How to Maintain An F-Boat Notes taken from the F-Boat Listserver David Paule Editor August, 2004 1 Table of Contents Introduction 15 A note on the organization of this book..... 17 Thanks.... 18 A word of warning! 19 Brief Description of Major Differences 20 Book 2 - Options, Hardware, and Maintenance 22 5200 and Similar Products 22 Anchor Locker Hinge Fasteners 22 Anodized Aluminum Parts 23 Anodized Aluminum Parts – Removing Old Anodizing 24 Antennas 24 Antennas 25 Anti-Seize 25 Art Work 27 Attachments to the Hulls 27 Autopilot 27 Autopilots 30 Awnings 31 Backing Plates 31 Barbeques 32 Barber Haulers 32 2 Barnacles 32 Beam Bolts 32 Beam Core 33 Beam Cracks 33 Beam Hardware 35 Beer Holders 44 Binoculars 45 Birds 45 Blisters 46 Boom Height 46 Bottom Paint 47 Bottom paint - Copper Epoxy 50 Bottom paint - Interlux Micron 66 55 Bow Reinforcements and Bowsprits 58 Bulkhead Damage - F-31 64 Bungees 66 Buying Advice 66 Cap Shroud Adjusters 71 Carpets 72 Centerboard Gaskets - F-24-1 72 Chairs and Cushions 72 Cleaning and Polishing - Gelcoat 74 3 Cleaning and Polishing - Non-Skid 77 Clothing 78 Clutches 79 Cockpit Seat Crazing 80 Collision Damage 80 Coolers 81 Core, Hull 82 Core - Balsa or Other Wood 83 Core – Water Removal 86 Corrosion Control 87 Covering the Boat 88 Daggerboard, Case and Slot 90 Daggerboard Cheek Blocks 97 Deck Hardware to Beams 97 Diagonal Lines Under the Nets and Aft Cabin Hatch Brace 98 Dinghies 99 Docks 100 Documenting Your Boat 101 Dogs 101 Drogues, Series 105 Electrical - AA Battery Chargers 105 Electrical - Batteries 106 4 Electrical - Chargers 106 Electrical Connectors 107 Electrical Regulators 110 Electrical Troubleshooting 115 Engine Covers 118 Engine Well - F-27 118 Dodgers and Biminis and Triminis 120 F-24 Mk 1 Bulkhead to Hull Joint 121 F-24 Centerboard Case 122 F-31 or F-9 Double Mainsheets 124 Faucets 124 Fastener Material 124 Floatation Compartments 124 Float Stern Caps 126 Float Vents 127 Floor 127 Furlers, General 128 Continuous-Line Furlers 129 Furlers for Screachers and Code Zeros 129 Gas Tanks 130 Gel Coat Repair 130 Glossary 131 5 Glue Removal 132 Headsail Furling Systems 132 Headsail Furling Systems - Pro Furl 133 Headsail Furling Systems - CDI 135 Foil System - Mast Raising and Dropping 135 Mainsail Roller Furling 136 Hoisting 136 GPS 137 Halyards 137 Hatches - Emergency 139 Hatches - Float 141 Hatches - Pop-Top 141 Heads and Related Equipment 142 Heaters 145 Highfield Levers 146 Hiking Straps 146 Hose – Engine Well to Fuel-Tank Locker 147 Hull-Deck Flange 149 Inboard Engines 154 Inspection Hatches for the Floats 154 Instruments - Cooking and Propane 157 Instruments - Calibration 157 6 Instruments - Recommendations 157 Instruments - Reliability 159 Instruments - Transducers 160 Instruments - Wind 161 Insurance 163 Interior Cleaning - "Amazing Roll-Off" 165 "Oxy-Clean" 165 Interior Cleaning - "60 Seconds" 165 Interior Cleaning - "Tilex tub and tile cleaner" 166 Interior Cleaning - Chemicals 166 Interior Cleaning - Moth balls - mildew prevention 166 Interior Cleaning - Iosso 168 Interior Cleaning - Odors 168 Interior Cleaning - Tools 168 Interior - Finish 168 Interior Finish - Mouse Fur 170 Interior- Trim 171 Jacking and Folding and Unfolding While Jacked 172 Jib Tracks 179 Ladders 180 Leaks 181 Lifelines 189 7 Lifting Eyes 189 Lightning Avoidance 189 Lightning Protection Strip 191 Lights 193 Lines - General 195 Lines - Ends, Finishing 195 Lines, Jams 195 Lines - Longevity 195 Lines - Management 196 Lines - Recommendations 196 Lines - Splicing 198 Line Strength 200 Lines - Thickening 200 Line Tension 201 Locking the Hardware 202 Lubricants 204 Seacocks 204 Mainsheet - Blocks 204 Mainsheet - Cleats 205 Mainsheet - Reeving 206 Mainsheet - Shackles 207 Marina Folding Struts 208 8 Mast Ball - Rotating Mast Boats 208 Mast - F-24 Mk I 210 Mast – F-25C 210 Mast - F-27 - Pivots 210 Mast - F-27 Double Spreader Rig 211 Mast - F-27 Double-Spreader Rig - Aft Mast Support Interference 213 Mast - F-28 Carbon - Spreaders 214 Mast - F-31 Aluminum 215 Mast - F-31 Carbon 215 Mast - F-31 Hardware 216 Mast Finish 217 Mast Hardware 219 Mast Raising Hardware 220 Mast Raising Line 222 Mast Rake 222 Mast Replacement 222 Mast Slots 222 Mast - Stiffening Plates 224 Mast Step 225 MOB Equipment 226 Moorings 226 Motors - Electric 232 9 Nets - Aft Line 232 Nets - Coatings 234 Nets and Tramps - General 235 Nets - Materials 237 Nets - Service 238 Nets - Wear 239 Noise in the Boat 241 Nonskid Paint 241 Outboards 242 Outboard - Exhaust Modification 242 Outboard - Flushing 244 Outboard - Fuel Consumption 244 Outboard - Fuel System Difficulties 245 Outboard - Honda 246 Outboard - Honda - Throttle 247 Outboard - Honda - Unlocking 248 Outboard - Impeller and Cooling Issues 248 Outboard - Instrumentation 249 Outboard – Mercury 249 Outboard - Nissan 250 Outboard - Nissan - Frozen Bearing in the Shaft Extension 251 Outboard - Noise 251 10 