Alcanboats Forum

dpearson

Hi Paul In a nutshell, the repower was mostly successful. I ran into trouble with the used engines from eBay, but gradually got things going. A fuel pump here, a turbocharger there and everything was good until one of the engines gave out near the end of the season. In principle, the pair of D3-190 ...

dpearson

Sorry to hear about your engine problems. The original AQ165/170 were fine quality, but 50 years later it is getting hard to find parts to keep them running. You might post a "looking for" message on this forum. It doesn't reach a huge audience, but it is definitely the right people. With respect to...

dpearson

I know this isn't helpful, but my life lesson about water leaks is that where the drips occur rarely gives you much hint about where the point of incursion is. Most boats sit slightly stern down, so you can probably assume that the leak is up and forward from where the drips are occurring. As I said...

dpearson

Hi Paul They definitely raised the pilothouse on the the Alwest models. You can see the change by looking at the outside deck. The Alcan deck is flat from back to front whereas the Alwest has a step up from the back cockpit onto the side decks. It's about an 8" change of height in the deck with a co...

dpearson

Celebration! I saw video of the engines running. They were only started for a few seconds, but it shows that they are hooked up at least somewhat correctly and the electronics are working. The boat now waits until Spring launch to see how well it all works together. This repower is being done on the...

dpearson

Repower Part III - solving a few mysteries One of the things that had me a little concerned about the new (used) engines was the engine management system. The engines that I bought are 2008 vintage. They have the Volvo Penta Electronic Vessel Control (EVC) system, but it is the dash-C variant (EVC-C...

dpearson

Hi Jim The repower is well under way right now and I am expecting it to be done for the upcoming season. I will type up an update with more details, but the current situation is that the old engines are out and the new (used) engines are in the engine compartment, but not fully mounted or hooked up....

dpearson

Matt I'll be interested to see how that boat floats Doing some rough math... Assuming the original loading was optimal, it would have included 2 AQ170 engines at ~700lb each and 1 6.5KW generator at 380lb for a total of around 1800lb in the engine compartment. The outboards on that boat weigh around...

dpearson

Hi Matt Interesting question. On the 1969 model, the default location for the batteries is in the engine compartment in the rear, and the fresh water and hot water tanks are under the floor of the pilothouse. You may notice that I left out the holding tank and that is because many of the boats would...

dpearson

Hi Abbey/Andrew Congrats on the boat and welcome to the forum. With respect to the cushions, I have never seen any drawings of the layout. However, everything is pretty rectangular and the dimensions are similar from one seating area to the next. What model boat do you have? The http://www.alcanboat...

dpearson

Bottom paint for aluminum boats can be a real nuisance to find, especially in Canada. Common bottom paints should not be used as they usually contain metals that will react with the aluminum and cause corrosion. Most marine paint manufacturers make paints that a safe for aluminum, but they are hard ...

dpearson

Part II - Getting the Engines Home In my previous posting, I described finding the engines in the UK. According to the records, the engines were initially installed in a boat as a mated pair. As a side note, prior to embarking on this project I couldn’t have told you that that would be an important ...

dpearson

Hi folks It has been a long time since there were any postings in the technical forum, so I though I would start a thread on my current project to repower Buster. As some of you may know, I purchased Buster with one engine with a cracked block with the intention of repowering. I repowered the boat w...

dpearson

Hi Kurt The insurance question is, unfortunately, a little difficult to answer. The available insurance depends a bit on where the boat is located and what kind of equipment it has. For example, some insurance companies won't insure boats in certain waters, and some won't insure boats with propane a...

dpearson

All In keeping with BikieDumpDave's email, we will be holding the 2017 Rendezvous on Dow's lake in Ottawa. There are plenty of reasons to visit Ottawa this year, but as per tradition we will hold the rendezvous on the 3rd weekend in August. Yes... I know that is next weekend, but better late than ne...

dpearson

Terry Tough question to answer as the Centre of Gravity (C of G) will have changed and there is only limited data to calculate from. I think it is safe to say that the CofG has moved forward from any previous position as the engines are going to be lighter than before. To make matters worse, there a...

dpearson

Thought I would show you the new instrument panel for Buster. Way back in 2002/03 we re-powered Buster. The old instruments were not going to work with the new engines, so we ordered instrument panels for each engine from Volvo Penta. They didn't make a twin engine panel, so it came as 2 single engi...

dpearson

Older gps receivers will have trouble with the aluminum. Some of the newer chart pletters have "high sensitvity" gps receivers built in. These seem to do fine without direct exposure to the sky. Howe've received, if you want rock solid signal an external antenna/receiver will always be better. David

dpearson

Maybe more work than you are looking for, but I bought teak planks and milled my own. And to be fare, I didn't do the work myself. I hired a friend to do the work.

