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HUGE Party ***New Pics Page2 & 4**** We had a blast

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:36 am
by jwrape
Well, let me tell ya... The wife had planned this "White Party" for months now. White party meaning, everything is decorated in white and everyone wears all white....

Well the head count right now is 21 on my F44 Motor Yacht... That's a lot of people on the boat.....

The plan is to take a ride about 6pm up to the Dam and back and then party on the boat/dock

We have live entertainment coming. Friend of my brothers is an aspiring Country artist, just released his 1st CD (not signed yet)

But the real story is behind the scenes. We have been on the boat since Tuesday getting ready for today.

So far, I have replace all the house breakers cause one was smoking and making noise and I couldn't figure out which one so I replaced them all.

Been TRYING to get the generator running again with limited success. Still don't know if it will run for more than 15 minutes... Gonna try to check that when I get to the boat today after work.

Changed all the oil's in the engines. That was fun....
Crawling in and out of the Belge is rediculous.... it's big enough to sit down in there but crawlin' on my knees sunburnt is not easy nor comfortable.

Then last night about 4pm we went go pump out... We drive over to the marina and they are closed... We drove over to the next marina and they are closed as well. I can't freakin' believe it.... Have absolutely no clue why they were closed so early.

My wife freaks out because the tanks are so full the heads won't flush and the pumps are not pumping anymore because it's full of waste.

Finally we got ahold of my father who said he will come out this morning and take the boat over to pump out for me while I'm at work....

WOW! I am tired and need some rest now.... :roll: :roll: :roll:

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:51 am
by kevin babineau
gotta love it!!!! now common sense would say to have had a trail run and to only have the rated amount of people for the boat on board.....but if we had common sense half of us wouldnt be boating...lol...i love that stuff...i have to because i seem to put myself in that position all the time...lol good luck and have fun!!!!!

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:57 am
by jwrape
kevin babineau wrote:gotta love it!!!! now common sense would say to have had a trail run and to only have the rated amount of people for the boat on board.....but if we had common sense half of us wouldnt be boating...lol...i love that stuff...i have to because i seem to put myself in that position all the time...lol good luck and have fun!!!!!
Oh, I did take it out on Wed. night for a run and everything worked fine...

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 9:05 am
by gjrylands
kevin babineau wrote:gotta love it!!!! now common sense would say to have had a trail run and to only have the rated amount of people for the boat on board.....but if we had common sense half of us wouldnt be boating...lol...i love that stuff...i have to because i seem to put myself in that position all the time...lol good luck and have fun!!!!!
Once a boat gets to that size, they are no longer rated by the number of people they can carry. They are only required to have a PFD for each person aboard.

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:35 am
by jwrape
gjrylands wrote:
kevin babineau wrote:gotta love it!!!! now common sense would say to have had a trail run and to only have the rated amount of people for the boat on board.....but if we had common sense half of us wouldnt be boating...lol...i love that stuff...i have to because i seem to put myself in that position all the time...lol good luck and have fun!!!!!
Once a boat gets to that size, they are no longer rated by the number of people they can carry. They are only required to have a PFD for each person aboard.
Got that covered, gonna borrow PFD's from my parents for the party....
They have bags of them for such an occation.

Re: HUGE Party tonight on the boat and i am nervous!

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:08 am
by gjrylands
jwrape wrote:
Been TRYING to get the generator running again with limited success. Still don't know if it will run for more than 15 minutes... Gonna try to check that when I get to the boat today after work.
Onan generators have a low oil pressure and high temperature cut off switchs. If either switch is faulty it will shut down the engine to protect the engine. As the temperature increases the oil pressure drops. If the pressure drops below the set point the engine shuts down. If the switch is faulty it may be shutting down the engine in error, or if the oil pressure is actually low it is properly shutting down. The same can happen to the high temperature switch.

You may want to check the actual oil pressure of the engine with a gauge. You would have to install a tee where the pressure sensor is located and install the gauge as well as the sensor, or install just the gauge and bypass the sensor. Run the engine and check the pressure after the engine gets to operating temperature. The engine works harder as a load is applied to the generator. Increase the load and watch the pressure making sure it doesn’t drop below the minim standard.

