Sailing on San Francisco Bay

I’ve never liked to be out on the bay for fireworks on July 4th. I figure it’s one of those days when lots of people who rarely go boating decide to take their boats out, and some of them will be drinking too much. Plus they may not know how to run the proper lights after dark, or how to navigate back safely at night.

The police must figure something similar; when we were heading back to the dock before sundown, all the police boats were gassing up and heading out. They all waved at us, smiling as they got ready for what has to be one of their busiest nights on the water. The little sailboat heading in wasn’t going to cause any problems.

We had left the dock around 3:30pm after an oil change. We motored out past Jack London Square, then raised the sails, with a reef in the main, and short-tacked the rest of the way out the estuary. Good practice and folks quickly got the hang of tacking. The wind was picking up and we got some vigorous sailing outside the estuary. A big ship was coming in, so we tacked south of the channel and headed toward a Coast Guard vessel that was slowly patrolling the area. Back and forth, up wind, until we crossed back over the channel to Yerba Buena and the Oakland side of the bridge. Then we turned around, and went from vigorous sailing close-hauled to a fast and level beam reach. Perfect for a short sail out and about, then back into the estuary, past the houseboats and back home. Kate, Constantine, Eddie, V.

Sailing today was with regular crew member John, and three women visiting from Poland: Ela, Justina and Evelynka.

I arrived a bit early in order to change the headsail on the furler and change the engine oil. It was the usual multitasking of those things, hosing down the boat, cleaning the hull some and finding small odds and ends that needed attention. I had come by a week or so beforehand to make sure the fire extinguishers were fully charged. I also made sure the insurance and towing policies are in effect. I haven’t needed to use the towing service since the first year I was sailing, but I think it’s great to have in case of an emergency.

We motored out, as usual, and enjoyed lunch (including John’s famous rice dish) before we reached the main bay. Once we got out of the estuary we found lots of wind. We sailed — with a reefed main, as usual for this time of year — toward SF, under the bridge, up the Cityfront and back toward Alameda. It wasn’t a super long sail but the visitors declared it their “best day in California.” Nice!

We actually had some decent wind in the estuary and sailed all the way back, which is a treat on the calm waters of the channel. We passed a ginormous container ship being turned around in the basin; I’ve seen so many of them yet I’m still impressed of the sheer size of such vessels. Lots of pictures were taken throughout the day.

Upon return we did the usual housecleaning and maintenance and hosed Amelia down again. She looked lovely glistening in the evening sun.

I’m a bit sore now; hopefully getting back into practice will take care of that!

Good grief, I have finally replaced the starter switch for the engine. I was out there the other day and, after an unexpected drive to San Rafael for parts (why do I always forget that nothing is ever standard on this old Volvo MD7A engine?) everything is back up and running. I ran the engine for a good long while, including under load, charging up the batteries in the process.

So the problem with a sailing blog is that it’s easy to see when I haven’t been sailing in awhile! The last five or so months have been so busy; I am unhappy to admit that I have not taken Amelia out sailing at all this year. I’ve simply stopped by a few times to check on things, hose her down and tidy things up. I’m planning some sailing trips for July and will be sending out email announcements soon. If you’re not on the email list, check out jeremyrandall.org/sailing/ and add yourself.

I’ve emailed LiveJournal to get the syndication link to this blog fixed. Hopefully this post will show up on LiveJournal once that is done.

I may start posting more general sailing information (as opposed to just my own sailing trips) to make this place a little more interesting and to keep my mind more involved with what’s going on in the sailing community.

New jib sheets, replacement batten for the main, oil change. Thanks to the folks who helped with these items.

We had a very pleasant, albeit short sailing trip today. I had to be back in The City for a birthday party in the evening, so we were only out from about 12:30pm to 4:30pm. Before sailing we stopped at the engine place for replacement screws for the water pump since one fell into the blige and got lost when we replaced the impeller. They happened to be out of the exact correct ones, so we got the screw’s size and fasioned a temporary fix by adding a bunch of washers to one that was longer than we needed. No leaks, worked great.

