2009 Spring Commissioning - Fresh Engines

During the week the boys at the marina were able to replace the raw water pump on the port engine. Now, at last, I would be able to take Vintage Viking out on the water for some sea-trials of her newly-freshened engines and systems.

I traveled down to the marina early on Saturday. I had arranged for the local cable TV guy to come and get me some 'rainy-day' television capabilities. I was getting tired of the DVD collection, but didn't want the full package so I opted for basic TV channels. Never know when these guys show up, so I was at the marina at 8am. Jumped on the boat ready to fire up the engines. But no dice. The starboard battery bank was stone cold. I had recently replaced all the batteries, since they were accidentally boiled over during the winter. But I hadn't heard the on-board charger running since the boat was hauled out, and as I investigated the problem my worse fears came to be; the charger was dead. I traced all the fuses and breakers but no DC power. After what seemed like hours, I gave in and I opened it up. I found that there were overload fuses on each of the three banks to protect it, and they did just that. New fuses, an hour or so to charge up the batteries and I was ready to go out on the water.

But, not yet. The cable tv guy shows up, and gets started. Nice guy, puts the wires where I ask, but no tv signal. Apparently, the entire side of the marina is dead, not having had any customers for the last 3 years. OK, strike two for the weekend. But the engines were running!!!! I cleaned up a bit and cleared away all the tools and such from my little maintenance projects so that I can go out on the bay.

Untie the boat, pull out of the marina and into the no-wake zone. It was such a beautiful day for late April. Forecast was for clear sunny skies and temps in the high 80's. This was gonna be great!!! I approach the end of the NWZ, and begin to accelerate, being cautious of break in instructions. As soon as I attempted to hit the gas, both engines cut out. Started right up again, but would cut out when I accelerated slowly. Carburetors must need more adjusting. If I accelerated quicker, the boat would run. OK then, quick it is. As I approached 2500 RPM, the port engine started to require excessive throttle to keep up, and would only get to 3200. Strike three!!!

So here I was, four months since haul out and major engine work, and the damn thing wouldn't run! The boating gods were not looking upon me favorably today. But it was still floating, the starboard was running OK and the weather was great. So I decided to push on, and to put the boat through several tests and develop a list of issues. Being in the construction business all of my life I am very familiar with 'punch lists'. Since I considered the re-powering of Vintage Viking to be a major project, I treated the repower of Vintage Viking like one of my construction projects that we would run commissioning tests on the major equipment before turning it over to the owner. For the rest of the weekend, I would be the Owner and want to see the Project perform to my satisfaction before I accept it as complete.

Overall, the work done was exceptional. The problem was that since I was trying to get the work completed at the same time as my fellow boaters were trying to get their boats wet, the staff at the marina was a little overworked. Eddie, the mechanic who took over once the engines were set into the boat, had worked long and hard to get it to this point. But he was also pulled in other directions for other clients. He apparently never had time to take Vintage Viking out on the water for test runs.

I made the marina aware of the issues by sending them a report, similar to what I get from my clients. For the next three days, Eddie was back on board tracing down the little bugs that vexed me last weekend. On Wednesday I traveled back down at the end of the day. The weather was much cooler than the weekend, but still great to be on the water. As I puled into the marina I could see Vintage Viking moored up at the service dock. Eddie & Mike had just gotten back from a run on the bay with her, and were making some additional adjustments. Mike asked "wanna go out for a test ride?". Yeah, like I needed convincing. Hopped aboard, threw the lines and we were off. Boat sounded and behaved allot better, and soon were were taking her through some paces. Adjustments to the carburetors paid off, as port engine was doing much better, topping out at 4200RPM and running allot smoother. Still had some problems with instrumentation readings a little wacky, but Eddie was still on it. We were out for about an hour, and i had set up the portable hand-held GPS. Once I got the boat up plane, I was pleasantly surprised to see she was doing a 29MPH clip into the slight wind. What an improvement over the 18 MPH before the engine work.

Looking forward to the weekend. Since my birthday is Sunday, this weekend qualifies as MY time to do whatever I want. I'll be spending the entire weekend on board, regardless of what Mother Nature, or the Boat Gods, have in store.

Launch 2009

After the extensive work done during the past winter layup on the hard, I had been anxious for weeks to get Vintage Viking re-launched and back in the water. There was still work to be done, as there always is with a classic (note: not OLD) boat. But I believed that I had done as many of the projects that required the boat to be on the hard that I could financially afford to do this year. Both engines were in and running, but we did suspect that the port engine needed to have the raw-water cooling pump rebuilt (even though this was done as part of the winter refit). But this could be done once the boat was in the water.



