Capt. JG wrote:
Here's a synopsis of Excalibur's maiden voyage

Called the yard back... they said, oh, maybe we forgot
to tighten the wire to the starter solenoid. Unfortunately,

You did not know where a starter solenoid wire was?

Jon I suggest you take a basic course on engine electrical systems.


What kind of engine is in the boat?
You say "gas" juice..are you saying the boat has an Atomic 4 or some
other type of dangerious gasoline engine?

Joe

Joe wrote:
Capt. JG wrote:
Here's a synopsis of Excalibur's maiden voyage

Called the yard back... they said, oh, maybe we forgot
to tighten the wire to the starter solenoid. Unfortunately,

You did not know where a starter solenoid wire was?

Jon I suggest you take a basic course on engine electrical systems.


What kind of engine is in the boat?
You say "gas" juice..are you saying the boat has an Atomic 4 or some
other type of dangerious gasoline engine?

Joe

Gasoline engines are not dangerous at all. Gasoline engines almost
never blow up. Gasoline itself, however, leaking from a fuel line or
tank, does pose a substantial risk. Especially when the solenoid wire
is loose.

I do now. :-) I should have known where it was before I left. I guess we all
learn from our mistakes.

It's a Westerbeke 13hp. I would not buy an A-4, even though they're not bad
engines.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Joe" wrote in message
oups.com...

Capt. JG wrote:
Here's a synopsis of Excalibur's maiden voyage

Called the yard back... they said, oh, maybe we forgot
to tighten the wire to the starter solenoid. Unfortunately,

You did not know where a starter solenoid wire was?

Jon I suggest you take a basic course on engine electrical systems.


What kind of engine is in the boat?
You say "gas" juice..are you saying the boat has an Atomic 4 or some
other type of dangerious gasoline engine?

Joe

Yup... ST4000. If I didn't have it, it would have been more of a mess. I
also am about to have a remote for it... :-) I really appreciated having it
while flaking the main, especially since the wind was about 15 kts with
higher gusts. Worked great!

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 5 Sep 2006 12:39:35 -0700, "Capt. JG"
said:

even did a passable job flaking the main before
I got to the dock.

Do you have an autopilot? I probably single hand more than I sail with
crew,
and flaking the main is SOP while coming in on autopilot. I hate trying to
do it while rocking back and forth in a chop. Highly recommended if you
don't have one.

Capt. JG wrote:
Here's a synopsis of Excalibur's maiden voyage from the yard in SF to her
new home...

The maiden voyage was interesting... single-handed her from SF South Beach
Harbor to Richmond. Engine started fine at the dock, so I raised sails and
headed up toward the Bay Bridge. Near the bridge, the wind died, so I go to
start the engine... nada... not even cranking, nothing. After some
preliminary checks, like do I have juice, fuel, I called the yard where she
had some engine work done (tune up, oil change, and the like). Oh, it's not
our fault, maybe you're out of gas (no), maybe you don't have her in neutral
(no neutral safety switch on this boat - something to think about adding).
Come back, and we'll look into it... of course, it's a good hour or so in
such light winds, and guess what they close in 1/2 hour.

Frustrated, I called the former owner, who couldn't think of any reason this
would happen. Never happened to him in 10 years. Must be a disconnected
wire, but he's busy at work, and the manual is in my car (note for later,
put manual on boat). Called the yard back... they said, oh, maybe we forgot
to tighten the wire to the starter solenoid. Unfortunately, I have no idea
where this wire is. Fortunately, not much vessel traffic where I'm floating,
so I heave-to to a starboard tack (give myself at least some status), open
up the engine compartment, and I go upside down inside the engine, one hand
on a cell phone dying battery, flashlight in my mouth, trying to listen/talk
to the yard so their "mechanic" can direct me, the other hand trying to
reach the stupid wire. Finally, found it, tightened it, and then she started
no problem. Oh yeah, and they didn't reconnect the low-oil and temp alarms
either.

Got past the bridge, the wind picked up, so killed the engine and started
sailing again. Got about 20 kts steady wind the rest of the way, mostly port
tack. Finally had to jibe to avoid a tug/barge coming out of the Richmond
area, and the rest was easy, even did a passable job flaking the main before
I got to the dock.

Did you really think that a maiden voyage was going to be uneventful?
How naive, Jon. G;ad you made it to harbor safely.

I'm a positive person. :-) It was a fun sail.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"katy" wrote in message
...
Capt. JG wrote:
Here's a synopsis of Excalibur's maiden voyage from the yard in SF to her
new home...

The maiden voyage was interesting... single-handed her from SF South
Beach Harbor to Richmond. Engine started fine at the dock, so I raised
sails and headed up toward the Bay Bridge. Near the bridge, the wind
died, so I go to start the engine... nada... not even cranking, nothing.
After some preliminary checks, like do I have juice, fuel, I called the
yard where she had some engine work done (tune up, oil change, and the
like). Oh, it's not our fault, maybe you're out of gas (no), maybe you
don't have her in neutral (no neutral safety switch on this boat -
something to think about adding). Come back, and we'll look into it... of
course, it's a good hour or so in such light winds, and guess what they
close in 1/2 hour.

