Saturday was projects. I started the day crawling back under the stern bed and taking off the nylon locking nuts I had installed on the rudder shaft just to get them off the boat since we had been warned that after a few years, there was no way that we would ever get them off. With our recent experience with them--everyone refusing to come off after being screwed on, we wanted them gone and just two nuts and locking washers installed. So it's back to how it started down there. I added Locktite to the threads to make sure(sure hope so) they don't come unscrewed again. It always happens when we are in a nasty place. Going through rapids or narrows and having the steering fail is never a good feeling.
While I was under the bunk, Tracy started defrosting the freezer. With it being so hot recently and us being in and out of the freezer/refrigerator a lot, it had amassed a good deal of ice on it and wasn't cooling as well as it should. She took off quite a bit of ice. I made another piece of insulation to fit in the top hole of the freezer. Maybe it will help keep it cooler.
Next, I was down into the stern hold to shorten and tighten the dripless bearing that keeps the water out while the propeller turns. For those of you that have been following our trip to Alaska, you will remember it failing for a short time and starting to flood the bilge. It did it twice during the trip and I have since checked and rechecked(several times a day normally) the fitting anytime we are underway with the engine running and the prop turning. The first time scared me. Consulting with the manufacturer, they told be that its overall length was to be 7 3/8". I found it to be 8 3/8" so it needed to be tightened up to be made shorter.
In this picture, I have taken off the set screws that hold it tight to the shaft(so it spins as the shaft rotates) and screwed in long bolts to allow me the leverage to move the stainless steel fitting(has the bolts in it) towards the end of the shaft. I squirted in some dish washing soap to lubricate the fitting(per the manufacturers suggestion) and she slowly moved down the shaft. Now she is the required 7 3/8" length. I just have to remember to make sure it fills with water once we put Zephyr back in the water. The rubber bellows area is full of water which acts as a coolant for the shaft as it turns. One reason I didn't do the tightening earlier was that water pressure made it hard to move and it would gush in when I tried to. I just waited till we were out and the pressure and water were gone. With luck, there will be no more water coming in through this fitting. Even when the propeller turned, it allowed some, though not much, water into the boat.
Next, I was down into the forward storage at the bow and took out everything until I could take out the grating that makes up the flooring. It had been repaired while we were at Sea Marine since Jack had jumped down on it and broken two of the teak boards. The repairman had used screws that only came out of the grating and into the base boards by 1/4" and they hadn't held. So out they came and in went 1/2" longer screws. I mixed up some epoxy to make sure they don't come loose and back in it went. All fixed.
Next, we were off for the storage lock where we have rented a space for the past few months. We needed to get prepared to empty it so I can take the majority of it back to Denver. We made piles of things to go the Zephyr, one for Goodwill and one for the trip. Off to Goodwill and back to Zephyr.
I took off for Henery's Hardware for some corks to put in the exhaust pipe for the Webasto heater. Bill(previous owner)had advised us to plug the pipe with a cork to keep the water out when we are out sailing. I'd found a cork on Zephyr but it fell out sometime while we were out sailing. This time, I bought two(of course it took several trips to the hardware store to find the right size) and got some "eye" screws to put in the end that I can attach a lanyard to so the cork doesn't float away.
Yesterday was a road trip to Silverdale. The TV has continued to act strangely so we headed for Costco to look for a replacement. As we were looking, we talked to a woman that was there looking too and she told us that ours may still be covered under Costco's extended warranty plan. We bought it back in May of 08 and found that Costco extends the warranty for two years, not the normal 90 days. Yes, it was covered!! So onto the phone and they told us to call them back once we were at the TV. We took off for Zephyr. Calls were placed and now we have to take it into a service place in Poulsbo for repairs. Of course, it hasn't acted up again and once I drop it off on Monday, we will have to rent a car to pick it up as I will have taken our car back to Colorado by then. We plan on waiting to see if it goes bad on Monday before we take it in.
We returned to the storage building and emptied it out and filled a great deal of the car. Now, we have to load the things we plan to take off Zephyr and I will be ready to go on Tuesday morning.
The fuel polisher is due any minute so I will close now. More to come
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