Author: mike

Well here’s an update from the boatyard.  Yes the boat is still out of the water having her bottom peeled to ensure the strength and integrity of her hull for the rest of her life.  A very costly repair but necessary for our peace of mind when out voyaging the world’s oceans.

So why the rudder reference in this post?  Well whenever the boat is hauled out of the water it’s more cost effective to attack as many of the upgrades and maintenance tasks as possible because hauling the boat is expensive and unpleasant to say the least.  So to extend the period between haul-outs, it’s best to get as many below the waterline maintenance tasks completed as possible when hauled out..

So while we are waiting for the hull to be repaired it makes sense to attempt to install the new feathering propeller I purchased a while back (almost two years ago) and haven’t installed yet.  The challenge is that the new propeller doesn’t fit because the space for it to operate is restricted by the rudder.  As a result, the rudder needs to be removed and modified to accommodate the new propeller.  You may say, why don’t you just return the prop and purchase one that fits (Duh)?  Well that makes perfect sense in the everyday world, but in the world of boats, the one that fits won’t provide the benefits/features the new one will.

This feathering propeller has three important features/benefits.

1. It has four blades instead of three which will give us more power at lower rpm’s and enable us to push the boat through certain unpleasant sea conditions faster to get to a safe harbor.
2. The feathering feature will allow us to sail faster because the blades will feather while sailing and eliminate the drag experience when using a fixed blade prop.
3. More control in reverse by enabling us to stop the boat more quickly and reducing the “prop-walk”.

Removing the rudder is quite a chore and it took me most of the day just to get it removed.  After removing it I had to cut it open and remove some of the outer fiberglass covering.  The good news is that Cheoy Lee built this rudder like a tank and the bad news is that because of the stout construction it’s going to need a custom metal fabricator to modify it properly for the new prop.  As is always the case, boat projects have a life of their own and usually take four times longer than anticipated.

Hopefully I’ll be able to find a custom metal fabricator in the area that can make the rudder modifications for us quickly so we don’t have to spend more time in the yard than originally anticipated.

Hopefully my next post will be about sailing instead of these huge maintenance projects.

Till next time.

Captain Mike.

 

Here are some pictures that can give you an idea of what’s happening.

Here’s a picture of the rudder after being removed and cut open to reveal the inner structure (“yes it would be green” reference for all those Spinal Tap fans).

 

This shot shows the stout inner structure.  It’s stainless steel and more than 3/16 of an inch thick.

Here’s a close-up picture of a (ship without a rudder).  Fortunately it’s on dry land at the moment.

Picture with the rudder still intact and the bottom completely peeled.

Picture waiting to be hauled out before the peeling of the hull.

Don’t they say that good things come to those who wait?  Well hopefully we’ll get to cash in on that sometime as we continue to wait to be hauled out to have some work done on Adagio’s bottom.

Adagio has been side tied next to the pens that the Driscoll Mission Bay boat yard uses to haul and launch boats for almost two weeks.  Two weeks of delays that we really can’t afford given the large list of preparation tasks still to be accomplished before we cast off sometime in January of 2016.

In the meantime, I have been able to accomplish a few things while we’ve been waiting.

• Replaced the fuel pump that I use to prime the fuel system after changing the spin-on fuel filter on our Yanmar 4JH5E four cylinder diesel engine.  The old one failed for some reason and I had only used it three or four times.
• Wired the new cockpit speakers so we have music in the cockpit again woot woot.
• Cut the hole in the foredeck where our new windlass will be mounted.  Determined that we need to make a base for it to raise it up off the deck enough to keep the chain from jumping off the gypsy.
• Had the backing plate for the new windlass modified.
• Removed all of the old auto pilot hardware, electronics and wiring.
• Re-connected the power to our chart plotter that I inadvertently disconnected while removing the old auto pilot wiring.
• Researched interfacing AIS data to our chartplotter to warn us of approaching ships.  Wouldn’t want to be run down by one of those mammoth container ships.
• Daily keeping the yard grime off of our newly painted decks.

So I have been able to keep myself busy waiting for the eventual haul out of the boat.  Also keeping up with my paying work by utilizing the free WiFi at the local Starbucks.

Why the haul out you say?

Well during the recent previous haul out to paint the topsides (area of the hull above the waterline) we found out that we have a minor blister problem.  Blisters occur when sea water is able to permeate the outer layer of fiberglass and as a result draw in more water until a blister forms on the hull.  These needed attention and we opted for the more permanent (aka more expensive) long term fix and that is why we are in Mission Bay waiting to be hauled out.  This more permanent fix involves peeling the outer layer of fiberglass (about 1/8 inch) off of the entire hull and then re-glassing the hull with new fiberglass using a vinylester resin instead of the original polyester resin.  Probably more than you wanted to know but there it is.

I’d tell the story of what has been causing the enormous delay but I’m sure your attention span has already been stretched enough with this dry post about yard woes.  The good news is that it looks as though our waiting will come to an end tomorrow and the boat will finally be hauled out so the work can begin.

I’ll post a list of the tasks we hope to finish before we take off another time and update it as we complete each one.  In case you’re really interested in that kind of thing.  Probably more for my benefit in the future looking back on all we went through to get ready for this adventure.

Till next time.

Captain Mike.