Cruising the Pacific Northwest

The water damaged Mathers Control Head being removed.

The Mathers Control Head (P/N 453-3R) on the flybridge had been giving me trouble for a while. Apparently it doesn’t like our wet, rainy, Pacific Northwest Weather! Frequently, while docking, it would keep the boat in gear when moved to neutral, or sometimes even shift to reverse when it was supposed to be in neutral. Once even racing the engine while reversing all by itself! 😉

I decided that was enough excitement for this summer and replaced the control head with a spare that I had ordered last year. It’s a pretty simple swap and the new control head seems to be working like a champ.

The new Mathers Control Head installed and ready for another ten years of service.

Another long standing item on my Fix-It list was the 12-volt DC Carbon Monoxide detector in the master stateroom. During our purchase survey, Matt had pointed out that the sensors are only good for five years and needed to be replaced. I had installed an additional Carbon Monoxide detector in the Saloon, based on the surveyor’s recommendation.

The old carbon monoxide detector being removed.

Active Captain had a great discount on CO detectors at Defender, so I purchased a new unit and installed it in place of the old dinosaur in the stateroom. The sensor install itself was pretty easy with good access, but getting the 12 volt DC power hooked up was not fun.

I had to pull out all of my heavy spare parts (starters, alternators, pumps, etc.), then crawl into the locker next to one of the diesel furnaces to get it hooked up. I took the opportunity to inventory my heavy spares, which was a good exercise. It turns out I have two spare drinking water pumps. Who knew? 🙂

The new carbon monoxide unit installed and keeping us safe.

The two old, leaking hot water heaters that needed to be removed.

Easter Weekend, I decided to tackle a large project that I had been putting off for nearly a month – replacing the hot water heater in the engine room. This had been in the back of my mind since the day I took Sea Eagle down to Olympia for bottom paint. I had arrived on the boat, only to find the floor of the engine room covered with engine coolant. Oops! That could only mean one of two things, either a leaky keel cooler (very bad) or the heat coil in the hot water heater was leaking. When I isolated the hot water heater, the overflowing coolant stopped, so I knew that was the problem.

I special ordered the replacement unit during Defenders annual sale and then looked around the engine room trying to figure out the best way to tackle the project. There were two hot water heaters in the engine room. A small, square Isotherm unit that worked off the Generator (decommissioned last year due to leakage) and the 20 gallon Raritan unit tucked way back in the corner behind the wing engine.

Victory is mine! Both of the old hot water heaters were successfully extracted from the engine room!

The first task was to remove the Isotherm Unit, which proved a little tricky as the outside mounting bolts were very difficult to access. Perseverance paid off and once the coolant hoses were plugged and the spilled coolant was cleaned up, it was time to tackle the big unit.

The large heater had been in place for ten years, so many of the fittings were corroded and took a lot of persuasion to remove. Eventually, large pipe wrenches were able to persuade even the most stubborn fittings and I was able to just squeeze the old heater out by going over the top of the wing engine at an angle.

The new 20 gallon, 240 volt hot water heater, installed and working!

I hauled the new unit in, using the same serpentine and angled path, then made a quick trip to West Marine for some new fittings to replace the corroded hose adapters going to the main engine coolant. The heater was wired and plumbed up and filled with water. Of course there is always one leak (the pressure relief valve which I had torqued the piss out of), but bigger wrenches convinced even that to stop.

I turned the unit on and soon had toasty warm water again to wash my hands after cleaning up the giant mess that I had made! Hopefully, I’ll get another ten years out of the new unit before I have to tear it apart again! I’m thinking I’ll check the aluminum anode in the heater annually, just to be sure!

Ever wonder how the heck you get a large hot water heater out of the engine room? Through the floor of the Saloon.

Fixing the d*mn toilet on a Nordhavn 47

Yep, it’s a sh*tty job, but someone has to do it and the time has come to tackle the forward head on Sea Eagle. It has been problematic for the entire year that I have owned the boat, often backing up (and making a mess) if anything even resembling a solid object was flushed (like a small piece of TP). Grrrr!

This is definitely NOT my favorite job on the boat. Whoever installed the toilet last used LOTS of adhesive sealant that broke several utility knife blades. It was VERY tough stuff, so it took me three hours to get that d*mn toilet out!!!

Fortunately, it’s out, cleaned up, a new joker valve installed and appears to be working like a champ. We shall see!

Ever wonder what’s inside your toilet?

Launching Nordhavn 47 Sea Eagle

After a week of sitting on the hard, with a freshly painted bottom, new zincs, fresh coolant, a clean and shiny waterline, it was time to drop Sea Eagle back in the water. Unfortunately, Mother Nature seemed determine to foil out plans. The wind was howling 25-30 knots, but was predicted to fall.

We slung up the boat (it looks weird to see your Nordhavn Four Wheeling along the pavement), and dropped her in when it appeared there was a lull. However, as soon as she was out of the slings, the wind started shrieking and it tall all hands to get the boat back under control and safely to the loading dock. GULP!

Buffed and painted propellers.

I jumped in, fired up and pulled out as soon as it was safe to do so. The boat was listing due to the shrieking winds, which made pulling into the guest dock at Swantown kind of entertaining, but we managed. There was no yelling, no bumping and no bruised egos. All I have to say is Thank Gawd for thrusters!! 😉

Now, where did I put that checkbook…

Sea Eagle goes four wheeling in the yard at Swantown Boatworks.

Haul Out at SwanTown Marina in Olympia, WA.

Spring is almost here and it is time for Sea Eagle’s annual haul-out. Getting the boat lined up and into the lift on a blustery day was “entertaining”, but I made it work. Having a bow and stern thruster is a little bit like cheating. 😉

It has been two years since the hull was painted and 4 months since I dove the bottom and cleaned her. As you can see from the photos, the paint is in great shape (Petitt Trinidad Black). There are bare spots along the keel where the previous owner bumped the bottom (shallow slip), so I am putting on two fresh coats of pain.

The Keel Coolers look good, and need new zincs and so do the props. See the photos below.

Keel Cooler for the main engine. Zinc anodes need to be replaced.

Propellers on Sea Eagle are in good shape after two years. Both are missing zinc anodes.