Frustrated, I called the former owner, who couldn't think of any reason
this would happen. Never happened to him in 10 years. Must be a
disconnected wire, but he's busy at work, and the manual is in my car
(note for later, put manual on boat). Called the yard back... they said,
oh, maybe we forgot to tighten the wire to the starter solenoid.
Unfortunately, I have no idea where this wire is. Fortunately, not much
vessel traffic where I'm floating, so I heave-to to a starboard tack
(give myself at least some status), open up the engine compartment, and I
go upside down inside the engine, one hand on a cell phone dying battery,
flashlight in my mouth, trying to listen/talk to the yard so their
"mechanic" can direct me, the other hand trying to reach the stupid wire.
Finally, found it, tightened it, and then she started no problem. Oh
yeah, and they didn't reconnect the low-oil and temp alarms either.

Got past the bridge, the wind picked up, so killed the engine and started
sailing again. Got about 20 kts steady wind the rest of the way, mostly
port tack. Finally had to jibe to avoid a tug/barge coming out of the
Richmond area, and the rest was easy, even did a passable job flaking the
main before I got to the dock.

Did you really think that a maiden voyage was going to be uneventful? How
naive, Jon. G;ad you made it to harbor safely.

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
Here's a synopsis of Excalibur's maiden voyage from the
yard in SF to her
new home...

The maiden voyage was interesting... single-handed her
from SF South Beach
Harbor to Richmond. Engine started fine at the dock, so I
raised sails and
headed up toward the Bay Bridge. Near the bridge, the wind
died, so I go to
start the engine... nada... not even cranking, nothing.
After some
preliminary checks, like do I have juice, fuel, I called
the yard where she
had some engine work done (tune up, oil change, and the
like). Oh, it's not
our fault, maybe you're out of gas (no), maybe you don't
have her in neutral
(no neutral safety switch on this boat - something to
think about adding).

Don't, they're stupid.



Come back, and we'll look into it... of course, it's a
good hour or so in
such light winds, and guess what they close in 1/2 hour.

Frustrated, I called the former owner, who couldn't think
of any reason this
would happen. Never happened to him in 10 years. Must be a
disconnected
wire, but he's busy at work, and the manual is in my car
(note for later,
put manual on boat). Called the yard back... they said,
oh, maybe we forgot
to tighten the wire to the starter solenoid.
Unfortunately, I have no idea
where this wire is.


Sailing in the wee hours I noticed my nav lights dimming,
went to start the engine ( with the starter batt) and nada.
I also hove to as the battery was too low to trust the AP.
The selenoid wire had broken , right at the terminal end. I
stripped it and put it back on bare wire. Got a terminal 3
days later.


--
Scott Vernon
Plowville Pa _/)__/)_/)_

Is it? That's nice to know. I think it's discontinued, but that doesn't mean
much. I didn't really check it out much before the purchase... came with the
boat, seems to have the ability to work off the GPS that's also on the boat.
You can see the GPS receiver just to starboard of the outboard in this one:
http://www.sailnow.photosite.com/exc...t-sabre30.html.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 5 Sep 2006 14:28:28 -0700, "Capt. JG"
said:

Yup... ST4000.

Hmm. The high-priced spread. Nice.

I just replaced my 26 year old ST1000 with a Simrad unit. I was surprised
to
learn that Raymarine had downgraded the replacement for the ST1000 so I'd
have to order the next larger size, the 2000, to handle my boat's 6800 lb
displacement. Decided I didn't need the bells and whistles of the
Raymarine
unit for my purposes.

"Scotty" wrote in message
. ..

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
Here's a synopsis of Excalibur's maiden voyage from the
yard in SF to her
new home...

The maiden voyage was interesting... single-handed her
from SF South Beach
Harbor to Richmond. Engine started fine at the dock, so I
raised sails and
headed up toward the Bay Bridge. Near the bridge, the wind
died, so I go to
start the engine... nada... not even cranking, nothing.
After some
preliminary checks, like do I have juice, fuel, I called
the yard where she
had some engine work done (tune up, oil change, and the
like). Oh, it's not
our fault, maybe you're out of gas (no), maybe you don't
have her in neutral
(no neutral safety switch on this boat - something to
think about adding).

Don't, they're stupid.

When I called the previous owner to confirm that it didn't have one, he told
me he started the engine a couple of times in reverse. :-}



Come back, and we'll look into it... of course, it's a
good hour or so in
such light winds, and guess what they close in 1/2 hour.

Frustrated, I called the former owner, who couldn't think
of any reason this
would happen. Never happened to him in 10 years. Must be a
disconnected
wire, but he's busy at work, and the manual is in my car
(note for later,
put manual on boat). Called the yard back... they said,
oh, maybe we forgot
to tighten the wire to the starter solenoid.
Unfortunately, I have no idea
where this wire is.


Sailing in the wee hours I noticed my nav lights dimming,
went to start the engine ( with the starter batt) and nada.
I also hove to as the battery was too low to trust the AP.
The selenoid wire had broken , right at the terminal end. I
stripped it and put it back on bare wire. Got a terminal 3
days later.

I need to replace the lenses.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Dave wrote:
On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 17:22:44 -0400, Jeff said:

Gasoline engines almost
never blow up. Gasoline itself, however, leaking from a fuel line or
tank, does pose a substantial risk.

And lawyers are accused of splitting hairs! So let's play the game. You're
saying that gasoline leaking from the fuel line poses a substantial risk,
but gasoline leaking from the carburetor's float chamber doesn't?

Did you work as Bill Clinton's speech writer in an earlier life?

You didn't recognize the homage to Jaxashby? I guess this was too
subtle for you.