About a year before I ever sailed offshore I remember reading the Carib 1500's list of recommended gear. I think they suggested something like 2 dozen filters. I laughed and left for Bermuda with 6. After a week of attempting to clean and recycle Racors the first thing I did upon arriving in Bermuda was... Order 2 dozen filters. Nothing will shake up a tank like a nice gale offshore.
On the other hand - I'm told by a Tartan 3500 owner that it takes exactly 27 tacks to clear Roosevelt island on the East River at slack water. Glad I never had that experience. Moral - no such thing as too many spares, no price is too high for the dual filter system when you need it. John Sent from my iPad > On Aug 4, 2015, at 7:28 PM, Martin DeYoung via CnC-List > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Why do you need to keep the engine running offshore while you change the > > filter? > > > You may not be offshore, you may be in a tight spot where you really need > > it. > > My reference to prepping for a long offshore voyage had more to do with being > far away from a source of additional filters and other fuel related services. > The utility of having two filters and a manifold that can switch between > them without stopping the engine goes more to the Murphy’s Law odds that a > single filter will block up at the worst possible time. > > My worst inshore was departing the Ballard Locks, west bound (towards salt > water) in the new to us 1980 C&C 36. The current running out of the locks was > pushing us towards the lowered rail road draw bridge with a clearance lower > than our “air draft”. As I was sounding the horn signals for an opening the > engine quit (of course, no wind nor room to sail). Naturally the RR bridge > sounded the 5 short horns indicating they could not open just yet. As we had > taken delivery of the boat an hour earlier the anchor was not ready nor do I > expect that anchoring in that part of the ship canal would be successful. > > As the boat’s co-owner ran forward to attempt to anchor I continued to > attempt to re-start the engine. I could get a short burst of engine power > each start. I left the reduction gear in reverse to buy as much time as > possible before running the mast into the bridge structure. The short bursts > of engine power were classic for a blocked filter or fuel intake. > Fortunately the combo of good luck and the short bursts of power we bought > enough time for the bridge to clear and begin opening. I aimed for the south > side where the bridge raises first to gain a few feet of clearance. When we > went under I’m convinced I heard the VHF antenna twang off part of the > bridge. As it turn out there was debris in the fuel tank including an old > fuel gauge sender and some rubber gasket material that would get sucked up > and block the fuel intake. > > Years later I was helping a friend deliver his very nice fast cruising boat > from Seattle to San Francisco. As we were rounding Cape Flattery in calm > weather the owner wanted to take the short cut inside Tatoosh Island. (If I > was a delivery skipper on someone else’s boat I would have gone around > Tatoosh on the outside.) Naturally the filter plugged up and stalled the > engine in the middle of the narrow passage. The current was not helping the > boat clear all the rocky areas. There was some amount of “hurry up” involved > in returning the engine to full power. I was to learn a little later that > the owner knew there was a lot of crud in the fuel (left over from a So Pac > cruise) and was planning on cleaning it out in San Francisco. He did a lot > of spare filters onboard and was fast at changing the filters. He did have > two Racors but they were not on a single manifold that would allow continued > fuel flow when switching filters. We made it to San Francisco in 4 days but > he changed a lot of filters on calm days. > > Martin DeYoung > Calypso > 1971 C&C 43 > Seattle > > > > From: CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dennis C. > via CnC-List > Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2015 3:19 PM > To: CnClist > Cc: Dennis C. > Subject: Re: Stus-List filters > > You may not be offshore, you may be in a tight spot where you really need it. > > Dennis C. > > On Tue, Aug 4, 2015 at 4:56 PM, Andrew Burton via CnC-List > <[email protected]> wrote: > Why do you need to keep the engine running offshore while you change the > filter? > > Andy > C&C 40 > Peregrine > > On Tue, Aug 4, 2015 at 5:28 PM, Dennis C. via CnC-List > <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Tue, Aug 4, 2015 at 4:21 PM, Martin DeYoung via CnC-List > <[email protected]> wrote: > > If I was preparing for a long offshore voyage I would install a dual fuel > filter manifold with a vacuum gauge. > > If you price Racor's dual filter system, you'll faint. However, you needn't > install one of those or even a second filter identical to whatever you > currently have. You need only install a small inexpensive filter to keep the > engine running while you change the element in your main primary filter and > then switch back. > > Dennis C. > > _______________________________________________ > > Email address: > [email protected] > To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom > of page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com > > > > > > -- > Andrew Burton > 61 W Narragansett Ave > Newport, RI > USA 02840 > http://sites.google.com/site/andrewburtonyachtservices/ > phone +401 965 5260 > > _______________________________________________ > > Email address: > [email protected] > To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom > of page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Email address: > [email protected] > To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the bottom > of page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com >
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