CD33 rudder drip underway

[amit]

Hi Folks,

Alls well. Just a little cleaning solved the problem. The stain was superficial. Shaft had no pitting. Cutlass was changed couple months ago.

Survey went well overall. Soon enough should be able to complete the sale and sail.

Thanks for all the comments and advice.

Amit

[Jim Walsh]

Dramatic improvement from your earlier photo. How did you get it so clean? I had to compare the two photos to convince myself it was the same boat

[amit]

Hi Jim,

Use just water and toothbrush. Was reluctant to use anything else. Please did suggest biodegradable rust removers, but didnt have to use them.

Thanks
Amit

[Paul D.]

Excellent. You may find many of us on the board are fairly conservative sailors. Thus we assume the worst when something goes wrong. Case in point, on a long trip my motorcycle once changed pitch and vibration all of a sudden going up a long mountain. I assumed bad cylinder, loss of compression or other fell scenario. Well, I replaced the spark plug leads and she ran like a beauty for another year criss crossing the North Island of New Zealand.

On the boat, this has also happened with weather, the diesel, the sail hardware, you name it.

Way to go cleaning the shaft and getting to the bottom of things and I give you joy that it looks in good shape. We really do have to dig to find out the source of the problems we have with our boats. One of the joys of a long term relationship I guess.

Good luck with the final arrangements and your impending membership in the cult club of Cape Dory owners. A bargain at twice the price I always say.

[Skylark]

Amit,
I notice that there is a flex coupling installed. There should be a ground strap between one tang on the transmission flange and the mild steel coupling on the shaft. If the shaft is not electrically bonded to the boat the zinc on the prop is doing little to protect other underwater metal on this boat.

I think most Cape Dories used a bronze shaft to avoid having different metals in the water. The rust on the SS shaft is probably due to the mild steel hard coupling and the entire shaft being electrically isolated. Add in some warm salt water splashing inside from leaky raw water vented loop.

Boats are not designed they evolve.

Myles

[alemon]

DSC02600.JPG

Amit… pix of my steering quadrant and rudder stuffing box. Mine has never dripped. Have you tested it for tightening? Could it be a bit loose? Can you loosen it up if you wanted to? As you can see, mine has a green patina around the turning nut, but I do clean it most of the time and make sure everything around it looks solid and clean. I have never tried to do anything with it (if not broke, don't fix it), but I am constantly down there working on the engine and all else. To repack it for sure would be a job! or maybe not… the rudder post could be pitted in that area, but I don't know how you would be able to tell without taking everything apart, as you mention. Also, make sure you have no leaks in your fuel tank.

I do keep a drip going in the prop shaft stuffing box - mandatory, since otherwise, the SS shaft would end up pitted because of the lack of oxygen. I do not have a dripless stuffing box there, so I must live with the drip, which I hate. What engine does your boat have? Mine came with the Universal 5424 24hp. 3 cylinders, on three motor mounts, which were totally disintegrated when I bought the boat, which consequently ended up ruining the transmission because of engine vibration and movement under power… My Universal still works fine and has never let me down, but I have had to do some repairs on it and baby it constantly. It does vibrate more than others, in part because it sits on only 3 mounts. Hope this helps you some.

Zeida, I aspire to get my stern interior as polished as yours in this photo! How in the world do you get in there? Do you crawl through the tiny opening in the port locker or what? Please share your secret!