Category Archives: Boat Technical

Specifics about the boat.

Choosing a New Muffler and Removing the Old One

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…continued from the Exhaust Wrap and Exhaust Leak (and Muffler) post. Here is what the muffler looked like when we took the exhaust wrap off:

Eric wanted to replace the old muffler with a stainless steel one. He contacted Nordhavn to see if the same muffler was made in stainless steel. It was, however, it was $1,400 vs $400 for the carbon steel version. But the bad news was that, while it wouldn’t rust as quickly as the carbon steel one, the stainless steel one was still prone to rusting, too. Hmmm… that didn’t sound good.

Eric talked to a few people and found out that Continue reading →

Exhaust Wrap and Exhaust Leak (and Muffler)

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In early 2010, we knew we had an exhaust leak. Also, the shiny metallic coating on our exhaust wrap in the engine room was starting to disintegrate, regularly shedding small silver fragments all over the engine room.

Eric knew getting the exhaust wrap off to look for the leak would be be messy, since it was falling apart. Getting it back on would be difficult and even messier. We decided it was time to replace the wrap, and hired a professional to remove the old wrap, measure and fabricate new wrap, and install it. While the wrap was off, Eric could inspect the system and make the repair.

Rather than Continue reading →

Engine Mounts (and Main Bank Alternator)

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Last April (2011), we took Kosmos into a local boat yard, Driscoll, to have some work done. The two rear engine mounts had worn out, causing some vibration, the main house alternator was nearing the end of its life, and the a through-hull needed a new barb. Driscoll was supposed to replace the two back engine mounts, rebuild the alternator, and fix the through-hull. The work took two days. Christi was onboard all day both days, holed up in the pilot house working on The Unexpected Circumnavigation Part 2. Since the mechanics went in and out of the engine room through the hatch in the living room, they usually didn’t see her. But she heard them come and go, and heard every noise they made in the engine room, including their conversations. She noted exactly how many workers there were and how long they worked for. The labor hours totalled 11.

When the work was completed, Eric inspected it. The mechanics had forgotten to tighten one of the bolts on the engine mounts! And the alternator was not the same one they had taken to rebuild! The mechanics immediately tightened the bolt as Eric requested and apologized for the oversight, but both argued with Eric about the alternator, insisting it was indeed ours. For a good fifteen minutes, they swore up and down that Continue reading →

Moisture and Mold Issues

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When Kosmos was brand new, we were paranoid about developing a mold problem. After all, mold was a common issue on boats and we were traveling in the tropics, where the warm, moist air was a mold haven. But we made it all the way around the world without ever finding mold. (Well, there is one exception, when some sheets got wet and moldy after water got into a storage compartment located under a window).

Our first “real” experience with mold came in early 2010. In October of 2009, the weather turned especially cold and damp (by San Diego standards) and stayed that way through the spring. Around Thanksgiving, we started to notice occasional drops of water on the forward stateroom floor. Our immediate assumption was that the hatch was leaking. The next time we washed the boat we ran lots of water over the hatch, but it was water tight.

We paid more attention to where the water was coming from and noticed the drops were forming on the headliner. Oh no! Did we have a hull leak? Soon after, a storm blew in that brought heavy rain for a few days. We watched like a hawk, but there were no more drops of water during the rain as there were on days when there was no rain at all, so clearly it wasn’t a hull leak. We were baffled. If there was no leak, where were the drops of water coming from?

Eventually we realized that it was Continue reading →

Keith’s First Ocean Adventure: Enjoying Catalina, Then Back to San Diego

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This is part three of a three part series. Click on the links for part 1 and part 2. 

Saturday morning we headed to shore right after breakfast. Keith was again furious about the life jacket, but this time his screams weren’t as hysterical as before. We quickly made our way over to Isthmus Cove, where Richard and Pam were waiting for us at the dock in their 1991 Sea Ray Sundancer 420. We hopped onboard. Here is Eric approaching the boat while holding Keith in the carrier.

They were on their way to Continue reading →