Weather fronts prevented the detail crew from completing the entire boat and superstructure, but they were able to complete the waterline-to-rub rail portion of the hull. The rest would wait until the weather cleared and I could get the detail crew back. But I could wait no more. The marina had made arrangements with the hauler to transport the boat from her winter mason-block pedestals to the launch ramp down the street at the Municipal Dock.



The gentleman who runs the hauling concern is an octogenarian German who custom designed and built his tow vehicle and trailer to meet his needs. If he thought of a better way to do something, he would probably re-engineer the entire rig to meet the need. Even though the surrounding area had plenty of lagoon-front homes with boats in the backyard, this man could, and did, make a living of hauling these boats out of the water in the backyard and re-depositing them onto blocks in the front yard for winter layup. He didn't need to travel very far; just in the immediate area I would guess there are 300 potential clients.



Late in the day on a beautiful Spring Friday, he came to the marina to re-load Vintage Viking onto his haul trailer and get her wet again. Just as Jesse and I had turned the corner at the bend between the Municipal Dock and the marina, we caught sight of the boat moving across the Earth on this freight-train of a truck turning onto the road. Because of her height above waterline, and the added presence of the gin pole, someone had to ride on Vintage Viking while she made her journey so that he could lift low-laying wires that stretched from utility power poles on the road. This process would repeat itself about four times before the boat was down the street in the Municipal Dock parking lot ready to be backed down the ramp. It was not surprising to see that as Vintage Viking made its way down the street she attracted about 6 or 7 groups of onlookers, gawking at first her size and then the ease at which she moved over land. Even as we prepared to release her bonds and straps keeping her on the trailer, she still seemed graceful and at ease.




As she was backed down the ramp and began to get wet, first her props, then her rudders, and finally the keel and lowermost part of her hull, I could almost see an AAAAHHHH come over her. Like when you slip into that cool clear water of a swimming pool on that hot summer day. The mechanics from the marina were on board now, checking through-hulls and preparing the engines to run. After several minutes of 'discussions' between the sage octogenarian hauler and the young enthusiastic mechanics as to what was the best way to get the Viking off the pads of the trailer and floating freely without getting the haul-truck into the water. After a combination of slight tugging, easing the trailer a little further and the prevailing wind pushing the Viking into the water. She was now finally afloat, at home again in her wet environ where she belonged.

I climbed up to the flybridge and took the controls for the first time this year. I could hear and feel the smoothness of the rebuilt transmissions and the power of the engines. I eased the boat down the channel, away from the Municipal Dock for the short 500 yard trip to the entrance to the marina and eventually her slip. I gingerly ran the engines, not wanting to overheat the port engine, yet still have power to overcome the windage once I was ready to back her into her slip. She responded to the slightest touch of the controls. I will be very happy to open her up and unbridle her newly-freshened power plants. But a little at a time; remember break-in instructions from Crusader........

Little Viking

My son Jesse experienced the thrill and exhilaration of riding on a waverunner five years ago on a family vacation to Lake George. He was too young to ride by himself, and the waverunner operator had his setup in a large cove on the lake and kept the waverunners within certain boundaries. Even though he sat behind me, I could feel his enjoyment as he held onto me while we got 'major air' each time we jumped a wave. I guess it's natural for a young boy to want some independence and feel the power of the machine he is riding through his grip. The smile on his face will last forever in my memory.



Partly because of the inherent propensity for these powerful machines to go really fast and equally because people who operate them can be very careless, laws are now in place requiring PWC operators to be 16 years old and pass a safety course. Similar laws are in place for someone 13 years old to operate a boat with less than 10 hp. I'm positive that the insurance industry had a hand in these laws being passed. But I am pleased that these laws exist, for the benefit of not just my son.



Now 14 years old, Jesse still has a love affair with waverunners. But he has two more years to go until he is old enough to operate one by himself. This past winter he took the boating safety class, and got a 96 on the test. As a reward I bought him his own boat and outboard so that he can have his independence and can gain valuable boating experience. We all can remember our first bicycle, usually having training wheels. the exuberance that we felt once our parent or older sibling let go of the bike and off we went 'on our own'. Our first boat is very similar in this manner, as it gave us independence and an expansive world for us to explore. Jesse's first weekend with his boat was very much like my very own experience many years earlier.