It was sort of the “usual” short day out of Alameda: motored out the estuary, sailed toward Hunter’s Point, then toward SF, then alongside the Bay Bridge and back toward Alemeda. There was a lot of traffic in all directions; big ships, barges, dredges, etc. On the way back in we passed close to the “Commander’s House” on Yerba Buena Island.

The group today was Linhy, Peggy, Steve and Mark (aka Steve’s Dad). They did most of the driving while I relaxed on the cabin top (and kept an eye out for any oncoming craft, of course). Oh yeah, the Vietnamese sandwiches are always a good choice; today they were extra fresh. Thanks guys!

The winds were mild so we had decent sailing without straining anything too hard or having to reef. It was really warm and sunny on the water; we could see the fog rolling over the pink triangle on Twin Peaks above San Francisco.

We had a great sailing day today. I can’t believe how few times this year have been sailing days, but now that the summer weather and wind seem to have set it, I’m hoping to get out there much more often.

We left Alameda around noon. On the previous trip the engine had been running a little hot, so I replaced the thermostat. Today it was still running hot and the water flow from the exhaust was anemic. We pulled in to Fortmann and replaced the impeller in the water pump (and added a bit of transmission oil). Once that was done and we ran the engine for a bit, water flow came back to normal and so did the temperature.

We motored most of the way out of the Estuary. We saw a sailboat tack right in front of a moving barge, which was really scary to watch. The sailboat missed the barge by about 20 feet. We were reminded by another sailboat that there are folks out there who don’t know the basic navigation rules and are a menance to themselves and others!

The wind was moderate to high; we sailed all day with a reef in the main, out of Alameda, across the bay toward Hunter’s Point, back up toward the baseball park in San Francisco and to the Bay Bridge before heading back. Steph, Linhy and Steve and I enjoyed a clear and gorgeous day out there!

Steph got a great picture of the classic wooden schooner Dauntless a few moments before it passed us like we were standing still (we weren’t!):

I’m planning to sail next Saturday. Email me if you’d like to go.

Good work today: cleaned out Ellen’s primary filter (what a mess), moved said filter to a more accessible location, replaced secondary filter and modified/shortened fuel lines. Engine started on third crank. Going to let it sit overnight and test again tomorrow. Should be all good.

So the sail to Sausalito yesterday was okay. On the way out, two Foss tugs did one of their classic “mess with a sailboat” routines — the two of them passed me on either side at the same time.

The winds were relatively strong, and, of course, it was upwind the whole way. I put up the jib alone, and set the self-sterring. It worked okay, but it was tedious. After passing Angel Island, I motored into Sausalito. I hit some big chop off Tiburon.

My berth in Sausalito was an end-tie at Schoonmaker. The guy on the next boat over was pleasant enough; he helped me dock, and chatted awhile about how he and his wife had sailed down from Canada. They had a big Kelly-Peterson 44. We discussed steering systems.

The great thing about the end-tie was not having anything on the other side. My view to starboard was the anchorage and the lights of Tiburon. Nice.

It was a chilly evening. Had Thai food. Came back to the boat, but only managed a few hours sleep since I had some weird dreams and kept waking up thinking I had heard a noise. Argh.

In the morning I rode my bike over to the ferry dock and watched the boats come and go for a little while. I went back to the boat and took apart my thermostat. Reinstalled it. Fired up the engine. Put up the mainsail, and motored out to the end of the Sausalito channel. Oops. forgot to top off the tank at the Chevron dock, which means I’ll have to stop by Channel Marina and buy diesel there on the way back.

Turned off the engine. Started sailing. Set the self-steering. The boat went charging along on its own once I got it adjusted properly. Gybed three or four times heading back to Richmond. Overall a well executed sailing trip. Somehow I lost the pin in the shackle on the jib, though. No big deal to fix, but weird nonetheless.