David

dpearson

Folks It is time to break radio silence around this year's rendezvous. I have updated the rendezvous page http://www.alcanboats.com/newsite_wordpress/rendezvous with details. 2016 Rendezvous Summary Date: August 20-21, 2016 Time: Starting at 12:00 on Saturday Location: Merrickville, ON While we didn...

dpearson

Welcome aboard. That is a bunch of great questions. I will take a crack at it and let others chime in. 1 - Market Value I would say that Alcan boats are not collectors items as I have yet to see anyone restoring one to showroom original condition as a way of increasing its value as they might with a...

dpearson

Hi Wayne

I don't think it affects people arriving by car. Trident has plenty of parking and lovely facilities. I think the only drawback is that the nearest hotels are 10km away in Gananoque. Trident is home port to Catherine Ann, so we are guaranteed at least the one spot for a boat.

David

dpearson

Folks Thought I would publish my float plan for the 2015 Alcanboats Rendezvous in case the other boats coming down the Rideau Canal felt like joining for a flotilla. Wednesday Aug 12 We plan on leaving Bayview Yacht Harbor (Portland ON on the Big Rideau) in the morning with the objective of getting ...

dpearson

Wendy et al We will be returning to the Trident Yacht Club (1699 Trident Yacht Club Ln, Gananoque, ON) this year. We were a little hesitant about this location as apparently the harbor is full with members and we will not be able to make reservations for the boats. That being said, we believe there ...

dpearson

Hey everyone It is time to start thinking about a get-together for this year. At the 2014 rendezvous we discussed bringing it back to the Gananoque area, so that is our plan for this year. I have published preliminary information on the Rendezvous page, but I will repeat it here Date-time: 12:00 noo...

dpearson

Nice analysis! I think once I get more data points that you will see the sweet spot around 3500RPM. I was more interested in the displacement speed fuel consumption as I was trying to figure out just how far we could go on our fuel supply. I need to take some additional readings to fill in the gaps....

dpearson

One of my recent projects included wiring the Fuel Injection controllers to the boat computer. The project is still a work in progress, but I though you might be interested in some fuel economy measurements. First some background. The engines on Buster are Volvo Penta 4.3 GXi fuel injected V-6's. Th...

dpearson

Gene As someone who has repowered an old Alwest, I can tell you that the answer to your question is "It depends". You will never make economic sense of repowering your boat, but having reliable engines makes boating a real pleasure. I am assuming you have considered the rebuild options as they are t...

dpearson

For those that are still keenly on their way to Britt despite the weather, you will be pleased to know there are a few of us here. Buster got stranded in Pointe au Baril because of rough weather on the Bay, but her crew made it up to Britt with fixings for a nice lunch thanks to a convenient ride wi...

dpearson

Hi Wayne

We will miss your company on the cruise, but I am glad you will be able to make the event. See you in Britt.

David

dpearson

Folks We are planning the trip up to Britt for the Rendezvous and I was hoping that the locals might be able to provide some cruising advice for the area. The two burning questions I have are: 1 - How much time should we budget for the Small Craft channel from Port Severn up to Britt? 2 - How likely...

dpearson

Hi All The event is moving forward at its usual relaxed pace. St. Amant's is prepared to receive us, but we now need to know how many people may be showing up, how many need a room and how many need a slip for their boat. I would appreciate if you would either reply on the forum, or send an email to...

dpearson

Hi Wayne A flotilla from Orillia would be great. Do you have any constraints on dates? We are very flexible right now, but will get less so as we get closer to the time. My range of departure dates from Orillia is Aug 9th to Aug 11th, with earlier dates being preferred. Your need to be back in Toron...

