New to group, new boat owner, boatload of questions

Hello, all - My name is Matt Rohde and I'm the proud new owner of a 1983 Cal 3-27. She has wheel steering, an inboard Yanmar 1GM diesel, and we've named her "Second Wind". I took delivery of her Saturday and my family and I spent a significant part of the weekend sailing. We sail on Lake Lanier which is north of Atlanta. Now, on to the questions . . . At RPM below about 1600 there is a loud banging sound coming from "below". The noise is more noticeable in gear, but it is present in neutral as well. Tonight I think that I've found the source of this noise. It appears to me that the engine shakes pretty actively at those lower RPM, but smooths out considerably at higher RPM. At 2000 and above it's positively smooth. The engine mounts appear to be some sort of suspension system mounted by inverted "U" brackets. It is these "U" brackets that I am seeing move up and down. Would your estimation be that I've got a broken motor mount allowing an unreasonable amount of movement in the engine, is there something wrong with the way the engine runs at low RPM, or something else entirely? There are several leaks through the deck and I need help with a corrective course of action. The most forward bolt holding the upper handrail to the deck is leaking on both sides of the boat. There is a sheave on the port side for one of the halyards that is bolted to the deck. There is a leak through one of those bolt holes. The aft most starboard side pulpit stanchion is leaking. Finally, there is a leak through one of the bolts that holds the pedestal to the cockpit sole. Finally (for this salvo), I've a question about winterizing. I intend to sail throughout the winter, so I don't want to shut her down. The winter in Atlanta doesn't get very cold, though it will at times drop below freezing. What steps should I take and what actions should I perform (or avoid performing) to be safe for the winter? Sorry for such a long opening message. Thank you in advance for the help I'm sure I'll get.

From: "mwrohde" <ya… [at] e-rohde.net> To: <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 10:25 PM Subject: [Cal_Boats] New to group, new boat owner, boatload of questions > Hello, all - > > My name is Matt Rohde and I'm the proud new owner of a 1983 Cal 3-27. > She has wheel steering, an inboard Yanmar 1GM diesel, and we've named > her "Second Wind". I took delivery of her Saturday and my family and > I spent a significant part of the weekend sailing. We sail on Lake > Lanier which is north of Atlanta. > > Now, on to the questions . . . > > At RPM below about 1600 there is a loud banging sound coming from > "below". The noise is more noticeable in gear, but it is present in > neutral as well. Tonight I think that I've found the source of this > noise. It appears to me that the engine shakes pretty actively at > those lower RPM, but smooths out considerably at higher RPM. At 2000 > and above it's positively smooth. The engine mounts appear to be some > sort of suspension system mounted by inverted "U" brackets. It is > these "U" brackets that I am seeing move up and down. Would your > estimation be that I've got a broken motor mount allowing an > unreasonable amount of movement in the engine, is there something > wrong with the way the engine runs at low RPM, or something else entirely? ***** Hi Matt - congrats on your "new" boat. If the engine mounts are original [ from 1983 ] they are WAY overdue for replacement. This is the source of the " loud banging sound ", as they have lost their resiliency over time. > > There are several leaks through the deck and I need help with a > corrective course of action. The most forward bolt holding the upper > handrail to the deck is leaking on both sides of the boat. There is a > sheave on the port side for one of the halyards that is bolted to the > deck. There is a leak through one of those bolt holes. The aft most > starboard side pulpit stanchion is leaking. Finally, there is a leak > through one of the bolts that holds the pedestal to the cockpit sole. > > Finally (for this salvo), I've a question about winterizing. I intend > to sail throughout the winter, so I don't want to shut her down. The > winter in Atlanta doesn't get very cold, though it will at times drop > below freezing. What steps should I take and what actions should I > perform (or avoid performing) to be safe for the winter? ***** Since your 1GM engine is raw water cooled [ no heat exchanger ] you should do the following to keep it from freezing and cracking the block or head - ***** Remove the thermostat. Replace the 'stat housing without installing the 'stat. Remove the hose that is attached to the intake c-cock, and place it in a container of pink anti freeze. [ this stuff is non toxic, and is designed to not freeze in sub zero temperatures ] Now start the engine and observe the exhaust thru hull. When pink appears, stop the engine. Your engine is now protected against freezing. Should you wish to operate the engine [ as when underway ] reinstall the 'stat. This will ensure that the engine will reach operating temperature during use. [ VERY important! ] Joe DeMers Sound Marine Diesel LLC www.soundmarinediesel.com > > Sorry for such a long opening message. Thank you in advance for the > help I'm sure I'll get. > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > >

