2009 Week 40 in Review

Field Trip to Friday Harbor and Lopez Island

This week, I drove and ferried up to Friday Harbor to pull the valves and injectors from the Catalyst to bring back to The Shop for servicing. Bill and I pulled them all in about three hours, and the next morning I headed for home – with a few stops.

Ferrying between islands is free, so I stopped off at Lopez Island to visit Keith and Stewart, who are busy rebuilding steam engines. They have an impressive foundry setup, and are working on some neat projects for boss Alex in Louisiana.

They’ve got a Type-G used in a 33-foot Navy boat, a Type E-2 from 1901 with a new crankshaft, and a Type-N that replaced the E-2 in 1907. It makes 48hp at 320 rpm.

The most amazing project, though, was the Ward three-cylinder radial engine:

I really like the interesting, compact design, the neat shifting mechanism, and the floating bronze shims in the thrust bearing. West Virginia University has lots of Ward Stuff, including many boiler designs and the first water tube boiler design.

Arcturus didn’t make it

The Atlas yacht Arcturus made it only 15 miles before the fuel filters plugged and their trip to San Francisco Bay was canceled. Instead, the crew was treated to a ride back to Eureka via Coast Guard tow.

Discovery for sale

The most beautifully modernized yacht out there, the Discovery is for sale. While the owners love the boat, they have another one and since they can’t ride on both at the same time, one must go.

Newt stuck!

Our friends on the tug Newt spent a scary tide exchange on the bottom of the Duwamish River. Everything turned out okay, but it was very scary at the time. See, it’s easy to get caught by the tide — be careful!

Looking for a G Enterprise head

Our friend Sean is looking for a cylinder head for the G Enterprise on the tug Mighty. Drop me a line if you have one, and I’ll forward it along to Sean.

Another Washington!

We found out the Timber Heritage Association in Eureka, California has a Washington-Estep!! Stay tuned for some pictures, and we hope to visit soon.

Another two bite the dust

The guys at the Fabius River Drainage Pumphouse are breaking up their two great 32E14 Fairbanks-Morse engines that we saw back in May:

They got a government grant that was intended to reduce global warming, but instead of overhauling the old fuel-efficient heavy-duties, they’re pulling them out and replacing them with big gas-guzzling Caterpillars.

If you need spare Fairbanks parts, contact B & W Truck & Auto Specialists in West Quincy, Missouri. Their phone number is 1-800-338-9797; ask for AJ.

2008 Week 37 in Review

This week on Catalyst, we continued our cruise down the Canadian Inside Passage, heading for home:

Sunday, September 7 – Bishop Bay to Mussel Inlet: skiff into Mussel River, watch Brown Bears (sunny with fog patches)
Monday, September 8 – Mussel Inlet to Hochstader Cove: kayak paddle at Hochstader, wander through islands (overcast then sunny)
Tuesday, September 9 – Hochstader Cove to Schooner Cove: engine problems (repaired), beach walk at Schooner Cove (sunny)
Wednesday, September 10 – Schooner Cove to Village Island: Cross Queen Charolette Strait, explore old village on Village Island (sunny)
Thursday, September 11 – Village Island to Shoal Bay: Through Greene Point Rapids, forest walk at Blind Channel Resort,(sunny)
Friday, September 12 – Shoal Bay to Copeland Islands: Through Dent and Yaculta Rapids, kayak Squirrel Cove, Sunset at anchor (sunny)
Saturday, September 13 – Copeland Islands to Montague Harbour: early start, cross Georgia Strait, enter Gulf Islands, slide show (sunny)

We had the same passengers and crew as last week, since it’s an extra-long 12-day cruise.

We did a lot of running this week. The boat had to be slowed down more and more, and we’re sort of crawling to the finish. It’s embarrassing, and I know the engine would continue to run if we were going faster, but slowing down when there are problems is one of the easiest things to do to save the expensive parts of the engine. Sometimes it’s hard being responsible.

We also stopped to bowl at Butedale again:

A squeak?!?