dpearson

Pete It is hard to put a price on a project boat. One rule of thumb that I use is that they have anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 lb of aluminum in them and at $0.90 per pound you get a scrap value of $4,500 to $9,000. If the project boat includes good running engines, controls, galley equipment, etc.,...

dpearson

Hi Wendy Our current plan is to have Buster up in Georgian Bay for the rendezvous, but I also want to do some boating on the Bay and don't really want to do the canal again. So... we are planning on trucking the boat to Orillia in the first week of August and then heading up to the Bay for at least ...

dpearson

Hi Pete Welcome to the Alcanboats forum. The peeling paint is a bit of a chronic problem for any aluminum boat. It is hard to get things to stick to aluminum. This is one of the reasons why you see a lot of working boats just finished in bare aluminum. I had the hull of my boat blasted and painted a...

dpearson

Walt Good point about rated horsepower. The stern drive engines are rated at the engine shaft and definitely lose something through the transmission. The manufacturers don't publish the transmission losses though, so I can only guess at somewhere around 5% or a little higher. The U-Joint operates at...

dpearson

Hi Walt You pose an excellent question, but one that is hard to answer. Even the simple question of what speed the boat starts planing is complicated. I will take a shot at answering the questions and hopefully others will chime in with their experiences. How much power will it take to plane? The or...

dpearson

Dan There are a number of options for deck material and they all have their pros and cons. They can all look good when you first apply them, but they all age differently. We chose to use paint on Buster, but 10 years later it looks like crap and needs to be redone. Rob did Teak decks on Catherine An...

dpearson

Hi Sandrin Based on the pictures, I am guessing this is from the Alloy Manufacturing ship-yard in Montreal. They made a variety of boats of different lengths and layouts, and a number of them were one-off. They typically used the Sea-Villa model names for these boats. The outlines of the hull and su...

dpearson

Wow! Nice work Dave! And thanks for sharing the description and all the pictures.

David

dpearson

John Some time ago a did a trace of the line drawing on one of the brochures. I modified it slightly to match my own boat, but it may be a good starting point. See the attached GIF. I have a higher resolution version somewhere, but I can't find the file right now. If it turns up, I will upload it. D...

dpearson

Folks We came away from the 2013 Rendezvous with an idea that we might want to get a little adventurous next year. Barb and Dan Edsall suggested that we might like to hold the event in the Georgian Bay area. They have suggested their home port of St. Amant's Waterfront Inn & Restaurant (http://www.s...

dpearson

Dave Thanks for your comments and the shot of your boat. If you have a few minutes, get me some information on your boat and put it in the registration form (http://www.alcanboats.com/newsite_wordpress/registry/registration-form). I will set up a Registry page for your boat and publish some of the o...

dpearson

Folks It is no longer a preview. The new site went live today around 7:30AM. If you are still seeing the old site, please hit refresh on your browser and you will see the new site. The content is still pretty much the same, but it has all been ported over to Wordpress, so it is much easier to manage...

dpearson

Folks I have been feeling guilty about the lack of web site updates. As explanation, I originally created the site using Microsoft Front Page, and over the years, the package has disappeared from easy availability. In the past few months, I have experimented with various alternatives and have conclu...

dpearson

Walt

Congratulations on the launch! Love to hear more about the refit.

David

dpearson

Well... despite not much feedback, we are going to have a rendezvous at Prinyer's Cove this coming weekend. Details so far: Location: Prinyer's Cove Marina Official start: 12:00 noon on Saturday Aug 17, 2013 Sat. Lunch: Buster will provide BBQ sausages and hamburgers Sat. Dinner: pot luck Sun Breakf...

dpearson

Hi Folks At the last rendezvous, we discussed where and when to have the 2013 rendezvous. We had a terrific suggestion from Wendy Cyr to meet at Prinyers Cove. We also agreed that the 17th of August would likely fit into everyone's calendars. So, please consider this an invitation to join us at Prin...

dpearson

Fraser et al Just for further clarity, we will be holding the Rendezvous at the Trident Yacht Club near Gananoque. Below please find the details Date: The 2012 Alcan Rendezvous will be held the weekend of August 17-19. Location: Trident Yacht Club, near Gananoque Activities: The Rendezvous will kick...

