When I was considering the purchase of Treylya I was appalled with the condition of the teak.  The previous owners owned a dog(s) and I guess that over the years the teak on the port side was worn from the dog jumping on and off the boat from the port side.  On the port side the teak was worn thru and missing in several spots.  John dropped the price accordingly and told me about a friend who worked in a shop in Nanaimo, BC that provides teak decking that could get me a lead on some cheap teak.

This was a project that was on my mind whenever I was on the boat.  Whenever I docked at a marina and talked to other sailers they commented on what a nice boat Treylya was but I couldn’t help but feel the embarrassment of the crappy looking teak.  Wood working is not one of my strong points, actually I’ve never really done any…  and this would be a time consuming, expensive job.  But wood working runs in my family and I’m hoping that somewhere along the way I might have picked up the aptitude for it…  maybe…  groan…

Here’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in reverse order…

The Ugly
As mentioned, the teak looks terrible and is ripped up in several areas.  All seats have to be redone…  period…

The Bad
I googled teak deck replacement and found a bunch of great videos and websites dedicated to it.  Most sites talked about the cost of a deck replacement as being very high…  Typically into the Tens of Thousands…  Not what I wanted to hear but hey it’s only money right?  Also most sites talk about it taking months of man hours to complete.  Groan.  For a computer geek with no wood working experience and no tools (they are all back at my place in Newfoundland) I’m expecting this to take a very long time and be very expensive.

I’d like to get the decks done for summer cruising but I’m heading to Chicago next week for a week and then back to Newfoundland for a few weeks snowmobiling so when the heck am I going to get time to do this!!!

The Good
As with everything in life.  It ain’t all bad…  The area that I need to fix up is rather small as I’m just re-covering the hatches / seats in the cockpit.  John got me in touch with the fella in Nanaimo and it turned out that he was able to get me some nice (albeit a little thin) teak for $2000.  He said it should do me for 9-10 years and will improve the appearance and increase the value of the boat.

I have visions of sailing around with a shiny looking new teak deck…  I’ll be standing there with the breeze in my hair and people will be in awe of what a beautiful sailboat that I’m skippering.  Ah, the free life of a sailor…

However, back to reality, I got a feeling that this is gonna be a long, slow, painful journey…  Stay tuned…

I’m flying to Chicago next week and then back to Newfoundland for a few weeks of snowmobiling in Feb so Deb and I decided to get some sailing in and head to Ganges, Saltspring Island for the weekend.  We packed a few things and headed to the boat Saturday morning where we loaded our gear and cast off by 09:45am…

After a quick steam out from the marina, we raised the sails near Kamai Pt, Coal Island and sailed NE towards Moresby Island.  We tacked back towards Portland Island but lost our wind in the lund of Portland Island so we motored north for 20 minutes until it picked up again.  Then we enjoyed a nice sail up Swanson Channel and into Captain Passage where we dropped the sails and steamed to Ganges.  I checked the motor frequently and things remained cool so I’m relieved the overheating issue is resolved…

Winter sailing is surprisingly pleasant if you are dressed for it.  We both took turns dropping into the cabin to get a quick warm up from the warmth of the Dickinson and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and some warmed up bone broth…  Ah, life’s good…

We tied up at Ganges Marina, had a beer and went for a walk around the market at Ganges.  After an hour or so we ended up at The Oystercatcher Seafood Bar and Grill and went inside for a few drinks and appetizers…  The calamari was excellent.  Everyone we talked to at Ganges was very relaxed and easy going and we watched the sun go down while overlooking the marina.

We retired for the night back aboard Treylya where we enjoyed a drink of Jamesons and turned in around 9pm after a full day.

We awoke the next morning to a peaceful island sunrise and after a lazy start we fuelled up and cast off near noon.  The wind was fairly light and from the SW which was in our face for most of the trip back so we decided to motor the whole way back.

About an hour into our journey home there was a loud thump which seemed to come from the v-berth at the forward of the boat.  Deb came up and took the helm and I did an inspection but couldn’t find the source of the bang or any damage so I assume we hit a submerged log or something.  Kinda scared the crap out of us but everything seems OK and there’s no water pouring in so I’m not too worried.  I’ll do a more throughout inspection once we’re back on dry land.

We took a small detour and circled around Princess Bay on Portland Island to check it out.  Looks like a nice little anchorage close to our marina so we’ll have to plan a night there on one of our next outings.

We pulled into our slip around 16:00, packed up and made for home…

Day 1: 20160123
09:45 – 15:17
Total time: 05:33
Sail Time: 03:10
Engine Time: 02:23

Day 2: 20160124
11:41 – 16:03
Total Time: 04:22
Sail Time: 0
Engine Time: 04:22

Wanting to take care of this overheating issue right away I came back to the boat on Monday following our weekend.  I started the engine and found that no water was coming from the exhaust and within a few minutes the exhaust elbow was too hot to touch again.

