Captain's Blog

      Well I thought my AC problems were behind me, but unfortunately they were not. Each time we get to the boat the first thing I want to see when it is hot outside is a good stream of water coming from the AC. Last weekend in 95 deg. (feels like 105 deg) heat, the first Mate & I strolled to the boat only to see no stream! My worst nightmare had come true!.  Our system is over 21 years old, was this the end? Stepping inside the boat the fan was running, but neither the compressor nor the water pump were running and the thermostat posted 98 deg. "We ain't stayin' here tonight!" We went to work to troubleshoot the system. First was the water pump. It gets it's direction from the main system. An AC pump can at times run continuously so my first thought was that it had failed. It is a 500 gph March submersible pump. These are pretty hardy magnetic type pumps and last virtually forever. I disconnected the pump and tested it. It was fine. That meant we had anoth...

For the summer we made a deal with a gentleman who was taking his boat North, to rent his slip in Tampa at Westshore Yacht Club  for 6 months. Our trip down here in April took 2 days (see "Movin' on up...or Down" ). We make the short 1 hour 27 minute drive as many Fridays as we can & then make our way back to Crystal River Monday morning. Most weekends we  run the dinghy around, explore the area by bike or just hangout at the pool & on Pau Hana. We have met some great folks here in the marina. This particular Saturday was just too darn nice to sit around so we decided to cruise down to St. Petersburg. St. Pete is about 1 hour 10 minutes away. We straightened up and stowed everything, performed engine checks, started the gen set & engine & pulled out of the slip. We glided easily at 9 kts across a glassy Tampa Bay. The only waves were from passing boats and we saw numerous Dolphins swimming. At about the half way point we saw the victims of the current Red ...

 My Camano has 2 stations, one on the flybridge & the other down below in the main salon. The helm steering is a Sea Star 1.7 pump, which means it takes 7 turns of the wheel lock to lock. So in other words, if you turn the wheel completely one direction, then spin it 3 1/2 times in the opposite direction, the rudder will be midship.  A very small leak developed, a slight inconsistent drip really at the upper station. I decided to install a new seal at both helms. It never fails, as soon as you repair one the other will start to have problems so might as well do it now. I ordered 2 kits. The kit comes with a new Lock Nut, woodruff key, 3 stainless steel screws, seal cover & rubber seal. I really could have just used the rubber seal itself but could only find bulk quantities so the kit was the easiest way to go.   Starting with the upper station, the first thing was to remove the wheel cap. There is a 3/32” set screw to back out & then gently pry the plastic cov...

I think that one of the advantages to the Camano is all that glass surrounding the cabin and the exceptional view it gives you. It does however challenge the cooling system. These boats were made in the Northwest so the difference there compared to the humid tropics is certainly different. We have a Marine Air 16,000 BTU unit located under the salon bench. There is a thru hull strainer to a pump in the engine room. When we purchased the boat I had my AC guy check the freon in the unit as it would frost up. That took care of the problem. I cleaned the condenser coil fins and installed a new washable filter. For a 21 year old unit it works great. It was just a struggle for it to keep the boat cool when the heat of the day was bearing down. The boat also has Phifertex snap on screens for the side windows and a canvas cover for the front windshield as well as curtains on the inside. All of this helps but still the coolest we could get it was 78 deg inside, not bad but a little tough to sle...