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Messages - ewengstrom

#121
We had the same problem immediately after we bought our 88 C-34. Covering the last few miles of the delivery trip to our home port (about 110 miles) I discovered water under the v-berth about 2/3 of the way up to the bottom of the center drawer.
After a quick recovery from an understandable near heart attack I found a hose and drained the water into the bilge to be pumped out by the bilge pump.
Long story short, the seemingly intact anchor locker drain thru hull was cracked and when traveling with a bone in her teeth, our boat was taking on water into the v-berth storage area.
Like Noah, I replaced the fitting while the boat was in the water and it was pretty straight forward and not a complicated job at all. I did do ours on a very calm day though....that thru hull isn't very far above the water line.
I've since drilled a 1/2" limber hole at the base of the v-berth locker so water will now drain into the bilge and not collect should another leak develop. I did hold the location of this hole up off of the hull perhaps 1.5" simply because using a drill bit near a boats hull while said boat is in the water is inviting disaster.
#122
Main Message Board / Re: small ding on prop blade
March 12, 2021, 04:59:42 AM
I ding that small probably won't affect performance or balance too much but if you have a prop shop near you and the boat is already out of the water then it won't hurt to have it re-balanced. We took our 15x9 three blade prop off this past spring and I had it re-pitched to 15x10 and balanced, the cost wasn't all that bad and I now have piece of mind that the prop is good to go....unless I wind up a crab pot or something equally as fun.
A balanced prop will also help your cutlass bearing last a bit longer. The cost in our area was less than $200 for this work so it was worth it to me. Just balancing the prop should be a good bit cheaper. (re-pitching was the expensive part)
#123
Main Message Board / Re: Heavy steering?
March 09, 2021, 03:40:00 AM
Actually....that's not the pic I thought i was going to post and in that shot it looks like the tube is there.
#124
Main Message Board / Re: Heavy steering?
March 09, 2021, 03:36:41 AM
Not sure what's going on there but the fiberglass tube sticking down onto the quadrant head looks a bit odd. For your reference here's a shot of ours when I had the aft cabin torn apart. As you can see, the rudder post doesn't have that tube sticking down. I'd definitely investigate this issue further.
#125
Main Message Board / Re: Leak at companionway
March 05, 2021, 05:09:55 AM
Our MK1 has the half round teak strip as well. It still leaked like a sieve at the ends where the sealant had failed.
#126
Main Message Board / Re: Leak at companionway
March 03, 2021, 05:46:24 AM
Sorry I didn't document this work any better than this.
Let me know if you have any questions.
#127
Main Message Board / Re: Leak at companionway
March 03, 2021, 05:39:21 AM
I see people who own Catalina's making those companionway covers and they do a nice job of protecting the whole area, but I don't feel it does anything to stop this leak.....and the problem can be fixed permanently.

The problem:
The teak threshold leading into the cabin is fastened with screws thru it's face and horizontal surface and those screws are then covered with teak bungs. It does have some sort of caulk under it but the way the threshold was cut underneath leaves a pretty big gap in the corners and over time that caulk breaks down and starts to leak. If you look closely there isn't much of a bevel on that threshold to shed water so it collects and finds its way in.

Remediation:
Pretty simple...but a bit involved. Drill out the teak bungs in the face and vertical surface of the threshold and remove the screws holding the wood on. I used a 3/8" forstner bit I bought at Harbor Freight for the bungs and it worked great. I also removed the vertical pieces on both sides of the companionway to reseal them as well. The caulk underneath should be holding the wood on...but it's so old by now it won't be holding anything. I cleaned up the old caulk/adhesive and 1/4" thick dirt that had worked its way into the gap at the ends and sanded the gelcoat where the caulk would be, then sanded the back side of the teak to clean it up and promote better sealant adhesion.
Tape off the area surrounding the threshold and apply caulk liberally, Honestly I cannot remember if I used black 4200 or 5200  but I never want this to come up again so 5200 would be fine by me. I put enough caulk down so that when I pressed the threshold back down it pushed out the sides and ends so I know it filled the gaps and gave me a good seal.
Pull up your tape after cleaning up the excess and walk away for a day or two to let the caulk dry. Insert new teak bungs and trim them flush after the adhesive dries. I've since refinished all the exterior teak on the boat and am happy to report that the leak from the threshold is gone, hopefully forever. Not a drop gets inside no matter how hard it rains.....We've even had snow and ice this past winter and that area is still quite dry just using the companionway boards.

