location: Kiel Stickenhörn, Germany
log: 162nm
engine: 384.4h

Alright, the engine is running again and the forecast says the next two days might be good sailing. The only problem is that I want to travel east and the wind is currently coming from there. And there is a big navy training ground in the same direction which limits my possibilities to crisscross upwind. And since I didn’t want to pay for the maps going north or west it’s probably sea trials / running circles and not going somewhere specific. We’ll see. There is still plenty on the ToDo list but at least it seems like the work on propulsion is getting less and I can start to work on ground tackle and the solar/battery system enabling me to actually anchor out. Oh, and I’ll need some kind of dinghy.

Correct old part vs. wrong new part. It’s pretty obvious the shiny one is too large, even though flange, gear and all connectors match.

Anyways, after yesterdays débâcle with the wrong starter the correct part arrived today. Kinda funny, I needed a part for a Nanni Marine Diesel. So I ordered one for a Suzuki Jeep, which came in a Kubota Box and was originally made by Mitsubishi and refurbished by Elstock. Yeah, whatever. It fits and it was cheap, at least compared to the original part (which was made by Mitsubishi as well and is a match on the part number). And I’m still waiting on the quote from Nanni. Probably somewhere between 400€ and 800€. So 120€ at a local dealership isn’t too bad, tomorrow the backup order from the interwebs arrives, 80€.

Changing the thing is not too bad for marine standards but still painful. The part itself is fastened by two screws. You only have to remove the alternator, hoist the engine up on one side, remove one engine mount and that is basically it. The practical thing about sailboats is that you can use the main halyard or topping lift for that, so yes, the white and black rope goes all the way up the mast, back down again and to a winch.

After reassembly only the shiny solenoid shows. The rest of the starter is hidden behind other stuff

While I was on it I also repaired the temperature sensor. One contact broke off. Normally I would have just bought a new one for ten euros or so. But since this is a marine temperature sensor it costs 50€ on ebay and probably much more in a shop. So I did the obvious and cut open the enclosure to solder a piece of cable on the stump of the old contact.

Fabricobbled a new contact

 Does it ever eeend? -- AvE

I finished the kiel canal without major problems. Only the starter acted up more and more. I left the engine running while waiting for the kiel holtenau lock to open. After that I stopped in the next harbour to barter a crate of beer for some spare parts. Oh, I love the interwebs for these kind of things.

Then I took of the starter solenoid, cleaned and oiled it. Still not working properly. Took of the whole starter, greased the shaft. Still not working. Took it off again, completely disassembled it and found out the free running thingy slipped (imagine your mountainbike. Normally the rear wheel hub runs freely when you are not treading and engages if you are treading allowing you to accelerate. This specimen runs freely (under load) in both directions). So I have to order a part. I’m still waiting for a quote from the engine manufacturer / their dealership. In the meantime I did some digging on the web. Mr. Nanni from Italy is making his marine engines from parts of Mr. Kubota, Japan. Mr. Kubota is some relative of Mr. Mitsubishi, so they sourced some of their starters there. Mr. Mitsubishi is kind of the Japanese Version of ACME, and sold the exact same starters to Mr. Suzuki and Mr. Toyota for the LJ80, SJ410 and 70ties Corolla. So you can either go to some Marine Engine Guy paying him to order at Mr.Nanni who will order at Mr. Kubota who will order at Mr Mitsubishi or somewhere else. That’s time consuming and expensive. Or you take Mr. Mitsubishis Part Number (which Mr Nanni was too lazy to scrape it off) and go to any car parts store and order from any supplier available. Cut out the middle man and remove the “marine” from the equation means great price reduction. But also great risk. Today I got a spare part which matches the part numbers only “one-way”. The delivered starter has the right gear, flange and such but is much larger. Too long and too wide. I actually went to a car part store in person, put the old starter on the counter and they ordered the new one. My starter is part number M2T30481, the delivered a replacement for M2T30581. The fun part is that my starter can always replace the other one (same oompfh, flange, … smaller envelope) and the other one can sometimes replace my starter (if there is enough space). So yeah, I was afraid to mess up the order and so paid extra to let a specialist fuck it up. Classic. Next time I might just order it online in the first place, many folks actually post pictures of the wares making it quite easy to distinguish subtle differences.

I guess it’s best summed up by the A-Team Theme or “Working on it” by Mark Knopfler. Long days of fiddeling with stuff. You fuck it up and try again until you succeed. You don’t have the right tools/workshop so you pay others to fuck it up. And then you search for ways to make it right. It takes time, sweat, blood and tears. For example the cooperation with the metal shop: I needed an adapter which is basically 8 holes on one radius and four holes on an different radius. I fucked up measuring the inner radius, the guy from the metalshop put six holes on both radiusses messing up all the angles. The final thing looks like swiss cheese but will do the job.

You befriend some locals on the way who can relate in some way or another. These are mostly a really kind and supportive bunch. They give/sell you stuff you need for little money. They walk you through maps of the local waters and share their wisdom and experience. When you’re down they encourage you. I dunno why but it really means a great deal to me if someone with 40odd years of experience in something tells newbie me something along the lines of “hey, you’re doing ok, you’ll be fine”.

Others think you’re stupid or haphazard or just from another planet. Some just don’t like you because you look like some punk. Some give weird / useless / dangerous advise. With time you learn to choose wisely what advise to adhere to and what not. And you’ll sometimes have to change your mind. For example one of my instructors went furious when somebody started whistling on the boat. I asked him why and he responded “because it’s tradition”. He did it just for the fun of criticising people. Ok, I decided, I’ll whistle on my own ship as much as I want. I talked about that with S. and he just answered that he is really strict on the whistling issue as well because the wind whistles in the rigging if it picks up or a gust hits you. So it’s a warning sign for the helmsman and the person on the main sheet to take immediate action to counter the gust (counter steer/ease sheet/adjust traveller, …). So if somebody is whistling these folks either don’t hear the gust coming or they take measures without a cause. Ok, so no whistling on my ship, I changed my mind on that completely because somebody provided a proper reason for doing things. And now I know on telltale for oncoming gusts…

Main Halyard and Topping Lift crisscrossed, the further already ate through the roller and into the aluminum

new rollers, replaced the steel wire halyard with dyneema and replaced the undersized topping lift as well. And now they run in parallel

unfucking the fuckup by the metal shop by drilling extra holes in the ship. according to the guy in the shop drilling high grade stainless is impossible with a hand drill. Well, it takes lot’s of pressure, low rpm, oil for cooling and a sharp drill bit (good HSS or TiN)

some just like to watch…

The old main traveller crapped out on the last sail and no supplier had something in store for the mounted track…

…so in goes the new, shiny and more beefy…

Learning about marine specific engine parts: meet the impeller. That little guy is pumping sea water for cooling the engine.

trying to unfuck some instruments. This one had broken cables, water ingress and some previous owner removed the data cable by cutting it into different pieces…

big ship passing by

Some kind soul sold me a self steering windvane for a real bargain. But it needs some modification so it has to be completely disassembled before cutting & welding

It feels like slow progress but actually I’m not doing too bad. On the 26th of march, I first set foot on a sailing yacht and around two month later I’m licensed to operate such a craft commercially, bought my own and made did a bunch of repairs / upgrades. Not too bad at all actually. I guess I can set sail soonish and do the rest of the outfitting en route. Cruising after all is mostly doing boat maintenance in exotic places.