Boat Maintenance/Modification

This page is dedicated to short articles on maintenance and modifications of Seal and Parker boats submitted by members.

These articles will find their way into the appropriate manuals on the next update.

If you are willing to share similar information please contact the web master

• A difficult fibreglass repair

• Parker 325/335 Cradle Templates

• Parker 21 Uphaul/Downhaul

• Replacing the Ram anode of a 325/335

• Emergency Rudder and Tiller for the Parker 325/335

• Owner modifications for a Parker 325/335

• Mast raising/lowering of a Super Seal

• Modifications to the rudder system for a Parker 275

• Strategy for a mechanism for a full lift of a Super Seal Keel 

• Removal of Tamnar 1GM10

• Moulds for cabin top sections and two part sliding hatch for the Seal 22

Moulds for cabin top sections and two part sliding hatch of a Seal 22

Removal of Yanmar 1GM10

Instructions supplied by Mike Slade Parker 275 Nosey Parker

Ensure power supply to engine is disconnected from the battery(s).

Remove all wires pipes and fixings between the engine and the boat as follows.

Remember to make careful notes or marks to facilitate reconnection and location of the nuts & bolts removed.

From gearbox end of engine: -

·         Prevent prop shaft turning by holding prop or clamping the shaft inside the boat.
Remove the 4 nuts & bolts joining the drive from the gearbox to the prop shaft.

·         Remove gear change outer cover cable clamp by undoing 2 Philips bolts and unbolt cable grip from change arm.

·         Undo the 2 rear 22mm nuts securing the engine to the rear engine bearers. Normal half inch drive socket should be just long enough other wise you will need a longer 22mm socket.

·         Unplug 2 plastic electrical wiring loom connections.

·         Remove engine earthing wire bolt.

From alternator end: -

·         Undo the 2 fore 22mm nuts securing engine to engine bearers.

·         Remove jubilee clip holding rubber exhaust pipe tube to exhaust elbow and pull off tube.

·         Remove alternator; noting position of wires.

·         Remove thick red starter lead from the starter solenoid.

·         Remove banjo connection from clear plastic fuel pipe to water trap filter.
Suspend the banjo end as high as possible to prevent fuel leaking out.

·         Remove clear plastic fuel return pipe.

·         Remove 2 Philips bolts from throttle outer cable clamp. (need short Philips driver.) Remove split pin attaching cable end.

·         Remove decompressor black cable.

To Remove Engine from boat:-

·         Fix the main halyard securely to the end of the boom. Fix boom firmly amidships with traveller and mainsheet.

·         Tie a suitable hoist to the boom above the engine lifting ring on the cylinder head.
( I used a ratchet hoist).

·         Let hoist cable through the open hatch and secure the end to the engine lifting ring.

·         Protect cabin sole and bridge deck and side deck with old carpet or hardboard to rest engine on.

·         Gently hoist, ensuring that the engine is free.

·         Rest engine on bridge deck and move the hoist aft along the boom.

·         Hoist again and by adjusting the traveller & main sheet allow the engine to be lowered down over the side of the boat.

Installation is the reverse of removal. In addition you must ensure that the engine & prop shaft are aligned properly.

I was fortunate that the alignment was perfect without adjustment.

These were notes I made during and immediately after the removal in 2002.

Although I believe them to be correct I accept no liability for their correctness or the safety of the method I used.

Parker 325/335 Cradle Templates

These templates will assist anyone wishing to construct trestles or to help in replacing the  keel anodes.

The diagrams were provided by Bill Parker via Roger Roach

Parker 21 Uphaul/Downhaul

Supplied by Neville Simmons.

Replacing the Ram Anode of a Parker 325/335

Submitted by Don Harvey

February 2007

The following process is an elaboration of one sent to me by Jonathan Houston. I have included extra detail of the process for any 325/335 owner who has yet to replace the ram anode for the fisrt time.

Procedure for replacing hydraulic ram anode

Before commencing the actual task of replacing the ram anode, it is necessary to have the boat held in a position where the keel can be fully lowered. In my case I have the boat held in the slings of the lift-out crane.

Following the task description below, is a list of tools one should have at hand. It may be stating the obvious, but it is imperative to ensure no tools or boat parts drop into the keel box. To this end I ensure that every tool used, is attached by string to the boat, either on one of the deck halyards or hand rails.