I’ve been researching the issue online and I’ve read 100s of posts on various websites saying that the issue could be caused by anything from clogged raw water pipes, to a bad heat exchanger, a bad thermostat, a bad impeller, a clogged raw water strainer, plugged raw water inlet, plugged exhaust elbow, etc… I already did the easy things like checking the impeller, cleaning the raw water strainer and checking the raw water intake to no avail.  I suspect it’s either the heat exchanger or a plugged exhaust elbow.

I started out by removing the heat exchanger as it’s looking in pretty rough shape.  I’ll take it somewhere to get it rebuilt this week.  John, the previous owner of Treylya, mentioned that it hadn’t been serviced in 5 years and it shows.

I blew into each tube coming off the heat exchanger to see if they were blocked and air passed thru each pipe except the one leading to the exhaust elbow.  I blew until I was red in the face and I couldn’t force any air thru the pipe.  Hmmmm…  Something’s not right here…  I decided to take the exhaust elbow off and found it to be plugged with scale and rust…  Not good…  The inlet at the top of the elbow where the water from the heat exchanger enters the elbow was completely blocked by crud and over the years of heat and pressure it was as hard as iron.

The water which was suppose to come into the top inlet was suppose to be flushed thru the head of the elbow (keeping it cool) and injected into the exhaust pipe but all water inlets were fully or partially blocked and the water outlets were non existent…

I took the heat exchanger and exhaust elbow to a local marine shop (Gartside Marine Engines) and they showed me where it was blocked and suggested that the elbow probably needed to be replaced but that I should bring the exchanger to a local auto transmission shop and get them to rebuild it.  I followed their advice and ordered a new elbow and dropped the heat exchanger off to Townside Auto in Victoria.

By the end of the week the parts were ready so I picked up the new elbow and couldn’t believe the difference…  This was probably the main source of the issue as the flow of water was blocked and therefore no water was circulating and therefore the heat exchanger couldn’t do it’s job of transferring heat from the engine.  The new elbow should make a big difference.

Next I dropped over and picked up the new heat exchanger and it looked brand new.  I’m ecstatic about what a great job the shop did to rebuilt it.  Initially I was concerned that the exchanger was ruined so I priced a new one and a new Volvo replacement part was $2100.  The rebuild cost was only $200.  I’m so relieved…  I installed it and moved to the exhaust elbow.

Before reinstalling the elbow I checked the coolant and raw water pipes and found that the pipe which goes from the heat exchanger to the elbow was about 90% blocked.  There was built up of scale and rust and only a small hole, about the size of a head of a match, remained open…  In a previous email John mentioned that the water flow was always low on Treylya but he never determined why.  I think I found the issue…  I grabbed a screwdriver and scraped it out and after about 30 minutes I had it opened up pretty good.  That should help…

The next thing that I thought I would check was something I read online about a pipe that runs thru the head with small holes in it that sprays water into the head to keep it cool.  This is called the “water distribution pipe” in the Volvo Penta Workshop Manual.  Sometimes the holes get plugged with scale which can lead to overheating issues.  I took the connecting tube off the end of the pipe and shone a light in to check the holes.  They all looked pretty good but I took a small piece of wire and poked each one to ensure they were clear.  All was good so I put the tube back on the end of the pipe.  One less thing to worry about…

Next was to reinstall everything…  I purchased a few steel brush heads for the drill and some sandpaper and spent the afternoon cleaning rust from the engine.  Once the exhaust area was clear of rust I cleaned and spray painted the surfaces.  To reinstall the elbow I installed the exhaust tube, placed the gasket onto the block, then lined up the elbow and screwed the bolts down.

The old bolts looked pretty tired but it was getting late and I just wanted to get the elbow back on so I decided to reuse the same bolts.  Bad idea…  The first 3 went on pretty good but the forth twisted off as I was applying the final bit of pressure to it…  Oh no…  WTF!  How the heck did I make such a dumb mistake?!?  It was the end of the day and I was tired from wrestling with this all day so I decided to leave it for the morning.  Groan…

Next morning I stopped by Home Hardware to pick up a screw extractor.  I was feeling apprehensive about what lay in front of me as I drove to the boat.  I removed the three bolts and to my relief there was still about 1/2 an inch of the broken bolt sticking up when I removed the elbow.  Whew!  That should make things easier…

I worked at the bolt for a few hours using Liquid Wrench and a pair of vice grips…  Pitting a software developer against a broken, corroded, seized head bolt was a bit of an unfair fight and there were many phone calls to my brother Doug, several Hail Mary’s and various small dents in my knuckles but in the end it came out.  Whew…

For some reason whoever installed the exhaust elbow used zinc plated bolts and with the salt water environment they were pretty badly corroded and the one that broke was narrowed in at the middle of the bolt.  Being lazy I used it anyway and it broke…  Lesson learned…  I ran out and picked up some stainless steel replacements…

I reinstall the elbow, opened the raw water shutoff and was ready for the initial live test.  Deb monitored for leaks with a flashlight and I ran up and turned the key.  After a few seconds she fired up and apart from a few minor leaks (where I forgot a seal) it appeared to be working fine.  We let her run for about 10 minutes and the exhaust elbow and engine remained cool.  I put her in gear and rev’ed up the motor for about 25 minutes and all was good.  There was a nice heavy flow of water coming out with the exhaust and things remained cool.  Wahoo…  Looks like the overheating issue is solved.