Tue, Aug. 20th, 2002, 07:45 pm

It’s so quiet here.

No wind blowing. Nothing moving.

I’ve been tinkering with the diesel engine [this morning]. Ready to fire it up, but not willing to disturb the peace just yet.

Sun, Aug. 18th, 2002, 08:32 am

Update

In 2001 I had owned a Columbia 36 for a few months, before deciding a 30 foot boat was better suited to my needs. The Columbia was an amazing learning experience, as, among other things, I had to replace its Atomic Four engine! I ended up doing so with some help from other folks, though I did a lot of the “heavy lifting” on my own — a terrifying and empowering experience.

For reference, the Atomic Four was a thirty horsepower gasoline fueled marine engine produced from the 1940s to the 1980s. It was installed in thousands of sailboats — sort of a defacto standard for many years. Gasoline, being a volatile fuel with fumes that tend to collect in low places — such as boat bilges — is no longer used to power sailboats; diesel engines now provide auxilliary power with greater reliability and without the risk of explosion.

Because so many sailboats were equipped with Atomic Fours, especially during the 60s and 70s, many are still in use today. As these engines have aged, several companies began providing aftermarket parts, manuals and support. Today, you can purchase all of the parts new, including newly cast engine blocks! The Atomic Four has had something of a second wind, mostly due to the efforts of the folks at Moyer Marine.

According to my records the following text was last updated on August 10, 2001; it was copied here with a few typo corrections. I hope this may help any folks undertaking a similar project. -JR, February 4, 2006.

Atomic Four replacement project

The Atomic Four in my Columbia 36 died shortly after completing the purchase of the boat. After deciding not to attempt a rebuild of the existing engine, I had to figure out how to get it out, and what to do to replace it.

Getting it out

Rich, the harbormaster at RYC, suggested using the main halyard, boom and mainsheet to pull the engine out (thanks Rich). I was a little skeptical, but since I had some time, I figured I’d give it a shot. Friends Toby and Justin came out to help disconnect everything. Finally, it was ready to be lifted out. After setting up the blocks for hoisting, I held my breath, and gave a tug on the mainsheet — it started to come up. I managed to pull it out of the engine compartment and on to the cabin floor.

The next step was to pull it about three feet straight up and out to the cockpit. More holding my breath, since this step could turn into a real problem if something went wrong. But it went fine and the engine was sitting on the cockpit floor. At this point I realized I would need something to put the engine on, so I drove over to the Richmond Costco to find a pallet. A really stoned warehouse employee let me grab one from behind the loading dock. Cool; back to the boat.

After adjusting the “lifting rig” back a couple feet, I hoisted the engine up to the cockpit seat. One more lift to the side of the boat. Using a rope tied to the dock piling, I managed to swing it out and gently lower it to the waiting pallet. Sweet success. Of course, it didn’t occur to me to take pictures of the whole process, but I did get a shot after it was on the pallet.

Replacement options

So now it was time to decide how to replace it. Westerbeke makes a diesel engine with dimensions very similar to the Atomic Four. Unfortunately, the Columbia’s galvanized steel fuel tanks would need to be replaced — though several folks advised I could “get away” with skipping the tank replacement. In fact, we had a lively discussion on the CYOA list about using diesel with the existing tanks (thanks everyone who contributed to this discussion).

I was in the process of getting quotes for the job when I got an email from Geoff, a friend who had recently purchased a wooden bird boat with an Atomic Four. Since he wanted to restore the boat for racing, the 350 pound iron block under his cockpit needed to go. I figured this would save me some money, and if it didn’t work out, I’d go back to the diesel replacement option. We made plans to pull the motor out of the bird boat so I could cart it away and install it in the Columbia.

