Slow Work Day

Slow day this weekend. Not a whole lot of work on the boat. I spent more time chatting with a couple other guys who are about to head out on their boats down the ICW to Florida. Not really with the snow bird crowds but moving there.

I did some measuring of hoses to see what I may need. The cockpit drains have a white plastic hose that I'm thinking to replace with rubber wet exhaust hose. My reason is that the hose clamps can get better compression onto the seacocks. Speaking of which, I found out one of the seacocks has worked loose due to the wood backing plate getting soft. Good thing they're getting replaced anyway. The only other work I did was to drill out a couple small holes on the deck that had failed patches and filled them in with thickened epoxy. I also had a quick look at placement of the access ports for the water tanks.

Safe travels to all these coming weeks.

Got The Shaft

The two set screws on the sides of the shaft coupling were removed but the shaft would still not move. I decided to remove the bolts holding it to the transmission. Once I did that, the key was tapped out lightly and it all came apart easily. I used a bucket to keep the tiller to one side so the shaft wouldn't hit, then pulled it out. There were some smooth marks on the shaft from the stuffing box and the cutlass bearing. The area inside the stuffing hose had what looked like a build up of calcium deposits that I had to knock off with a rock as I was scrubbing it clean. The stuffing hose wasn't easy to get off. No idea how long that was there. Found out the old hose was wire-wound. I had to get it off, piece by piece. From what I've seen online, there is a right hose and wrong hose. I think this would qualify as the wrong hose to use. According to the information on this page from Compass Marine, this hose is too thin and it's not supposed to be wire-wound. I measured, with calipers, the stuffing box fittings at around 1 3/4" and the part attached to the boat was closer to 2". As of right now, I'm looking at getting a Buck Algonquin stuffing hose as replacement. A 1 3/4" hose is just under $20. The old hose was 7" long while it looks like a replacement would be 4 1/2". Since the stuffing box packing nuts are pretty green, I'm going to soak them in some vinegar to get the corrosion off and clean up with a wire brush. I didn't get a closer look at the cutlass bearing but I can do that the next visit. What I saw before, it looked to be in need of replacement too.

Leverage in a small space

coupling with shaft key. thought it was rust, but it's red paint

packing nut

keeping rudder out of the way of the shaft

calcium deposits

Clean shaft.

removed, piece by piece

wrong kind, it seems

too thin

I think sealant (white part) was used before. Some was on the old hose.

Until next time.

Prop Removed & Muffler Out

If you don't have anything to pull your prop off, consider going to Harbor Frieght. I had not thought of going there but after a suggestion, I went and found this 8 inch jaw puller. It worked great to get the prop off after only a few turns. For $18, it was worth it. The rudder didn't leave me much space to work with but there was enough to do what I needed to.

the metal bar on the prop is the key

The shaft doesn't look too bad to me. The cutless bearing looks to be in need of replacement so that will be looked at closer during my process.

Cutless bearing is squeezing out a bit

Worked on getting the shaft out, but that hasn't happened yet. Even though it doesn't show in the pictures below, I did take the two square bolts off. I had sprayed it with PB Blaster thinking that could help, but nothing so far. I may try getting the bolts off to remove the coupling altogether. Tried one nut/bolt but they didn't want to budge. I may spray those down with PB Blaster as well.

Work light is a big improvement over a head lamp or cell phone light

Getting the old water lift muffler out wasn't easy, but then, what is?  I ended up using a hacksaw to cut the house on either side of the muffler to get it out. There didn't seem to be much in the can. It had a vinegar smell to it. Maybe it was something from the last time I ran the pink anti-freeze through it last year.

Pulled on this to get better angle to cut the hose.

Not much space in the lazarette, but I can still fit.

VERY old metal can style. Going to look for its replacement.

 The muffler sat on a little "shelf" next to one of the cockpit drain thru-hulls.

This is what was used as a riser for the exhaust setup. I've seen suggestions by/for others what say an anti-siphon valve would be very helpful. After cutting into the hose, I was told that it can be very expensive to replace. While the hose doesn't seem to bad, it's also an unknown number of years that it's been there. So, more added to the list to replace for this refit.

the hose/valve on the right is part of the fresh water system

diamond plate? Just thought it was odd since the front end of the tank has a smooth top

Taking a short break, laying back in the lazarette with the feet in the quarterberth

hmmm something doesn't look right here. Part of fuel tank vent hose.

Fuel tank vent

Galley thru-hull removed. working towards its replacement

 Quite a bit of work going on and a lot more left to go. The last couple days, I've been thinking of putting a frame around the cockpit to cover it up. That would keep the weather out and I can remove the cockpit drain thru-hulls and hoses to open up the space for better access and not worry (ok, maybe a little) about getting water into the boat during the refit. Remember, there's still no batteries, which means no automatic bilge pump. Sometimes this boat is full of little surprises and not all of them good. I didn't expect to see the fuel vent hose to be two different sizes like it was. I may be able to get away with just adding a fitting and clamps in between them. Also, from what I've seen regarding the risers for exhaust setups, two elbows probably isn't the best solution.