CARVER
OWNERS CLUB
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December 2009 |
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Maintenance Tips Clean your dryer vents and hose One of the benefits of staying in Harborage Yacht Club and Marina is that a pump-out boat comes twice a week, weather permitting. The pump-out boat operator for us noticed that we had an excessive build-up of dryer lint when he last pumped us out. "Need to get that out," he said, "it can cause a fire." He was right. Patsy and I braved the frigid 70 degree temperatures to remove the plate covering the dryer vent and dug out a lot of lint. We use the washer and dryer frequently on-board and we keep the internal dryer vent clean. It seems that it's just not enough. The vent itself was blocked by the external plate and we used a dust chaser (sort of a soft brush on a long stick) to free up more lint. We're hoping that the pump-out boat will give us a clear check up on his next visit. We've added the task of cleaning the dryer vent to our twice a year maintenance list. VacuFlush Toilets There is no better sound than the one when a VacuFlush toilet empties the bowl. There are few sounds worse than the one when the VacuFlush fails to work properly. We had both heads fail at the same time this fall, but for two different reasons. Let me quickly explain how the VacuFlush works. The toilet bowl is connected to an in-line vacuum pump. That is, the waste material is sucked from the bowl into a pump body and on into the holding tank. The pump body has to do two contradictory things to succeed: 1. maintain a very good vacuum, to move the waste along and, 2. be open to the outside so that it can work efficiently. This is much different from a standard pump on a boat, such as a bilge pump, that uses a "paddle wheel" arrangement to move liquid materials around. The VacuFlush design uses a bellows and a set of O-rings to create a vacuum in a pressurized world. There is another key component called a duckbill valve or duckbill for short. These valves allow liquid material to easily flow in one direction and keep them from backwashing in the other direction. If the duckbill valve fails, then the VacuFlush will not flush properly. According to the head technician for marine toilet systems from Whiticar Boatyard in Stuart Florida (puns fully intended), duckbills can actually wear out from the waste materials and the water flowing through them. Our aft cabin head failed because the duckbills became crusty (he called it scaled) and wouldn't work. It's an easy and relatively inexpensive fix. There are four duckbills at the vacuum pump - one disconnects the sanitation hose from the pump body and inspects/replaces the duckbill valves or the duckbill valve assembly. Even I could do all four in less than 15 minutes. This is far easier than trying to get the waste material out of the bowl, clean the bowl, etc. from a bad flush. One needs to use some care while doing this. Make sure that the electrical switch for the pump is OFF, as the vacuum pump can expel waste material some distance in the engine room while one is attempting to replace the downstream duckbills should it suddenly begin to operate when a spouse accidentally turns it on while the other spouse is trying to fix the damn thing. Sorry. One also needs to keep a bucket nearby as there is some leakage and one can drain at least a portion of the holding tank while replacing the duckbill valves. We've moved the duckbill inspection task to our annual maintenance list. We noticed some leakage from the forward head vacuum pump. It seemed clear that the leakage was from the top. As I was purchasing an O-ring kit, the counterman told me that the bellows almost always needed to be replaced when the O-rings needed to be replaced. I purchased the bellows, the O-rings, and downloaded the service guide. I couldn't figure out how to get the bellows out of the pump, so I asked the above mentioned head technician to take a look and give me an estimate while he was out fixing the other head. The estimate was around $800. He explained that he would have to remove the pump, soak it in degreaser, and rebuild the pump. He went on to say that it was cheaper to buy a replacement pump and install it. Cheaper did not mean cheap - the price was about the same. I decided that I could replace a pump and maybe save a few bucks on the labor. The head guy told me what to do but not how to do it. That's where the manufacturer comes in. SeaLand has great technical write-up materials. I later complained to SeaLand that their materials were so good, they made me think I could do more than I really should do. They also have a toll-free, competent technical help line. The lady on the tech line told me EXACTLY what to do in disassembling the pump. When I complained that I tried one of her suggestions and couldn't see how it would work, she explained in some detail how to get it to work. She was great. The bottom line is that we rebuilt the pump in about 3 hours (including degreasing time) and re-installed it. It has worked great for more than two months now, at a cost of about $200, including clean up materials, protective gear like latex gloves, dust masks, and safety glasses, and clothing destroyed while degreasing. It also includes replacement duckbills all around. Air Conditioners/Heaters I hate marine air conditioners. They are noisy, expensive to operate, and generally do a poor job of heating or cooling a boat. They are especially ineffective in heating a boat when the water temperature goes below 50 degrees. Recently, I ran across a German marine air conditioning manufacturer that has pretty good reviews for its products. The company is Webasto and they make air conditioning units, heaters, and solar panels for boats. One of their US distributors