Molly 1979 Albin 36 Blog

Since arriving home to St. Joseph, Molly has been berthed in Waterfront Marina, which is conveniently located just off the channel and within walking distance of the cottage and downtown. The marina docks are in good shape, the area is gated, and there's a pool and clubhouse. All of those things make it just about an ideal marina. Except for one thing: it's a surging, seething mess when the wind blows anywhere from SW to NW. We knew this when we decided to keep Molly there for the remainder of this season, but we hoped that there would only be one or two bad days and that those days wouldn't arrive until October. Instead, we've already endured four or five days of chafed and broken dock lines, compromised cleats, and enough aggravation for one season. The video below shows how much Molly surges around with only moderate swell in the channel just beyond the seawall. By the way, you can also see how many slip owners have dealt with the lousy conditions in the marina: they...

Twenty-two. Count them...16 holes below the waterline and six at or above the waterline. That's a lot of potential leaks, and many of them are located in hard-to-reach places, which highlights the importance of reliable bilge pumps and a high-water alarm. Five of the below-the-waterline seacocks/transducers are scheduled to be removed and glassed over this winter: the spare thru hull in the lazarette, the two non-functioning transducers, and the two head discharge seacocks. Fortunately, most of Molly's seacocks are bronze tapered plug-style, which work well. More recent seacocks, for things like the air conditioner and generator, are approved ball-style seacocks; not my favorite, but suitable. It was important to us to know where every seacock was located and how to access it quickly. Seconds count in the event of a failure.

At some point in her history, Molly's 120-volt AC system underwent changes from the original factory configuration. Instead of a single 30-amp service at the helm distribution panel, her AC loads were relocated to the forward cabin closet and a second 30-amp service installed. The two 30-amp breakers - each with its own shore power inlet, naturally - supply a main AC distribution panel, with the AC house loads split between the two 30-amp services. Additionally, a separate panel with two 30-amp breakers feeds power from the generator into the boat's AC system when she is disconnected from shore power. Two three-way switches at the helm control AC power coming into the boat, ensuring that shore power and generator power can not be selected simultaneously. Admittedly, when we first got to know Molly, this system was baffling. Now I think we've sorted it out. I'm no electrical engineer, so forgive my crude schematics. Rather than AC breakers at the helm station, M...

Molly's DC wiring was a confusing, jumbled mess when we acquired her, which simply wouldn't do. It's critical that a system works reliably, and it's helpful to know a system well enough to troubleshoot problems. That meant cleaning up and streamlining Molly's DC system. Here's part of what we did to get her critical systems online: In the midst of our summer cruise, I opted to run the alternator output from the starboard engine directly to the stbd start battery with an appropriately sized wire. After discovering that the ACR was cycling on and off with this configuration, I ran the alternator output wire directly to the house bank, allowing it to reach full charge before the ACR combined it with only a partially discharged start battery. This worked and prevented cycling.

In our family, boat ownership has been a cooperative effort, and as the guy who maintains and repairs Molly's major systems, it's those details I'm keen to document first, not only for our benefit (and record) but also for fellow trawler travelers who might encounter maintenance considerations similar to those we faced upon making Molly ours. Besides, careful prep is the first step in any successful cruise. Molly's distance from home was both attractive and a challenge. Part of the reason my folks wanted to buy her was because she was located perfectly for a summer trip through some of the best cruising waters in the Great Lakes region. Ensuring that she was ready for an extended trip - likely the longest trip she'd ever taken - meant tending to critical details as well as those details that, under different circumstances, might have been delayed for weeks, months, or maybe even years. At almost 40 years old, Molly, although generally well cared for, showed some o...