My Post 42 (Kinda Long...Sorry)

Oh yeah - my limber holes were all totally clogged with sludge and all kinds of crap. I fought that for what seemed liked days (really hours) with snakes, cleaners, a pressure nozzle on a garden hose, anything I could think of to get them free and clear. I left them all open now so water can drain freely forward or aft to the pumps. Since I have all Tides dripless shaft seals and all new seacocks and I modified the hatch drains in the cockpit so they don't clog and now drain overboard I get almost no water in the bilge whatsoever. It's usually dry as bone down there and if not I go looking for where the water came from.

Glad to meet someone else who used the Pascoe method for tank installation. People who have never heard of it or understand it give me funny looks and have their doubts. But I'm a believer. Hard part was tracking down the fiberglass Haysite material for the strips under the tanks. I wanted a fully flat area under the tanks and my old one were resting on the hull on the sides with large gaps under most of the tanks. So I put in flat decking (3/4" marine ply glassed on both sides in 6oz. cloth set in WEST) with scuppers for and aft to allow any liquids to drain into the bilge beneath. These decks were glassed in to the stringer perimeter and bulkheads with biaxial tape and WEST. This gave me full adhesion for the Haysite strips set in 5200 under the tanks. It raised the tanks up another 1" or so but I had room. I had my tanks made the exact same outside dimensions as the old steel tanks and used all stainless steel pipe nipples, elbows, hose barbs, etc. I used Wema senders.

I'm not familiar with the new plastic sheet material you mention. I'll probably stay low-tech with more plywood encapsulated in cloth/WEST. If I get some time this week I'll work on my support system idea and let you know how it turned out.

Thanks - sounds like you've been able to turn your 46 into a great cruising boat for the Bahamas - an "Outpost" in the Out Islands! I haven't quite turned the corner yet but I'm getting close. I hope to be substantially complete by the end of the year. We're planing a little cruise around July 4th and hope to really start shaking things out. I would love to get back to the Bahamas - maybe next year.....

My aft bulkhead on the port side had water damage from water seeping in through the top of the panel. On my boat they screwed into the top of the panel edge from the flybridge deck, something I discovered when I did a rather extensive flybridge deck repair. The water that was getting into the flybridge deck was working its way into the bulkhead through the screw holes and then migrating into the plywood bulkhead panel. The bulkhead wasn't completely bad with some inner plys still in good shape in some areas so I removed the window glass (the ladder was already removed so it wasn't in the way) and cut out the delaminated/water damaged wood. I purchased several sheets of 3mm Okume marine plywood and used it along with West epoxy, cloth and fillers to build up the bulkhead back to original thickness. To hold the plywood pieces in place while the epoxy cured I predrilled holes and screwed the panel in place and then removed the screws and filled the holes after the epoxy cured. The final layer was covered in cloth and there was the time-consumong process of filling and fairing followed by painting. I had a new piece of laminated glass made and bedded that into place. I did not completely replace the entire bulkhead in one shot but replaced around 80 - 85% of it. I assume your bulkheads are water damaged (?) - do you know how the water is getting to the bulkheads? If you don't fix that you'll eventually have damage again.
Your fridge covers sound like a good idea. Do you have a photo?

I'll assume your '79 42 is the same as my '76 42.... The genset fuel line pickup and return are on the fore/top of the aft fuel tank (the one under the cockpit.) There may be a gate valve for shutoff but if not you'll still be OK. You won't spill much if you secure the ends of the lines (supply and return) higher than the fuel level in the tank.

Remove the mounting bolts that secure the genset to it's support beams. (On my '76 there were two mahogany beams approx. 2" X 6".) Use a small hydraulic bottle jack like you might use to change a tire on a car to lift up the genset high enough to place a couple of 2 X 6 or other appropriate pieces of wood to use as skids. What you're trying to do is pull the genset up on top of the centerline fuel tank so you have a clear overhead to lift it out of the engine room. Use a come-along to pull the genset up and aft and sliding along on your wood skids. You don't have to move it far to get it clear of the salon floor. Be cautious in your rigging - the end of the come-along that you are pulling against (the dead end attached to something that will not move) must be safely and securely attached to something such as a 4 X 4 snugged up behind the rear engine mounts. Your genset probably weighs around 500 - 600 lbs so you have to be carefull to secure your rigging properly. But if you're already planning to lift the genset vertical off an A-frame then you probably already have a good handle on the rigging mechanics.

Once you get the genset sitting on top of the fuel tank between the engines you're home free. Re-installation is a little trickier since you have few options to pull it back into place due to lack of room to rig against the forward bulkhead. Just take your time and work it back into place using the wood skids, some safety lines or straps so it doesn't get away from you and talk some friends with strong backs into giving you hand.

Hope that helps. I know some gensets are sitting higher up on supports than mine so your installation may be different and pose some different challenges. Good luck!

Island Runner

Hey Davidoc - Sorry to be so late in replying... 2 months . I hope you see this.

I don't remember the exact size but I think they are sized for 2" hose and were made by Perko. I recall having to really search them out - they're not a standard off-the-shelf Perko part but they are (or were) available by order through West Marine. My original fill system was steel pipe into the old steel tanks. It was plenty big enough to handle the fuel volume but was prone to rust and heavy. The Perko deck fills are chrome plated bronze and 2" rated fuel hose runs to the tank fittings on the new aluminum tanks.

In other news.... This year I installed a new Westerbeke 8KW genset and I replaced the entire rubrail. The original rubrail had several bad areas in the wood so it was removed back to the hull/deck joint and a new black vinyl rubrail installed. I know it's not the traditional/classic look but it's tough as nails (made for workboat service) and I actually like the looks of it.

I'm still working away at things as I have time, money and motivation. When all three intersect things get accomplished! I suppose you are never really "done" - I've already had to update some of my initial updates from 7 years ago. But it's a pretty boat nice old boat and gets lots of compliments.

Good luck with yours!

Island Runner

Hi Dave - It's probably silly to answer a 2 year old question (sorry) but I will anyway. The Soundown product is a great product and installation in my case wasn't terribly difficult but only because I had pretty much gutted the engine room back to the bare hull. So I didn't have to work around electric and plumbing lines, equipment and accesories. If you were to try to work it in around all of these things then it would be much harder. The end result is great - turns your engine room into a giant sound shield. I don't have a soundshield on my genset and I don't feel I need one.

Island Runner

Genset dropped back in with no problems. I used a local yard - boat was hauled for some major projects - genset, rubrail, bottom paint, etc. The new genset was dropped into the cockpit and was placed in the forward area of engine room using manpower, timbers, etc. No elaborate A-stands or winching required. Old-fashioned muscle and determination!

Had it out today and cruised at 20.4 knots at 1950 rpm. 6 people but light on fuel - maybe 1/3 full. If I didn't have the tower I know I could do better but that ain't bad for a couple of 6-71T (no intercoooler).

Guys I apologize for disappearing from the forum for two years. I wasn't in jail nor did I sell the boat! Just been busy and sorta stopped checking in here. I did replace the cooling system on the starboard engine - matches the new Lenco coolers I had done on the port engine. The starboard engine was majored in the spring of 2011 so now both engines are fresh. This past spring I put in the new Westerbeke 8KW genset and replaced the rubrail. So things keep moving forward, although at times at a glacial pace.

I'll try to do better and keep up with things around here!