Kevin G.
Well-known member
Howdy folks,
Today was ‘work on the boat/trailer’ day. I have actually been looking forward to doing this.
My friend Robert arrived on my door step at Saturday morning at 8:30 prompt.
On the last Tuna trip, we noticed two of my trailer lights were out on the drive home. They were working just fine getting there . . . sheesh . . . whatEVER! :roll:
Robert brought his trailer wiring kit with him. He broke it out and we climbed under the trailer.
One cooked light at the Port side rear 3-function light owing to a crack in the lens and water getting into the assembly. The light bar in the center of the trailer was non operational looked to have an internal short. Power in, no power out.
The local Kragens automotive store had direct replacements. Nice! They are located about ½ mile from my house. We were able to get what we needed without driving all over the planet. Badda Bing! :mrgreen:
Several new sealed connectors out of Robert’s secret trailer kit stash and several small blobs of grease later . . . Houston: we have lights!
The next item for the trailer was giving the bearing buddies a nice healthy shot. The dealer that I purchased the boat from said he filled ‘em up for me prior to towing it home.
Moose muffins . . . he didn’t. Three out of four went smooth . . . the last bearing buddy was blown. At least the bearings are fine!
I just happened to have two replacement bearing buddies (and two inner/outer bearings/seal kits as well) for the trailer that was recommended as “Must Have” on-hand replacements.
It sure is good to have the replacement part in my ‘stock’!
We replaced and filled the blown Bearing Buddy and that ended the work on the trailer.
Now on to bigger things . . .
Everyone that has driven Empty Pockets with me on the last two Tuna trips: noticed that the boat really didn’t want to hold a heading. You really needed to stay ‘on it’. I have had 3 Long Time (multi) boat owners notice this on these trips.
Well, we figured it out (actually we saw it) on our last Tuna trip: the engines were out alignment! By quite a bit actually . . . :roll: :shock: :roll:
The actual engine mounting locations to the Armstrong bracket is just fine for both motors. The bracket is pre-drilled for the engine mounts and the engines are mounted symmetrically on the hull. All is well with the world in this regard.
The Starboard engine has the steering ram on it and it connects to the Port engine’s steering horn. When I had the Starboard engine straight (steering horn and props aligned with the center line of the boat) and the wheel centered: the Port engine was kicked in at the props by about ehhhhhhh 15 degrees or so!
We ran out of adjustment on the SS steering arm/SS bushing linkage assembly and had to shorten both of them. A cut-off wheel worked simply dandy for this. I removed ¼ inch from the SS bushing and ¼ inch from the SS threaded rod. I re-assembled and mounted the steering linkage back on the boat
It took about a half an inch of travel in adjustment (after trimming them) of the linkage to get both engines aligned straight down the center of the boat. They are in rig now!
I am looking forward to splashing Empty Pockets and see how she handles. I will most likely get a boost in fuel savings and speed to boot! Two birds with one stone! I like it. The darn boat might just hold a heading now! (Isn’t that a novel concept?) :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
It was obvious that the previous owner or the dealer or Parker had attempted to make the same adjustment that we did today: as you could see the saw marks on the end of the threaded SS rod and the outside SS bushing, they just fell short and missed the mark (by a BUNCH).
Robert headed off for other engagements and I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and scrubbing the boat. I even pulled the carpets out and cleaned them as well. I pulled the engine covers, checked all the fluids and filters: all is well. The engine pivot and lift points all got a shot of lube as well. I checked all the hatches and holds . . . all is well and dry.
I have actually doubled the amount of hours on the boat since I purchased it. It had 33 hours when I started the Sea Trials in San Diego and bought the boat. I have 67 hours on the meters now! Man . . . Tuna trips pile on the hours!
Empty Pockets is REAL shiny and clean inside and out at the moment. Just add crew, food, fuel, water, bait, equipment and go.
There is a REAL good chance that the ‘fat lady’ has sung for our local Albacore Tuna.
I am in a VERY sad state of confusion at the moment . . . I ‘spose there are other fish in the Sea aside from Tuna, but for the life of me: I don’t know why! (smirk!) :roll:
I hope you all had a good weekend as well!
