Clean tanks, clean fuel

Port fuel tank looking aft

I'm sure I misquote Ludwig Bemelmans "On Board Noah's Ark" when I say, "ninety percent of marine disasters are caused by dirt in the fuel" but you get the drift. So, when Dave Shaw said, "you need to clean your tanks" our options were really limited to cleaning our tanks.

Port fuel tank looking forward

Catering to our mixed readership here, I'd like to make the point that you're looking at amazingly clean fuel tanks. As old fishing boat fuel tanks go these are absolutely pristine. The Good Oyle Dr Feelgood additive these guys have sold us suppresses the rust, and this much rust isn't a problem anyway.

Filtering and polishing the diesel

When we bought Orion she had around 900 litres of diesel oil on board. That could be an asset or a liability. These Diesel Clean guys pump it all out, clean the diesel, clean the tanks, and then put it all back. The service is not cheap, but it's kind of not-optional, because nothing will stop a boat engine quicker than dirty fuel churned up in a rough sea. And when the sea is rough, that's when you really don't want your engine to stop. We just found what could be a cheaper alternative to services like Diesel Clean. In 121 Marine Centre Ltd., 3/20 Constellation Drive, Mairangi, North Shore, (09) 444 3442 you can hire a filtering machine for $75/day. You've got to find a place to do it, and get together some clean drums, which won't be clean after, and work out the value of your own time, but it could be a way to get the job done for less money.  It might even be fun if you got in some mates and a few beers.

Something I want to say about Brian here. These are not the original tanks. Fishing boats have huge tanks (typically 10,000 litres) and once the boat is converted for pleasure there's really no use for all that diesel. By the time you got to burn it, it could be five years old. So it makes sense to reduce the tanks to around 1000 litres. Brian has done a brilliant job: using mild steel instead of stainless; with sumps that collect the water and dirt; and with large inspection hatches that give access. Go you, Brian. These tanks are the real deal. 

While we were at it we replaced the main fuel filter and some fuel lines. It could be said this is the one most important thing on board a motor vessel... more important than the rudder, because without any thrust the rudder will be kind of redundant. So, while the Gardner 8LXB is reported to cruise at 1100 rpm for a thrifty 11.5 litres/hour it could easily ask for twice that going into a headwind with the handle down. Hence the big Racor.

Nailed it

John Butler

 John's hand-made nails

John makes by hand the nails that will fasten the sacrificial board to the keel. You can't buy nails like this in any chandlery shop we know. When we bump the bottom going into Havelock we'll know nothing's going to drop off.

Work done at Salthouse

Dave servicing the main engine

Originally Orion had a Dorman 6 cylinder engine. It was replaced with a more powerful Gardner 8LXB in 1974, and this engine was rebuilt from the crankshaft up in 2008 by Dave Shaw. In this photo Dave is servicing the engine before the trip south to Picton.

John scraping the garboard seam

After looking and poking at the garboard seam for a couple of days Nick Peal decided to re-caulk it for the full length on both sides. Here John is scraping out all the putty and any loose cotton.

Garboard seam re-caulked (Video 1 minute)

Nick caulking a butt

Weeping butt joints were mentioned in a survey way back. Here Nick is re-caulking one of several he has identified as in need of attention. Also some butt joints along the garboard are being re-fastened and re-caulked.

Old wooden fishing boats leak, and there's nothing surprising about that. When we went aboard Orion the automatic pump was going off once an hour and pumping out about a litre of water. After a couple of weeks out of the water she will have dried out and may take a few days to take up, but after that we should see a considerable improvement. More to the point, if she meets any weather on the trip south she stands a much better chance of remaining staunch. Each two-starred item on the Jon Jones survey report has been inspected and attended to, and more besides.

Pictures by Sue

Hauling out at Salthouse

High and dry

The wind was fresh from the west, blowing onto the Salthouse jetty. I think Greg and Nick nearly postponed, but she came out just fine: straight, upright, and well supported. It's a great wee slipway, in a lovely setting.

Skipper Brian and his crew

These are the guys who did all the hard and often dirty work of the conversion, and also went on week-long fishing trips to Barrier Island. It's been our great honour to meet them, and we really hope they come down to Picton one day to fish for the blue cod and to have a drink from our bottle.

Brian Gallocher piloting Orion
up river to Salthouse

Salthouse Boatyard is at Greenhithe on Lucas Creek. The upper harbour is lovely, with bush coming down to the water's edge. The deep water is marked by but also taken up with moored craft, and you have to pick your way through them carefully. 

Leaving Bayswater

On board at last

Our first night aboard

From buying Orion until now has felt like a lifetime, though really it is only a few weeks. At times it has felt a bit dreamlike and disconnected, but now here we are. Brian met us and showed us a few essential things, and when he had gone ashore we had a drink in the last moments of the sun, roasted a chicken, ate at the table in the main cabin, and turned in early.

An agony of waiting

Picton Sunday May 7th

An agony of waiting. One sleep to go! We are all packed and organised, and are off to Blenheim airport early to fly to Auckland. We plan to hire a car and drive to Bayswater, and hope to be on board by mid afternoon.

Tory Channel Contracting

That's not Orion on the right

Round the back of the ferry terminal on Lagoon Road is TCC's yard with two cradles, and a jetty. There's a big shed, and inside we met with Shorty and Fred who were "no problem" kinda guys. They're tuned into wooden boats too, so we may find ourselves hauled out here before very long.

Franklin's Boatyard

Franklin's Boatyard, Waikawa

Continuing our search for suitable slipways we looked over the gate of Franklin's Boatyard, Waikawa, Queen's Birthday weekend. It's on the site of the old Jorgensen Yard, and this suggests the slipway might well take Orion. There are two chandlers and several marine businesses nearby at Waikawa Marina.

Havelock Slipway

Havelock Slipway

On our way north in the van we went via Havelock to check out the slipway. We saw two cradles that could take Orion. By luck, we were there at dead low water and got a good look at the channel.