Friday, December 18, 2009

YES......we are on the water again.

So we are back in the water headed south with a stronger Kasidah. Here is the latest with the prop shaft.

We were waiting to be pulled from the water again, (they had to turn us around because of our new radar and their hoist style, Plus launch another boat after the owner showed up to move it). There was an engine guy there and I invited him on the boat to look at the alternator. I had always wanted to put a 2nd one on the engine. He started looking at the alternator and said “Hey the bracket on the alternator is broken.” “No it’s not” I said. But it was. Come to find out it had been hitting a cabinet and broke. Well it never did before this. So we are looking around and see a front motor mount loose. The lags had been ripped out of the motor bunks. The front of the engine had lifted up, throwing the alignment out. But why did the front starboard mount rip out? Well on the opposite rear engine adjuster screw, the jacking bolt or bottom adjuster nut had backed down all the way, allowing the engine back to drop. This drove the prop-shaft onto the fiberglass tube where it finally burned up, let loose, started to leak and, the rest is history.

So I’m glad we found out the real cause of the failure. Now the fix was a lot easier than I thought. But the tank had to come out, the aft cabin torn apart. A new fiberglass tube installed, new drip-less fitting. We checked the shaft to make sure it was straight. The engine bunks were a concern to me now. But we were able to bore them out, fill with epoxy and filler, Got a couple of longer ones and they all are good now. The insurance company is being great and might cover a large part of the bill. This would be fantastic.

We left on Thursday for Swansboro NC but as the day went on a front we had been watching looked as it was going to be heading our way so we decided to head once again for a marina(this one is cheap really cheap). The wind has been steady 30 to 40 and lots of cold and rain. This pattern of weather is really started to get the best of me.
We are trying to get to a marina in South Carolina called Osprey Marina near Myrtle Beach where we would leave the boat and head north for a few weeks. We are trying to plan it now and may have found a way to get it there in the next few days.
One thing about living on the boat is that everything is written in sand at low tide............


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear you are put back together and underway again. A few weeks up here in this icebox will remind you why your are heading south. Merry Christmas. Rosemary

Unknown said...

Your last posting mentioned the yard thought something might have come in from the outside.
It's good to know you naile down the cause. Sounds like you have taken care of several small problems.
Hope all goes smoothly from
now on.

Merry Christmas

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you two are on your way to warmer weather. Glad things worked out for you. Merry Christmas to you and Jon and a very Happy New Year too!

Dennis & Sue

martysiefka said...

Hey guys, if anyone in the world can make it thru everything, you guys can. We love ya!

Problems are always interesting after you solve them, right?!

Take care, have a nice Christmas - stop in if you're in the neighborhood.

Marty & Nancy

Anonymous said...

Yikes! Glad you will be here for Christmas. Don't forget to get me a booze list for before during and after dinner. :)

Stay Safe
Love
ctkapoo

Dave & Nancy myarcadia@sbcglobal.net said...

Jon & Arline,
We enjoy reading your blog. It brings back our memories of sailing on Kasidah. When you look at your honduras mahogany dropleaf table think of us, I built it. I aruged with Rick about the proper size of the leaves (he won). I still think they were too big.
Dave & Nancy
S.V. Arcadia (Lake Michigan)