So my wife and I were off to Monterey for a week long cruise from San Francisco Bay on July 2, 2011. In fact, we were the cruise leaders of 4 other boats making the trip from our yacht club. What could possibly go wrong? Twenty minutes into the cruise, the nipple between the two halves of the mixing elbow snapped in half and the cruise appeared to be over. Since it was a holiday weekend, this particular left handed/right handed threaded nipple would not be available until Tuesday. After lashing the dinghy to the side of the boat and using it to get back to our slip (there was no wind in the Oakland estuary) I pulled all the parts out. The piece remaining in the portion of the manifold that bolts to the engine had to be removed with a chisel and hammer. By carefully tapping at it I managed to collapse it and pull it free. Luckily that side is the right hand thread and it turns out is a 1 1/2 inch pipe thread. I made a quick run to the hardware store for pipe fittings, a 3/8 in pipe tap and 9/16 in drill bit for the raw water injection. It all went together and my friend said it looked like a piece of art. It actually worked and we headed back out at 6:00pm crossing under the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset. We dropped anchor in Half Moon Bay just past midnight and sure surprised everyone on our cruise when they woke up the next morning. It worked fine for the rest of the week. The first thing we did when we got back was to buy a new nipple and mixing elbow. I have saved my other kluge in a zip-lock baggie as I may need it again in 27 years.
I'd recommend giving your Yanmar exhaust systems a good shake to make sure they are still sound.
Allan
I'd recommend giving your Yanmar exhaust systems a good shake to make sure they are still sound.
Allan