dpearson

Hi Trevor For the interior wals, we will be using 3/16" teak panelling. I was able to source teak panels and lumber from Noah's Marine Supply in Toronto ) http://www.noahsboatbuilding.com/ ). In case you are interested in the other materials, the plan is: Walls - teak panel (good one side) Ceiling -...

dpearson

Hi folks We have been busy rebuilding Buster to make as good or better than when we first bought her. The superstructure rebuild has taken longer than we expected but has resulted in a substantially improved structure. We have started the interior rebuild which has created an opportunity for current...

dpearson

Wally

Timing is perfect. I am traveling Thursday, but available all day Friday. Give me a shout on cell at 613-292-7950. I will send you a PM with more contact information.

David

dpearson

Wally It sounds like you need a good marine surveyor to advise you on the corrosion issues. There have not been any reports of aluminum corroding under the foam, but that is not terribly scientific. The best anecdotal information I can offer is that the aluminum parts seem to last the longest. The e...

dpearson

Walt Most of the access holes I have cut have been through the wood paneling. I wanted to access the wiring under the decks, so I cut through the panel in one of the dinette seats and also behind the drawers in the galley. I typically cut a rectangular hole and then use the cut-out as the patch. It ...

dpearson

I will point you back to the blueprints for more information. There is a drawing entitled "Hull Foaming Arrangement" at http://www.alcanboats.com/BluePrints/Hull%20Foaming%20Arrangement.JPG which shows you exactly where they intended to spray foam. It is not totally controlled, so there will be the ...

dpearson

The concept of repowering with outboards has come up in discussion, but I am not aware of any boats that have actually gone that way. It should be quite practical to do. One thing to be cautious of is that the transom is relatively thin aluminum and relied on a thick piece of wood for stiffening aro...

dpearson

Folks As usual, I am late in getting invitations out for the Alcan Boats Rendezvous. I will blame it on the fact that Buster is still not in the water as she is undergoing a substantial re-fit. This may mean that we are attending the Rendezvous by land this year. However, that should not discourage ...

dpearson

Test to confirm board upgrade has resolved database issue.

dpearson

Terry

I have to ask. Why did you want to know? Are you thinking of getting a bigger boat? Here is one for only $126K http://www.scrutonmarine.com/PV2175.htm

David

dpearson

I am totally in to the idea. One of the suggestions from my Mother is that at one Rendezvous, you should publish the date of the next Rendezvous. This totally eclipses my usual 2 week planning horizon, but I am game to try it out. Your suggestion of a date is consistent with past years and would put...

dpearson

Terry

Inquiring minds want to know how things went. Is Mastercard III back in service, or are there some serious words flying around the household?

I remember my own repower and the launch took a little coersion on my part to push it over the edge.

Hope all is well
David

dpearson

Is anyone up for a get-together? It has been pretty quiet, but I figure there should be at least one or two people out boating. I am planning a bit of time on the boat in mid-August and would be keen on getting together. Probably the best time for me would be the weekend of August 14-15. I will be s...

dpearson

Regarding the trim thing, I think you may getting your boat back to design weight. The most common engine configuration was the twin inline-6 engines and they only weighed 650lb each with stern-drives. Even lighter was the single V-8 option that would have weighed in less than 1,100lb. All the moder...

dpearson

Buster has been in the water since late April. It hasn't been great boating so far this year, but the long weekend is looking good so far.

dpearson

Hi The hull number is usually stamped into the grounding plate on the transom. The ground plate is a block of thicker aluminum plate around 8" wide and 3" tall welded to the hull. There will be a number of tapped holes with screws to allow the ground wires to be bonded to a common point. It is usual...

dpearson

Interesting analysis. I am suspicious that not all hull numbers were assigned in a controlled fashion. The convention when things were sort of under control was: MMM YY NNN The numbers were stamped by hand, so they are a little inconsistent in the use of spaces and dashes and things. where MMM is mo...

dpearson

Terry I didn't intentionally bring up the topic of outboards. I was trying to emphasize the inefficiency of boats at anything over hull speed. I did consider outboards when looking at re-powering Buster, but I/O seemed better given that that the engine compartment was already set up that way. It mig...

