Diesel Fuel Day Tank

by John December 18, 2009
The diesel fuel day tank and other mechanical gear on Polaris, an aluminum expedition sailboat.

Polaris, the sailboat we looked after for a month in Greenland, is fitted with a diesel day tank that’s installed so the bottom of the tank is higher than the intake on the main engine and Refleks heater. (The Webasto heaters require a combined metering and lift pump, so their position, relative to the tank, [...]

Kerosene (Paraffin) Cooker

by John December 18, 2009
A Bertschi three burner kerosene stove on Polaris, an aluminum expedition sailboat.

Back in the day, many offshore voyaging pioneers like the Pyes, Smeatons, and Hiscocks cooked on Primus stoves: Peculiar machines that relied on hand pumped air pressure to force kerosene (paraffin) into a burner that was preheated with metholated spirit (industrial alcohol). Tales abounded of flare-ups, singed eyebrows and sea-cooks totally traumatized by the unpredictable [...]

Basement (Cellar) Sump Pumps

by John January 18, 2010

Many offshore boats are fitted with some kind of high capacity emergency bilge pump, sometimes known as crash pumps. We have long considered one for Morgan’s Cloud but have shied away because we don’t like cluttering up the main engine with belted devices and we have yet to find a pump that is compact enough [...]

About Fig Leaves And Installing Seacocks

by John May 23, 2010
Marelon And Bronze Seacocks With Plastic Spacers

Installing a seacock properly is not a trivial project. First you need to  install a backer plate and then you need to figure out how you will bolt the flange of the seacock down.

Cooking And Heating With Kerosene (Paraffin)

by John July 1, 2010
Kerosene (Propane) Stove (Cooker)

[While living on Polaris for a month, I wrote about the boat’s kerosene stove (cooker), which sparked a lively debate in the comments about the benefits and drawbacks of various cooking fuels on boats. Continuing that theme, we just got a note from our good friend and Norwegian Correspondent for the Norwegian Cruising Guide, Hans [...]

Setting The Pitch On A Feathering Propeller

by John April 15, 2011
JHH5-14760_thumb.jpg

Getting ready to launch Morgan’s Cloud after her annual haul, which includes lubricating and polishing her three blade Max-Prop. A fascinating and very informative comment stream got going on Colin’s recent review of feathering propellers, and one of the subjects discussed was the correct pitch setting for these propellers.

The Bug Is Taking Over

by Colin March 30, 2012
Tank aperture

Following our arrival in the Canary Islands last autumn we watched an endless stream of yachts line up at the pontoon alongside the boatyard, all of them with fuel contamination problems. In my experience, it’s usual to find that in cases like this the outbreak can be isolated to one or two suppliers who have [...]