Another fun day on the bay
I'm glad to say I made it back before the fog obliterated all visability. Took off around noon and zipped over to Sausalito... lots of wind, must have made 6 kts. the whole tack. The only moments of interest were when the engine died (I had just cleaned the fuel system and must has dislodged some debris -- it cleared up again after it ran for a few minutes) and when the autopilot decided to take me around the right side of one of the red channel markers in Richardson's Bay while I was pulling down the jib. I could actually see the grass on the bottom. I was sure we'd touch, but I just threw the helm over and we were back in the channel in no time. I picked up Leo from the pump-out dock at his marina, and took a look at his new Shanon 28. Quite a beefy boat. It looks like it could stand up to a jackhammer, and has the amazing quality of being larger on the inside than it is on the outside. Don't ask me how.
We took a quick stop for fuel, which was much needed, sailed back across the bay, and got boarded by the SFPD. This came as no suprise, as I stil do not have the name and hailing port on the boat anywhere -- I ordered it from a sign maker, and am still waiting for it to show up. The officer came aboard while we were under way, and seemed rather confounded by the engine. Now, I know they don't teach about small marine engines in the police academy, and it would never occur to me to track down a policeman when I had a question about my engine... but he seemed to have a tough time figuring out my Atomic Four, which just about every damn boat on the bay has thumping under the hood. If you didn't know, on a gas powered engine you must have a flame arrestor on the carb for the engine to be legal. This is along with the other things, such as life jackets, type IV throwables, trash placard, noise making device, etc. I have a flame arrestor. He stared at it for a long time, and said that he wasn't sure it was a legal flame arrestor or not. I told him what I knew -- it came with the engine. And that I didn't know of any other possibility of another type of flame arrestor. Without trying to antagonize him, and it sounds like I was being a jerk, but really I wasn't, I asked him what the difference was between my flame arrestor and what a legal flame arrestor would be. He didn't really answer. I dug around on Moyer Marine's web site, and they only offer the same exact unit that I have on there, so if there's something else I should have, I've no idea what it is.
At any rate, the officer was rather nice, and didn't even check anything beyond the life jackets and type IV (which were all openly visable) and the engine. Without him asking I rattled off where the rest of the gear was but he seemed uninterested and hopped back onto the RIB that was tailing us, and bid us a god day and took off. No tickets, no written warnings, no nothing. Mika's mother was aboard, so the going theory is that after he boarded he probably thought Mika's mom was my mom and he didn't want to be a jerk and hassle some poor guy in front of his mother. It's a sound enough theory. I think me knowing what he'd be asking for and offering it before he even got around to asking might have contributed as well.
Things to fix:
[*] Time for an oil change.
[*] I'm adding a oil pressure/temperature alarm to the engine -- it has no gauges and needs something.
[*] I'm installing an electrical ignition -- the fella at the gas dock claims it does miracles.
[*] The stern light bulb housing is corroded to hell. I'm putting in a new one. Should be fun soldering to the
Half an inch of wire that the buiders generously left in there.
Incidentally, I find it amusing how my attitude has changed about the engine. I was afraid of it as first. I didn't like the idea of gas -- explosive and unreliable. Now that I've had this engine for a while, I'm glad to have it. It's simple to work on, and I've learned a hell of a lot by maintaining it. I can rebuild the carb in my sleep. A while ago I'd have thought that adding alarms and ripping out the old ignition system and putting in a new one would have been a big project and I'd be worried that the engine might never run again after I take it apart. Some spring might shoot out and go right over the side, or I'd drop some small important piece into the bilge and never see it again. I'm so over it now. In fact, I sort of rather enjoy taking the thing apart and seeing it run better and better the more I work on it. Mika says that it runs beter now than it ever did, and you know, I think she might be right.
We took a quick stop for fuel, which was much needed, sailed back across the bay, and got boarded by the SFPD. This came as no suprise, as I stil do not have the name and hailing port on the boat anywhere -- I ordered it from a sign maker, and am still waiting for it to show up. The officer came aboard while we were under way, and seemed rather confounded by the engine. Now, I know they don't teach about small marine engines in the police academy, and it would never occur to me to track down a policeman when I had a question about my engine... but he seemed to have a tough time figuring out my Atomic Four, which just about every damn boat on the bay has thumping under the hood. If you didn't know, on a gas powered engine you must have a flame arrestor on the carb for the engine to be legal. This is along with the other things, such as life jackets, type IV throwables, trash placard, noise making device, etc. I have a flame arrestor. He stared at it for a long time, and said that he wasn't sure it was a legal flame arrestor or not. I told him what I knew -- it came with the engine. And that I didn't know of any other possibility of another type of flame arrestor. Without trying to antagonize him, and it sounds like I was being a jerk, but really I wasn't, I asked him what the difference was between my flame arrestor and what a legal flame arrestor would be. He didn't really answer. I dug around on Moyer Marine's web site, and they only offer the same exact unit that I have on there, so if there's something else I should have, I've no idea what it is.
At any rate, the officer was rather nice, and didn't even check anything beyond the life jackets and type IV (which were all openly visable) and the engine. Without him asking I rattled off where the rest of the gear was but he seemed uninterested and hopped back onto the RIB that was tailing us, and bid us a god day and took off. No tickets, no written warnings, no nothing. Mika's mother was aboard, so the going theory is that after he boarded he probably thought Mika's mom was my mom and he didn't want to be a jerk and hassle some poor guy in front of his mother. It's a sound enough theory. I think me knowing what he'd be asking for and offering it before he even got around to asking might have contributed as well.
Things to fix:
[*] Time for an oil change.
[*] I'm adding a oil pressure/temperature alarm to the engine -- it has no gauges and needs something.
[*] I'm installing an electrical ignition -- the fella at the gas dock claims it does miracles.
[*] The stern light bulb housing is corroded to hell. I'm putting in a new one. Should be fun soldering to the
Half an inch of wire that the buiders generously left in there.
Incidentally, I find it amusing how my attitude has changed about the engine. I was afraid of it as first. I didn't like the idea of gas -- explosive and unreliable. Now that I've had this engine for a while, I'm glad to have it. It's simple to work on, and I've learned a hell of a lot by maintaining it. I can rebuild the carb in my sleep. A while ago I'd have thought that adding alarms and ripping out the old ignition system and putting in a new one would have been a big project and I'd be worried that the engine might never run again after I take it apart. Some spring might shoot out and go right over the side, or I'd drop some small important piece into the bilge and never see it again. I'm so over it now. In fact, I sort of rather enjoy taking the thing apart and seeing it run better and better the more I work on it. Mika says that it runs beter now than it ever did, and you know, I think she might be right.
posted by Thomas Cannon at 11:00 AM
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