I watched him shake his head a few times and I asked the quintessential question “If this were your boat, what would you do?”.
I listened for a bit, stopped him and asked the essential question “When would you be able to fit this work in?”.
And so, once again on this journey, the boat was lifted and we were living in a parking lot again, climbing a ladder just to get home!
But, this time it was for about 10 days, and it rained, and it was cold, and the parking lot was full of mud, gravel and puddles, and I was tired, stressed, wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into (which is when I through myself into the 6 day intensive Yachtmaster theory course which had hours of exercises to be completed each evening...presumable around the dining room table near a crackling fireplace!).
Kim was assigned to the project as he had some experience with shafts and alignment (as in shafts of several feet in diameter on Navy ships!).
Kim is an exceptional engineer and he put my mind at ease “When I'm done you won't have any problems!”.
He pulled the shaft for inspection (it didn't pass and they got a new one) and redid the motor mount attachment points, cleverly cutting slots, inserting backing plates which he drilled and tapped. Before it was impossible to really align the mounts as you couldn't access the bolt heads....did I mention he was smart?
Merv was consulting on the project....I was really in good hands and I knew it.
Kim replaced the packing gland and the bearing behind it (both had gone oval). The bearing has a grease fitting now and a greaser, so it can now be properly lubricated.
He did some other work, shortening the packing gland fitting so the shaft can now slide back further, making it much easier to get the transmission out.
The shaft strut was aligned, with a new backing plate, the engine alignment (now possible) was done (spot on I was assured) and the boat was set and ready to go!
Kim was very kind to us as he did put the engine back in place every night, I was very grateful that I could at least move around inside our cold boat and not have to navigate around a Myanmar 3gm30 every evening!
Once back in the water, everything checked out and I can't convey how happy I am to have a working drive train!!!
If your travels take you anywhere near Plymouth and you have boat problems I would highly recommend the Mountbatten Boathouse.
I should mention that they are a full chandlery also, I obtained quite a bit of stuff there and really enjoyed bantering with their staff...really great place.
The shaft strut was aligned, with a new backing plate, the engine alignment (now possible) was done (spot on I was assured) and the boat was set and ready to go!
Kim was very kind to us as he did put the engine back in place every night, I was very grateful that I could at least move around inside our cold boat and not have to navigate around a Myanmar 3gm30 every evening!
Once back in the water, everything checked out and I can't convey how happy I am to have a working drive train!!!
If your travels take you anywhere near Plymouth and you have boat problems I would highly recommend the Mountbatten Boathouse.
I should mention that they are a full chandlery also, I obtained quite a bit of stuff there and really enjoyed bantering with their staff...really great place.
Posted by Diane For Scott
1 comment:
Wow, What an adventure! Glad to hear that you continue to "fine tune" that boat and it's a good thing you have that famous report! Congrats on your Yachtsman license, do we call you Sir, Captain, or Yachtsman Scott? Thanks for your blogging, it exposes the great part of travel, the unexpected adventures, and the people you meet. I can't wait to see how you navigated to Paris, you may need a new alaignment! We think of you often, keep up the good work -The Whites
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