Errands and Parts

Vero Beach

No LL

I have a confession to make. After bragging about our repair prowess, we discovered that our refurbished head leaked water around the base. When I took it apart, the gasket for the base plate fell apart. A replacement gasket was one spare part I didn't have.

1. I tried first to seal it with tub & tile sealer. It leaked.
2. I tried again with a fresh tube of form-a-gasket. It leaked.
3. I retried with form-a-gasket. It leaked.
4. I retried with 3M 4200 bedding compount. It leaked.
5. I retried with a sheet of cork used to make custom gaskets. It finally worked.

The trouble was that the base pushes on strong springs that act on a pedal. There is no way to push the plate on straight, it has to slide on thus wiping off any sealant material in the process.

Today I had to order a new thermostat for our refrigerator. That will replace the one we put in just last December. I conclude that we must be abusing the sensor coil as we put things in and out and while defrosting. That causes a hairline crack which allows the sensor fluid to leak out slowly. This time, I'll have to replace it and find a way to make a little protective wall to protect the coil from mechanical abuse.

Before you ask, we are not seeking out excuses to stay longer in Vero.

Our chore today is to go to the AARP volunteers and ask them to do our tax return for us.

Pre-Dawn Launch

Vero Beach
No LL

We got up early to watch the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. We're very glad that we did, the experience was wonderful.

It was one of those totally still nights when the surface of the water made a big mirror. We elected to row the dinghy over to the beach instead of using the motor. Silently gliding through the water in those conditions is magical.

Turnout at the beach was very modest. We saw no more than 100 people up and down the beach. We arrived just in time with less than 2 minutes until launch.

The moment of launch was not as spectacular as the previous time we saw it at the beach. That time there were low lying clouds that reflected the orange glow from the flame to light up the sky like dawn. This time, the sky was clear and the orange glow was less. (first picture)

To make up for it though, this launch happened only minutes before dawn. The reward came about 3 minutes after launch. At that moment the first direct rays from the sun hit the highest puff of smoke from the launch. It marked the spot where the booster rockets separated. The sunlight made the smoke glow brilliantly in all the colors of the rainbow. See the second picture. Sorry, the picture is much less spectacular than the sight.

About 5 minutes after launch, we could still see Discovery as it entered the Mediterranean. Only then did the rumbling roar of the sound reach us. We are 65 miles away from the launch site and the rocket traveled about 6500 miles while the sound traveled 65 miles. Amazing.

As we rowed back to Tarwathie, the smoke plume continued to rise and twist and turn as it was illuminated by the direct rays of the rising sun. See the third picture. We also saw one of the cruisers out fishing in his kayak. He was just sitting there, totally still and enjoying the experience. He must have enjoyed the peace and beauty even more than we did. Good for him.

The Moment of Splash

Vero Beach, FL
27 29.77 N 080 22.38 W

Below you see the moment of splash as Tarwathie touches the water once again. Hooray!

From 2010

Here's a few details from the work projects.

Before repair, see the chewed up rubber in the cutlass bearing.

Before repair, with the log removed.

Two of the four shot engine mounts we replaced.

After repair, see how neat, clean, and shiny everything looks.

So what caused the vibration problem we tried to solve? The engine was out of line. The engine mounts were shot. The cutlass bearing was shot. The shaft was bent. The propeller's screws were all partially loose. Which of these were symptoms and which were causes? I'm afraid it will never be entirely clear.

One theory is that it was residual damage caused by getting the dinghy painter wrapped around the propeller last summer. See the blog post Ay Ay Caramba from July 22, 2009.

Another theory is that we bent the shaft when first installing it. See the blog posts from March 2007 The Repowering Project Day 13 and The Repowering Project Day 14. We removed and reinserted the shaft without removing the log. Back then I thought that the modest manual forces applied could never have damaged such a thick shaft. Maybe I was wrong.

I'm afraid that conclusive evidence will never come.

Victory!

Vero Beach, FL

27 29.77 N 080 22.38 W

Well, we splashed this morning. Everything worked as it should. Even better, we motored up to Vero at the blistering speed of 6 knots. We could have done 7 knots if I pushed it. Never before since owning Tarwathie have we been able to motor so fast.

With our original Perkins 108 engine, speed was limited by overheating and vibrations. With the new Beta engine it was limited by vibrations. I guess that means that it was never properly aligned from the beginning and that we accepted it because of lack of reference point.

Overall, this little stop for repairs cost us about $3,000. Ouch. However, one mustn't begrudge money spent for boat equipment and maintenance. We spend about $10,000 per year on direct expenses for the boat, and we think that is a reasonable number.

I must confess that as we splashed, I was very nervous. I just finished paying the bill and I whined to Woody, the boatyard manager, how complex the Max Prop is. Woody said, "We don't want our boat yard guys to get involved with those. Even the professionals put them together wrong 50% of the time." That was not what I needed to hear because I was so fearful of making the same mistake.

When we did splash the first item of business was to check for leaks around the shaft log. Check -- totally dry. Next was to start the engine. Check -- started fine. Next was to check for adequate cooling water flow. Uh Oh, no water came.

I took a quick peek and saw that I forgot to reattach one of the cooling system hoses. The engine was pumping cooling water all over the inside of the compartment instead of into the muffler. Embarassing, but quick to fix. 5 minutes later, the proper hose was attached and away we went.

All in all, we think we did well. We'll celebrate on Monday by eating lunch out at a restaurant.

p.s. Monday pre-dawn there will be another space shuttle launch. Oh boy. I would love to dinghy over to watch it from the beach.

Shaft Project, Day 9

Fort Pierce, Fl
No LL

Well, everything is complete and put back together. We splash Friday morning at 9AM. Only then will we be able to tell for sure if the vibrations are fixed. However, we're pretty confident.

Can't wait to get back to our natural environment.