Thataway

Hi Bob,

I'm looking into a couple of fuel flow meters for my boat to replace my useless (to me) engine trim indicators. I noticed you have two 2" units, one Standard Horizon the other Navman. Glad to see there are 2" models available because that's all the room I have in that location. Curious, maybe you've answered it, but why the two different mfr's?
 
Steve,
I had already purchased a Standard Horizon when the line was discontinued at a good discount and was going to use it on another boat with a single engine (18 foot Center console) However when I ordered the Tom Cat 255, that project was put on hold, and I purchased the Navman. Both units are technically identical, use the same sensors and were manufactured by Navman or a subcontractor there of.

Looking back, it may have been better to have purchased the Lowarance flow meters, since I went with the Lowrance LCX 26C (Hard drive Chart plotter/depth sounder, which is NMEA 2000--which the Lowrance flow meters are). The Lowrance are also compatable with either 2" or 4" guages and have good reviews. Some of the Navman fuel flow guages have had a bad sensor and been exchanged in the last few months. My Navman is reading erratically, but that was the engine which had the collapsed fuel priming bulb and presumably the bad check valve. I haven't had to chance to re check it since I have put in a new check valve. I suspect that the new valve will resolve the erratic reading.
The Standard Horizon unit appears to be reading very accurately.

I have had used the Standard Horizon flow meter on two other boats and they worked very well.

Regards,
 
Just posted some photos, but things seem to slow down at one point. Partly due to tracing interference problems with NMEA 2000/Lowrance chart plotter/FF and the vhf radios and partly having lots of guests and doing other things, plus limits by the back problems.

The Bimini is up and the camper canvas appears to be materializing--literally. I am waiting filling gaps and putting additional hand railings on outboard aft top (like on the C Dory 22) in until the camper canvas is finished.

Getting the Ham radio antennas was a bit more work than anticipated. I still don't have the entire ground system in (using the railings and Armstrong bracket). We put in a corral for spotlights, ditch bag and if we need to keep fenders or lines available for docking, they seemed to always be "under foot" with the 22--this way they are in a fixed place when needed. (See photos). Also a storage area of teak (we cut up a table which had sailed with us for over 20 years as a source of good teak)--There is a 9" wide x 22 or so inches long behind the stove which as fore and aft and athwartships dividers which can be scewed to handle any types of glasses or containers. We found a cutting board at Wallyworld which just fits over the Wallas stove, and are epoxy/5200 teak "legs" which support it over the stove, to give a 15" x 24" working service which is level--it will store over the microwave when not in use. A few more dish storage and head storage racks are in place. We put in clips for boat hooks, gaff and brushes in the cockpit combing lockers. We found a 4 place SS line holder which we mounted in the port Lazarrette, this will hold 6 dock lines and a stern anchor line, protected and out of the way. Still plenty of room to work on fuel system and Racor filter.

The Garhauer davit is to lift the generator and its fuel tank in and out of the cockpit, so that the genset will fit on a milk crate on the swim step when running. The davit will also pickup the dinghy, the dinghy motor and if anyone falls overboard it is capable of lifting 300 lbs into the cockpit.

The air conditioning is a great success and lives up to our expectations. I posted the amperage draw on a separate post. We will be taking some trips this next week or so, as warm up for the Gulf Coast gathering. The "end" of outfitting is finally in sight. The chest freezer is in place, and the "Drawer" which it slides on is built and the glue is drying currently! We are holding off on the second water tank until this winter.
 
The camper canvas (Pedersen Canvas, Pensacola, FL)--is done and the photos are up on the album. I discussed with the canvas worker about camper canvas for other Tom Cat 255's. He has made patterns and could make canvas camper backs on a group basis ahead of time--but the boat would have to be brought to Pensacola for fitting and installation. He has both a shop and a dock at his house where the boat could be kept. It would be a good vacation, plus a day to fit the camper canvas for cold winter days!

The top attatchment is fairly standard; vinyl awning rail on the aft ridge of the top. He talked me into the dark green because it comes in Sumbrella plus (totally waterproof, but not fully vinly back as the SeaMark, which has vinly on the inside). The Dark green is very hot right under the canvas--I find that by opening up the front section a little, it will allow plenty of air, cooling off a bit. All of the attatchments to the Bimini are zippers The "door" at each side opens easily for boarding and is about 14" wide. The top is totally free standing--with straight posts at the front and back Tubing was one " SS" with quick release fittings. I will add a second postion "down" for trailering, so that the Bimini is almost on the railing. We went with support on the outside side decks, because I have fishing rod holders, dinghy outboard bracket, the grill and a fishing cutting board/ table which I can leave on the 1 1/4" railings. We used vinyl awning railing on each side--to make a better water proof seal on the foreward side of the boat. The zippers are right against the awning railing, so that they can be left in place all of the time, including when trailering.

