All Hell breaks out on simple trip to Catalina Island

[Baker]

Xantrex sucks. Victron and Magnum good!

 

[oscar]

Because of your response, I called Xantrex and they said it is not unusual to find an AC Echo. He said it would not have any real amps behind it. He said I could test it with something that may be handy right now, old Christmas lights. He said not to use a single AC bulb because it will light somewhat with the DC current. Well I sold the Xantrex last night so it is a moot point.

OK, that makes sense. So it didn't tear up your DC system like you originally thought. It does however explain the buzz you can get on entertainment audio running on inverter. Thanks for following up.

 

[kierasdady]

Crossing from hell. Everybody has at least one.

Your story was so inspirational, I just had to share. Just so you know you aren't the only one.

We've made probably 40 trips to Catalina on our 30' flybridge (Bertram style) cruiser. One time, however, all the stars... misaligned. The plan was simple. Get off work at 2:00. Jam home, hook up the trailer & be at the ramp by 3:00. Launch in Huntington and be at the Catalina Two Harbors to meet with friends by 4:30 & go for dinner. No worries. Till I got off work.

Got home, hooked up and made the ramp on time. When I pulled up to remove tiedowns & prep to launch, I made the mistake of turning the truck off. Never to start again. Cranked and diagnosed & fought with it till the battery was exhausted. Eventually had to pull one from the boat (not easy). Fought more as the hours ticked away. After exhausting every trick & all the starter fluid from the boat I was about to just call it, & record the time. Then! It just decides to fire! No real reason. But now it's 6:00.
On the way to the ramp, the sea was amazingly calm for afternoon and it looked like an easy run. Now?... Well, while I was working on the truck the wind was cranking up and clouds were coming in. By the time we hit the harbor mouth it was solid whitecaps, 3-4' wind waves on 8' west swell. And the sun was nearing the horizon. So we stashed everything low in the boat and put all the items on the counters on the floor or in the sink. Including a fresh pineapple that went in the sink. The normally 1 hour crossing turned into a 2-1/2 hr pounding that was like running moguls on a black diamond slope. There was no light. No moon. Black, rough, wet & cold, but we finally made it. Unfortunately, everyone else made it first. No moorings available for us.

They said we could side tie to our friends boat, but they had already left for dinner having given up on waiting for us. Still, after a ridiculous 15 minutes just to tie off, (because of the thrashing we got slipping around on the soaking decks trying to set fenders & lines in a serge that was pushing the boat 3-6' in every direction), we were finally secured. Time for dinner.

My daughter went below and immediately informed us that there was 6" of water in the bottom of the cabin! Turns out, that pineapple in the sink, bounced around till it moved the faucet nozzle & then the handle of the faucet "on". It pumped every drop of fresh water (60 gal.) onto the counter and into the cabin. All the towels, dry food storage, inverter, shoes... everything stored low for the rough weather plus everything stored in the bottom cupboards was floating. After cleaning up from that (about 10:00) tried for dinner again. Had to get creative since we were planning on going out that night & everything was frozen for later , or soaked. Also, we only had 1 bottle of water to share for 3 people for making dinner, brushing teeth, etc. Eventually we ate. Some. Fashioned some pillows from bathroom towels. (Ours were soaked from being used as padding when putting items on the floor.) And got to sleep.

Sometimes you just have to wonder if something is just telling you not to go. This was one of those runs.

 

[RickyD]

Ok, here is an update, so lets see. Where was I. No line wrapped on the prop. Found the dinghy. Started the port engine. Started the stb engine. Started the 16kw genset. Fixed the 4kw genset exhaust hose and replaced the impeller, oil, oil filter and reassembled the shrouding. It works!! Replaced the through hull valve. Replaced 4 8D batteries with 2 8Ds and six L16s. Replaced the Xantrex inverter charger with Victron. Replaced a smaller old ProMariner charger with Victron. And everything works. Ok I'm done. Wait, the bow thruster batteries say low volts. Why are they not charging. Oh. the 2 year old ProSport charger is dead. Damn, I'm still not done with this.

 

[kthoennes]

Ok, here is an update, so lets see. Where was I. No line wrapped on the prop. Found the dinghy. Started the port engine. Started the stb engine. Started the 16kw genset. Fixed the 4kw genset exhaust hose and replaced the impeller, oil, oil filter and reassembled the shrouding. It works!! Replaced the through hull valve. Replaced 4 8D batteries with 2 8Ds and six L16s. Replaced the Xantrex inverter charger with Victron. Replaced a smaller old ProMariner charger with Victron. And everything works. Ok I'm done. Wait, the bow thruster batteries say low volts. Why are they not charging. Oh. the 2 year old ProSport charger is dead. Damn, I'm still not done with this.

Okay then -- to all those people on the other thread talking about a fixed ratio of boat price to annual maintenance costs, 10.093217% or whatever -- there you go.

 

[Baker]

Sometimes you just have to wonder if something is just telling you not to go. This was one of those runs.

Yeah....I know I would not have pushed that trip. I know, easy for me to say from the comfort of home. But that sounds like y'all had plenty of chances to not go....

 

[Baker]

Okay then -- to all those people on the other thread talking about a fixed ratio of boat price to annual maintenance costs, 10.093217% or whatever -- there you go.

The problem with his maintenance plan is that last sentence..."Damn, I'm still not done with this!"!!! He is under the (false)impression that he will somehow catch up to all of "this" and keeps shooting the money gun at it in hopes of catching up....hahaha.....tongue in cheek here.....kinda....

 

[stubones99]

No not without major surgery. Now that I have done a fairly complete service; oil change, impeller change, filters changed, and learning how to blindly find the dip stick and get it back in the invisible hole, and to use oily fingertips to spin on the new oil filter when I can barely move it 1/4 inch at a time while scraping arms and hands while laying over the top of it; I think the cost of spinning 180 degrees will take too much fun out of the procedures.

Do like Kadey Krogen does on some twin engine boats. Install a polished piece of stainless steel sheet on the back side of the engine and use it as a mirror so you can see what's going on back there.

 

[RickyD]

Okay then -- to all those people on the other thread talking about a fixed ratio of boat price to annual maintenance costs, 10.093217% or whatever -- there you go.

My "When does it end" comment was relative to my battery/charger project.

I bought my boat in July 2018. It was in seemingly beautiful condition not withstanding the many items uncovered in the survey. Some of that work was paid for by the PO but that year I paid 23.5% of the purchase price for repairs and upgrades which included major items like bottom paint, sun deck panel paint and a bow thruster. 2019 I paid 14.1% in repairs but I can't think of significant upgrades. In 2020 I spent about 9% on the same. These numbers include about $2500 in fuel but does not include the $100 a month on topside cleaning and $80 a month on bottom cleaning nor annual waxing.
Expressed differently I averaged about $7,200 a month for the first 7 months. Then $2,500 a month for the next 12. Then $1,250 a month for the next 12. I'm hoping next year will continue the decline but hey, its a boat. I hope I don't scare lurkers away from boating. I love the time spent on the boat and I don't begrudge the money. At least not too much.

 

[rmiller4292]

Sorry to hear about your trying trip...thinking about Catalina reminded me about a not so smart thing I did when I was much younger. A friend had an 18' bowrider that had been used exclusively in fresh water around Socal...we decided on an adventure and launched out of Newport and ran it out to Catalina...putted around the island for a while and headed into Dana Point...after that we headed back to Newport and called it a night..never really checked the weather or sea conditions, and it was a really fun trip for 2 17 year old kids...In hindsight..probably not the smartest thing to do..but it sure was fun!