Our last summer in Ontario was a buzz of activity.
Before heading south we hired a surveyor to present us with a list of things to do that needed our immediate attention and a list of things that will make our insurer a little happier to give us a policy.
We set about to do what was recommended.
We made improvements to the rigging changed through hulls and lots of other things that seemed to drain away the bank account.
Luckily we were both still working but we could not afford to do everything some things had to come off the wish-list.
It wasn’t possible to have all the toys and make our planed departure date.
By late September we were off in time to watch the leaves turn colour and the chill of winter to nip at our heels.
As we traveled we monitored the sounds of the boat as it moved through the water.
We were aware of a vibration that seemed to come and go but it didn’t seem to be connected to and activity that could help us to identify it.
Traveling through the beautiful Erie cannel we soon regarded this vibration as one of those noises that we would have to get use too.
We anchored in Sandy hook off New York City and prepared to make our first coastal ocean passage. Our destination would be Cape May.
We raised the anchor and started to motor out to sea.
A loud noise and disturbing vibration forced us too shut down the engine and sailed across the bay to Great Kill Harbour.
I thought we had picked up something on the prop shaft. A fish trap?
I dove to inspect the prop. All seemed OK and the noise was gone. We had lost what ever was on the prop.
We stayed a few days and set out again. The overnight trip to Cape May was uneventful. The Vibration did not reappear till we ran aground in the Inter coastal where we did some heavy engine work to get off a sand bar. It disappeared again when we started to head south but we were starting to worry.
We were now in Florida and the vibration had appeared a number of times with no satisfactory explanation. Our next destination would be to the Bahamas. We had to identify the vibration and fix it.
We hauled the boat in Daytona Beach, the prop shaft was loose and we were informed that the cutlass bearing was probably worn. The shaft had to come out to replace the bearing.
It seemed to be a simple job pull the shaft. “NOT SO” I had installed a more powerful engine and it blocked the shaft from sliding under the engine. Our choices were too lift the engine off its mounts to allow the shaft to pass by. Lifting the engine wound requires me to realigning the engine and shaft and I would rather not get into that just yet.
Digging a hole to dropping the rudder into the hole was also not possible boat was on a cement pad.
I would have to rent a crane to hold the boat in the air too removing the rudder and again latter to install the rudder.
I chose to cut a hole in the rudder. A drastic solution but the one that would allow me to service the prop shaft in the future. I set about too cut a hole in the rudder . After grinding away the fiberglass I started to cut through he rudder shaft. The rudder shaft is a 2 inch solid stainless steel rod and I only had a side grinder to cut the shaft it took most of the day and few trips to purchase more cutting disc.
Once I had cut through he shaft and removed a 18 inch long piece
I hired a welder to weld a new shaft a long side the existing shaft off center since the original rudder shaft was preventing the prop shaft from exiting . As we pulled the prop shaft out we discovered the shaft and the bearing were worn both would need to be serviced.
The welder was also a machinist and suggested that he could weld new metal too shaft and machine to size. This would only take a few days and would be cheaper than replacing the shaft.
A few days later the machinist phoned and told me the shaft was bent and would take more time and money to do the job.
We decided to replace the shaft. The bent shaft had to be sent across the state to a shop that specializes in marine jobs (“specializes marine”) I hate those 2 words in the same sentence they usually move the decimal point 2 place).
I continued to work on the rudder. The new shaft arrived and I installed a new cutlass bearing and through the hole I had constructed in the rudder, I slid the new shaft. All went well. I was pleased with the success.
When it was finished it would allow the prop shaft to be removed by passing through the rudder without removing the rudder. I could even remove the prop shaft with the boat still in the water. This little job took us almost a month to accomplish.