We both came down to the marina Friday afternoon; me to witness the hauling and launching of Vintage Viking after its extensive refit over the winter, and Jesse with the hope of enjoying is first 'launching'. Once we got Vintage Viking into her slip (see additional post on the launch), Jesse was antsy to get his own boat launched. The launch of 'Little Vike' was much easier than its bigger brethren. Jesse and I slid his little boat over he edge of the bulkhead and into the lagoon with comprises the majority of the marina's water.

After several minutes of testing the engine to make sure that it ran, I got out and Jesse jumped into the boat. As any parent would do, I gave him boundaries and limits of where he can go. In a blink of an eye he was tooling up and down the lagoon, it looked like he had been boating for years. But this belief was soon chased away. I noticed Jesse rowing the boat back to the dock. He shouted that the "engine just quit!" As I smiled, I asked him the immortal question; "Do you have gas in the tank?" A puzzled look and a glance of pity.

He learned that valued lesson of all non-sailboters. Every boat, even small ones, run on fuel. And it doesn't get in the tank by itself. Oh, what a proud moment.

Winter 2009 Refit & Refurb

Once the Winter of 2009 arrived, my focus shifted to the tasks outlined in the Surveyor's report rendered at the time of purchase. There were many tasks to get underway. Some would be farmed out to service providers and some would be done by us. Oh, where to start!!!

I had gotten quotes for the most extensive of repairs; the port engine refurbishment. There were many options for this work. I could just do 'top-end' repairs and pull the heads and re-machine. But this wouldn't address the main block and if there were weak pistons or bearings the now-stronger heads may overpower the remaining old parts. I could pull the engine and replace it with a factory rebuilt engine, but you don't know what shape or from what type of vehicle the rebuilt engine came from. The 454cu inch Crusader was built on a GM 454 platform, and this engine could be found in Chevy's, Buick's, Cadillacs, Chevy or GMC trucks. It could come from an old boat bilge where the block had raw-water cooling with pitting and blocked passages. I could go 'on-line' to one of the web-based purveyors of packaged bobtail engines, where all the components from carb to flywheel to transmission are 'refurbished' and ready to install. But most of these purveyors are in the Florida market, and too far to provide warranty coverage. Plus 'refurbished' doesn't mean rebuilt and reconditioned. It can just be cleaned, painted and reassembled.

After much deliberation and comparisons, I decided to have the engine removed, disassembled and the various parts sent out to be rebuilt, reconditioned, painted and reassembled. I also decided to have the service guys at the marina do the removal and reassembly. I figured it was the off-season, that they would appreciate the work and therefore give me a good price. Since I was developing what looked like a long-term relationship with them I had high hopes that they would value this and do the right thing. And lastly, I figured that they were local and I could ride rough-shot over them to ensure that the work progresses. Since I was going to perform numerous other repairs and would be at the marina anyway, this was logical. I got an estimate for labor-only, and I would provide all of the required rebuilt parts and services. I looked at the Refurbishment of Vintage Viking as I would any other renovation project I run for my clients with their homes.

But what really added to the scope of the project is that since I was going to save so much money by managing the process and dealing with the rebuilders directly, I felt it would be advantageous and cost-effective to have BOTH engines done. The starboard engine, while in better shape than the port, had equal running hours and it was only a matter of time before I would have to do this work anyway. This way everything in the drive train would be refurbished, and once done there would be no further need to rip the boats bilge apart for major work. This decision would prove to be both intelligent and well-thought out for the long-term, and quite stupid given the ever-diminishing state of the economy in general and my impending work-related injury that would sideline me for a while.

In early January, we had both engines and transmissions out of the boat, disassembled and loaded on the trailer for distribution to various service providers. The engine blocks would be sent to IDM Machining to be totally rebuilt, head to oil pump. The transmissions would be sent to a local Borg-Warner shop to be bench-tested and rebuilt if needed (they needed it!). Starters and alternators would go to a local auto parts rebuilder. The carbs would be rebuilt, as would the raw and fresh water pumps. The heat exchangers would prove to be too expensive to replace, so I sent them to a radiator shop that I use for my work trucks. The exhaust manifolds would be replaced with new, as this was due to be done on both engines anyway.

By mid-January, all of the shops were busily tearing the parts down and preparing to rebuild. I would take advantage of the now empty bilge area to clean it up and do various little tasks while there was room, such as replacing the holding tank macerator and running some wires for future planned upgrades. One thing that I hadn't planned on doing right away was replacing the flybridge bimini and enclosure. But the advanced deteriorated condition of the zippers and windows proved too much for the cold winter weather when the boat was hauled out. The combination of dry cracked material and the cold weather led to big splits and cracks in the enclosure. It wasn't cost-effective to repair, but I wasn't going to spend the $6,000 that I was quoted to replace it. As luck would have it I found a canvas mechanic who had lost his lease at a local marina and was willing to work from home and do the replacement of the enclosure for half the price. While I would normally be very suspicious of this arrangement, once I met Ed I judged that he was a good mechanic that would do a fine job. This would prove to hold true.

