Making repairs

One of the problems of living in a boat...or a house, for that matter... is the need for repairs and improvements. One could also say that one of the great things about living on a boat is the constant opportunity for exercising problem solving skills! Whether one sees the glass as half-empty or half-full, here are a few current items on my mind: the boat has leaks into the core of the deck, but that is not an urgent issue... as long as I store things in plastic or glass containers. My water pressure pump has been running a lot sometimes... could it have leaking pipes or need replacing? The roller furler for the jib worked poorly so I had to replace the bearings. The halyards for the sails still chafe, but not all the way through... so I put tape on as a bandaid... and really should climb the mast to make another attempt to solve it. None of these problems are really huge....

On the other hand, I'd REALLY like to solve the problem of the propeller vibration (before it damages the cutless/cutlass bearing or anything else) and have been diving under the boat to remove it... but the thing is VERY securely installed and I'm unsure about how much force to use. I'll try again today and, when I succeed, will bring it to the specialists in Salem. (Success is mine! I released it Tuesday morning and dropped it off with the prop shop in Salem at about noon!

They say seven to ten days and I sure hope this solves many problems.)

Far more essential is a crack I found forming in the bowsprit collar. This fitting serves as the attachment point for the bobstay and forestay and two whisker stays and resists immense forces.... and is cracking.

Ignored, it would probably fail within the next year, probably in the worst possible conditions. So, I've ordered a nice piece of 316 stainless pipe a foot long and contacted a local machinist to weld me up a replacement.

Another essential repair: I'm working to repair and reinstall the largest remaining section (about 5 feet) of the port jib traveler track (it broke in June and I pulled the remaining bits out a few days ago).

Part of the wood it should anchor into is certainly stronger than sponge... but not by much... so I'm depending on the fiberglass that encased the wood. 

The temporary repair I've set up should work ok until I do something more permanent in a few months. Anyway, I may need to take it all apart to fix the leaky deck, and will figure THAT out over the next few days.



It looks as though we are in for a period of gray and windy weather... so I get to work on interior items like painting and adding shelving. I can dive under the boat to re-install the sacrificial anode on the propeller shaft. Perhaps replace the packing on the propeller shaft as well, since that has been dripping a good bit....although I wonder if I may need to replace the shaft.... (hmm......how might I do this in the water without sinking the boat? Hmmm...interesting challenge). And I can order the materials I need to work on things like re-coring the deck.