Congrats Matt, Joe got the engine stuff....so in regards to your leaks, with my new to me boat, we removed all hardware from the deck, cleaned the bolt holes out along with any moist wood, taped the underneath of the hole and filled each with epoxy then redrilled each hole and rebed the deck hardware......now no leaks. The epoxy prevents water from intruding into the deck core so in the future the water leaks will come straight into the boat and not disturb the core. The deck hardware rebedding is a constant job due to the boat flexing as you sail her. Good luck! Greg ----- Original Message ----- From: mwrohde To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 10:25 PM Subject: [Cal_Boats] New to group, new boat owner, boatload of questions Hello, all - My name is Matt Rohde and I'm the proud new owner of a 1983 Cal 3-27. She has wheel steering, an inboard Yanmar 1GM diesel, and we've named her "Second Wind". I took delivery of her Saturday and my family and I spent a significant part of the weekend sailing. We sail on Lake Lanier which is north of Atlanta. Now, on to the questions . . . At RPM below about 1600 there is a loud banging sound coming from "below". The noise is more noticeable in gear, but it is present in neutral as well. Tonight I think that I've found the source of this noise. It appears to me that the engine shakes pretty actively at those lower RPM, but smooths out considerably at higher RPM. At 2000 and above it's positively smooth. The engine mounts appear to be some sort of suspension system mounted by inverted "U" brackets. It is these "U" brackets that I am seeing move up and down. Would your estimation be that I've got a broken motor mount allowing an unreasonable amount of movement in the engine, is there something wrong with the way the engine runs at low RPM, or something else entirely? There are several leaks through the deck and I need help with a corrective course of action. The most forward bolt holding the upper handrail to the deck is leaking on both sides of the boat. There is a sheave on the port side for one of the halyards that is bolted to the deck. There is a leak through one of those bolt holes. The aft most starboard side pulpit stanchion is leaking. Finally, there is a leak through one of the bolts that holds the pedestal to the cockpit sole. Finally (for this salvo), I've a question about winterizing. I intend to sail throughout the winter, so I don't want to shut her down. The winter in Atlanta doesn't get very cold, though it will at times drop below freezing. What steps should I take and what actions should I perform (or avoid performing) to be safe for the winter? Sorry for such a long opening message. Thank you in advance for the help I'm sure I'll get.

Hi Matt, Congratulations on your new boat! I have a 3-27 also and have had similar leaking issues. The leaking through the handrail bolts on my boat was the worst problem, so I removed them and rebedded them last year. Removal was difficult because the bolts are very long and pass through the deck handrail, deck and interior ceiling handrail. Be careful removing the teak plugs, especially at the ends of the handrails since the main handrail body can splinter around the hole. Using an electric screwdriver to unscrew the screws from the top handrail, most of them came out with some persistance on my part. However the forward screws were bent, so turning the screws was impossible. I finally tapped the forward screws from below with a mallet (gently) to push them out, after removing most of the other screws. There was no way for me to get the forward screw out of the handrail without taking the entire handrail off the boat first, then twist the bolt out from below with pliers and push it out of the handrail. Using a long round file, I removed the excess old caulk from each deck hole, but didnt fill them with epoxy and redrill. Thinking back now, if I had redrilled it would have been very important to somehow redrill the same hole angle and center. Perhaps I could have done it by using the handrail as a drill guide. After revarnishing the handrails and straighening out the bolts, I used 4200 to fill the holes and coat the screws protruding from the handrail. Reinstalling the handrail was a really tight fit, each bolt matched it's deck hole perfectly. Finally putting in the teak plugs completed the job, and the result was the leak was stopped. There are still some leaks remaining through the stanchion bolts, which I just pulled off last weekend. The stanchions all have cracks in the main tube about 1" up from the base right above where the right angle reinforcing bar is welded, you might want to check that also. I also have the 1GM and used to have the shaking problem at low RPM. It seemed to go away when the engine warmed up some as well as at higher RPM it smoothed out. I lived with it until I had a more serious engine problem (i.e. wouldnt start anymore). I took it to Tom List in Sausalito and found that the exhaust port was so carbonized that the opening had shrunk from the diameter of a quarter to the diameter of a #2 pencil, creating too much backpressure to keep the engine running. Removal of the head and sandblasting it opened the port, but also punched right through the thinned out wall to the coolant channel. Anyway, replacing the head fixed the engine and also smoothed out the shaking and banging at low RPM. It also cleared up the loads of carbon that used to shoot out of the exhaust at low RPM. Larry 1985 Cal 3-27 Laissez Faire Coyote Point Marina mwrohde <ya… [at] e-rohde.net> wrote: Hello, all - My name is Matt Rohde and I'm the proud new owner of a 1983 Cal 3-27. She has wheel steering, an inboard Yanmar 1GM diesel, and we've named her "Second Wind". I took delivery of her Saturday and my family and I spent a significant part of the weekend sailing. We sail on Lake Lanier which is north of Atlanta. Now, on to the questions . . . At RPM below about 1600 there is a loud banging sound coming from "below". The noise is more noticeable in gear, but it is present in neutral as well. Tonight I think that I've found the source of this noise. It appears to me that the engine shakes pretty actively at those lower RPM, but smooths out considerably at higher RPM. At 2000 and above it's positively smooth. The engine mounts appear to be some sort of suspension system mounted by inverted "U" brackets. It is these "U" brackets that I am seeing move up and down. Would your estimation be that I've got a broken motor mount allowing an unreasonable amount of movement in the engine, is there something wrong with the way the engine runs at low RPM, or something else entirely? There are several leaks through the deck and I need help with a corrective course of action. The most forward bolt holding the upper handrail to the deck is leaking on both sides of the boat. There is a sheave on the port side for one of the halyards that is bolted to the deck. There is a leak through one of those bolt holes. The aft most starboard side pulpit stanchion is leaking. Finally, there is a leak through one of the bolts that holds the pedestal to the cockpit sole. Finally (for this salvo), I've a question about winterizing. I intend to sail throughout the winter, so I don't want to shut her down. The winter in Atlanta doesn't get very cold, though it will at times drop below freezing. What steps should I take and what actions should I perform (or avoid performing) to be safe for the winter? Sorry for such a long opening message. Thank you in advance for the help I'm sure I'll get.

Thanks for the help and the warm welcome. This seems to be a pretty good group. I'm looking forward to sailing and learning. Matt