The flag pole holder is a standard 45 degree 7/8" SS railing fitting. We put it on the aft transom upper part, which already has a slant of 20 degrees from the vertial--so this gives the flag pole an orientation of 65 degrees--allowing a good "drape" of the flat at rest. This also allows using set screws to hold the flag pole in place in rough weather. The steel 7/8" tubing was cut at a 45 degrees at the end, and a 1/4" thick starboard insert was placed into the holder to prevent damage to the hull gel coat, yet still allow drainage of any water in the holder.

The Garhauer Davit was placed to allow moving the Honda generator from the cockpit floor to a milk crate which is deployed on the transom. There are boards cut which have small depressions cut for the feet of the genset, and has cleates which keep it centered on the milk crate. The auxillary fuel tank will also fit on the swim set on a second milk crate, which is also fitted with a board, and strap to hold it in place. The milk crates due double duty by one holding propane bottles for the grill and extra fuel for the Wallas, and the other for stern anchor rode. A second mounting point will be made on the starboard side, to hoist ice chests and gear aboard the boat. We are considering putting a third point which will allow hoisting the dinghy to the cabin top--or even hoisting the air conditioner on and off. (We both have back problems and are limited to about 25 lbs weight lifting--but can pull on a 6 part block and tackle).

We put the dive ladder clips across the transom, with a safety cable to the clip with a single hole. We have also fabricated the dinghy motor bracket to fit on the railing--motor leg can go outside or inside, depending on how it is mounted. But we are also going to make add some 1/2" bolts to the mount, fitting it into the dive ladder slot, so that the 3.5 HP motor can be used as a slow trolling motor, steered from the cockpit with an extension handle. This should also allow us to run in 15 to 17" of water.

I have put up a few photos of the camper canvas and flag pole etc. Things are finally comming together! Also as we get into the storage--there is a huge amount of room under the bunk--probably get folding chairs etc. I have a folding shovel (for dog) and small hatchet in a box foreward. We also have purchased several "trailer" sand screws, to use in beaches and when in river banks.
 
thataway":3nhioej9 said:
I have a folding shovel (for dog) and small hatchet in a box foreward.
Click to expand...

Bob, I would think that any dog that read the above sentence would be on its' best behavior!..... :disgust

(On a more serious note.......your Garhauer Davit looks interesting.....would it work on a 22' for a MOB retrieval system?)
 
Yes, The Garhauer davit would work on the C Dory 22. We have been involved with safety at sea for many years, and have had MOB retrieval systems on all of our boats. You have to have a high enough lifting point to get the victim onto at least the swim step. We have typically used the Life sling--but both of us wear SOS suspenders inflatable life jackets with safety harnesses--and the lifting point of the safety harness works well with the davit. We have tried real life--my beging in the water (wet suit in most cases) with my wife--who weighs about 70 lbs less than I do. She has been able to get me all of the way out of the water and onto the swim step or on a deck (in the C Dory and Tom Cat, I believe that we can get the Victim over the transom into the boat.

The assumption is that anyone one who goes overboard will not be able to get aboard by their selves--especially if hypothermic. We had seen a number of such cases in cooler waters.

Hope that this helps
 
Another way to get a MOB person back aboard is to get them to the outboard (engine off), have them step on the horizontal plate above the prop, and simply raise the engine.

This was told to me by a life long resident here in Ketchikan who used this technique to pull himself out of the water.

Regards,

Law
 
Thanks, Law, that is a technique which I had not thought of. In our safety at sea seminars, we have covered many ways of getting folks back aboard--but I'll have to admit none of the long range cruising boats had outboards with lift. Even after on the swim step,you have to get the person into the cabin to warm them. The danger of hypothermia, even in the Gulf--let along the PNW is the biggest killer.

We got the aft cabin main bulkhead caulked. It took two hours to clean, grind off some spurs of glass on the sides, wash, acetone, mask and then used 12 oz of Bostic urethane caulk--nasty stuff! (Oh yes, we did get a few dribbles on the white gel coat and laquor thinner saved the day. We used 3/8 clear plastic tubing, which we could insert into the void, and pumped until the caulking came out around the sides--we moved inch by inch to do this and assure a fully sealed cavity--the finish was with fingers and in nitril gloves. We ended up with a nice smooth finish--see the photo section. The sides really didn't need caulk--but we did them anyway. The sides are only about 1/4" thick, with no core. There appears to be layers of cloth and mat holding the top on--but there was a gap of 1/2 to 5/8 of an inch all of the way around--this is curious, because I would think that the top should fit exactly on the cabin sides--only thing I can figure is that the head bulkhead was too high--and rather than trim it down, the entire top is too high?