There are two hydraulic hoses which will need to be disconnected. The top one is fairly accessible, but the lower one not so. This is held on to a nipple by a jubilee clip. While the clip is easy to unscrew it is very difficult to pull the pipe off when in its normal position. Leave this pipe in place until lifting out the ram, and when the pipe appears above deck, it can be pulled off with ease.

Holding the Ram at the top are two 20mm pins; each having split pins at each end. The one to remove will be the bottom one.

The Ram is attached to the keel by a 22mm nut and bolt. Parkers used to fill the aperture which is used to access the nut and bolt with car body filler which need a hammer and chisel to remove. On later boats Dow Corning type sealant is used. If you have the former, I suggest you change to the sealant when finishing the job.

The Ram will be extracted by tying a rope through the eye at the top of the ram and connecting this rope to the main halyard. The Ram is surprisingly heavy, so wrap the main halyard around a winch when ready to lift.

The process

1.   Remove screws retaining cover on deck and lift off cover

2.   Disconnect the top hydraulic hose just below elbow joint - 2 * 22mm spanners. You will see three castellated connections. The one to unscrew is the top one. Plug loose ends of hose to prevent excessive hydraulic fluid leakage, although not much is lost if you don’t. Tuck ‘top’ hose back out of the way if necessary.

3.   Loosen the jubilee clip on the lower hose and pull off the hose if you can. If not leave it in place as you will have an opportunity to remove it shortly.

4.   Straighten out (in preparation for removal) one of the split pins on the lower 20mm pin (the rear one probably the most accessible). You may find one at the rear has a piece of string tied to it, to retain it on extraction. (Hopefully there will also be a string attached to one of the split pins at the front end. This is simply to stop you dropping the 20mm pin when you come to remove it)

5.   Locate aperture in keel where bottom of ram bolts to keel.

6.   Scrape out filler from around bolt/nut - both sides of keel.

7.   Loosen but do not yet remove the nut and bolt. This needs two 30mm sockets.

8.   Remove the rear split pin and tap out the 20mm pin (. Note - If this was greased when last disassembled, it will come out fairly easily. If not it will need encouraging with a hammer and drift). If one of the split pins at the front was not attached, be careful not to drop the 20mm pin.

9.   Manipulate the Ram to enable you to connect a rope (connected to the main halyard) through top hole of the Ram.

10.Take up the slack on the main halyard and remove the nut and bolt from the bottom of the Ram

11.Use main halyard to lift ram by top eye until anode clear of deck. (Note as the lower hydraulic pipe fitting appears the pipe can be pulled off if you were unable to do so in its normal position).

12. Lower the Ram to the ground.

13. Unscrew anode.

14.Clean ram under anode to ensure good metal-to-metal contact by using wire brush or chisel. (don’t use these any higher up the ram as it is important not to score the ram surface). Fit new anode - ensure tight fit. May have to knock anode together with a hammer as the castings are sometimes not round.

15. (Optional) Unscrew grub screw at bottom of ram and unscrew end pin of ram to check threads. N.B. important to refit in exactly fore/aft alignment.

16. Check for corrosion just on the inside of the lip of the cast iron end cap? (ie where the stainless steel ram leaves the housing)

17. If excessive corrosion on ram casing, rub down and coat with epoxy.

18. Rub down rest of ram with fine wire wool to clean any calcified deposits. Ram surface should be shiny. Oil ram with hydraulic oil so that it does not go back dry through the seals.

19. Lower ram into keel box. Lower end of ram locates into small ‘box’ roughly in centre of keel. Refit and tighten lower bolt. No specific torque setting - just do up tight.

20 .Refit top of ram in reverse order of disassembly but if not present, attached a string to the front spilt pin to retain the 20mm pin when you come next to replace it. Also connect a string to the new split pin. Make sure you grease well the 20mm pin as this will ease its removal next time.

Note - some find that if the keel bolt is put in before the ram head is put back in the deck bracket then it's difficult to replace the split pins etc. See which way is best for you.

21. Refill around bolt head and nut with Dow Corning type sealant or similar.

23. Check hydraulic fluid level and top up if necessary.

23. Test ram operation.

Tools/equipment required

 ·       New anode (circular anode - 35mm inner diameter hole)

·       Allen keys

·       Two 30mm sockets on T bars.