Everything was moving along nicely. I was gearing up to begin my work of replacing the hot water heater, the stereo, the battery banks and install an inverter. The gas-powered generator was old and inoperative, and I feel that the cost to refurbish would be wasted money since I didn't really need it until we start extended cruising and the technology of these powerplants has improved so much I decided to remove it from the boat while all the engine work was being done and then look for one in the used market. But what I didn't plan for was getting injured at work in late January that sent me to the hospital for knee surgery and weeks of rehabilitation. Great!! I have the boat ripped apart, major components in various shops and state of rebuild, and I am sidelined. Not only can't I contribute to the Vintage Viking Refurbishment Project, my 'real' jobs would begin to suffer since I couldn't do these either with a bum knee. There goes the income stream that would provide the needed cash for Vintage Viking (as well as to live on). Self-employed building contractors don't generally have insurance for lost-work, and I had three major client-projects underway at the time. Thank God for certain good friends who stepped up and helped keep these jobs moving forward while I recuperated at home.

I was able to manage to keep the engine work moving forward while I was home. By mid-February the majority of the components began returning to the marina for reassembly, and with all this 'spare' time on my hands I was able to invest time in shopping for better prices on some of the items like the manifolds. By late-February I was back on my feet (part-time) and I was able to begin running around to get items like the rebuilt transmissions and other parts picked up and brought to the marina. Mike the Mechanic was busy now reassembling the engines for re-assembly. Except for one glitch of installing the wrong transmission on the wrong engine before installing it in the bilge, Mike and the boys did a commendable job. By mid-March both engines were back on the boat, and now Eddie took over finishing the install and wiring and hose connections.

As will always happen in such projects, there came a time when small items started to pop up. First it was a motor mount that was cracked, so I replaced both sets of rear mounts. The wiring harness on one engine was worn and cracked, so I had it replaced. The port cutlass bearing was blown out, and since I wasn't sure of whether the propellers were tuned and matched recently, I had them removed and reconditioned by a vendor that I have used previously.

By now I was able to contribute to the work effort. I was able to replace the illegal hot water heater with a new ignition-protected marine heater. I took the time to pipe in a bypass valve configuration to aid in winterization.

I removed the old Halon fire-suppression tank and replaced it with a new dry-chemical system. Once Mike and Eddie finish the alarm-detector replacement, we can tie the new fire system into the alarm and fuel valve shutoff

Marine battery banks have a tendency of running until they just quit. Over the winter I would normally remove the batteries and keep them on a trickle charge. Because I was having all the work done, I left them onboard, only to find out that they would drain if not kept on the onboard charger. I decided to replace them, since I was also going to install an inverter to provide limited 120volt power while I'm away from the dock. I was surprised to learn that the boat had four golf-cart 6 volt batteries, connected two in series per bank. I began to doubt that these were OEM configured. But a phone call to Viking engineers settled this matter. Golf carts run all day on a single charge; eighteen holes and sometimes more. They should last all day on a boat, depending on the draw. Most of the marine-supplier outlets wanted almost $1,000 for replacement batteries. But a phone call to my Napa Auto Parts connection got me four quality Interstate brand batteries for half price. A quick run down to the marina after work and I was able to swap them out.

Initial commissioning of the new engines revealed leaking oil hoses from cooler to the remote filter assembly. Once again I made the call to replace these on both engines. Additional parts for antifreeze, hoses, bolts, etc. started to add up until the recent billing looked like a mortgage payment, not a repair bill. But I was too far down the road to refitting to give in and start shortchanging the process. Now I am beginning to see how my clients must feel when I am halfway though their renovation project when 'unforeseen things' pop up and need to be addressed. I tell my clients upfront to expect 10% over-budget allowances; I should take my own advice, but since it's MARINE I should allow for 30% over-budget(lol)!!

Hopefully, we are nearing the end of the 'while-you-are-at-it you-might-as-well-do-this-or-that' and can get to a point where the boat can be put in the water and tested out. I am being told that it should be in the water this weekend. Boy, I sure hope so because part of the reason that I have the boat is to help me get rid of my stress and tension from work, not add to it! I look forward to Friday afternon and getting a call from Mike that the boat is afloat.