We also got the galley fiddles off. They came off very easily, and could have been pulled loose by a large man in a seaway. There is absolutely NO sealant, adhesive or caulking and the fiddles are put on with single staples and a few brads. Our fiddles were 1/8" off of the galley counter because apparently the Wallas stove vent was high--and the fiddle butted on the top of the vent. I have a message to Jeff Messmer asking if I should lower the vent, or just cut out the fiddle...We will seal the edge of the plywood with epoxy, I have some 1 1/4" #6 screws, with 5/16 teak plugs. The fiddles will be put back in with urethane adhesive sealant and multiple screws. Agan some photos are in the gallery.
 
Bob,

I love following all the details of what you do.

We also have a Sun Shower portable inflatable rim shower enclosure, but found out that any breeze blows the vinyl sides against one's body, so I built a rigid frame out of PVC pipe which slides inside the sides of the shower. Afterwards the frame breaks down into small component parts so that it can be stored in the stern locker.
 
Two projects (promised Marie the tools come off tomarrow and we start using the boat daily!) done today. First we smoothed up and then cleaned the inner part of the Galley fiddle railings. We next drilled the hole in the railing with a 5/16 countersink bit. I had to make a 16" x 3/16x 3/16" groove with my carving tools and fine chizzels on the bottom of the railing to clear the top of the vent for the Wallas stove--(this vent was what kept the railing from being brought down flush to the counter top. Sort of hard to figure what the thought process was of the installer, because of the gap under the railing, and he cut the trim on the foreward face of the galley cabinet door facing high enough to be sure that the fiddle was level--with 1/8" all along under the railing--where food would have been trapped, and water migrated, then into the plywood, eventaully rotting it, and causing damage to the galley counter, since it was not sealed or bedded to the teak! The plywood was cleaned and smoothed, it was then coated with epoxy, being sure that each crack or small knot area was filled and sealed. The pilot holes for the #6 x 1" screws were drilled, as the railing was precisely fitted. I had to bring it out from the cabin side slightly to give a good mitre joint at the foreward inboard edge. 4200 was chosen as a sealant--with the thoughts that we might have to repair it some day. Enough was applied to cause a very small amount to ooze out under the railing when screwed down tight. The teak was masked to prevent 4200 from getting into the grain of the teak. The mitre joint was joined with epoxy, so that that will be tight,but minimal impact of color. The bungs were placed in the screw holes, and glue allowed to go off. The teak bungs will be cut level with a sharp chizzel in the AM and then sanded flush and the railing re-oiled.

The second project is under the subject "Combo railing and swim step dinghy motor mount for Tom Cat 255". We built a starboard mout for the 3.5 hp Mercury (Nissan) outboard we use in the dinghy and also have used to push other boats over the sand bar at the entrance to our bayou (may be 18" in winter extreme low tides). The motor will be at a reverse shear of about 15 degrees, but there will still be plenty of push to shove the boat at 1 to 2 knots--which is also a great trolling speed for some fish.
 
Amazing--After Marie said "Drop those tools"--I did a couple of more projects and then we headed out--not have one problem---almost. I did make one mistake. I had fuesd or breakered all of the wires from the batteries and the ACR. #1 I forgot to close the breaker on the port ACR, so the freezer battery didn't charge--but not a problem, since it didn't go down very far. The starting battery on the stb stopped reading voltage--then I realized: with the ACR kicking in--and no place for the current to go, it started to back loop thru the voltage testing circuit--and of course blew its fuse--have lots of fuses aboard!--and make a check list for breakers. might even put some LED's in the dash for the charging circuits!

A 110 mile ride in 4 hours, including a couple of no wake zones--most of the time we were hauling at 30 to 35Knots. I posted my fuel burns on the "what did you do today"--All speeds in knots: at 5 knots both engines recored one gallon an hour total--I don't know how accurate the flow meters at very low flow rates--so I won't be overly optimistic--but if this were true--it would mean that we would have a range of 675 miles with 10% reserve. We were able to hold speeds nicely in the 10 to 18 knots, but fuel burn was less than in the full planing range. In the 23 to 28 knot range we were 2.3 to 2.4 miles a gallon. Up at 35 knots we were slighyly under 2 miles a gallon--held the above 2 miles a gallon in the very low 30's. WOT was at 43 knots, even with all of the "stuff" I put on--which altered the aerodynamics including airconditioner, radar, hailer, camper canvas and probably about 1000 lbs of "stuff".