·       Large screwdriver

·       Pliers

·       Large S/S split pins

·       Fine wire wool

·       Sealant

·       Filling knife

·       Club hammer

·       Ordinary hammer

·       Hydraulic hose blanking screws (small wooden pegs will do)

·       Drift for removing top ram pin

·       Plastic cable ties

·       Wire brush

·       Small chisel

·       Two 22mm open-ended spanners for hydraulic hose connections

·       Metal file

·       Hacksaw

·       Hydraulic oil

Submitted by Stuart Tucker

Parker 325 'Pegasus'

June 2006

Submitted by Don Harvey

Parker 325 'Calypso'

20 May 2006

Owners of Parker 325/335s may be interested the a few modifications that I have carried out on my boat 'Calypso'

1 - Addition of a transom water deflector

This modification came about as a result of a discussion on the Parker 325/335 Forum relating to the ingress of
water into the stern of the boat if the catchment trough becomes full and is unable to drain away. This happened to
me as a  result of the drain being blocked after some weeks under the trees during winter maintenance and then me flooding the cockpit  with water while cleaning the boat. The problem was exacerbated by the canvas strip, that is supposed to deflect water, being folded inside by the rudder bracket, so encouraging water to enter the  catchment trough instead of away from it.

Various novel solutions were put forward on the Bulletin B, but after some thought I decided what was needed is simply a solid deflector to replace the canvas strip. The pictures below show the new deflector that I had made from
tainless steel.

This modification not only works - it looks better (and as they say with boats - if it looks right , it is right)

If anyone is interested in the measurements, please get in touch.

2 - Pushpit Gate

This modification was carried out to improve the security and comfort of the helm. It replaced the single strand of
wire that normally stretches across the gap in the pushpit.

The picture below shows the gate as being two stainless steel bars, curved to follow the curve in the stern (and back), and of thickness to match those of the Pushpit.

Each is held at the ends by retaining pins. Both bars can be removed in around 5 seconds.

3 - Anchor Retaining Bracket

Tired of having to struggle to lift a very heavy anchor out of its locker and then through the gap between the forestay and pulpit, I decided to mount the anchor permanently on the bow. Thankfully Calypso has twin bow rollers for setting two anchors when the need arises, which meant each roller was offset either side of the forestay. All I needed was some way of retraining the end of the shank.

The pictures below shows such an arrangement.

  4 - Guard Rail Gate

When boarding our boats from a dinghy, we have always done so from the side with a removable boarding ladder rather  via the stern ladder. It is both more convenient and safer as one can secure the stern and bow of the dinghy to the tow rail.

Due to an accident to my wife's shoulder, she was finding the climbing out of a dinghy difficult. so to ease her
problem I had the guard rails (on both sides) between two stanchions, made so that they could be removed without
the remainder going slack. - see pictures below.

Once done I realised this provided two additional benefits:

a) It is now easier to launch and recover a dinghy without having to struggle to lift it over the guardrails
b) (though I haven't had to and hope never to have to) It eases the task of recovering a MOB.

5 - Boom Tent

If you are faced with the problem of fitting a boom tent when you have a sail stacker in place, why not fit it under the
boom.

I have had one produced that has 4 captive shackles spaced to connect to the reefing eyes and mainsheet attachment.
It works fine. Unfortunately I don't have a picture to include now but will add one at the first opportunity.

Finally - if you need any items constructed from stainless steel, I can highly recommend Roger Figgures, the owner of Fusion Ltd. of Lymington. I have found no one who can beat his prices. He does not advertise as he fills his order book through repeat orders and recommendation from satisfied customers. His number is 01590 670708

The modifications to the Guardrail were carried out by Stainless Steel Rigging based at the Lymington Yacht Haven.

Don Harvey

Parker 325 Calypso

Super Seal - Mast raising and lowering gear

From the Bulletin Board

Submitted by Royce Watchhorn- Sept 2003

A few details of the mast lowering system I use.

My boat has a Z Spars mast and the heel is fixed with a single pin located towards the cockpit. I would prefer a tabernacle but get put off by the cost and complexity (because of the exit sheaves at the bottom of the mast) of changing it. So far I have used the present system for over ten years. I have to lower the mast to go down river under Rochester bridge on the Medway. I DO NOT have to lower it right down but only to an angle of between about 45 and 75 degrees from vertical (depending on the state of the tide).

We are usually going for a few hours daysailing and the whole process is done whilst motoring along (I haven't found a way to keep sailing yet!). The system works just as well for unstepping the mast if required.

