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    The Warranty is Over You Know  

Steve Shumaker, son of Yankee 30 builder John Shumaker

Speaking of warranty, as a boy I would accompany dad on warranty work.  We would go down to a boat in some harbor nearby (I think warranty work on distant boats was performed by the local dealer).  Most of the time it was leaky stanchion bases or some other fittings.  The stanchion bases were especially difficult.  I know we rebedded the ones on Zapatero at least once, and some still leaked.  I see from the website they are still a problem.  I think the problem has to do with the tremendous leverage a stanchion can exert on the deck.  Even though the Yankee 30 decks are sturdy, they are still quite flexible under the loads imposed by a stanchion.  Solutions I see often in modern boats is to either mount the stanchions on a sturdy bulwark, or interrupt the toe rail and place the stanchion base directly on the (very stiff) hull-deck joint.

And then there was that engine, the Albin.  It was a gasoline engine. Scandinavian fisherman reportedly used kerosene, but since kerosene is less volatile, and has a higher flash point than gasoline, they would start the engine with alcohol.  Once the engine warmed up, they switched from alcohol to kerosene.  Dad thought this was a perfect solution to the problem of fuels in a small boat.  Gasoline, of course, has inherent dangers.  A small leak in the enclosed cabin area could prove disastrous.  Diesel spills can make for a very nasty mess.  Kerosene is relatively safe and cleans up easily, as does alcohol.  And so the grand experiment.  The problem was mainly with the carberator floats.  The engine came with plastic floats which worked fine in gasoline, but the alcohol would soften them, and the kerosene burned hotter (I think).  Well the softened floats would swell from the heat and stick.  I don't know how many times Dad had the carberator apart in our boat.  He had aluminum floats fabricated.  These wouldn't swell, but the soldered joints usually had miniscule leaks.  The floats would gradually fill with fuel and sink. 

On Zapatero's maiden voyage, we took the boat from Newport Harbor, where it was launched to Oceanside Harbor, where we were able to obtain a slip. Well, we got out of Newport Harbor and the floats stuck.  There was almost no wind, but up went the sails, and Dad took the carberator apart.  I don't think we had a spare set of floats.  Eventually the wind came up, and we had a delightful sail.  By the time we got to Oceanside, the floats had cooled and hardened in the air, and we were able to motor into the slip without further incident.  We had at least one set of spare floats after that.  I spent hours with Dad, fussing over that engine.  Experimenting with the carberator jets (presumably to get the engine to burn cooler?).  Changing the floats.  Trying all sorts of things.  Fortunately the engine was easy to access! After a year or so of this, Dad abandoned his vision and installed a Volvo Penta gasoline engine in Zapatero.  Several different engines were installed on the boats in production.  Eventually, he settled on the Atomic 4, since everybody seemed to want that engine.  He had a Buch diesel, which had a very high profile, installed on several boats.  That is the reason the interior was modified to have a central table with folding leaves over the engine box. 

I now have an inherent distrust of marine engines.  I will never leave the slip or mooring without the main at least partially raised.  I shudder when I think of powerboaters who venture to sea with no alternate means of propulsion.  One famous cruising couple (I forget their names right now) does not even have an engine installed on their boat.  I think I would like that. Well, I could go on with stories, but this e-mail is getting long.  Feel free to publish the above information (with the exception of my Dad's phone and e-mail address) in your website.

I really appreciate your website.
God bless you,
-Steve

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