Engine Installation on the Far Reach

[John Stone]

The components for the new shaft log: G10 tube 1 3/4” OD x 1.5” ID, 4” long Johnson bearing, and a Buck Algonquin stuffing box for 1” shaft. I have Scandvik 316 SS hose clamps to replace the hose camps that came with the stuffing box.

[John Stone]

Today I made the cut on the rudder taking off about 5”. Then I started grinding on the hull where the biaxial will lay to glass in the extended skeg above the rudder and to secure the shaft log.

[Frenchy]

John, how did you drill that large hole for the shaft log? It seems very difficult. Getting the athwart ship and down
angles right, not to mention partially drilling through fiberglass and partially through air- it all sounds impossible
without specialized equipment. Did you perhaps glue a block onto the outside of the hull with a hole in it that
acted as a drill guide?
The down angle looks shallower than a standard CD 36, probably because the shaft is exiting a bit higher.
What angle did you end up with? Okay, no more questions. I'll be following your progress. Thanks for posting. - Jean

[John Stone]

Hi Jean. Down angle is 5 degrees. Which is what I was shooting for. The exit hole inside the boat is about 6” higher than stock CD. Also, access to the stuffing box is dramatically easier than on a stock CD where the shaft-log is jammed in the narrowest possible space.

I used a 2.25” hole saw and modified it by installing an 18” long 1/4” drill bit on the font end and a 12” shaft extension on the back end. Ended up looking more like a light saber than a drill bit.

It took a lot of measuring and calculating to get it right. The hardest part is you are drilling almost parallel to the hull so you end up drilling through about 3-4” of fiberglass.

The planning was the hard part. The actual drilling was a non event. I made a lot of modifications to the Far Reach during the rebuild. Most of them caused me little to no anxiety. But this is a major modification and led to a lot of indecision That lasted months. I have tried to think through every aspect of the project as I don’t like surprises and definitely don’t like uh oh moments.

My goal is 4.5-5 kts cruising speed, 200 nm range on smooth water, smallest engine I can live with, maximum access to engine for maintenance, minimal loss of space, simplest cleanest installation possible, and minimal to no loss of sailing performance. Hopefully by summer or perhaps next fall I’ll have her back in the water and see how well the end state met the vision.

[John Stone]

Built the skeg extension from the part of the rudder I cut off. Looks very good. Failed to get a picture of it today...tomorrow. Spent a couple hours building up the glass around the rudder post above the top of the rudder. Used epoxy thickened with colloidal silica, followed by two layers of 17 oz biaxial, and topped off with release fabric.

In the top picture you can see the partially drilled out hole that was going to be the bottom corner of the rudder cut to remove the top five inches. But, unbeknownst to me there was a SS web welded to the back of the rudder post right there. So I drilled an exploratory hole with a 1/4” bit above it and when I found it was clear I drilled through there with the 1” hole saw. The purpose of the hole saw was to create a gentle radius cover vice a 90° cut that can cause a stress riser.

I’ll see how the repair looks tomorrow. Found some flexible thin plastic to make a mold for laying up epoxy and biaxial side panels to fit ahead of the skeg extension to overlap the rudder post and attach to the hull. I think this is going to work so I don’t have to drop the rudder. That would make the project so much easier.

MTF....

[tjr818]

John,
That looks like great work as usual, are you going to add a strut to support the shaft? That seems like a long way to cantilever.
http://www.capedory.org/board/download/file.php?id=8251

[tjr818]

Sorry the photo did not show up, but it is one of the mock-up photos that you posted a short while ago in this thread.

[John Stone]

Tim
No strut. The shaft log will be glassed into the skeg extension I will add to the hull just above the rudder. It’s on attached to the hull in the photo above.

Attached below is what it should look like in its final form. This is Hal Roth’s boat Whisper.

[John Stone]

Today’s update. I used a piece of 1/4” sheet fiberglass to fabricate the top of the rudder. I beveled the top edge of the rudder and bottom edge of the sheet stock. I brushed on neat epoxy then thickened and stuck on the sheet stock and used the squeegee to fair the squeeze out into the bevel. I’ll apply biaxial later.

I sanded yesterday’s biaxial repair to the rudder stock and then applied a light fiberglass tape once around just to smooth out the imperfections. I used some peel ply over it to make the finish project as smooth as possible.

