Yesterday Yamaha Motors came out with some really sound advice regarding running their engines in the Gulf of Mexico, more specifically what to do if you find yourself running through an oil slick. As far as I'm concerned, their advice will work for just about any makers engine. Here's the official Yamaha take on it:

"In the weeks following the BP/Transocean's Deepwater Horizon's oil spill Yamaha has received many calls from many concerned consumers who wish to learn more about the operation of Yamahaa outboard motors in crude oil contaminated waters. The conditions that currently exist in portions of the Gulf of Mexico are are unique and unusual. There is very little data to support any assertions for how the product might react when exposed to them.

While Yamaha does not recommend deliberate operation of it's outboards in oil contaminated water, we realize the outboards will be used in these conditions.

Yamaha takes some pride in the fact that so many Yamaha-powered boats are being used in support of clean-up efforts in the Gulf, and we have been monitoring dealer and consumer comments regarding the performance of these outboards. To date, few difficulties have been reported as a direct result of oil contamination.

For outboards that are used in crude oil contaminated water, Yamaha has the following general recommendations:

• Operators should use extreme vigilance in monitoring water pressure and temperature conditions of the outboard.
• Frequently clean the outboard lower unit, using a mixture of liquid dish detergent and water.
• Frequently clear debris from the cooling water intake intakes using a stiff brush.

Consumer questions regarding use in oil contaminated waters should be directed to Yamaha Consumer Relations at: (866)894-1626.

This all seems like sensible sound advice to me and again, my view is that this is good advice for all outboard motors running around the Gulf these days.

Well its Memorial Day weekend and at least for me the boating season has begun. On my power boating side that means striper fishing here in the northeast.

Every now and then the fish get smarter than fishermen and one of the ways they do that is to get our fishing line caught up in the propeller on the boat. This almost always means that the fish will break off and miss the chance to get hauled into the boat. Bummer on the lost fish! But don't turn an event like this into something worse like a blown up lower unit on your outboard engine! The photo below shows what happens:

If this fishing line is left on the shaft behind your propeller it will eventually destroy the seal behind it that keeps water out of your gearcase and oil in the gearcase. The bottom line is that if this goes unattended, the lost fish is going to be the least of your worries.

So, the tip here is to pay attention! If you or somebody on your boat gets a line caught up in your propeller, don't ignore the issue. Just because the engine still runs and the propeller still turns does not mean that trouble isn't just around the corner. When you get back to shore, remove the propeller for inspection to see if fishing line, as shown above has wrapped itself around the shaft. If it has, get it rid of it! While your at it, if you didn't already grease the shaft as part of your spring maintenance routine, do it now. Reinstall the propeller and give that striper another go tomorrow. Have a great holiday everybody!

This one falls in the why didn't I think of that category. One of our readers sent me a photo the other day showing his solution to pushing some fuel through his diesel fuel system to get it to his fuel lift pump. He had been changing his fuel water separator filter and had drained quite a bit of fuel off. The new canister held about a pint of fuel, and he did pre-fill the filter housing before reassembly.

But in spite of doing the right thing on that end, he still had air in the system and was having a heck of a time getting fuel from the tank to his electric lift pump, which would pressurize the system slightly from that point to the engine. His solution is brilliant, but may not work on all boats, at least not without several people involved. Check the photo below:

Yes, that's correct, he's using his inflatable dinghy pump to pressurize his fuel system just enough to get flow from the tank to his electric fuel lift pump, where the pump should take over to prime the system up to the engine, where additional bleeding will probably be needed.

Now on a lot of boats, this little trick might not work due to the fact that the fuel tank will most often be vented directly to atmosphere. But, if extra hands are available, you could temporarily block the tank vent and get some pressure going. Not much is needed, just engough to get the fuel flowing. So you might need somebody down below working the bleeder either at a designed bleeder screw or by cracking open fuel attachment fittings, and somebody on deck blocking the vent. Depending on your vent fitting, you may be able to temporarily block it with a small piece of old tire inner tube to act as a seal, and tighten a hose clamp around the vent fitting. That could eliminate the extra body.

This particular boat is equipped with a somewhat unique venting system made by Seacurefill. Systems like the Seacure fill are the future for all boats as the EPA tightens things up relative to evaporative emissions from boats. You should check them out at: www.seacurefill.com

Anyhow, with the Seacurefill system, the venting and fill are essentially a closed loop, so pressurizing the system with the dinghy foot pump and an appropriately sized adaptor to fit in the fuel fill and attach to the end of the pump hose, you're in!

Last week I posted a recent service bulletin from Yanmar regarding sail drive corrosion an their take on how to mitigate the problem. I've heard from a reader since and he makes a point worthy of further emphasis.

It can't be stressed enough that one of the secrets to keeping your saildrive leg in one piece is to ensure that the anode to cathode relationship protecting the drive is adequate. In simpler terms, this means that the amount of anode has got to be large enought to effectively protect the amount of exposed aluminum on the drive.

One of the best methods of ensuring this is tilted in your favor is to use a tenacious coating of epoxy on the aluminum, effectively insulating it from the water it lives in. The Yanmar bulletin does say to use an epoxy barrier coating before applying the primer and anti-fouling paint. Our reader has spoken with several folks on this matter that have read the bulletin and apparently missed this key point.

So again, and following along with my much earlier articles here entitled "Keep Your Drive Alive", the epoxy barrier coating is of paramount importance. Further, and a step I've seen many people miss is the proper cleaning of the drive surface before applying the barrier coating. The enemy here are invisible soluable salts (assuming the drive has been in salt water). These salts must be washed away before any coating is applied. The bulletin does mention both a test kit and a bio-degradable wash product available from Chlor-rid Corporation www.chlor-rid.com use them before you attempt to apply any barrier coating to your drive to ensure long term adhesion of the coating.  

Several months ago I posted a multi-part series here entitled "Keep Your Drive Alive". Why? Because there have been quite a few issues with saildrives corroding away. We know why, and I discussed all of the issues during that series. Apparently the issue has become prevalent enough that Yanmar America is responding with a very detailed service bulletin that not only describes the problem, but offers up the same information I had provided here. If you have a Yanmar saildrive, I strongly suggest you take heed and look this over carefully. Since the bulletin is also intended for end users, I'm placing it here in it's entirety.