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Good question, Dan. I expect $1,000 from each of us ought to make Ewan happy.
Seriously, though, I asked him earlier what this is costing. Perhaps when he shares that number with us we’ll have an idea of what’s fair. I guess it’d also help to know how many of us site & email users there are. Then we can simply divide and conquer.
My 2-cents worth, anyway.
Tor
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Silverheels, P-424 #17
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A PayPal link on the site, you say? Guess I should visit there more often. (I’m mostly on the email side of things.)
Thanks, Roger.
Ewan,
Remind us again where/how to chip in towards the expense of maintaining this site and service. It’s heroic of you to engage the beast in battle on our behalf, but unfair that you should also bear all the out-of-pocket expense while we, the participating 424 owners, reap all the benefits. I hope all of us who find this website and the emails useful – or at least entertaining – will take a moment now to chip in $20 or $50 or $100, and then repeat the contribution every once in a while going forward – say, concurrent with your local NPR fund drives. 🙂
Ewan, what’s this site & service cost, anyway (besides sleepless nights)? And where/how to we send money, honey? I know you told us once, but I was in the thick of preparations to set sail at the time and wasn’t paying much attention to anything else.
Thanks,
Tor
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Silverheels, P-424 #17
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John, I freely admit my ignorance of most things mechanical, but isn’t that jack shaft just a short shaft? Mine sure looks like it. The machine shop at Green Cove Springs Marina bangs out new prop shafts on his lathe for, like, a few hundred bucks; keyed, tapered, drilled & tapped or whatever it takes to duplicate the old one. Seems like he could knock off that jack shaft for half that much.
What am I missing here? Why buy one from Walter?
Tor
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Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Yes, and I also recall some saying the beast runs quieter if you use a really heavy gear oil in it. (Like, 90W? I don’t remember exactly.) Wouldn’t hurt to call the Walter factory and ask them about both options. Everyone else is guessing.
Tor
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Silverheels, P-424 #17
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Bienvenidos Rob,
I’ve tried twice this morning to respond to your question by email, but they didn’t get through. Figured I’d do it this way for a change and see if it works.
I admire the 424 owners who keep their boats’ original, now-ancient machinery operating with scrapped & scrounged parts and JB Weld. I’m not nearly skilled (or interested) enough in engine mechanics to do that, yet I rely on my engine and its drive train almost every day. So for me it made sense to start out with good (as in new or newly rebuilt) machinery and then maintain it scrupulously. I gave Silverheels a new engine and a professionally rebuilt transmission right after I bought her. It was another 5 years before I got around to having the V-drive rebuilt by the Walter factory, but now that’s done, as well. For me, the increase in confidence and enjoyment of my boat were well worth the price. For you I guess it depends on your abilities, your budget, and how you plan to use the boat.
Have fun,
Tor
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Silverheels, P-424 #17
http://www.silverheels.us
——————January 7, 2016 at 12:00 pm — Site Administrator — Glad you’re safe! Sounds like quite a ride. For interests sake, what anchor do you carry with all that chain? I’m considering a 73lb Mantus, but I’m not sure that is overkill.// Ewan, my primary anchor is a 66 lb. (22 kilo) Manta anchor from Port Supply/West Marine, a Bruce knockoff, with essentially all chain rode (150-feet before it switches to 5/8-inch nylon 3-strand line). It nearly always sets right away and (knock on teak) has never dragged, and only costs around $200.
// ———————–January 7, 2016 at 9:50 pm #94078 — typhoontye — Participant — From which direction was the wind blowing?ÃÂÃÂÃÂàOff shore?àDavid Tye×——————– // David, it blew from NNW the whole time. // Tor———————-Silverheels, P-424 #17www.silverheels.us——————   ÂEwan, As you know, I don’t usually visit the website, but rely on the email side of it to keep in touch. I did have a look at pearson.org yesterday, though, and noticed that I haven’t receive a couple of the messages people posted in a thread in which I’ve been participating (by email). The posts that never arrived as emails are:———————–January 7, 2016 at 12:00 pm #94070 — Site Administrator — Keymaster — Glad youâÂÂre safe! Sounds like quite a ride. For interests sake, what anchor do you carry with all that chain? IâÂÂm considering a 73lb Mantus, but IâÂÂm not sure that is overkill.EwanSent from Outlook Mobile———————–January 7, 2016 at 9:50 pm #94078 — typhoontye — Participant — From which direction was the wind blowing?ÃÂÃÂÃÂàOff shore?àDavid Tye×——————– // Ewan & David, this is why I didn’t answer your questions.  //  Tor———————-Silverheels, P-424 #17 — http://www.silverheels.us——————      Â
Hey John, It was pretty hairy. I’m unable to upload to the Silverheels Logblog at the moment, but will eventually post something about that blow. It earned a long write-up in the ship’s log:
// 1730 The front hit Staniel Cay with gale-to-storm force winds for more than an hour, raining on and off, with lightning during the latter part of its passing. Later someone reported on VHF that they had measured 57 knots, but I’m not sure in which harbor that was. Someone else said up to 100 knots. Calling this one a 60+ knot storm wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Anyway, it’s one of the worst blows I can recall every riding out at anchor, its nearest rival being some of the nighttime thunderstorms I remember ripping through the harbor in Cartagena.