dpearson

Terry et al Rob's response regarding Buster's engines is accurate. They are Volvo Penta 4.3GXi with SX legs. I don't think they have changed much from the $13K price I paid for the combo. Add up the labour and all the equipment that went along with the re-power and the budget will make you take a de...

dpearson

Folks Our 2009 Alcanboat Rendezvous is going to be graced by a very special guest... my mother. She is flying out from the west coast to spend some time with the Ontario Alcan boat gang. She is the regular pilot of my parent's Alwest 370 "Quadrium" and has many Alcan boat experiences to share. With ...

dpearson

Terry Bring yourselves along with the snacks and Trent-pops on Saturday. The boat-count will be low, but the boat-owner count will be high. There have been a number of family issues that have prevented the usual crowd from bringing their boats. More a matter of circumstances than location. We expect...

dpearson

Plans are solidifying!!! Location: Fraser Park Marina in Trenton, Ontario. Fraser Park Marina is located on the Trent river at the SW end of the Dundas St. bridge. Latitude 44° 6' 7" Longitude -77° 34' 28" Phone: (613) 394-2561 We have made arrangements to have a section of the marina reserved for ...

dpearson

Rob What are we going to do without the star of the show? C'est la vie. We will be happy to have your company by land. Of course, my planning abilities (or lack thereof) are showing again this year and I don't have the precise location identified, but I think we should stick with a plan similar to t...

dpearson

Just another piece of anecdotal evidence, but I remember reading somewhere that they were certified to carry 23 people. I'll have to dig through my stuff to see if this is authoritative or just bad memory.

dpearson

Fellow Alcan Boat Enthusiasts Well... we have been thinking abou this for a while and have decided to follow through. We are planning on having the 2009 Alcan Boat Rendezvous somewhere near Trenton on the weekend of August 15, 16. The actual location is still to be determined, but I would like to ma...

dpearson

See the article at http://www.alcanboats.com/hydraulic_steering.htm.

DP

dpearson

This is an attempt to move the discussion from the general topic of Winter projects to the more specific topic of the superstructure rebuild. Recap of the thread. In a response to the question "What projects are you thinking about ?" I indicated a desire to reskin the superstructure on Buster. I typ...

dpearson

Seconds after I wrote that message I found the solution. 1) Log in to the forum 2) Navigate to the "User Control Panel". It is a link on the left hand side, just under the PHPBB banner. 3) Select the "Board Preferences" tab. 4) Select "Edit Display Options" 5) Change the "Display Post Order Directio...

dpearson

This has come up in the past, so I spent a bit of time researching. It appears that the Forum software does not have a feature to permit reversing the sort order of posts. There is a published code modification that I might try if I get brave, but I am not that brave right now. To help things a bit,...

dpearson

I haven't determined what thickness to use yet. I recall Case saying something about 1/8" for Cadoruca, so that will probably be my starting point for calculations. I just took a look at the brochure for the Alcan 370 and it indicates that the "side sheets" (I assume that means the superstructure) w...

dpearson

I am toying with replacing the roof completely. I can't think of any good reason to keep the weight on the boat. The other factor on Buster is that the roof is quite thick. It adds about 5" to the height of the boat. I could do the same thing in aluminum in less height and less weight. Only remainin...

dpearson

My other thought was to join the sheets together before installing them on the boat. Then just use the plug weld everywhere. This could work everywhere except the corners.

dpearson

I remember seeing the same boat about the same year. I think it was in Pirates Cove near Hurst. Let me be clear about my own roof idea. It is nothing quite so huge. Keep in mind that Buster does not have a flying bridge. My plan is to extend the roof over the foredeck much the same way as some Alcan...

dpearson

I had been thinking of using screws, but I like the idea of drilling holes in the skin and then filling them with weld material. It is a little more obvious when joining two pieces of sheet together. I am thinking of making sure all the sheets join at an angle piece. That way I can leave a small gap...

dpearson

The dive ladder and roof are fairly easy projects and rely more on ey for design that anything else. The re-skinning is a little more complicated. I am actually thinking of keeping the original superstructure intact as much as possible, including the interior paneling. What I would like to do is rep...

