First Day of Spring brought cold weather to Midland as I was perched upon the top step of the ladder, heat gun in hand, plastic scraper in other hand, winter coat on with hood...well, you get the picture....the weather was cold and it was time to remove the old name of CARPE DIEM.  A task that had to be done.  We didn't consider this bad luck as we figure a boat is not a boat until it is in the water.  This task took me most of the day, wasn't too bad to take off however, you just have to make sure you don't take the tips of your fingers off at the same time!  This weekend I shall remove the gummy leftovers and buff my stern!

Doug was busy down below taking out the old engine oil with a pump that really worked his triceps, boy, 5 litres of oil takes forever to remove as the oil pump was a piece of crape diem!  He is still working on the strut & stern tube alignment, there is an issue there.  Here he is taking a measurement with a string and vinyl plug set-up.

We are awaiting our new stainless shaft which we hope to install in 2 weeks.  Launch date is 33 days away!  Getting excited!! 

Crazy Midland Sledders

A lot of snow had melted in Penetang since last weekend, and we both said to each other on the way up, that there won’t be any snowmobilers this weekend. 

We were wrong, there were 5 to 6 of them out on the bay, I was busy scraping the name off of the transom when I heard the buzzing sound of a sled….hmm I said, not turning around to look, don’t tell me that’s a sled on the bay…yes, it was, going across open water….how do you spell D.A.R.I.N.G. ?

Silly Sledders, lakes are for Sailors!

Disaster averted

One of the upgrades that we liked on Zingara when we first looked at her was her feathering Max Prop.  Unlike a regular prop you find on most boats a feathering prop reverses its blades when the boat is shifted from forward to reverse and feathers its blades while under sail creating very little drag.  While in forward gear the prop’s torque applies a forward thrust (pushing into the boat) on the drive shaft and reversely when in reverse gear the prop’s torque applies a reverse thrust (pulling out of the boat) on the drive shaft.   

This reverse thrust on the drive shaft creates a lot of stress on the driveshaft and hub assembles and can cause the drive shaft to pull itself out of the hub.  If this happens the prop and drive shaft will pull out of the boat until the prop hits the rudder, destroying the prop and damaging the rudder.  The other issue, if this occurs is the gapping 1” hole left where the drive shaft once was!  Zingara was one or two reverses away from this happening and ultimately sinking.

As this picture shows, the locking set screws did not originally come loose; they cut a groove into the circumference of the shaft first.  The key was destroyed and the shaft started to work its way out of the hub.  The gouges made by the set screws came to within a ¼ of an inch to the end of the shaft.   You can also see just how much back and forth movement the shaft as doing by the ware from the stuffing box.  I will be through bolting the new shaft and hub when I re-assemble the driveshaft!!!!!!!!

On a positive note I finished installing our new Icon VHF radio and it worked like a charm.  I will also add the cockpit Ram Mic before we set sail in May.

I love the sound of grinders in the spring!

Doug

Battle of the Cutlass

One of the recommendations that the Marine Surveyor made when we purchased Zingara was to replace the Cutlass Bearing.  This is the bearing that supports the drive shaft and is located just in front of the propeller.  The standard procedure to remove this bearing is to first remove the propeller then the drive shaft and then the Cutlass bearing.  The only problem with this procedure is you first have to remove the Rudder in order to get the drive shaft out.  Vicki calls the rudder her BFR for good reason, it’s big!

Being, I admit it, Cheap and under a time limit I decided to try and remove the bearing with the drive shaft in place.  I made up a special puller and after two revisions to the puller the cutlass bearing is out.  I can now also remove the drive shaft as there is enough play in the strut to get the shaft by the rudder. I will also replace the stuffing box with a new PYI Dripless.http://www.shaftseal.com/en/product_categories 

Vicki here…We had friends come up & visit our boat, they brought a nice lunch aboard, which we shared with a nice cabernet wine.  The weather was lovely, still snow on the boat, but came off easily with our trusty red dustpan!  I took the heat gun & partially melted the ice from the cockpit drains, which was a success as the water started draining nicely onto Joe & Doug below.

 

Great news!  We are now off of the waiting list….we have our dock assignment!!!

We will be on Pier 1, lucky dock #13, Port Whitby Marina.

Today we are packing up as our dirt dwelling days are numbered…..

Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention….there was some spillage on Saturday….you’ll know what I mean if you ever share a glass of wine with Doug : )

Welcome to our blog site : )

Our 40' Hunter Legend, Zingara, is presently on the hard in Penetanguishene. We've spent alot of time looking for our live-aboard boat & finally found her in the late Fall of 2009.
We have some work to do on her to prepare her for her journey home.
We shall sail her to her new home of Port Whitby Marina where we shall live-aboard for a few years.We are taking 2 weeks holiday mid-May to enjoy our time sailing her from Georgian Bay, to Lake Huron, to Lake Erie, through the Welland Canal & finally home to Lake Ontario.
Until than......stay tuned!

Adjusting our Sails,

Doug & Vicki