Maxumowners.org - April 2004 E-mail to Maxum Owners

Here we go.

Business first,

Maxum should be sending out notices very shortly to Diesel Boat owners about wiring protection issues on the wiring of the Battery Charger to Battery (2 to 4 fuse kits), depending on the battery charger internal protection.
And the wiring of the Inverter Breaker to Battery Isolator, (1 to 2 fuse kit).
Battery Isolator to Starter Connection, or Battery Isolator to Battery Terminal post, (2 to 4 fuse kits)
We will try to keep you current on this. This has been in the works for many, many months and is very close to done. When it is complete you should get a mailing from Maxum, who to follow up with to verify your boat is corrected/upgraded.

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Maxum Owners Forum
Air and Engines, are yours getting enough?

In going through an article recently I saw a bit of information that I've never seen before.
Did you know that a pair of 370B Cummins Turbo Diesels require about 800 cubic feet of air per minute to operate at full power? The 450Cs require just under 1000 cubic feet of air per minute. A volume of 10' x 10' x 10' coming in every minute. I still can't visualize that, so how about lowering it to 100 cubic feet every 6 seconds, Better, but how about 16 cubic feet of air per second. Now that I can see, visualize and understand why a clean air filter is so important.
Did you obstruct the air flow inlets along the sides of your boat?
And are your airsep air filters clean and unobstructed?

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Maxum Owners Forum
Lightning Protection:

At the recent ABYC meeting in San Diego, the standard and recommended practice for Lightning Protection (E-4) was brought up and discussion began. It was quickly brought out that while the information contained in the standard was useful, it do not constitute (hard and fast) science. After all of the years of research by government, power companies and laboratories we still do not conclusively understand lightning. Therefore the Standard will be removed and it will become an information only technical report.

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Maxum Owners Forum
Have you ever wondered..

Why do boating magazines rarely, if ever put fuel consumption data down for gas engine boats?

Try calling Mercury Marine and ask for the fuel consumption data for one of their engines.

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Maxum Owners Forum
Bonding System, the Green Wire.

Boat wiring is prone to a harsh environment, and the lower into the bilge you go the harsher the environment gets. If you are in salt water the prime culprit is the salt and oxidation. Knowing this, why did US Marine install the green bonding wire in Untinned Copper, why not Tinned Copper to help prevent corrosion? The answer, Tinned Wire cost more, they continue to do it even today.

This is form the Ancor Marine Products Website:
"It is senseless installing high quality, marine-rated, electrical and electronic equipment on boats without at the same time using high quality, marine-rated, cables and terminals to power the equipment. In the marine environment, "high-quality, marine-rated", means:

* Tinned conductors, in which every strand of a cable is individually tinned to minimize corrosion;
* Multi-stranded conductors, which use what is known as Type 3 stranding to maximize flexibility and minimize the potential for work hardening and fracture;
* Heavy-duty, moisture and oil-resistant, high-heat rated PVC insulation;
* Tin-plated, annealed copper terminals with a rugged nylon insulator designed to be double crimped so as to relieve vibration-induced stresses at the crimp;
* Heavy-wall, glue-lined, heat shrink tubing to seal connectors against salt intrusion.

ANCOR cables, terminals and heat-shrink tubing are built to meet these demanding standards. Properly-installed, they will ensure the integrity of electrical circuits for many, many years to come."

And while were talking about oxidation, here a company that claims to be able to cure it.

http://www.caig.com

I have not tried their products, and they seem like allot of work to apply, that may be a indication that they really work.

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Maxum Owners Forum
Zinc Protection, there more to know.

If, and when you check your Zincs using a Silver/Silver Chloride reference cell and a voltmeter to verify their voltage protection potential of your Anode, (usually Zinc) you should know that you are reading a negative voltage, that's our plastic boats when in salt water using Zinc as the Anode a Corrosion potential of -980 to -1030 is required to keep the more noble, (Bronze and Stainless Steel) metals from being eaten away. If there is too much Zinc, or too little Zinc, the more noble metals will become a minor Anode and will begin to deteriorate.

Here a link to an article with more information.
http://www.maxumowners.org/Articles.html

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Maxum Owners Forum
Great Loop of America, Whistles, Fender Boards, Fenders, Hay Bales, and VHF Radios, Charts, Advise.

Having done the great loop and over 13,000 miles on the ICW and Great Lakes, here what I've found and what has worked and Not Worked for us.

Whistles,
I've never heard a recreation vessel use a whistle, but in a commercial harbor they are a way of life, especially when vessels are backing blind our of a enclosed space. The following is from a "Special Notice To Mariners"
PASSING ARRANGEMENTS: A vessel that reaches agreement with another vessel in a head-on, crossing, or overtaking situation, by using the radiotelephone as prescribed by the Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radiotelephone Act, is not obliged to sound the whistle signals prescribed by this rule, but may do so. If agreement is not reached, then whistle signals shall be exchanged in a timely manner and shall prevail (Inland Navigation Rule 34(h)).
Note: Such “passing arrangements” are not recognized under the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS).
This is not to say you shouldn't know your Whistle Signals, we carry a plastic cheat sheet just because many of them not used often,
If you want to review the navigation rules, you can do so at the USCG office of boating safety site:
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/ado/Leavesite.asp?http://www.navrules.com/uscgaux/

Fender Boards,
We made them while at St. Petersburg Municipal Marina for 2 years, We needed them there, but NEVER used them again during the loop. We still have them onboard, but only because we found a space for them that doesn't require them being moved often. We found that buy taking two 10" x 28" to 30" long fenders, with center through holes we could put a line through them and made a great rolling fender boards, we used nylon washers at the two bitter ends of the fenders to prevent the stop knot from being drawn into the fenders, we've used them for over two years with great success. PS: these are 4 black fenders, they roll against some god awful things for extended periods.