Next step is to epoxy the finish skeg I completed yesterday to the underside of the hull above the rudder. That won’t be for a few days.

I’m playing with some flexible plastic as a mold that will allow me to lay biaxial across the side of the skeg and past the rudder post and onto the hull but ensure enough room for the rudder post to be able to turn without hitting the semi round “flaps”. I also have to be able to pull the plastic out after it’s cured. So I’ll experiment to see what works best.

Lots of rain on the way—remnants of the TS that is coming ashore FL now and crossing US SE right across the boatyard. Good grief.

[John Stone]

More work today. I epoxied the skeg extension I made onto the hull above the rudder. Next, I’ll determine the correct position of the shaft-log then start the work to epoxy it to the skeg. I’ll need to make molds to allow biaxial to be layered across the exposed rudder post allowing the the post to turn but reducing turbulence and improving hydrodynamic water flow. I’ll need to apply many layers of biaxial and spend a fair amount of time fairing to tie the whole thing together to ensure it is strong yet streamlined.

MTF....

[John Stone]

Applied two layers of 1708 on each side of the skeg with a foam mould made from 1/4” blue board. I scored the blue board so so I could bend it around 2” OD PVC pipe. Then, I added packing tape to lock in the shape and leave a smooth surface layer. Next, I applied paste wax to the packing tape as a release agent. I positioned the mould and overlapped it with 2 layers of 1708 biaxial—enough to ensure a good bond but not so much it will interfere with the wedge supporting the shaftlog. Larger pieces of biaxial will eventually cover the whole thing.

MTF....

[John Stone]

Yesterday, Steve my best friend of 40 years, dropped by for a visit on his way to FL. You have seen his fantastic work before—he welded all the bronze bulwarks brackets as well as bronze connecting hardware for the swing arm outboard bracket. A retired fighter pilot, he is a man of many talents.

We spent the day fabricating a fiberglass support “wedge” for the shaft log. I cut three piece of 3/4” thick manufactured fiberglas sheet. We took a long time to carefully scribe them to the skeg extension. We cut and shaped them so they would form a channel to receive the shaft log. Then, I drilled vertically through the three sections and tapped for a 1/4-20 FH machine screw.

Today, I epoxied the three pieces together with slightly thickened epoxy. The machine screw served to ensure they could not slip and would remain aligned as the epoxy cured. Test fitting the wedge to the skeg, I drilled through the skeg horizontally and into the wedge. I tapped for two more 1/4-20 FH SS machine screws. These hold the wedge in place to the skeg while the epoxie cures. With that completed I epoxied the wedge to the skeg and installed the screws.

I did not fillet the wedge as I will do that next when I apply the biaxial as I want to get a chemical vice a mechanical bond. The entire channel of the wedge will be loaded with thickened epoxy when I install the shaft log and also covered with epoxy.

I finished off the day by grinding inside the hull around where the shaft log will emerge, test fitted the shaft log tube, and cut it to length.

[John Stone]

Long day. Installed the stern tube. Burnished the tube with 40 grit. Wetted our the tube. Applied epoxy thickened with 404 and 406 to the wedge I installed yesterday. Installed the tube and used a “dead-man” to hold it in place. Loaded up the syringes with thickened epoxy and injected it into the gaps around the tube where it passed through the hull. Wet out the hull. Then, added fillits using epoxy with 404 and 406 fillers. Once it tacked up I then laid on four layers of 1708 biaxial on each side of skeg and over the tube on the inside where it enters the boat. Covered the biaxial with release fabric. It was dark when I finished.

This was a big day. Rain for next couple days. Colder temps by end of week. Hopefully I can get some fairing done soon. But, bottom line, the shaft log is installed and I can start working on engine beds.

[Jim Walsh]

Very impressed with the planning and execution so far. Looks rock solid and to your usual high standards.

[fmueller]

Nice work John ...

Will you be fitting a PSS shaft seal ? We did on Jerezana, as well as plumbing the hose barb from the cooling water circuit.

Where will the set screws for the cutlass bearing go ?

It will be interesting to see the steering dynamics in reverse (I know that is not your primary motivation) because there will be "some" prop wash in reverse over the very top portion of your rudder ...

thanks for your posts as always

Fred