is FlashPoint Marine in Palm Beach Florida. I should mention that FlashPoint Marine ships almost anywhere in the world, offering 120V and 230V products. We bought two 16,000 BTU air conditioning units. The electrical usage is down about a third, while the A/C's actually cool the boat in Florida in summertime. We found out that the old A/C's we had were rated at 12,000 BTU's but were fitted to act like 16,000 BTU units. The difference is strikingly better with the Webasto units. They are also much quieter, although the fan speed could be a bit lower to give a bit less noise. We've not had to use the heat pump heaters too much. Webasto also offers a diesel fed heater that can be self installed by a reasonably handy installer. This really extends the boating season without running a risk of burning up the boat while using plug in electrical heaters. For more information, go to http://www.flashpointmarine.com. |
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Interesting Ideas I received this offer via email and don't quite know what to do with it. Replacement Dashboards In all of my time in boats, I've never known anyone who asked for a replacement dashboard on the boat. However, if you find that you do need a replacement dashboard, you can go to http://www.marinemarks.com and request a quote. |
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Boating Business 2009 and 2010 Prospects It's tempting to look around at the boating business in 2009 and ask what happened? 2009 saw a record drop in the number of retail sales of new boats, along with a record number of repossessions. The number of engine hours used declined again to about 60 hours of use per year. Marinas are reporting sharply lower occupancy rates and transient night rentals. So, what happened? The benchmark year for boat sales was 1988. That year saw the largest sales volume of new boats sold ever. The "luxury" tax was imposed in 1990 that simply destroyed the large cruiser market and manufacturers. The luxury tax was repealed in 1993 but the damage had been done - boat builders learned how to make greater profits from fewer units. This is what all accountants and economists want. Prices began to creep up, far outstripping the inflation rate or the cost of raw materials. The attacks on the World Trade Centers led to a national spending spree in 2002 that continued until 2007. The quality of boats sharply declined. Fewer and fewer boat owners bought their next boat. "One and done" became the boat buyers' expression. National boat manufacturing associations asked boat manufacturers and dealers to re-focus on customer satisfaction. Customer dissatisfaction with the overall boating experience continued to increase. Then the recession hit. It's difficult to describe the economic damage done by the recession without getting carried away. Consumers shifted their disposable income from buying to saving. The 2009 Annapolis Boat Shows was described by many exhibitors as the worse show they've ever attended. Nationally, boat dealers are staying away from the boat shows as a cost-cutting move. Two things usually happen when sales slump and people use the same money for other things, like saving instead of buying a boat: 1. Prices drop and 2. Sellers focus on customer satisfaction. J. D. Powers and Associates, monitors of customer satisfaction in the boating industry, find that customer satisfaction as measured by a survey of owners is up sharply. Either bankrupt manufacturers and cash-strapped dealers are doing a much better job with boat owners or the boat owners don't want any bad press about their specific boat. New boat prices are still fairly high, while re-sale boat prices are down more than 30% in a year. There is some hope for 2010. Fourth quarter 2009 sales figures were up slightly. I don't think this is a "dead cat" bounce, but an acceptance of the need to continue to enjoy life even in tough times. Marine businesses continue to fail, making the survivors more viable. Prices for many things are still too high - dockage, parts, new boats, and service. Brokerage boats are terribly underpriced as former lenders become multi-boat owners. Smaller, less expensive to own and operate boats are becoming more attractive, while the floataminiums (condos on the water, literally) are not so attractive. Service people and vendors who have done good work in the past will continue to get work and grow. 2010 will be another tough year for the boating business, but it can be a great year for boaters.
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Events Scott Gundaker's Winter Party, February 26, 2010, TBD. Scott's usual party ran into a snag this year with the failure of the restaurant that has hosted our group. Scott has a date and it looking for a venue. Check the website for an update or contact Scott directly by emailing him at scottgundaker@hotmail.com. Florida East Coast Rendezvous, February 26, 2010, Harborage Yacht Club and Marina, Stuart, Florida 34994. Several years ago, we had a successful Rendezvous on the West Coast of Florida. We're going to try to re-create the same excitement on the east coast early next year. The Harborage Yacht Club and Marina has as many slips as we can use and there are two restaurants on site - one a more formal, table cloth restaurant and the other a more casual, larger restaurant. The marina itself has excellent facilities, including a workout room, swimming pool, and hot tub. Events planned so far are:
We're working very hard to keep costs below $100 per person, plus dockage. If you can't bring your boat, you can still join us for a fun weekend on and near the water. We are negotiating with an upscale hotel nearby for special rates. We will begin accepting reservations in early January.
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