Never thought we’d be so pleased to share this, but after successful installation of the rear cutless bearing Thursday and the engine room cutless bearing Friday, …
WE GOT THE SHAFT!! No, not the seventies detective, this:
Now for the prop and rudder! 🤞
Since the machine shop needed time to turn a chunk of special steel into a spiffy new shaft and we had appointments to keep, we left the service yard and hit the road for a few days. (Bonus – everyone we were going to see has working A/C!)
First stop, Virginia Beach for Uncle Bill’s birthday.
Those are some kissable cheeks!
Yes, yours are cute, too, Bill, and we know it’s your birthday, but little cherub-cheeked Micah over there gleefully awaiting cake has you beat. 😘
No summertime trip to see Bill & Brenda is complete without peeking at the butterfly project, and although we didn’t get to see any adult butterflies this time, the process seems to be going well.
Next up, Chesapeake so Susie could hug her father and we could share a meal for his birthday.
Then we headed to the other side of town to visit Susie’s mother, who is doing terrific two months after getting her new knee! Our son Michael joined us Saturday for game night and ice cream.
And last but not least… Never mind. Sorry. Susie isn’t ready to talk about the final appointment of the trip. (Let’s just say, “we can rebuild her.”)
Hey, Honey, how about that boat repair…?
It’s hot.
How hot is it?
Nah. Not going there. Let’s focus instead on what we’ve done while waiting to get the shaft.
I SEE what you’re doing. Don’t squawk about it. Just tern this into a fun post.
By the way, are you gulling to eat all those fries?
The heat may be making the writers punchy…
We already admitted to seeking solace in ice cream shoppes and s-l-o-w-l-y perusing air-conditioned store aisles. Back at the yard, we watch the comings and goings. Like the day the crane arrived to remove the mast from our friend Bryan’s beautiful sailboat, Defiant.
Sydney is boat companion and service dog to our neighbor, Captain Tony, on Blind Faith, and she’s become the unofficial yard mascot.
While the scenery isn’t quite as pleasant as in the islands,
Speaking of LouLou’s, Holden Beach put on a spectacular fireworks show for July 4 from the restaurant parking lot behind us. Talk about a front row seat!
While running errands one sweltering afternoon, we got caught in a sideways, gulley-washing, toad-strangler of a deluge. When we returned to the yard, soaked to the skin, we had to wade to the boat! We joked that perhaps God was trying to lift our spirits – aaah, water under the keel.
Naturally, we don’t just sit around taking in the view. We’ve also been doing chores.
Among other things,
There you have it, the highlights of our first few weeks in the yard (sans gross, sweat-soaked photos).
Our original cruising schedule had us arriving in Virginia mid-July for several important dates. With the ‘Mare laid up, we’d need to hit the highway. More on that in the next post.
Unlike our experience “walking the plank” to access the boat at the service yard last year, here we are completely out of the water, supported on blocks and stanchions, in the dirt (or “mud”, depending on the day). Which has led to questions as to what it’s like in our “deluxe apartment in the sky”? Ah, Mr. Jefferson, you had it so good!
In our case, to get on the boat, we have a sturdy set of steps with handrails. Nice! The top step is approximately two feet below the swim platform, so the process is to climb the steps to the top, grab the swim platform staples (thank goodness we have staples), plant one foot up on the swim platform, and hoist yourself up. Boatyard bonus: an upper body workout!
The view, while not picture postcard pretty, could be worse. At least it’s predominantly nautical.
As you can see in the photo of our steps, we have an extension cord to supply power, so we’re all set for some seriously nice glamping, right?
The problem with glamping aboard the SaltyMare? When we’re out of the water, sure, we have fresh water (330 gallons that can be refilled with two long hoses), and the waste tanks hold almost 100 gallons (need to be selective and use the yard’s bathroom). BUT! IT’S SUMMER and we have no air conditioning. That’s right, NO AC! Again, its summer! IN the sun. IN southern North Carolina. UGH, and muggy? Shoot, sorry no words. But we are seasoned island cruisers, right? No problem. We stuck it out for the first few days and nights… made it almost a week!