While underway, I started to hear a squeak coming from number six. I’m already worried about the bearing, but I couldn’t locate the sound. I had looked for about three minutes when the RPM started to drop. I immediately called the captain to alert him to an emergency shutdown, then went on deck to help get the boat to a safe anchorage, since we were in a cluster of islands – not a good position to just drift. I jumped into the skiff and pushed the boat about 75 yards down the passage, where we anchored for an hour while I worked on the engine.

I let things cool for a bit, then removed the covers. I used our infrared temperature gauge to check number six’s bearings. It was fine – I even bumped it and found no change from the last time. I did find that the piston was hot and dry, with some scoring in the liner. I immediately looked at the Manzell and found that the clamp that goes to the pushrod had slipped, which meant the Manzell wasn’t pumping. After heavily oiling and cranking the engine over, we started up and continued on our way at an even more reduced speed, always checking on the Manzell.

Visiting the Teal

We saw a pretty boat: the 1927 research boat Teal:

It was powered by a Washington until the late nineties. I’ve heard that it was damaged beyond repair, so they replaced it. Bummer.

New Washington Line

Speaking of Washingtons, I have a challenge. The Washington Iron Works diesel engine is in my opinion the most beautiful diesel engine in the world. They are efficient, elegant, reliable, and provide a smooth, steady power source for all kinds of boats. They’re also just neat. My clients who have Washingtons love them, and I know there’re several people in the old boat community who would repower their tug or yacht with a Washington if it were available.

These are just some of the reasons behind one of my crazy ideas: I want to start building Washington diesels again. That’s right: I want to build brand-new diesels following a 1920s design. Everything else has gone through a retro-revival (cars, clothes, houses… even avocado-colored blenders), so let’s celebrate the past with new retro diesels.

It sounds complicated, but like any job it just needs to be broken into manageable pieces. First, we’d pick an engine to replicate and reverse-engineer how it was made. This would be a lot of measuring and scratching our heads and looking at original plans and blueprints. We’d get up close with a magnifying glass to figure out where the different parts are, call in experts, and look at old pictures of the Washington Iron Works assembly floor. After that, it’s pretty easy: we’d make the patterns we need for the castings (literally, the cast-iron parts), cast the parts and machine them to spec, assemble them, oil everything, and then run the brand-new engine.

As for choosing an engine, we should start small. Replicating the Arthur Foss‘s big cylinders first off would be too much of a project to start with, even if hearing an eight-cylinder 18″x24″ Washington is one of my dreams. Washington Iron Works made a lot of different engine models, but their smallest size were the “10″ models. The Catalyst‘s engine is the only one we know of left of that size. It’s a 6-10 , with six cylinders, an eight-inch bore, and a ten-inch stroke. It’s a good candidate to start the new line with for a couple of reasons. First, owner Bill has several of the patterns needed to cast new parts (including the cylinder head patterns, which are one of the most complicated to make). Second, it’s a beauty of an engine, reliable and comfortable and kept in near-perfect condition:

How much would creating an all-new Washington cost? Here’s my estimate:

Reverse engineering:	$10,000
Patterns for head:	$0 *
Other patterns: **	$170,000
Casting parts from the patterns:	$80,000
machining the parts:	$150,000
babbitting the bearings:	$35,000
fitting and assembling everything:	$50,000
running and testing	$5,000
total:	$500,000

* Bill already has the patterns for the cylinder heads, so we don’t need to make them (please Bill, please can we use them, please please please?)
** Other patterns: cylinder block, bed plate, rod, piston, rod bearing, main bearing, cap, rocker, shaft mount, injector rocker, valve rocker, thrust bearing, gear drum, oil pump body, fuel pump body, oil pump rocker compressor, cylinder compressor, head compressor, rod compressor, piston compressor, strap… plus maybe a few more

I think that it’d be pretty reasonable for someone or some organization to put $500,000 into creating a new Washington line. Museums, collectors, and people with tugboat yachts would all be interested in replica heavy-duty engines to power their classic boats – just look at how much people are willing to pay for a new replica kitchen stoves.