We have an "A" frame attached to stainless plates bolted to the toe rails, and from these plates there are two stainless supports which go to a slider on a track at the front of the mast (to provide lateral support to the mast when lowering or lifting). The forestay uses a Sea Sure quick release fitting instead of the standard bottle screw, but it does mean I lose sail area from my roller furling gear. A multi part tackle is used from the "A" frame to the stem head to lower or lift the mast. I find it difficult to describe the system using only words and don't think I can attach photos to this message board reply, but if anyone is interested enough to give me a ring on 01474 8853873 I will do all I can to help.

Modification to Rudder System

John Simmons, Juliette Jay, Parker 275S/45

Sept 2002

Three years ago I took my 275S down through the canals of France to the Mediterranean and in anticipation of the need to raise the rudder more frequently or indeed to avoid damage if grounded I set about modifying the system to improve current performance before leaving. This has worked really well and as I intend selling the boat to up grade this year I though before parting other owners might be interested in the details of this modification.

In order to create the best conditions for minimal slack and yet give ease of movement of the rudder in its stock when required, it is advisable to start with two perfectly flat and parallel surfaces over the area of rudder that is in contact with the stock plates. Prepare these surfaces then support the rudder horizontally so that the upper surface to be treated is perfectly level before floating on a thin coat of two-part varnish. Finish by removing high spots until a flat surface to the edge in all directions has been obtained. Repeat the process for the other side to obtain parallel surfaces.

Using the same vanish apply several coats to the pivot hole in the rudder which will soak into the wood making a hard wearing bush when reamed out to its original size.

Re-route the downhaul through a new block securely fixed to the underside and extreme outer end of the tiller arm.

Replace the original jamcleat with a lever clutch cleat to the underside of the tiller arm so that it is just clear of the transom.

Re-route the uphaul via a drifting lever as shown in the diagram. This lever acts upon the top of the rudder multiplying the leverage when tension is applied to the uphaul. Further assistance to lift the rudder can be obtained by hammering on the end of the drift to overcome sticksion if necessary

When the drifting lever is not in use it is parked still attached to the uphaul between the stock plates above the rudder

Benefits are as follows

Smooth movement of blade within the stock without looseness of feel through the tiller.

If the rudder blade goes aground it will be forced back causing the tiller arm to lift before it is limited by the cleated downhaul and will therefore minimise impact damage as well as alerting the situation. The arm will tilt 50° before being limited by the jammed downhaul.

A lever release on the downhaul enables quick and complete release of tension if required.

In critical shallow situations the blade depth can be controlled within a margin by simply moving the tiller arm up or down.

The drift lever configuration ensures successful manual lifting of the rudder

Strategy for Mechanism for Full Lift of Super Seal Keel.

Submitted by Chris Turner Seal 26 'Elsa' - July 2002

Basically, I drilled a new hole in the keel about 30 cm down from the old hole for attaching the lifting rope (ca. 33 cm from the top of the keel) but in a parallel line down with the front and back edges of the keel so as to keep the pulling angle the same. There is steel in this part of the keel and you need a powerful drill and a good bit. Must be big enough hole to fit the kind of size of rope you need (10 ml?) and with a bit to spare to leave room to protect it with a plastic hose 'bush'. I then fed a rope through the hole so it came up both sides of the keel, the idea being that you ran these two ends over turning blocks and pulled them both at the same time ( the rope doesn't slip in the hole) so that the keel can come up between them 30 cm or so higher than before.

To get this to work you need two turning blocks fixed either side of the keel and my way was to get a guy to make a stainless steel plate bent to the curve of the old slot cover with the full slot cut out of the middle and two turning blocks welded to it at the correct place. ( Welded plates with drilled bolt holes could be used to fix standard fittings here)

The tricky bit is to get the blocks to overlap a bit to get a straight pull from below but not so close as to restrict the keel as it comes up between them.

You also need to have a thin lip front and back that protrudes a cm or so into the hole (there is a slightly wider part of the keel slot all round the top) to stop the plate slipping around.

I liked the idea of being able to lift the keel fully, single handed, while steering the boat with the tiller between my legs .... so I attached the two ends of the rope to a double block just aft of the main standard turning blocks at the side of the mast and another fixed double block at the end of the coachroof as close to the cockpit as possible, a separate rope round these giving a 4:1 purchase back to me by the tiller. Works a treat. I have had years of trouble free lifts with no replacement of the lifting rope.

Submitted by Marv Kowalewski US Member