We outran Glacier Bay, World Cats and ProKats who were on the bay for Catmaran demo day. I think that there were some surprised salesmen when we blew by the various cats and they couldn't keep up. Should have had a Wefing's Banner to show the nearest dealer. There are some advantages to the planing cat--and speed to a point is one. I think that the high 40's is going to prove out to be close to the top speed (I didn't look at the flow meters, but I suspect we were close to 20 gallons an hour WOT.)

The new antisiphon valve worked fine--there was no collapsed squeeze bulb, the flow meters were working--new Camper canvas works great. Tomarrow the dinghy, dinghy engine and genset go aboard--we will put the extra cabn aft outer hand railing in. We will not get the ground on the SSB done, but most other projects are on track!
 
I posted a few photos of the crates the generator and 6 gallon fuel tank sits on on the Gallery. I also put up a photo of the microwave's mount.
Finally I put the hand rails on the aft outboard part of the cabin house. I needed micro hands--after dropping half a dozen washers and nuts over the side (one side can work on from the lift dock, the other I have to moor my 18 footer along side and stand on the side deck). I put some 4200 on the washer and "Stuck" it to the under side of the cabin top, and then put some on the nut, and stuck it to my index finger--finally got all 4 on and started--sort of leaving the boat steady and spinning Bob around the nut. I also have a photo of a gadget I got at the local hardware store--a minute socket set, which works at several angles, plus I used a 1/4" universal joint to finally get the nuts tight up under the cabin roof lip.
Don't forget that this cabin top is cored with balsa, so each hole drilled has to be coated with epoxy before you put the final bolt in--and still use 4200 or similar sealant.
 
Bob:

Your trip is full of good news- range of speed, top speed, fuel consumption- and the fact that it all came together so nicely. 2.3 to 2.4 mpg at 25-30 mph is great!

We took Half-Time over to Redfish island last Saturday in a slight chop and found that 30-32 mph was a nice, comfortable speed. Today it went for a bottom job, so we are boatless for at least a week.

Thanks for the pictures of the generator box.
 
Jim,
This is a standard Wal Mart storage Sterlite container--I'll see if any of them (I have several) have the origional stickers on them). The only problem is that bin is not quite tall enough--and the handle keeps it form snaping well on the edge. I am going to cut the top, and experiment with hot glue or plastic welding on a raised portion on the top: if I don't get it right before our trip down to Apalachacola, I'll put vinly plastic over the entire lid and bungee it around the body of the tub. Marie suggested that we put wooden cleats in each end and attatch tied down cords to that--secure this to small U bolts on each side, just by the cutouts in the combing of the Tom cat. These cost in the $5 -$6 range. We will also have a mat under this/and the crate. Probably an "anti fatigue" mat from Sam's club.

Regards,
 
I used a black box that had a grey lid, maybe "toughbox" or something like that, for the EU2000 generator. At first blush when you place the generator in the middle it seems too tall. But there is some room left over on each side so I slid it over and miraculously there is a depression on each side of the lid that lets the generator sit in there fine. Actually helps hold it in so it won't slide around in the box.
 
lloyds-

Could the box be the "Action Packer"?

B00002N6SQ.16._SCLZZZZZZZ_SS260_.jpg


Do you know what size it is? Here's a LINK to Rubbermaid's site.

Joe
 
I'll have to check out these other "solutions" for now we found a WalMart $8.75 (roll up prices)--30 gallon container, which fits the generator plus an orange Amo box perfectly--with room for the cords on the sides. I would like a little stronger and smaller container--but this will do for now.
We decided that lid modification would probably not work all that well.
The Honda EU 2000 is about 16 1/4" high, slightly over 10" wide and slightly over 19" long.

Thanks for the suggestions--If you happen to find out exactly what or where I would appreciate it. We have some other heavy duty boxes--but they are significantly larger--and I hate to keep filling up the cockpit with "Stuff" I suspect that there a number of items with a better fit than the 30 gallon Wal Mart Sterilite tube.

On a different vein, Friday Jeff Messmer E mailed that there is a "cure" for the door in the C Dory 22/25 and TC 255. I recieved my small plastic wedge with a counter sunk flat head Robertson 10 x 24 machine screw. We drilled and taped the lower edge of the sill. The door would not close, so I increased the angle on the edge toward the door, plus put a small pry bar under the door until it just cleared the plastic wedge--adaptor. It has remained easy to close ever since. This is a technical bulletin apparently sent to all dealers so that boats should all be retrofitted. Now I just have to repaint the door sill! I have a color which matches, but I suspect it will not be as durable as the origional powder coat.
 
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