Bear in mind, too, that after the first new Washington is put together, costs will go way down for each individual engine. You can use the same patterns, you won’t have to reverse-engineer the construction, and the rest of the figures will have less “trial and error” time included. I can’t speculate too much on the economies of scale that would be involved with such an undertaking, but the single biggest cost is the reusable patterns.

I want to get the first of the new Washingtons online by the Catalyst‘s centennial – 2032. We can easily beat that deadline, though, if the funding comes up sooner, so contact Old Tacoma Marine Inc if you’re interested in helping fund the new line. All contributions will be tax-deductible once we find a non-profit partner.

What do you think? I’ve been sitting on this idea for a long time, and I’m going to keep figuring out how to make it happen.

Heavy-duties at Olympia Harbor Days

I wasn’t able to make it to Olympia for Harbor Days and the tugboat races this year, but one of Old Tacoma Marine Inc’s investigative reporters attended and took this great video of the Newt‘s Atlas-Imperial diesel engine:

That’s Eric, who’s also just known as “Newt” sometimes, showing off the Atlas-Imperial to Dirk and Andy. Newt and her owners came in fourth at the races – not too bad.

Photo contest delayed

Speaking of Harbor Days, readers paying close attention will notice that we haven’t announced a winner for the Old Tacoma Marine Inc Summer Sticker Contest yet.

We’ve postponed the contest deadline until November 21st, and will be announcing a winner at the Central Saloon right after checking out the Pacific Marine Expo (register now to avoid exorbitant ticket prices). Remember to Contact me for your own Old Tacoma Marine Inc propeller stickers so you can participate!

2008 Week Eleven in Review

An update from the Maris Pearl

This week we pushed to get the Maris Pearl running again to move it back to Shilshole Marina. Once it was good to go, we took the time to change the oil in the main engine: all 250 gallons of it. We also changed out the oil filters and watched two painters begin work (they also helped take the boat back through the locks). It was another uneventful trip.

An update from the David B

We got call from Jeffrey on the David B, following their shipyard work. They replaced the stern bearing and had some pitch taken out of the prop, bringing the RPM up to 288 with pyrometers at 625 degrees with a speed of 7.9 knots (a 1 knot increase). I still want to see 325 at 600 degrees, but its better than it was. Good work, David B crew!

An update from the Velero IV

Irv from the Velero IV visited the shop the other day. He wanted my opinion on how he’s going to replace the steering mechanism. Currently, it has a worm drive and bull gear, but he wants to use hydraulic rams since they’re more reliable. I think that sounds great and I’m looking forward to hearing about the replacement process.

An update from Waimea

Research on the Sugar Mill Camp Museum’s Washington Iron Works engine in Waimea, Hawaii is progressing slowly but surely. Dan let us borrow the photographs that his wife Carol took when she visited in 1998 or so:

In addition to being great photographs of an old Washington Iron Works diesel engine (an Estep, even!), this gave us the serial number (it looks like 7182 but is really 7162). The serial number let us look up the original Washington Iron Works manufacturer card, which showed that it was purchased by the Kauai Fruit & Land Company in 1928 through the Perine Machinery Company of Seattle, then sold to the Waimea Garage & Electric Company in 1932. The company later bought two other Washington diesels (numbers 7410 and 7587; they must have liked them a lot.

This finally gave us an excuse to email Chris in Waimea again. She works at the Kauai Museum by day and with the fledgling Sugar Mill Camp Museum when she can. She told us that the engine had been sold by the Electric Company when they upgraded their equipment. We haven’t nailed down a date for this; they bought their last Washington diesel in 1945, so maybe this one replaced number 7162, or maybe they upgraded in the 1960s or 1970s to high speeds and got rid of all three Washingtons at once. I don’t know, but we’ll try to find out.

