Boating USA — March 2018

34 | BOATINGMAG.COM | MARCH 2018

NAUTICAL

NO -NO

BOAT DOCTOR///Q&A

PHOTOS: (FROM TOP) COURTESY PETTIT PAINT, ED SHERMAN

Q:D E WA X

DA BOAT

Can I remove the old layers of wax

from my boat? It is showing a yellow

tinge, and I want to restore the finish

to white.

Steve McKinney

Orange Beach, Alabama

A:

Steve, there are purpose-made

dewa xing formulations offered

by both Pettit and Interlux paints.

These are usually used to remove

mold-release wax from a new boat’s

hull prior to applying the first coats of

anti-fouling paint. That said, yel-

lowing is likely the result of gelcoat

weathering and may require rubbing

compound to restore to white.

STEERING PROBLEM

Q: Hi Boat Doc. My brother-

in-law bought an older

18-foot-long bateau with

an equally old Yamaha 70

that runs well for fishing

the lakes and bayous of

south Louisiana. We took

it out the other day, and I

noticed a problem with the

steering. When turning to

starboard, the motor swings

BRASS

BUS BAR

As I was fl ipping through my photo library, I ran

across this picture (left) of an onboard electrical sys-

tem on someone’s boat. Check out the brass bus bar.

Brass is only about 25 percent as electrically conduc-

tive as copper. Nothing like consciously creating an

inherent weak point right at the main power distribu-

tion panel. The bottom line here? Use only copper bus

bars, preferably tinned copper. —Ed Sherman

manufacturer of marine

steering systems. This is what

they had to say:

All steering cables move

an industry-standard

81 / 2 inches. Here are some

items to check:

• The tilt tube may be
  able to be adjusted
  slightly to account for
  the offset (see photo on
  page 36).


• The link arm may not
  be the proper unit for
  this engine (the link
  arm is above the cable
  output).


• The link arm may be
  installed in

the incorrect

tiller hole.

SeaStar Solutions also

advised checking with the

engine-maker’s technical-

help personnel or engine

manual.

Apply the advice above

first, and then consider that

a cable that “pushes” fully

(turns starboard) but doesn’t

“pull” fully (turns port)

usually indicates that one

or more strands of the cable

inside the jacket have broken

and are catching. It may be

time to replace the cable.

That said, and to make

sure, here is a complete

troubleshooting method:

First, disconnect the steer-

ing cable from the link arm

on the motor. Then turn the

wheel to see if the cable fully

extends and retracts. If it

does move fully, your engine

must be hanging up. Turn

the engine by hand and find

the obstruction.

If the cable does not

extend or retract fully, go to

the helm and disconnect the

cable from it. Turn the wheel

fully for the turn; however,

when turning to port, the

motor seems to swing only

about half as far as it does

to starboard. Is there any

way of adjusting the steer-

ing bar, or do you think the

boat has the wrong steering

cable? Thanks in advance for

your advice.

Donald Kring

Louisiana

A: Hi Mr. Kring. Properly

working steering is essen-

tial to safety, so I put your

question and images in front

of the engineering team at

SeaStar Solutions, a leading

(continued from page 33)
Some paints are less expen-
sive but need to be reapplied
every year and leave a thick
buildup of leftover paint that
can rob speed and efficiency.
Other paints cost more but
wear away and leave no
performance-robbing build-
up of wasted paint.
The online “bottom-paint
selector” from Pettit Paint
walks you through the deci-
sion process pretty well, in
my opinion. It might better
illustrate my point. Visit
pettitpaint.com/perfectpick.
The best thing you can do
is speak with other boaters
in your specific area who use
their boats at a frequency
similar to yours, and use what
they use (or a paint equivalent
to what they use). If you don’t
have any boating friends, ask
around at docks and marinas
and call a local yacht club or
fishing club.
Good luck.