2008 Week 37 in Review
September 7 to September 13, 2008
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 "Newt" Rasmussen, 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!