…seeking solace where possible.
Whenever we ran errands, “someone” insisted we check every aisle in whatever store was involved. Yes, the AC is nice, but how many times can we look at every aisle in Food Lion or Costco without starting a game of bumper carts with the rest of the crowd?
It became abundantly clear that, for our sanity, we needed a solution. Hehe. Eagle-eyed captain had spotted something, so back to Costco we went.
First, we walked every aisle (snicker) with our treasure secured in the massive cart, then we headed home smiling.
The first night, like two sweaty, delirious nerds. Oh wait, we are that! Anyway, we excitedly rigged up our purchase in the master stateroom.
Aaaaah. Good Lord! Below 85! A decent night’s sleep. Oh, happy day! Err, night, actually.
But…
…high humidity and AC… the beastie needs to drain, so in the morning, we had to come up with another plan if we wanted to continue this newly rediscovered joy of sleeping in comfort. (It only cools the bedroom. We don’t want to talk about the temperature in the rest of the boat.)
Where there’s a will, there’s a way, as they say. Other side of the room! Sorry, Honey! Into the head it goes, so it can drain into the shower pan. (Taking one head out of commission will necessitate more trips to the yard’s bathroom. But note the temp! Yeah!)
With the set-up “complete” (?) (that stand is a little sketchy), someone (okay, Susie) questioned the rain reaching and ruining our finely crafted cardboard/blue tape assemblies. Todd donned his first engineer hat and sprang into action.
Anyone else hearing Jeff Foxworthy? “You might be a red….” ha!
Silence is not always golden; not necessarily bad either, just complicated.
Our last post was quite some time ago, so we are starting to receive inquiries. Where are you? What’s happening? How’s the boat? When will you be moving again? Realizing we can only bury our heads in the sand for so long, here goes with “What’s up?”.
We arrived at Zimmerman Marine Holden Beach on June 22, anticipating (hoping for) a simple alignment issue. The initial trial run and subsequent alignment checks in the engine room showed we were aligned. No joy. That was not the cause of the vibration. Next step, we had to come out of the water for further diagnostics.
Before additional disassembly, various checks were made on the running gear, like push/pull on shaft/rudder or doing a basic run out check on the propeller (to see if the prop has been whacked). Easy checks.
No simple causes were revealed. Which means we have to go deeper and pull the shaft, which requires a few steps. First, some work in the engine room on that end of the shaft, then off with the prop, and finally the rudder is in the way. To remove the rudder, back in the slings she went, to be lifted off the blocking so the team could continue.
Then the real disassembly began:
With her line cutters, prop, shoe, and rudder removed, it was time for the task of pulling the awkwardly long and heavy shaft, 2 3/4″ thick, 14 feet+ long, and about 300 pounds!
What a learning process, and once again we, and all parties involved, are impressed with the quality of a Selene. Not to mention, so far, the fellas have been gentle and precise with each piece and step. Thank you, Zimmerman Holden Beach!
Here the captain explains PSS seals to the first mate.
So, do we have a cause? Weeeelllllllll….. it’s complicated…… Ha!
Briefly,
The analysis from all involved, including the experienced gentleman at the machine shop – (not pictured but he’s an amazing 80, with 65 years doing this), is the problem is—– AGE of the shaft….
The consensus is that this is the original shaft. 18 years and more than 6000 hours of operation, sand/mud getting in the aft cutless, wearing on the shaft (it is weirdly worn), and the boat sometime in its life just sitting for an extended period (one section is badly pitted from corrosion). The shaft is still straight as an arrow but needs to be replaced.
Different stainless-steel alloys are available now, so we are upgrading the shaft along with the new cutlesses. Heck, even ordering a new line cutter! Our ‘Mare has been limping along on “bad shoes” doing her best and finally showed us the problem.
So, a new “blank” of Aqualoy 22 stainless steel will be shipped in and then machined into our new shaft.
Think “a week or so….”
In the end, as often happens in life, it’s complicated. And in this instance, it’s also HOT! What?
More on that later…
Our Travels 