If the water pump’s impeller is good and there are no obstructions in the pickup or hoses the generator should be cooled properly. You could try running a garden hose into the output hose of the water pump, that way you will know that it is getting cooling water.

If both switches are good, about the only other thing that would cause the engine to die; that being lack of fuel, i.e. fuel pump, filter, or obstructed fuel line.

You should be able to track down the problem, but probably not before the party.

Re: HUGE Party tonight on the boat and i am nervous!

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:35 am
by jwrape
gjrylands wrote:
jwrape wrote:
Been TRYING to get the generator running again with limited success. Still don't know if it will run for more than 15 minutes... Gonna try to check that when I get to the boat today after work.
Onan generators have a low oil pressure and high temperature cut off switchs. If either switch is faulty it will shut down the engine to protect the engine. As the temperature increases the oil pressure drops. If the pressure drops below the set point the engine shuts down. If the switch is faulty it may be shutting down the engine in error, or if the oil pressure is actually low it is properly shutting down. The same can happen to the high temperature switch.

You may want to check the actual oil pressure of the engine with a gauge. You would have to install a tee where the pressure sensor is located and install the gauge as well as the sensor, or install just the gauge and bypass the sensor. Run the engine and check the pressure after the engine gets to operating temperature. The engine works harder as a load is applied to the generator. Increase the load and watch the pressure making sure it doesn’t drop below the minim standard.

If the water pump’s impeller is good and there are no obstructions in the pickup or hoses the generator should be cooled properly. You could try running a garden hose into the output hose of the water pump, that way you will know that it is getting cooling water.

If both switches are good, about the only other thing that would cause the engine to die; that being lack of fuel, i.e. fuel pump, filter, or obstructed fuel line.

You should be able to track down the problem, but probably not before the party.
Good advice, I think you could possibly be right. I think the oil level was low because after re-looking at the dipstick with a flashlight I saw that I was looking at the low line thinking it was the full line...
I will see if it will start and run when i get there. I haven't started it since I changed the oil....

It might just be that I was misreading the dip stick since it is so dark in the belge even with the 12v lights on. I am thinking I will replace the 12v bulbs with some newer improved 12v lights cause those are just not cuttin' it. It's just a challenge to work on anything down there.

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 1:46 pm
by kevin babineau
i dont know if this is a new thread topic but something jwarpe said about the passengers i always wondered about capacity...but my new question is...what about riding on the bow? i know small vessels u are not suppose to be underway with people of ur bow unless its a bowrider.....but what about big boats? my regal had a bow sunpad but underway i would make people get off it....but some of my boating buddies drive around with people on their bow...as a personal feeling i dont like it but i was wondering if there is a rule...thanks and good luck with ur PARTY...wish me luck...im going to the red sox game.......(unless ur a yankees fan) but id rather be out on the water lol

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:15 am
by jwrape
Well, the party was a BLAST and it looked awesome cruising across the water. People staring and waving and even clapping. It was a ton of fun...

Funny, most everyone sat on the bow the entire cruise. It took alot to push the boat. We ran at about 2200rpms. Usually that is moving pretty fast. This time it was plowing pretty good.
We counted 23 people.
Image
Have tons more pics on my camera but I took this one with my cell phone.

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 8:29 am
by prowlersfish
Glad you had a great time . how is the water level down there now ?

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 8:44 am
by jwrape
prowlersfish wrote:Glad you had a great time . how is the water level down there now ?
We are only 8' down now.
Instead of having 12.6' under my boat in the slip, now I have over 26'


It's beautfil, as long as the core of engineers don't let all of it out to feed the fresh water clams in Alabama. :roll: :roll:

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 8:53 am
by LSP
answers my question on your other thread....thanks

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 8:54 am
by jwrape
LSP wrote:answers my question on your other thread....thanks
:wink:

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:22 am
by kevin babineau
awesome im glad it worked out for u....

Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 9:55 am
by gjrylands
But what about the Generator?