dpearson

I have 3 major projects in mind for Buster. 1) Swim platform. I am thinking that this is the year to add a swim platform with a nice big dive ladder. I have designed the platform and ladder in my mind and have created sketches. Now I need to do the math and do more precise drawings. My big challenge...

dpearson

Folks I am tuning up the Photo Gallery in the hopes of getting more people submitting pictures. I figured the best thing was to attempt to figure it out myself. to that end, I have uploaded the pictures from the 2008 Alcan Boat St. Lawrence Rendezvous into an album. Check it out at http://www.alcanb...

dpearson

Folks For those in attendance at the 2008 Alcan Boat Rendezvous, you may recall conversation about 2009. Given that we were proposing a change of venue, and possibly a lengthy cruise for some, I thought we should open up a discussion on the topic and see what people were thinking. I propose we hold ...

dpearson

You say the boat "topped out" at 1800 to 2000 RPM. Was that at Wide-open throttle (WOT)? If so, then there is something really wrong. If by being cautious you mean you limited the throttle, then I am not sure we can do much with the data point. I wish I could remember what gearing I have on Buster. ...

dpearson

Hi Gang The General forum is getting a little cluttered with topics. Based on a suggestion from our chief scientest (Rob Farrow), I have created a "Technical" forum. Please use this forum for posting questions and answers about the various technical things about Alcan/Alwest/etc. boats. We will use ...

dpearson

Hi Gang The General forum is getting a little cluttered with topics. Based on a suggestion from our chief scientest (Rob Farrow), I have created a "Technical" forum. Please use this forum for posting questions and answers about the various technical things about Alcan/Alwest/etc. boats. We will use ...

dpearson

Hi Ellen I will take a stab at the answer. Your boat should be able to do somewhere around 30MPH with the power system you describe. To the best of my knowledge, the 5.0l engines are around 200HP. This is more than the original 170HP 6-cyl that probably came with the boat. However, the V-8's are qui...

dpearson

Folks Take a look at this picture: Bulkhead and Stiffeners Arrangement-inset .JPG It is from the one of the drawings in the blueprints section: http://www.alcanboats.com/BluePrints/Bulkhead%20and%20Stiffeners%20Arrangement%20.JPG It doesn't show the keel, but it does show that the keel has nothing o...

dpearson

Terry I'll see if I can get a diagram up on the site. To describe it in text goes something like this. The alcan/alwest/etc. boats were not made following traditional boat construction. Most steel boats and wood boats were traditionally made with a main longitudinal keel and then the shape is built ...

dpearson

Well... the 2008 Alcan Boat St. Lawrence Rendezvous is under way. Day 1 had 3 crews with boats and 3 more crews arrive by land. The day was framed by mostly sunny weather, with just enough rain to remind us that the Summer in Ontario has not been the greatest. I will do up a full report next week. H...

dpearson

Folks The 2008 Alcan Boats St. Lawrence Rendezvous is definitely on. I have had better response than expected given the short notice. I have three boats confirmed and 2 families confirmed to arrive by road. There are a couple more boats and several more families that are on the fence. This year shou...

dpearson

Gang Well, it sounds as though there is a bit of interest. I will do an email blitz to those that do not participate in the forum. I propose we carry on with some sort of rendezvous over the weekend of August 16/17. Given that a number of people may be coming over land how about we plan on getting t...

dpearson

OK, OK we need a 2008 rendezvous This Summer has not worked out particularly well for me. But the rest of you shouldn't suffer as a result. I propose that we have a 2nd annual rendezvous this summer but, given the short notice, we don't place too much pressure on anyone to show up. Instead, the few ...

dpearson

Hi folks First, It is good to see some traffic in the forums. WRT single engine 370's. If you look at the brochures for Alcan and Alwest 370's you will see that there was a Single V-8 Mercruiser option. I have never seen one, but they existed at least for the marketing department. WRT rough water. T...

dpearson

Yup. I set the limit to 5MB per attachment so we could get some good hi-res pictures on the site. My hosting agreement gives me a pile of storage, so feel free to upload.

Search found 129 matches