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We are here to get hauled and to prepare for our adventure on the Down East Loop (Next posting). I am hoping to get in to the yard today and out on Friday. We had arrived exactly on schedule and the yard manager ("Keenan") was on board at 8 AM arranging for our haul. So far so good.
I find hauling a nervous business. Tide Hiker weighs about 35 tons, which seems a lot to lift safely. But all went well and we had been power washed (to get the slime off the hull) and blocked by 10 AM. So far I was impressed by the yard.
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| The approach - there was a bit of a current so I needed two tries. |
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| Out of the water - waiting for the power wash |
We can live on board while we are here. Its a bit like living on the second floor of a small condo. We are connected to shore power and have a nice set of stairs leading to the swim platform. We have water in our tanks - but only let water drain over the side at night! The yard has nice bathrooms and a boaters' lounge.
The yard manager and I had a planning meeting before lunch. My main objective is to have the hull sanded and painted. Tide Hiker also has a "bit of a vibration" and so I wanted to track that down. And I had some questions for a mechanic in the Engine Room.
According to Keenan, the vibration could be caused by:
1. Engine mounts
2. Either or both of the cutlass bearings (on the prop shaft)
3. A bent shaft
4. Prop damage
The mail was waiting for us. I spent much of the afternoon paying bills. We invited Don and Barb over for dinner.
The shaft/cutlass bearing contractor ("Mayda") turned up in the dark during dinner. After some chin scratching we decided to try the easier (meaning least expensive) repairs first - get the props balanced and change the outer cutlass bearings. One hour later the two props were off. Mayda promised he would be back Wednesday to install the replacement bearings.
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| The props are off and now at the "prop shop" |
Tuesday May 5, 2015
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| Starting to clean the hull |
Very calm night - the boat did not seem to move at all.
A young man ("Will") started sanding the hull at about 8:30 AM. Great.
The mechanic ("George") turned up about 9:00 AM. My list for the engine room:
1. Check the engine mounts (re the vibration)
2. Adjust the tappets on the main engines - has been 3 years since the last adjustment
3. Look for a small coolant leak on the stb engine
4. Look for a small fuel leak that maybe causing the stb engine to stall shortly after starting
5. Check the "Glendenning" engine speed synchronizing system.
6. Remove and inspect one of the main engine exhaust elbows.
George is a neat and tidy mechanic. The results of his visit:
1. Engine mounts are fine
2. Tappets are adjusted and I enjoyed a lesson on how to do it myself.
3. George found and resolved the coolant leak in 3 minutes
4. The fuel leak also took about 3 minutes - George believes the leak originates from the low pressure fuel pump - we will swap it out next visit
5. The Glendenning will have to be removed and sent back to the manufacturer - lets do that on another time - we do not have time this visit.
6. No need to remove the elbow - when the boat is back in the water George will flush the cooling system with a "Barnacle Buster" type product and that will clean the whole system, including the elbow.
Wednesday May 6, 2015
First thing this morning "Will" was back grinding. What a job! Thanks goodness for our Mexican friends. I busied myself dismantling the above deck parts of the windlass so as to apply a liberal coating of "Never Seize" to the working parts. I now feel "even" with the windlass.
This afternoon Don and I loaded my props into the rental and took them to the "prop shop" - will be ready Monday - maybe. Back at the boat I borrowed some scaffold and started waxing the hull. Dinner on board and a quiet evening.
Thursday May 7, 2015
Mayda turned up bright and early and removed the old cutlass bearings and installed the new. I was his understudy and enjoyed the experience. Hopefully I will never need to apply that experience on Tide Hiker.
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| The old cutlass bearing being pressed out. |
Mayda then directed his talents to the port rudder post, and after removing the packing we decided to remove and replace the packing on both sides. It was a dirty, awkward job executed in a very confined space. The old flax packing is now out - waiting for the new synthetic packing material to arrive.
The rain started about midday, and is generally forecast to last for a week! The hulls cannot be painted in the rain, so we are looking at a delay.
Dinner out with Kathy and John from Sea Grace.
Friday May 8, 2015
Now we have Tropical Storm "Ana" heading straight for us! Its "no big deal" except that we can expect more and more rain, and less and less progress on Tide Hiker. We are using up "weather days" and we have not even started the loop. So we have decided to rent a car for a few days and visit some friends and do some exploring.
Don and barb came over for a drink and a chat after dinner.
Saturday May 9, 2015
The car rental place has run out of cars so we did dot get our car till after lunch today. But it is a nice car (Chrysler 200) and is the "weekend special" - only $33 for three days. We drove around and re-acquainted ourselves with Beaufort, NC and did some shopping, including lumber and rope for the fender boards.
Back in the yard we set up the fender boards and tried them out for size on Tide Hiker. We will store them on the top deck lashed to the rail.
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| Midships fender board. |
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| From the left - Lisa, Wanda (Lisa's Mum) Jeff, Bob and Deidre |
We were on the road by 9 AM and into the rain. Tropical storm Ana was crossing the coast south of us as we headed south. Did not emerge till a few miles north of Charleston. Mason was pleased to see us!
Monday May 11, 2015
Kylie and Ryan were off to work early and Mason deposited at "school". We drove the 265 miles back to Beaufort without any rain and dropped into the prop shop to check on progress. They were not ready
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Picked up the props today and Mayda installed them. There is a problem with the cutters so I ordered the parts "rush".
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| Wow! |
Wednesday May 13, 2015
Not much going on. But the weather has improved and we are starting to see progress on the hull.
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| We are all blotchy |
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| A barge passing on the river |
Thursday, May 14, 2015
"The more I learn the more I realize what don't know." The other day Don changed the electrode in his hot water service. I did not know that they even had a sacrificial electrode, let alone that they needed to be changed once a year. So I ordered a new one and it arrived today. Needless to say it seems the change might have been "just in time".
Friday May 15, 2015
The painting was completed today. Needs 8 hours to dry, so we will be launched Saturday morning. We are all ready for it.
This classic "Trumpy" yacht was hauled at the yard next door today and is sitting right behind us. What a beauty!
Saturday May 16, 2015
We were up at 7 AM preparing Tide Hiker to be relaunched. The travel-lift was right on time and we were in the water by 9 AM. The only hassle was that the Stb engine would not run - discovered the silly mechanic had turned the fuel off and forgotten to turn it on again.
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| Tide Hiker and Cavara |
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