Turned the Corner

[Note: I have updated this entry after a visit to the boat today, 28  July 2018. I met Mike the spray painter, who appeared to be very young, but at my age anyone under 40 seems young 😔]

In my last blog I stated that "we have identified every major problem", but as has happened so frequently in this project I was disappointed to find yet another major problem.

I made a quick visit to the boat two Saturdays ago while recovering from my first cold of the season to find Bruce and three yard workers struggling to drop Pachuca's rudder. The rudder had not been dropped in my time and I had agreed with Bruce's suggestion that we have a look at it.  Bruce's impression at this point was that the bearings at both ends of the rudder required replacement.

Dealing with a rudder that will not drop

The rudder would not drop more than about 150 cm because the upper part of the leading edge of the rudder was coming in contact with the back of the skeg, and nobody could explain why.  I agreed to the suggestion that a bit-size chuck of the rudder be removed to allow free movement.  And just as well, too.  A day later Bruce telephoned to inform me that removing that section of the leading edge had allowed him to have a look at the inside of the rudder, and what he had seen was not good.

The rudder is a hollow fiberglass shell filled with high-density closed-cell plastic foam core, which gives the rudder structural support as well as buoyancy.  An important role of this material is to allow the stainless steel rudder post or stock to act on the rudder via metal blades ("armatures") welded to the rudder  post and projecting into the foam material.  (See http://www.wavetrain.net/boats-a-gear/400-fiberglass-boatbuilding-rudder-construction)

Bruce found that the internal plastic foam work had pretty well dissolved due no doubt to years of salt water  inside of the rudder (which of course added to the weight of the boat).  He was not comfortable with doing a patch up because it would still leave the risk of rudder failure sometime in the future.  He could imagine one day losing steering because the rudder post begins turn inside of the rudder, rather than acting on it.  A fix would require him to send the rudder to a man he knew in Henderson, south of Fremantle, who would split the rudder open and basically rebuild the interior.  Bruce suggested that I think about that option for a day or two, but I responded that there was nothing to think about.  Even if I got away with a patch up during the rest of my time I would not countenance passing the boat to the next owner knowing that there was this time bomb inside of the rudder.

The "shoe" into which the lower end of the rudder stock is fitted found to be worn, causing a bit of play in the rudder.  That bush has been replaced.  The upper end of the rudder stock rotates inside of packing, similar to the "packing gland" setups in propeller shafts. That pacing will be replaced, and most importantly and extended grease nipple will be fitted to enable me to regularly lubricate the  packing and the entire shaft.  This packing had never been greased during my time, and Bruce assures me that in future I will have lighter, tighter, and more responsive steering.

New bush in rudder shoe

Rudder with chunk removed at leading edge at right.

By then the cutlass bearing of the propeller shaft had been checked  out and found to be worn, even though it had been replaced in Mexico in about 2011.  Removing the propeller shaft is not easy on Pachuca because the skeg does not allow the shaft to be pulled out from below.  (Some boats have their propeller shaft at angle, to allow removal from below past the skeg, and the side of the skeg is selected to compensate for "prop walk".)   But in order to remove the prop shaft from above the engine must be raised out of the way (gulp!).  These guy are pro's and it seemed no drama for them to de couple the drive shaft from the engine, drive up the club's small crane to the small crane to the side of the boat, then lift the engine up about 0.5 meter and out of the way of the shaft.

Degenerated internal foam. Can be scratched off with finger.

I suggested that while we were at it we remove the Cobra steering pedestal for a checkout.  My friend Reg and I had removed the pedestal in 2008 and the engineer  had found that two of its three bearings were seized.  With the area underneath the cockpit clear of batteries removing the pedestal would be a relatively simple matter.

There was progress on other fronts.  After putting in a lot of effort to clean the gap between the deck and hull Bruce injected an

Upper section of rudder with chunk removed above

adhesive sealant into the gap all around the boat.  He did this by lifting the deck material between the rivets using a paint scraper then injecting the material.  Bolting the toe rails back should squeeze the rubber-like material nicely.

Filling deck gap

A friend of mine who completed his SS 34 in his back yard told me later that all SS 34's were delivered with pop-riveted decks, but also with a waterproof matting in place along the gap.  For some reason no such material had been inserted into my SS  39.

An experienced mechanic visited the boat what must have been a hefty socket and handle and managed to tighten every keel boat. (YES!)  Bruce reported that Mr Swarbrick got about 1/4 turn from most of the nuts but 1/2 turn on the bolts at each end of the keel and one of the middle nuts. That was very, very good news.  Given the coarse thread on the bolts a 1/4 turn in that setup is a big deal indeed.  Although the keel always seemed tight and did not ship water, it will be nice to minimize the hair line cracks that appear along the joints at both ends of the keel.

The new base plate for the mast compression post has been completed, and the trial fitting was successful.

The boat's toe rails have been sand blasted and powder coated and are ready to be picked up.

Pachuca shaftless, propellerless, ruderless

The new water tanks should have been competed by now.  I am anxious to put them in because now that Zelko has finished his wood work in the cabin it will enable us to restore the side batteries, seats, flooring, etc to finally give us a good working space in the cabin.

The new mast spreaders are ready, and by now the new backstay should be ready too.

Last week I sent a well-documented letter to the club's business manager complaining about the state of the work sheds.  She investigated and to her credit she agreed to give me a 10-day extension in the shed at no charge, which is just a well because I was shocked to learn that after 20 days the daily charge for the sheds increases from $67 to $80 per day (plus 10% GST).  For the 30 days of June I was charged $2640 for use of the shed,  (This resulted in another letter of complaint to the Cruising Committee, and the matter is being taken to the club's finance committee.)

The pace of progress has picked up significantly in the last 10 days.  Because of the extensive sanding and spray painting activity I have been forced to stay away from the boat. I understand that the topside has been sanded, filled, sprayed with two coats of "Highbuild" primer, sanded again, then sprayed with undercoat, and Bruce will soon repairing the osmosis.

The goal is to be able to move the boat out of the expensive work shed by 31 July and repositioning it on a hardstand at a much cheaper rate.  There the deck will be painted with a roller rather than sprayed and we'll start to put the boat back together again.

I am looking forward to regaining access to the boat to complete my own tasks, such as completing the tidying up of the main electrical panel, repairing corrosion damage in  the sub panel at the front of the cabin, coming to grips with the rewiring of the mast when it is re installed, and completing the rebuild of the aft battery boxes.