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It takes a while for a worn cutlass bearing to damage
the shaft. This I know from experience. If it’s just
Mobile to Kew West I expect your shaft will survive
intact.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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A cutlass bearing can last for many years – almost
indefinitely. However, it can also wear out in a few
months if abraded by a misaligned and/or vibrating prop
shaft. If the shaft really doesn’t move at all when you
jerk it up & down by hand near the strut, then the
cutlass bearing is still good. That’s most of what I
know on that subject. Bob and Rich are much smarter
than I am (really). Maybe they’ll chime in with more
alternatives.Seems to me if everything else is aligned, from engine
to V-drive to shaft, and if the cutlass bearing is also
definitely good, then maybe it’s time to spend the $$$
at PYI. But only IF.BTW, have you been servicing the MaxProp at each
haul-out as they recommend (or did when I had one in
the late 80’s), taking it apart and repacking the
grease, etc?Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Bob,
Is that true, that a runaway engine is running on it
lube oil and not its fuel oil?Damn, your smart!
Pardon the brevity. That’s about all I wanted to say.
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And excellent reason to ask PYI (MaxProp’s maker) about
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Ken,
Having been through cutlass bearing hell the first time
on Silverheels, I vowed Never Again! When you put in
the new cutlass bearing, leave about 1″ of it stacking
out at the back of the strut tube. It makes zero
difference to the performance of the bearing, but a
huge difference next time you need to change it, giving
you something to grab/twist/pull with a chain wrench or
whatever. I also cut open the front end of the tube,
which on my boat was rounded like a hollow-point
bullet. With it cut back I can get at the front edge of
the cutlass bearing with pounding tools.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Which reminds me… Scanmar Marine sells an emergency
rudder, online at
http://www.selfsteer.com/products/sos/index.php .Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
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I can shut off the fuel manually at the twin Racors
inside the engine compartment, but I’d be interested to
know the same about the Yanmar 4JHE.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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The packing gland and cutlass bearing are two entirely
separate things. I believe you want to tighten the
packing gland nut until you have 1-3 drops of water per
minute, not per second, when motoring. The cutlass
bearing is in the prop shaft strut tube just forward of
the propeller. To check it while afloat, dive down to
your prop shaft, grab it with your hand near the strut,
and see if you can wiggle the shaft slightly. If it
does wiggle at all, you’re due for a new cutlass
bearing when you haul out, the sooner the better. If it
doesn’t wiggle at all then it’s good and you’re back to
checking with the MaxProp maker and/or the alignment
issues Rich suggested, etc. Be sure to check the
coupling bolts where the prop shaft connects to the
V-drive. Mine had loosened and worn badly before I
bought my boat, which cost me a new coupling and a set
of the special, case-hardened bolts.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Adam,
I’ve never heard of anyone fabricating an emergency
rudder for a cruising sailboat, but I do have one on
Silverheels. It’s the external rudder that’s part of my
Auto-Helm windvane made by Scanmar Marine, the same
outfit that makes the Monitor windvane (photos
attached). If I lost my primary steering system or
rudder, I could steer my boat with the Auto-Helm’s
rudder via a second set of cables I had made up for it,
which connect to a tiller-pilot (autopilot), or simply
as it is designed to do via the windvane. Of course,
one could also make a tiller for it.FYI, the old, traditional way to compensate for a
busted rudder is by dragging warps and/or any handy
objects off one quarter or the other, along with
varying the sail trim.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Ken,
(4 photos attached)
In my opinion, the smart way to go is a hard
dodger/bimini, and again IMHO, if you’re going cruising
favor function over form. I started out to build a hard
dodger/bimini, but only got as far as the dodger top.
Then, with so many projects demanding attention, I
relented and got a canvas guy to make the windshield
and bimini. However, I entirely designed these parts
myself and physically worked with him in every step of
the process except the actual stitching. The net result
has been very satisfactory and looks all right, too.