I'll post a few shots of the work shortly, I just have to find them. I didn't get many of the work as it was underway..probably because I was wearing nitrile gloves covered in black caulk.... :shock:
Hope this helps!!!!
#128
Okay Noah.....you're a tease.  8)
At least the snow and ice has melted off of the boat for now....and I can sorta tell that nice weather is right around the corner....and then some dude posts some pics if him enjoying what most of us can only dream of right now.......
Can't wait to be "out there" too.... :thumb:
#129
Main Message Board / Re: Refitting Polonaise
February 26, 2021, 12:57:57 PM
I cannot lie.......I'm a bit jelly.  :thumb:
#130
Main Message Board / Re: Rigid vang help
February 25, 2021, 04:09:35 AM
Alex,
Thanks a TON sir.....I do have those separate blocks but they weren't mounted when we got the boat and my brain was just overloaded sorting out all the new systems and I never got around to sorting thru the setup..... I do see where our vang was mounted basically upside down at the base and fixing it is pretty straight forward at this point.
Oh, and your boat looks pretty good to me!!!!!  :clap
#131
Main Message Board / Re: Checking Keel Bolts
February 25, 2021, 04:00:57 AM
Paul,
The length of the average torque wrench makes reaching these torque levels quite achievable....even with bum-thumbs.  8)
My torque wrench is also a Craftsman and I've had it for years, I can't remember exactly but it's maximum torque setting is well above 107. I've torqued the head bolts on a few larger car motors and those get into the 130 (+,-) ft/lb torque range...and it will do those. I'd have to check but I'm sure its length is perhaps 20" or a bit longer end to end and this gives enough leverage to crank down on a bolt head with no pipe extension.
The point is you don't really need any custom or very special tools to do this, the boat absolutely does need to be out of the water and blocked up, and it'll take some leverage and very minor boat yoga to get at a couple of the more interesting nuts....but that suggestion to remove the floor panel and drill a hole over the harder to get at keel bolts is a winner in my book and I'll be doing that the next time I re-torque those keel bolts.
#132
Main Message Board / Re: Checking Keel Bolts
February 24, 2021, 04:14:49 AM
Paul,
I have arthritis in both thumbs and that makes handling tools....."interesting". I say that because I approach most jobs where pushing and pulling against said appendages with more thought than others might...and this would be one of those jobs.
I didn't find that keeping the whole assembly of socket, extension, torque wrench and myself in column to be a difficult task. I do think that Bill's idea of removing the flooring above those aft bolts is an excellent idea as those were the most difficult to access and creating that hidden access point would simplify the whole job immensely. 
As it turned out the keel boats on our 1988 weren't protruding above the nuts all that far so a standard deep socket slipped over them without any difficulty.
#133
Main Message Board / Re: Fuel injectors useful life
February 23, 2021, 09:53:11 AM
I'm quite sure you don't specifically need a marine diesel shop to service diesel injectors. I manage a fleet of trucks and know of a fellow who works on industrial diesel engines. I've had my injectors inspected and rebuilt by him for several years. I've taken him Yanmar injectors (from my last boat) and also the injectors from two different Universal Diesel engines. The price of a rebuild by a reputable shop is considerably less than new replacement parts. I've been very happy with the results. Yes, I did pull the injectors and reinstall them myself.
#134
Main Message Board / Re: Checking Keel Bolts
February 22, 2021, 10:05:11 AM
In the thread that Ken mentions the torque spec was 107 ft/lbs.
When I had Ohana out of the water for a short haul this past spring I checked them and found that while I did get some movement out of them, it didn't take much to get them to the specified torque.
Hope yours goes as well.
#135
Main Message Board / Re: Rigid vang help
February 22, 2021, 04:16:00 AM
Karista, quite a bit actually. I'd be most interested to see where that upper block on the vang attaches, maybe there is just slack in the line but it almost looks like it attaches somewhere other than the upper part of the vang itself???