Kevin G.
Today was ‘work on the boat/trailer’ day. I have actually been looking forward to doing this.
My friend Robert arrived on my door step at Saturday morning at 8:30 prompt.
On the last Tuna trip, we noticed two of my trailer lights were out on the drive home. They were working just fine getting there . . . sheesh . . . whatEVER! :roll:
Robert brought his trailer wiring kit with him. He broke it out and we climbed under the trailer.
One cooked light at the Port side rear 3-function light owing to a crack in the lens and water getting into the assembly. The light bar in the center of the trailer was non operational looked to have an internal short. Power in, no power out.
The local Kragens automotive store had direct replacements. Nice! They are located about ½ mile from my house. We were able to get what we needed without driving all over the planet. Badda Bing! :mrgreen:
Several new sealed connectors out of Robert’s secret trailer kit stash and several small blobs of grease later . . . Houston: we have lights!
The next item for the trailer was giving the bearing buddies a nice healthy shot. The dealer that I purchased the boat from said he filled ‘em up for me prior to towing it home.
Moose muffins . . . he didn’t. Three out of four went smooth . . . the last bearing buddy was blown. At least the bearings are fine!
I just happened to have two replacement bearing buddies (and two inner/outer bearings/seal kits as well) for the trailer that was recommended as “Must Have” on-hand replacements.
It sure is good to have the replacement part in my ‘stock’!
We replaced and filled the blown Bearing Buddy and that ended the work on the trailer.
Now on to bigger things . . .
Everyone that has driven Empty Pockets with me on the last two Tuna trips: noticed that the boat really didn’t want to hold a heading. You really needed to stay ‘on it’. I have had 3 Long Time (multi) boat owners notice this on these trips.
Well, we figured it out (actually we saw it) on our last Tuna trip: the engines were out alignment! By quite a bit actually . . . :roll: :shock: :roll:
The actual engine mounting locations to the Armstrong bracket is just fine for both motors. The bracket is pre-drilled for the engine mounts and the engines are mounted symmetrically on the hull. All is well with the world in this regard.
The Starboard engine has the steering ram on it and it connects to the Port engine’s steering horn. When I had the Starboard engine straight (steering horn and props aligned with the center line of the boat) and the wheel centered: the Port engine was kicked in at the props by about ehhhhhhh 15 degrees or so!
We ran out of adjustment on the SS steering arm/SS bushing linkage assembly and had to shorten both of them. A cut-off wheel worked simply dandy for this. I removed ¼ inch from the SS bushing and ¼ inch from the SS threaded rod. I re-assembled and mounted the steering linkage back on the boat
It took about a half an inch of travel in adjustment (after trimming them) of the linkage to get both engines aligned straight down the center of the boat. They are in rig now!
I am looking forward to splashing Empty Pockets and see how she handles. I will most likely get a boost in fuel savings and speed to boot! Two birds with one stone! I like it. The darn boat might just hold a heading now! (Isn’t that a novel concept?) :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
It was obvious that the previous owner or the dealer or Parker had attempted to make the same adjustment that we did today: as you could see the saw marks on the end of the threaded SS rod and the outside SS bushing, they just fell short and missed the mark (by a BUNCH).
Robert headed off for other engagements and I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and scrubbing the boat. I even pulled the carpets out and cleaned them as well. I pulled the engine covers, checked all the fluids and filters: all is well. The engine pivot and lift points all got a shot of lube as well. I checked all the hatches and holds . . . all is well and dry.
I have actually doubled the amount of hours on the boat since I purchased it. It had 33 hours when I started the Sea Trials in San Diego and bought the boat. I have 67 hours on the meters now! Man . . . Tuna trips pile on the hours!
Empty Pockets is REAL shiny and clean inside and out at the moment. Just add crew, food, fuel, water, bait, equipment and go.
There is a REAL good chance that the ‘fat lady’ has sung for our local Albacore Tuna.
I am in a VERY sad state of confusion at the moment . . . I ‘spose there are other fish in the Sea aside from Tuna, but for the life of me: I don’t know why! (smirk!) :roll:
I hope you all had a good weekend as well!
Kevin G.
:roll: 