Outboard - Prop Issues 251 Outboard - Recommendations 252 Outboard - Remote Controls 254 Outboard – Speed 257 Outboard - Steering 257 Outboard - Sunken 258 Outboard - Winter Storage 258 Outboard - Yamaha 258 Outboard - Yamaha - Hard Starting, 260 O-Rings 264 Outhaul 264 Outhaul Line Replacement 265 Outboards 265 Outboards - Fuel Consumption 266 Paints and Painting -Hulls 266 Paints and Painting - Linear Polyurethane and Gelcoat 266 Paints and Painting - Masts 270 Paints and Painting - Nonskid 271 Parts for Older Boats 272 Plumbing - Water Supply 272 Pop-Top Cabin Hatch and Dodgers and Nets 272 Propane Systems 274 11 Radar 275 Reefing - Boom Roller Furling 277 Reefing – F-25C, Gamera 278 Reefing - Jibs 279 Reefing - Lazy Jacks 279 Refrigeration 281 Removing Old Compounds 281 Replacement Parts 281 Rivets 281 Rotating Mast 282 Rudder - Balance 284 Rudder - Cracks 286 Rudder - Hinges 287 Rudder Operation, Hardware and Lines 288 Rudder - Rake 288 Running Backstays 289 Sails - Code Zero 290 Sails - Cloth 291 Sails - Code Zero 296 Sails - Jibs 297 Sails - F-28 Mainsail Foot Length 298 Sails - Genoa 300 12 Sails -Kites - Not Spinnakers 300 Sails Main 301 Sails - Masthead 308 Sails - Sail Lofts 308 Sails - Screachers 310 Sails - Spinnakers 312 Sails - Spinnaker Bags 312 Sails - Storm Jibs 313 Sea Anchors 313 Settee Crack at Daggerboard Case 314 Shackles 314 Showers 315 Sound Systems 315 Sources 315 Standing Rigging 316 Sun Protection 318 Swim Steps - F-27 318 Tell-Tales 319 Tents 320 Things that float - or Don't 320 Tiller Extensions 323 Tires 323 13 Towing 323 Trailers 324 Trailer Brakes 326 Trailer Jacks 326 Trailer Lights and Brackets 326 Trailertri 720 Performance Items 327 Tramp Cuddy Cabin 327 Ventilation and Airing Out 328 Useful Load 328 VHF Radios 329 Watermakers 329 Water tank 329 Weight 329 Winches 330 Window Refinishing 330 Window Replacement 331 White Plastic 333 Wiring, Buried 334 Wiring – F-27 335 Wiring Diagrams 337 Yeoman Plotter 341 14 Introduction Most of this has been taken from the F-Boat Listserver forum. Initially, where the writer was a dealer, the designer or someone whose advice I especially respect, I included their name. Otherwise I didn't. That was a mistake that I regret. More recently I've included their names regardless, if they were in the original posting. In some cases, I've rewritten the text of the email to change style, eliminate excess verbiage, correct grammar or spelling, or for other editorial reasons. Unfortunately, in some cases, I then deleted the original source documents. That makes many of these untraceable, and that was another mistake. This was initially intended to apply to the F-27 with its fixed mast and engine in a well. Except for those idiosyncrasies, it should be generally applicable to all the F-Boats. Comments often are identified as to boat model, and in many cases I've included comments that specifically relate to the other F-Boats and not the F-27. After all, many F-27 owners move up to F-31s, and some F-24 sailors eventually get F-28s or F-31s. Plus, there are a number of people building their own F-Boats (Ian Farrier sells plans...) and this will be useful to them, too. These postings are from 1999 to 2004. During that time numerous things have evolved. Some examples are synthetic rigging, all-rope halyards, free-flying roller-furling headsails, outboards, anchors and Code Zero sails. In most cases the old and new are intermixed, although they are generally (not always) in chronological order, within alphabetical categories. It's likely that some other changes might evolve after this is published. You're on your own there! 15 Caveat and Warning You should be aware that sailing is a potentially hazardous activity. The advice contained in this book may or may not be helpful. It may or may not be dangerous. It probably doesn't have the warnings it should, and your use of this information is entirely up to you. There is no liability assumed by the people who posted to the F-Boat Listserver or by David Paule, who edited all this (and who's a different person than Dale Paul - David's the one with the beard.) You are responsible for your own actions - no one else. Also, the opinions expressed here are those of the various people who posted them, except that I might have mangled them in my editing. But in any case these are not necessarily the opinions of me, Ian Farrier, Corsair Marine, or even the person who posted it in the first place, depending on my editing - and they might not work for you the way they worked for the person who posted them. Not only that, they might be based upon the experience someone had with a different kind of boat altogether, and be less applicable to your situation than the person who posted it ever thought possible. What's more, in some cases I included comments much more for their entertainment value than for their technical merits, which often are nonexistent.