Freeman 27 new owner

Hi everyone,

New member here, and new Freeman owner. This is my first post so hello to you all.

I have just recently bought my boat which is a 1981 model with twin BMCs. I love the boat and am in the process of making improvements as necessary. I'm moored in Brundall.

So far so good more or less though I'm finding the routine engine checks ( weed filter, oil, water ) to be hard work. I have to swing my seats up and remove 4 boards before I can access the relevant parts. I'd like to put some newer floor panels in with a more homely looking covering but before I do anything, I wondered if there if there was a better way to organise them to minimise the lifting. I can't imagine how, but If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them. Thanks.

Anyway, maybe see some of you if you are on the Broads

Welcome 


I also have twin BMC’s, but my weed filters are a bit more accessible than yours.


How often are you checking the rest of it?

Hi Prof. 

Thanks for the welcome and reply. 

As an anxious, deeply paranoid and insecure new owner I'm checking the lot ( oil, water, and weed filter ) before every trip 
It's playing havoc with my arthritis!

The biggest issue is the hinged cockpit seats which are quite a struggle to remove to allow me to lift the floor panels. I've actually considered removing them and just having a movable seat at the helm which would also allow my wife to relax a bit more into her foldable chair. Obviously I wouldn't chuck the seats away and it might not be to everyone's taste but .....  the convenience .... I feel if I did this and stuck a couple of lifting handles on the boards it might be an awful lot better.

Also are you able to recommend an idiots guide to these engines? I'm a complete novice so something simple with illustrations that slowly adds to my knowledge would be great.

Hi Wooster,  I can imagine as a new and worried owner you are overdoing the physically demanding checks !!

Oil.. oil warning light
Water.. check water coming out of exhaust(s) ( and reduced noise)
Weed filter.. as above, plus moored at Brundall it is doubtful whether weed will be a serious problem there or on adjacent rivers.

As a fellow arthritis sufferer all the above can be checked without raising a floorboard, just a visual from deck or cockpit.

As far as the raw water seacock, (it's your choice) I never turn it off other than an very occasional check of the weed filter which involves removing the cap with the resulting influx of water if not closed.
Boating is for relaxation, not stressing !!

As Flittermouse says, the first thing I do it start the engines and check the flow from the exhaust for raw water. Even if your filters are 50% full of debris, you get more than enough flow to cool your engines at river speeds.

Engine coolant, I rarely check (even after a couple of overheating incidents caused by a weeping water pump) and rely on the water temp gauges. If you’re using enough oil to warrant checking every trip, you probably won’t be able to see behind you whilst underway 
The BMC’s are pretty bulletproof, relax and enjoy your boating

Thank you both for your encouraging comments. I guess I am probably being over the top however I have also had a bit of an issue with both engines. I'm not sure if this is the place to post but ...

Whenever I run in the engine for any length of time each engine loses about a 1/4 - 1/2  pint of coolant and needs to be topped up. Next time I look, the bare metal under the cap is showing dry and I need to top up again. Although my neighbour in the marina suggested I might be over-filling I’m sure that the metal under the cap should just be covered with coolant? Currently they both get get bone - dry. 

On inspection no leaks anywhere are evident though coolant seems to be constantly dripping out via the release tubes just under the caps. I had an engineer look last week who confirmed no leaks and he said that both of the caps and collars needed to be replaced and ordered some new ones which should arrive this week. I am hoping this resolves the issue.

Both temperature gauges read at around 100°C, however the engineer used an infrared thermometer on the engines to take a separate reading and found that both were running at normal temperatures. He concluded that the senders might be faulty. He is also going to run a different kind of thermometer test this week and check again once the caps and collars have been fitted. 

The water comes out of the exhaust as it should and there is no smoke or steam coming from anywhere.

If this gets resolved I will be a bit more relaxed about things but as you can imagine it is making me slightly nervous at the moment.

I agree with Pat and Derek check for a good flow of water coming out of the exhaust also keep an eye on water temputure when
cruising I have had mine overheat twice once when the impellor went and once recently when a small amount of weed built up in the intake tube. The freeman 27 is a lovely boat and I am sure you will love it
I might mention that the shaft needs greasing do not over grease one turn each trip should do also do not forget the impeller 
is their grease in the impeller adjuster I am presuming that the 27 works as my 22 mk2 anyway I am sure Pat or Derek will confirm
All that is left to say is happy cruising and do not forget the Beer or whatever you drink

As the engine heats up, the coolant expands and vents out of the overflow hose. One if mine also drops so that you can see the inners of the heat exchanger, but continues to run fine. The other runs the hot water, so has an expansion bottle fitted and the cap in the heat exchanger blanked off

Thank you folks. When ( if?) I get my engine issue resolved I will relax