Anyway, Chris said that after the Electric Company sold number 7162, it went to the Kekaha Sugar Mill and powered the pumps used in the sugarcane irrigation ditches. It turns out that Kauai’s sugar cane industry relied on these irrigation ditches, which makes me wonder if Hawaii is full of old heavy-duties rusting away in the fields. Anyway, her cousin Mike rescued this engine after the Kekaha mill went under, and brought it to the Sugar Mill Camp Museum, which is located on the former Waimea Sugar Mill site. Chris says that she’ll send us a CD of photos, and it sounds like Mike might be interested in doing a little ground research for us.

This is especially exciting news for two reasons. First, the serial number confirms that this engine is the second-oldest remaining Washington Iron Works diesel engine (the oldest being the Kodiak Maritime Historical Society engine that Guy alerted us to). Second, from the pictures, it seems to be unusually complete. I don’t see anything missing, which is uncommon considering how engineers can behave like scavengers when it comes to old engines.

Stay tuned for future updates. This is a neat story that’s unfolding.

Atlas-Imperial 668 pistons available

John in Oakland, who works on the Lightship WLV-605 Relief, called with a neat discovery. He said that volunteers with the United States Lighthouse Society, which owns the vessel, are moving some of the spare parts around and found that they have more pistons than they will ever need. They’d like to sell some of the extras to free up storage space and maybe make a little cash for buying other needed parts. If anyone reading this has an Atlas-Imperial 668 and would like some spare pistons, comment here so we can forward the request, or just contact John on the Oakland lightship at (510) 272-0544.

Read the manual!

One of my on-again off-again customer is calling me regularly for free engine trouble advice. While I don’t mind talking shop, anyone working on the heavy-duties should read the engine’s manual over and over again so that you understand how it’s supposed to work. Also, keep the engine clean – really clean – so that leaks can be found and fixed quickly. Good gages and monitoring equipment are also worth the price to install them, since they let you know what’s going on inside (though remember that gauges are not always accurate).

Sometimes, an owner will want to throw money at the engine blind-folded. If they ask me to get involved, I will ask for gauge readings and symptoms before I do any work on the engine. Throwing money blindly into the engine isn’t criminal, but I want to see measurable results and this usually requires patience.

Living the tugboat dream

As I mentioned previously, OTM Inc is getting a lot of calls from people interested in old tugboats for sale in Seattle. I feel like I’m acting as a broker for boats powered by heavy-duty diesels, but I don’t mind because I like seeing these old boats go to good homes.

What I do mind is how many people don’t really realize what they’re getting into by buying an old tug to live on, fix up, and cruise around Puget Sound in. Boats are expensive. They require a lot of maintenance that is in addition to the repairs and overhauls and other fixes. Even boats in great condition need a lot of work. One of the best examples of this is the tugboat Newt. She is a beautiful home for Eric, Laura, and their two kids and is in great shape to the rest of us, all clean and cared for with lots of bright wood and a great Atlas-Imperial diesel. When Eric (who is a very talented guy) gets talking about the boat, though, he says that he feels that about half the work is “done.” I like hearing that, because it shows that he and Laura are responsible tugboat live-aboards who realize that an old boat will always need work.

Back to Old Tacoma Brokerage. I’ve been talking with two “clients” who worry me a little bit because I don’t think they realize what they’re getting into. First, a guy and his wife called me about buying an old tug to live aboard and be their ticket to joining the tugboat enthusiast club. We showed them the Briana Marin, a great tugboat powered by an Enterprise DMG-6 engine (and took pictures of the engine room while we were there):

It’s about 65 feet long, very comfortable inside, and easy to maneuver with both a reverse gear (installed after a previous owner had some problems learning about direct-reverse) and a bow thruster. It was built as a tugboat-yacht, later used hard by a San Francisco lightering company, and then used as a yacht again by a doctor, then a scoundrel, then a local tugboat guy. A few years ago, the main coupling crapped out and the current owner put it up for sale rather than pay the very hefty repair sum.

During the tour and in later phone calls, I tried to scare impart to him the responsibilities of tugboat ownership, as I do all potential buyers. I described all the work that I think needs to be done on the Briana Marin, including replacing the main coupling which is priced at $25,000 plus installation fees. I was trying show that old boats need constant maintenance and repairs, and to get him to think long and hard about the responsibilities of boat ownership.

