA. 

In October she will go to Germany for a 3 year stint there.

She came up to Ketchikan in mid May for about a week to run the Totem To Totem run, which is a half marathon, and to visit with me and the rest of our family here.




The loneliness of the long distance runner - in the rain


I took some time off work, so after the half marathon we loaded up the boat and headed out for a few days.  The weather was not so great, but these were the only days we had, so off we went.

Here is a map snippet of the route for this trip.  You may recognize it as I go here often.  It is one of my favorite places.

We left Bar Harbor at about 9:15 AM on Monday May 13th in pretty miserable conditions.  Winds were at 25 - 30 knots, coming from the SE.  It was raining, and it was cold.  Oh well, that's Southeast Alaska for you.
Visibility was pretty poor so I had to run on radar for a short while as we headed West, but by the time we turned North into Behm Canal it had opened up some, but was still raining heavily.

Karen was in the process of trying to sell her house in Everett before she leaves for Germany, so as we had cell service all the way through Clover Pass and almost into Traitors Cove, she was able to send and receive e-mails to/from her realtor.

As we left the relative shelter of Clover Pass and went into Behm Canal proper we hit some mild chop out in front of Naha Bay, but we were warm and dry, and we persevered.  It leveled out as we headed further North.   If there is any wind at all it always seems choppier out in front of the bays as we head North.

We prepared and dropped my 3 shrimp pots (on one ground line) in Traitors Cove, just before you turn into Marguerite Bay.  I have done well here in the past.  There was a very stiff breeze blowing through here.

We also prepared and dropped my 2 crab pots in fairly deep water over by the lagoon.

We tied to the USFS dock at about 1:15 PM, currently the only occupants.

I had a late lunch, and Karen had eaten underway.

After lunch we geared up for a walk up the logging road.

It's about 3/4 of a mile up to the bear and fish viewing platform, and another 1/4 mile beyond that is the first bridge.  Margaret Lake empties out into Margaret Creek at that point.

We made our way to the bear and fish viewing platform, but saw neither (too early in the year).  The water was rushing much faster than usual as a result of all the rain we'd been having for the last few days.




Karen at the bear and fish viewing platform



During the peak summer months when there are actually bears and fish to be seen they mount a camouflage netting around the decking that has zippered openings for viewing.  They fly tourists out from town, and bring them up the road in vans to this location.

We continued on up to the bridge, but it was raining much too hard for pictures and so we just loitered there briefly and headed back down to the boat, arriving at about 4:10 PM.

We had a rousing game of Scrabble, which I thought I had won by 2 points, but then Karen reminded me that the points in my tray not only had to be subtracted from my total, but also had to be added to her total, so apparently I lost by 2 points.  Bummer!

Just before dinner we went out and pulled the crab pots.  There was only 1 there, but he was a keeper (male, over 6 1/2" wide).  We took him out and reset the pots in a slightly different area.  Back at the dock we decided to liberate the crab since it's hardly worth the effort to clean and cook 1 crab.

Dinner this evening was hamburgers cooked on the Foreman Grill, with cheese of course.

After dinner we played another exciting game of Scrabble but this time I took the Gold and Karen took the Silver.

We sacked out about 10 PM with Karen taking the V-berth and me on the couch.  It was raining hard and windy - great.

On Tuesday morning I was up about 6:30 AM with Karen arising about 7:30 AM.

I cooked us a big breakfast of bacon and eggs.

Right after breakfast we geared up to go pull and reset the pots.  This picture helps describe the status of the weather at this point.




Karen prepares for pot pulling duty on deck

 We pulled the shrimp pots in stiff wind and rain and got another 120, so did not reset the pots this time.

The crab pots yielded nothing, so I rebaited them and reset them in much shallower water, closer to the lagoon.

We went back to the dock and I beheaded the shrimp.  Karen said she was not quite up for that chore yet.  I set up my cooker on the dock and cooked 2 of the 3 quart bags of tails that we had.

We rested a bit, and then about 2 PM I prepared the raft and we went out for a little excursion to see the sights.  It was raining hard, so it was a full rain gear deal, with no opportunities for pictures.

About 5 PM I went out alone in the raft and pulled the crab pots for the last time.  There were only 2 crabs in them and they were undersized.




Returning with the pots in the raft

 I stowed the pots and secured the raft for the return trip to town.

Dinner this evening was left over spaghetti with sauce that we brought from home.  We also had cheesy rolls warmed up in the microwave with butter - yum.

After dinner we watched "The Expendables" on my ipad.

After the movie the rain stopped for a brief spell and I quickly ran out and snapped some pictures.

Farway at the Marguerite Bay USFS dock



Misty clouds roll in just before dark



USFS cabin just up road from the dock

We sacked out about 9:45 PM tonight.

On Wednesday morning we were up about 6:45 AM.  Still raining, but calm.

We had a quick breakfast of cereal and bananas.

We pulled away from the dock about 7:45 AM.

From time to time there are seals on the rocks that mark the entrance to Traitors Cove, and they were there in numbers this day, as well as a couple of eagles.

After that we just motored on to home port with no incidents, arriving in the stall at about noon.

Another adventure on Faraway complete.