Fenders and Hay Bales,
In addition we have 3 large 20" or so white ball fenders, We have our boat name in indelible marker on them, and they wash down nicely with soft scrub. Their fenders, they get dirty, keep them as clean as you can so they won't filthy up the sides of your boat. It's not rocket science. Hay bales, I've never seen them, ever, but I can imagine the mess, clogged scuppers and insects, no thank you, and where do you dispose of them?

VHF Radio,
First you need a good one, marginal will not do here, and second you need hand held. Why, as a back up certainly, but when you get to the Illinois waterway you will have two on at all times you are traveling. Trust me I have never used the radio as mush as on the stretch of water. I’ve written an article for Heartland Boating and the Great Lakes Cruising Club about traveling the Illinois Waterway, I’ll send it to anyone who asks.

VOLUNTARY STATIONS: WATCH ON CHANNEL 13: The master, operator, or whoever is designated to pilot the vessel, should maintain a listening watch on the designated bridge-to-bridge frequency while underway on the navigable waters of the United States. The
designated frequency is VHF-FM Channel 13 (except on portions of the lower Mississippi River where Channel 67 is the designated frequency, well below Cairo, Il. ). The person maintaining the watch should also be able to communicate in English.
WATCH ON CHANNEL 16: In addition to the Channel 13 watch, vessels should keep a continuous watch on VHF-FM
PASSING ARRANGEMENTS: A vessel that reaches agreement with another vessel in a head-on, crossing, or overtaking situation, by using the radiotelephone as prescribed by the Vessel Bridge-to-Bridge Radiotelephone Act, is not obliged to
sound the whistle signals prescribed by this rule, but may do so.

Charts,
I have paper charts of the whole loop, expensive yes, but less expensive than my two 24" x 24" propellers. I have selected C-maps, I have the from Mobile Al to Georgia. The Georgian Bay, and a "Gross Scale” of the whole Great Lakes. It was enough for the loop. I've recently added Florida to Rhode Island, and of the Great Lakes. These are money in the bank and I have no regrets. I've tried electronic charts, and I personally have no use for them, others swear by them.

Advise,
This should be fun, its an adventure, enjoy it. I'm a planner, I planned all of my stops for the entire trip with a Excel worksheet showing the stop mile marker, facility name, phone #, power available, approach depth, dock depth, if it had a Washer Dryer, Fuel and Restaurant. We review the night before a passage the charts and solve any question before were in a position to make a snap decision. If you are unfamiliar with an approach, stop, wait, ask until you are satisfied that you have good information to proceed. Always ask for Seatow or another operator for help when navigating tricky waters, (like the Stuart Fl Inlet) always a joy for the first timer. Ifs better to admit ignorance that have to pay a yard bill. Always check the weather and have an alternate plan. Prepare for the unexpected, and you will be ready for it when it comes, and you will become a better and safer boater if it doesn't.
MAKE A DOCKING PLAN. When docking, I explain what I expect to happen to the boat and who I expect to do what, who is to handle the lines, which lines I want on first, then I expect to hear when we are made fast, If you throw a line to the dock hand, TELL THEM what you want them to do with it. Mind reading doesn't work with docking or locking. Make notes of what you want to see and where it is. Take highway maps too. Enterprise delivers cars throughout the loop, drive and explore a bit you can't see everything from the water. If you use a marinas courtesy car put some gas in it, clean your trash out, and return it promptly, other boaters are counting on using it, its not for touring. Overtaking a vessel, call on the radio, if they don't answer, give them a horn signal, ask them to slow down so you don't wake each other, make your passing arrangement, pass, wave, continue. No matter how much you try there are all kinds of boater out there, try to disregard the cretins, just do your best its a long trip. Deadhead, ALWAYS keep a lookout, South and North Carolina were the worst. Supermarkets are everywhere, don't over provision with can goods. And Thrusters, we don't have them, they might be nice if we ran shorthanded, and I've only once had a strong enough wind and current pin me to a dock where it was a bear to get out of. Spring lines and a rolling fender did the job then.

Don't miss:
Julia Mays restaurant in Carrabelle Fl, have an order of Grouper Throats, their sweet, like crab meat, I've never seen them anywhere else, and one of their 12 freshly baked pies, PS, they will pick you up at the marina.
The Redeau Waterway,
The Trent Severn Waterway.
Chicago, rent a car.
Killarney, CN Fresh fish at the bus.
Killarney, CN Sportsman's Inn, how can people drink this much and still be coherent?
Norfolk Harbor, the navy, tour the museum, walk the battleship, wow.
Real Crab Cakes on the Chesapeake.
Patti's Restaurant near Green Turtle.

I'm sure I missed something, we presently have our boat on the Erie Canal @ Winter Harbor, (Indoor Heated Storage) just above Syracuse NY. Our plan is to do the Great Lakes again in 04’.

James Clausen, USGC Captain, MV Summer School. a 46' er.
If you have any question just ask.

Updated:4/5/04 Printer Version

Updated:4/5/04
Printer Version