// Silverheels’ anchor held, but the damned spring tether, which I had just repaired and end-over-ended today, broke again and the windlass gypsy failed to hold the chain, letting it slip all the way out, all 125′ of it! Couldn’t hear anything in the cockpit over all that wind and breaking seas, but luckily I happened to come below for a moment, heard the racket forward, and went out to the foredeck to investigate. Caught it just as the line spliced to the anchor chain was beginning to run out. It was slipping in bursts, so I was able to get a rolling hitch onto it with a short dock line same one I used for the same thing last night! and made that fast to a deck cleat. Whew, what an ordeal!
// One of the two sailboats anchored near me dragged a ways, but then apparently his anchor dug in and he rode out the rest of the storm in place. A very big motor yacht dragged through here over and over, very nearly slamming into my neighbor, Piper, a young cruising family aboard. At one point Piper had to stream out a ton of anchor rode very quickly and drive his boat out of the way of the oncoming motor yacht. The big vessel careened by between Piper and Silverheels, whether by skill, luck or some combination I have no idea. Scary scene.
//I stood anchor watch at the helm throughout the storm, idling the engine in forward much of the time in hopes of easing some of the strain on the ground tackle, accelerating in the harder wind blasts and attempting to steer to counter some of the boat’s yawing. I didn’t dare motor forward on the anchor, just aiming to ease the stress, so I probably under-did the throttle most of the time.
//1900 After an hour or so, the worst of it passed. The wind finally began to ease off to a mere 25-35 kn, then gradually down to 15-20 with some residual gusts. I’m sure there will be some dragged & damaged boats from this completely unanticipated event. At least it happened early in the evening. Could’ve been worse. We’re OK.I used EasyPoxy, Skip, same as on Silverheels’ cove and boot stripes. It doesn’t hold up so well at the waterline, but the cove and eyebrow stripes are hold up well. Tor———————-Silverheels, P-424 #17www.silverheels.us——————
Roger, I sent the following to Stephan and the group a few days ago, but don’t know if it ever arrived. Not which, if any, of my emails lately have gotten throug.) Here’s what I wrote about the teak eyebrows: No doubt others here have successfully bedded those brow pieces. I tried and failed a couple of times. They just seemed designed to leak, plus mine were cracking from age and PO neglect. So I scrapped them altogether, filled the screw holes, and painted a 1" stripe in their stead, the color matching Silverheels’ cove & boot stripes. IMHO, it looks better, it certainly reduced maintenance, and it doesn’t leak. I’m sure there is much gratification in restoring things to their original glory on these good old boats, but often the greater fun for me has been finding or inventing improvements for their shortcomings. Of course, it’s rarely about right or wrong, but only what pleases you on your boat. Have fun, Tor———————-Silverheels, P-424 #17www.silverheels.us——————
Hi Stephen, No doubt others here have successfully bedded those brow pieces. I tried and failed a couple of times. They just seemed designed to leak, plus mine were cracking from age and PO neglect. So I scrapped them altogether, filled the screw holes, and painted a 1" stripe in their stead, the color matching Silverheels’ cove & boot stripes. IMHO, it looks better, it certainly reduced maintenance, and it doesn’t leak. I’m sure there is much gratification in restoring things to their original glory on these good old boats, but the greater fun for me has been finding or inventing improvements for their shortcomings. Of course, it’s rarely about right or wrong, but just what pleases you on your boat. Have fun, Tor———————-Silverheels, P-424 #17www.silverheels.us——————
I seem to recall someone once taking a Sawzall to their tank and bringing it out piecemeal through the cockpit lockers. Tor———————-Silverheels, P-424 #17www.silverheels.us——————