I’m really enjoying getting to know my new boat better and troubleshooting the various issues.

It’s been a busy couple of months.  During November I travelled to Atlanta, GA for another install and then went back to Newfoundland (great to see old friends and family) to pack the remainder of our items for shipment to Victoria.  Had a night up to the cabin with Perry to winterize it and put the rain barrel away.

Then back home to Victoria to help mom get moved from Newfoundland to Victoria and prepare for Christmas.  The whole family joined us for a great Christmas of eating and drinking and we enjoyed the family spirit of Christmas.

We’ve been missing spending time on the boat so we planned to get away for New Year’s eve.  During a summer trip to Genoa Bay the restaurant owner, Gordon, told us about a New Years bash planned at the restaurant so we made our plans to be there to ring in the New Year…  We left Sidney around 14:00 figuring we’d be in Genoa Bay in a little over an hour to begin our celebrations.

We provisioned the boat, lit the heater and steamed out of Tsehum Harbour and turned north between Goudge Island and Coal Island.  The current was against us a little but we kept making progress as we dodged ferries outside of Swartz Bay and moved into Satellite Channel.

I checked the exhaust elbow and it was very hot to touch – I couldn’t keep my hand on it…  Uh oh…  The engine is running hot and the afternoon is wearing on…  I put up the sails and sailed for an hour while I tried to figure out the problem but to no avail…  The impeller looked fine but not much water was passing out with the exhaust.  I looked for the nearest harbour where we could spend the night and found that Deep Cove, North Saanich was just around the corner.  We started the engine and steamed towards it.  I looked up nearby marinas in the Cruising the Gulf Islands guide I have aboard and found that Deep Cove marina was at the south side of the bay.  Their number wasn’t published so I googled it and when I called the fella said that they had a slip available at E76.  Perfect.  The engine was running hot but the overheating alarm still hadn’t sounded so we kept going.

We pulled in around 16:30 but couldn’t see any wharf finger letters so we pulled up at a finger near the outside of the wharf that was vacant and I went to pay for the night.  I walked up to the road but didn’t see anyone so I called the number on the sign and the fella who answered told me they were a private marina and weren’t really set up for overnighters but when I explained my circumstances he agreed to let me stay the night and said to throw $20 on the counter of the house near the wharf.  Excellent…  All set for the night…  I poked my head in and shouted hello but no one was around so I left it until the morning.

We settled in, had dinner and poured a drink.  The sun went down and we watched the stars come up.  It was a beautiful, cold night under a sky filled with stars.  But we were warm and comfortable thanks to the Dickinson.  It turned out to be a very rocky night as Deep Cove pretty exposed to waves from the large tankers that travelled thru Satellite Channel.  Groan.  It made for a poor night for sleeping.

Deb ran up to pay the next morning while I got the boat ready.  Apparently whoever I spoke to didn’t let the lady that owns the house know that we were staying and she was, understandably, rather unimpressed when Deb knocked on her door at 8am.  She came out wearing her PJs and told Deb and it was a private marina and that we should leave.  She warmed up after a few minutes and told us to stay as long as we needed and was quite friendly.  We steamed out of the harbour and were greeted by decent winds so we sailed pretty much all the way to Genoa Bay.  The wind was on our nose to we made slow progress as we tacked back and forth but it was a beautiful, sunny day so we enjoyed our time on the water.

We started the motor and steamed in to the marina.  The motor heated up and after just 15 minutes and the overheating alarm went off as we were pulling in to our slip.  James and Sue (Hounds Hollow) were there to catch our dock lines and I organized and prepared the cabin while Deb went for a drink with our friends.  I talked with a few people who were also on the dock and joined Deb, Sue and James to begin the celebrations…

We relaxed on Hounds Hollow for a few drinks.  Got cleaned up and went up to the restaurant for our 9pm seating.  Had a delicious seven course meal and brought in the New Year with the crowd.  Our host, Gordon, was his usual flamboyant self and we all enjoyed a great night.  Happy New Year!

We relaxed for New Year’s day and flirted with the idea of heading to Ganges on Saltspring Island on Saturday but decided that with the hangovers, the overheating engine and little wind that plan might be a little ambitious so we decided to stay put.  We spent Jan 1st and 2nd relaxing at Genoa Bay, hiking and setting and checking the crab traps…  Made for a relaxing start to the New Year…

Winds were 10 – 15 knots NW and we left early to have the whole day to make it back to Sidney.  We motored out of the harbour and set the sails.  The wind was behind us and pushed us along pretty good and we enjoyed wing on wing for most of the trip back.  The wind dropped off around noon and we motored for about 15 minutes but it picked back up just northeast of Coal Island so we sailed right into the harbour and only had to motor into our slip.  We were back at the dock by 15:15.  Perfect.

So, now the task before me is to figure out this engine overheating issue…