Apparently, he got the wrong message; he called on Friday asking what I think of a 108-foot steel tug with a Fairbanks-Morse opposed piston diesel. Holy crap, that’s almost twice as much boat as the Briana Marin! He reported that it’s in perfect condition, but I say that even a boat in perfect condition is a lot of work to maintain, since it still needs yearly dry-docking, painting, engine tune-ups, moorage, registration fees… I recommended that he buy a smaller boat and practice before moving up to that 108 foot tug. The Briana Marin, despite the work needed, would be a good tug to learn from, since she’s so maneuverable and not too big for two people to handle. Plus, she’s a pretty little boat:

Second, an upstate New York couple just moved to Seattle and are looking to buy an old boat to move into, fix up, and eventually cruise in. I call this plan “Living the Tugboat Dream.” They got my number from John Callahan in Kingston, New York, who’s the lead guy on the tugboat Chancellor. I like John a lot; he’s the organizer of the Waterford Tugboat Roundup in Waterford that is one of the best parties I’ve ever been to. Anyway, these two used to live in Kingston and hang out with the tugboat guys there, and mentioned to John that they were moving to Seattle and looking to buy a tug. Naturally, John passed on my number.

I met them at Hattie’s Hat in Ballard, then we went down to the Briana Marin as well. They liked the boat, but they’d already toured the J S Polhemus that’s currently at Ewing Street Mooring. The Polhemus is a neat old work tug that I don’t know much about except that it’s also got a nice Enterprise DMG-6 and is for sale by owner (an artist guy who decided that he didn’t want to be a tugboat guy). I don’t think that it’s a good choice for a first tugboat, though, since it needs a lot of work (unlike the Briana Marin, which other than the coupling doesn’t need very much right now work).

I gave these two the the same spiel that I’d given the earlier guy and his wife: boats need a lot of time and money to keep afloat, regardless of the purchase price. They said they knew, but that they are determined to make it work. This frankly worries me, since good intentions without money to back them up have sunk more than a few old boats. See, they’re sort of thirty-something Bohemian types from how they present themselves. She’s a leatherworker, he works with computers. I’m really afraid that they’re looking to buy and old tug and live aboard because they think it’s cheaper than buying a house in Seattle. While it is getting expensive to buy a house, it’s just as expensive to buy a boat. Rather than a mortgage, you’re paying moorage and dry-dock costs and mechanic fees – not to mention paint and oil and fuel, plus major restoration projects like repairing damage.

I know that I’m starting to sound like a broken record and like I’m trying to poop on the party, but people just don’t realize how much work it takes to keep a boat going until it’s gone and they’re deciding between hiring a salvage company so that they can claim the insurance payout, or just walking away.

Another problem I see is that boats don’t act like houses, and most people know more about houses than boats. If you leave a house alone for a few years while you’re living in it and saving the money for a remodel, chances are it’ll be fine. If you leave a boat alone for a few years while you’re living in it and saving the money to dry-dock it and repair the slow leak in the forward bilge compartment, chances are it’ll sink dockside. This illustrates what I call the “Work/Money Curve.” If you don’t keep up with maintenance and repairs and make progress, then the boat starts to fall behind and you need more and more work and money to bring it back. If the boat falls far enough behind, no amount of work or money will fix it and it’ll slip off the surface of the earth – or rather under the surface of the water – without anyone noticing:

I don’t know. Maybe I’m being harsh and these folks really do have the means and the drive to make it work. I have seen some success stories, like the Newt and other tugs that their owners keep looking great through hard work rather than huge bank accounts. I’ve just seen a lot more that end up getting behind that curve and getting ruined. Does anyone reading have an old tugboat success story that they can share? Comment here, or better yet, post to the Tugboat Dream thread at Old Tacoma Marine Inc’s discussion board.

Anyway. I haven’t heard from anyone about either the Briana Marin or the Polhemus for a few days. I was hoping that they’d call me back so that I could show them some other tugs in the area, but they haven’t yet. The ball’s in their court.