Getting it out — again

On Saturday, I rented a trailer to haul the motor. I had installed a hitch on my Honda last summer for another boat related project. Of course, if I had realized what kind of things I would end up towing, I would have opted for a truck instead of buying a sedan last year. In any case, I thought the picture of the Honda with the trailer was amusing.

We met at the dock at 11am on Sunday morning. The SF municipal marina is old and run down, which is interesting since it’s a stone’s throw from some of the most expensive marinas on the bay (the St. Francis Yacht Club is next-door). Luckily, old marinas tend to have lots of old junk, pieces of wood, unused ropes and whatnot, which come in handy for do-it-yourself projects.

Disconnecting the engine was remarkably simple, as it was installed in a more-or-less open area. Geoff cut off the old exhaust pipe, we removed the wiring and mounting bolts, then used a block of wood that was sitting on the dock to slide it out from under the cockpit. Unfortunately we couldn’t use the boom/halyard, as the boom was sitting on the dock where Geoff’s wife Miriam was removing old paint. Once again, scavenging some junk from the dock gave us what we needed. We used a wooden box and a large piece of foam (along with the utility dolly I had rented and my mainsheet/blocks) to lift it into the cockpit. I wish I had remembered to snap a picture, as it was quite a thing to see.

Then the two of us lifted it from the boat to the dolly, now waiting on the dock. I don’t recommend doing this unless absolutely necessary, as the weight of the engine could easily cause back problems if lifted incorrectly. I came away with a bit of a sore back, but didn’t do any real harm. Once we’d cleaned up the bird a bit, we hauled the motor up to the trailer. I pulled it home for cleaning and painting.

Some Atomic Four history

It was interesting to see that the engine had, over the years, been painted orange, red, light blue, green and yellow. The other cool thing was the date stamped on the block — it was cast in 1957! There were two A4 models — this one is definitely the “early” model — they didn’t even have thermostats in the beginning. Even though it was an early model, it had been upgraded to an electric fuel pump at some point.

Cleaning and painting

Once the engine was secured in my garage, I pulled out the engine degreaser and started cleaning. Most of it was covered in green paint, though the flywheel was yellow. I sanded and scraped as much as I could, given the limited time (I wanted to have it in the Columbia the next day, Monday). After using a Naval Jelly type product to neutralize rust, and letting it dry, it was time to paint. I decided on a dark gray, and began painting late that night.

The next morning I hauled the motor across the bay to Richmond, to install in the Columbia. I’m sure the Honda pulling an engine across the Golden Gate Bridge must have looked a bit unusual to all of the tourists.

Getting it in

I was pretty tired by this point, but I wanted to at least get the “new” Atomic Four into the boat. I wasn’t sure if I would have the time or energy to actually install it on the mounts, but I figured once it was onboard I could return the rental trailer and proceed at my own schedule.

Once I got to the marina, I basically reversed the process I had used to remove the original engine, and used the boom/halyard/mainsheet/block system to lift the engine off the dolly and lower into the boat. I was much more confident about the procedure, and had the engine in the cabin in about 5 minutes.

Since that went so quickly, I decided to try getting it into place. I pushed it back and it got stuck in front of the rear mount. So I moved my lifting rig back, lowered a rope through a small access hatch in the cockpit, and tied it to the engine at the transmission. A few more tugs on the sheet, and she dropped into place.

Next was the fun process of squeezing myself into the tiny engine compartment and trying to get the prop shaft lined up. I still had the old spacers, and it was close, but not close enough. I ended up using some extra washers to bring the flywheel end up just a bit. I think the alignment is pretty good, though probably not exactly perfect. The shift cable attached easily. Next steps are the exhaust, throttle cable and wiring everything up…

The hook-up

Jeannie and Jerry came up to help get this thing sorted out. Jerry and I, over the course of a day, managed to get the alternator installed and the wiring done, or so we thought. After checking the wiring diagrams, there were a couple of changes and additions.

A day later, the exhaust was connected and we could crank the starter. Finally the engine roared to life…