Doesn't
Know Jack
Dear Jay: While cruising past a US Navy ship moored at the pier in
Everett, Washington, I was impressed by all of the flags flying while
the ship wasn't even away from the dock! What do all these flags mean?
- Ben Sultane,
Seattle
Dear
Ben: Since you didn't describe any of the flags I can only guess at
what you might have seen. At the stern should have been the national
ensign, better know as the American flag. This is raised at 0800 every
morning and lowered at sunset. It gets shifted to the masthead or
yardarm when the vessel gets underway. At the stem is the union jack
flown from the jack staff. This is only flown when moored. Some navies
fly their national flag from here but our tradition is a flag that
represents the blue field of our national ensign only. Other flags
that you might have seen at the mast spreaders would include the absentee
pennant. This is a special navy flag that when flown indicates that
the captain is not onboard. If the red "B" (bravo) flag
is flying it means the vessel is taking on either fuel or ammunition.
If you see a flag with one or more stars on it flying, that means
that a flag officer (an admiral or a general) is onboard and that
this is his flagship.
Too
Much Overhead
Dear Jay: I have a 1960 Chris Craft aft cabin cruiser. The ceiling
in the boat consists of a lot of small soft wood tiles that look like
old-fashioned sound proofing material with lots of tiny holes. This
material was stained and looked bad so I tried painting the tiles.
Now it looks worse. Any ideas on a reasonable replacement ceiling?
- Ken Ashely,
Eagle Harbor
Dear
Ken: First of all the "ceiling" in a boat is called the
overhead. Ceilings (and don't ask me where this came from) are the
coverings over the inside of the hull sides. Secondly, you have to
ask yourself how badly do you want to retain the original look of
that overhead. I don't think you will be able to find replacement
tiles anywhere. If anybody knows where there might be some, please
let us know. There is a similar, Masonite-type product that I believe
is still available today at lumber stores that looks like the old
Peg-board material. It's thinner than the tiles but it can be painted
and looks similar to the old material. Anything else would be custom
and a lot of work. I've seen boats with no tiles that simply had the
overhead refinished in any of number of ways. I've also seen custom
work like laminates over a quarter-inch plywood that were very sharp
and still allowed for some insulation.
Eau
de Propane
Dear Jay: We own a 1955 Stephens with a propane stove. My wife claims
that she smells propane every time she uses the oven, but I don't
smell anything unusual. Since it is a propane stove I've told her
that this is normal and not to be worried. I've done a propane leak
test in accordance with the instructions and it passes just fine.
We just bought a new propane bottle with the OPD valve last year and
three years ago the entire copper propane line was replaced with the
new type of flexible hose and a remote shut-off installed. Is it possible
for this stove to somehow leak propane while the oven is on? - Red
Overton, Bellevue
Dear
Red: Most certainly. Given the age of your boat, I'd say it's probably
time for a new stove. Most of the stoves built during that era were
simply RV types with maybe a nicer-looking front piece on it that
made it look "marine." If the oven burner assembly is corroded
it can allow unburned propane to leak out. Even worse, corrosion can
allow burning propane to escape out behind the stove, which could
prove to be inconvenient some day! I'd pull the stove out and take
it into a place like Sure Marine that specializes in propane cooking
(and heating) equipment. They can evaluate the situation and give
you some options for rebuilding the stove or replacing it with a new
one. I'm willing to bet that after you hear what they tell you, you'll
have a little more respect for the wife's olfactory senses.
Honorably
Discharged?
Dear Jay: Four years ago my roommate and I bought a used Bayliner
with a single Mercruiser engine. When we bought the boat the engine
started just fine. Since that time the engine has slowly been getting
harder to start. I'm afraid of getting ripped off if we take it into
one of those fancy boat-repair places. What would be the proper procedure
for checking things out myself? - Cheryl
Fredrickson, Issaquah
Dear
Cheryl: If the cranking speed is getting slower, I would suspect the
batteries, the battery connections and then the starter, in that order.
Assuming they've been fully charged, you can check the batteries with
a low-cost electrolyte tester available at any auto supply place.
If they are discharged then you need new batteries. Three years is
about all you can expect from the average battery. Any more time than
that and you are either very lucky or have been taking good care of
some high-quality batteries. Check the battery cable connections carefully.
Everything should be bright and shiny and tight! If the batteries
and cables check out okay and you are still having slow cranking speeds,
I'd be suspicious of the starter. These can be tested at a starter
repair shop. If you buy a replacement, make darn sure you get an approved
marine starter, not something at the junkyard that might fit. If slow
cranking speed isn't the problem, then you probably just need a tune-up.
Finally,
you need to be doing routine maintenance on this boat every year.
While much of this can be done by the owners, I'd urge you to have
a professional check things out at least every two years or so. Ask
around and I'm sure you'll find some place with good recommendations
that you can trust. Just like the automobile business, there is only
a small minority of places that will actually try to rip you off and
most shops are just interested in doing a good job for a fair price.
Bent
Into Alignment
Dear Jay: I have a 37-foot Tollycraft sedan with twin gas engines.
The port engine is driving me crazy with a minor vibration problem.
Last winter we hauled out and had the propellers rebuilt because there
were a couple of pretty small dings in the port prop. This helped
a little bit but didn't solve the problem completely. I checked the
engine alignment in mid-summer and it seemed okay. Is it possible
to get good alignment and still have a bent shaft? What are the tolerances
for proper alignment? - Jimmy
Falcone, Seattle
Dear
Jimmy: With a three- or four-inch coupling you should get within about
.004-inch of maximum differential between the top and bottom or the
port and starboard sides. The tighter the differential, the smoother
it will run. Yes, it is possible to get perfect alignment with a bent
shaft. One way to help avoid this is to rotate one of the couplings
90 and then 180 degrees after you get it as close as you can. If the
alignment differential changes then you have either a bent shaft or
a coupling that isn't on straight. If you have a solid (as opposed
to a split-type) coupling there is a good chance that it was a little
off from the day the boat was built. And, even if everything checks
out perfectly at the couplings after rotation, it's possible that
the shaft is still bent somewhere else and that it's only running
true at the couplings. You can check the shaft's straightness with
the boat out of the water using a micrometer. Check it in the middle
of the open span between the strut and the hull and at the very end
of the taper. This will require propeller removal. Sometimes the easiest
thing to do is to just pull the shaft and coupling and send it over
to the machine shop and have them chuck it up into a lathe. They can
check everywhere along the shaft for problems and tell you if the
coupling isn't on straight. If the coupling is the problem, order
a new split-type coupling and a "fit and face" job. They'll
actually machine the face of the coupling so that it's square to the
shaft. This can definitely make a difference!
Jay McEwen is a Marine Surveyor with Reisner,
McEwen & Associates. He deals with boat problems every day. If
you have a question you'd like answered, please write to us and we
will pass it on to Jay, or e-mail him at jaymcewen@compuserve.com. .
As usual, no animals were harmed in the preparation of this report.