Now, after 6 years in the sun and several
re-stitchings, I’m starting to think about finishing
the hardtop job I began in 2007, rather than replace
the canvas and Strataglass. We’ll see.Since I limit my cruising to the tropics, I have little
need for a full enclosure. I do, however, employ a
reversible weather cloth (to be described in SAIL
magazine’s Cruising Tips, March 2014 issue), which
makes all the difference in the world offshore.Whatever you do for a bimini, if you have a ketch you
need instant access to the full length of the mizzen
boom and sail. To my knowledge, I’m the only person in
the world who came up with a nearly ideal solution to
that problem. Boastful to say, of course, but I have
never seen an aft-cockpit ketch with any kind of
functionally accommodating bimini top – and I always
look. I’ll incorporate the same 4 quick-open hatches in
a hardtop if I go that way in the future, even if they
have to be made of zippered Sunbrella.As for stepping between the deck and the cockpit being
awkward, the 424 was laid out for a helmsman and crew,
not for single-handing. So Pearson placed the primary
winches forward on the coaming where crew could work
them – and trip on them when stepping between the
cockpit and side decks – while the helmsman stands aft
and steers. Alas, Mr. Pearson was not a cruising
sailor. In the our world, the helmsman often needs to
tack the boat himself, which requires relocating the
primary winches farther aft on the coaming so that
they’re on the athwartships plane of the steering
wheel’s aft face, alongside to the helmsman’s nose port
& starboard. This also opens up the coaming wonderfully
between the cockpit and side decks.And yes, definitely put handles on the outboard corners
of the dodger.Good luck,
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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I see your dilemma, Rich. If I were too big to reach in there myself, I’d hire an elf to give the space a proper cleaning, straighten out the mess the last guy left, and put on a few coats of white paint. One time and it’s done. After that a long-handled scrubber and occasional rinses should enable you to keep it tolerably clean.
Or you could just avoid ever looking in there. That seems to work for most boat owners. 🙂
Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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I don’t understand the popular compulsion to fill in
the deep sump in the 424. What would that accomplish?
Actually, that deep well was one of the design features
that attracted me to the boat in the first place,
someplace a lot of water can go (and be pumped out)
without sloshing around underneath the cabin sole and
up into the side lockers in a seaway. Also, I can
physically squeeze in down there, just barely at the
forward end like a mummy, but enough to reach aft with
a longish handle. First thing I did was thoroughly
clean and rough-sand the entire sump and paint it
white. This way I see trouble brewing, be it water
intrusion or oil dripping. Things that fall down there
are easily spotted and reached with one of those long
grabber tools or a magnet-on-a-rod. Periodically I
flush the sump out with clean seawater, and very
occasionally scrub it with soap & water. No mess, no
oil, no odor, no tool abyss. I’ve thought of setting a
couple of storage crates halfway down in there, but
like being able to see into it.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Ken,
If the filler doesn’t lift out with reasonable ease
from the inside with lag bolts, then I agree with Alan.
Cut the section open from underneath – it’s damaged
anyway – and drop/chop/blast out the filler crap. Then
rebuild the entire aft end of the keel foot twice as
thick as the original. I had my ‘glass-master do that
when I discovered what was probably an old,
covered-over, structural crack all along the keel
bottom beneath the sump section in Silverheels a couple
of years ago. Scary shit, considering I’d been doing
some offshore sailing with it that way. He ground it
back to the point that he could gently push a
screwdriver into the sump from the outside. Then he
rebuilt it heavy enough that I don’t have to worry
about blocking back there anymore – which, of course,
is what Pearson should’ve done in the first place. Do
it right once and you’re done with it.BTW, although that ‘glass-master’s shop is at Green
Cove Springs Marina, he makes house calls in the area –
in case you don’t have absolute faith in the ‘glass guy
at your yard.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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I have a big panel, 185W, I think, on a davits
crossbar. So the panel pivots on one axis, fore & aft,
which makes a huge difference in output because panels
do their best with perpendicular sunlight. As for the
mizzen boom shadow, it’s usually a non-issue. I just
put it off to one side of the other with a preventer.
Under sail, of course, it’s all depending on conditions
and course direction. Bottom line, my panel provides
more recharging power overall than the wind generator,
even in the trade winds.Tor
Silverheels, P-424 #17
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With your buddy’s transportation in the mix, I’m still
up for doing it, Skip. I’ll be particularly interested
to hear what shape the box is in.Thanks,
Tor
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