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Talbot · 20-10-2008, 10:59

Does the Privilege 39 have an escape hatch?

If so, how close does this get to the waterline when in cruising trim.

Do you have any problems with leaks

Do you seal the hatch up so that it cant open (or leak)

maxingout · 20-10-2008, 19:26

Our Privilege 39 has an escape hatch in the floor of the bridge deck just aft of the Navigation station. It's a relatively large lewmar hatch, and sometimes we leave it open for ventilation because it has a teak grateing covering the hatch.

Because it is on the floor of the bridge deck, there's no risk of major water intrusion. However, when you are beating hard to windward and waves strike the hatch, sometimes water will make it by the rubber gasket. Just for this reason, there is about a 2mm hole drilled in the lexan/acrylic that allows any trapped water to drain out.

sailingjacobe · 22-02-2009, 10:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by philip van praag

i have noticed that fp, lagoon and broad blue owners all seem to have a thread running. so my question is are there any privilaged people out there
we are hull 40 of the 37ft would like to swap notes mods etc.

I live on a privilege 39. They are fun to sail.
Sailingjacobe

philip van praag · 22-02-2009, 11:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingjacobe

I live on a privilege 39. They are fun to sail.
Sailingjacobe

a bit more info would be nice
were
how long
experances etc.

privileged · 01-03-2009, 01:29

Hi there I just wondered if you were able to do your rudder repairs in the water. My starboard rudder has gone so tight you cant move it by hand. Im not due to come out of the water for ten months. Or maybe some temp fix with lubricant ?? might do. If I drop the rudder six inches can I get the top bearing out to have it copied?. Thanks Mick

privileged · 01-03-2009, 01:32

sorry the last post was for svcattales. thanks

svcattales · 01-03-2009, 06:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by privileged

Hi there I just wondered if you were able to do your rudder repairs in the water. My starboard rudder has gone so tight you cant move it by hand. Im not due to come out of the water for ten months. Or maybe some temp fix with lubricant ?? might do. If I drop the rudder six inches can I get the top bearing out to have it copied?. Thanks Mick

Mick, I have looked at the job carefully and plan to do it in the water this summer. I have some cruiser friends visiting this summer who are also divers so I will have an extra set of hands. I'm not sure of the location of the top bearing, but I think I can see it inside the boat. There is a nylon-type bushing that has a bolt going thru it on the very top of the rudder post. The bushing has a smaller diameter on the bottom and fits inside the rudder tube. The top of the bushing has a larger diameter than the rudder tube and I believe this keeps the rudder from dropping out.

For Keith (Strygaldwir): Is that how the top bearing is situated?

Mick, If I'm right about the top bearing, it should be easy to lube from inside the boat. The bottom bearing would be more difficult because there would be water inside the rudder tube up to the waterline level. Any petroleum based lube would float up the the tube and not get down to the bearing. Perhaps if you squirted something up from the bottom, it would flow into the bearing.

Talbot · 01-03-2009, 07:38

I do hope that when you do this, you get a number of photos of the more difficult aspects, and then post a description, that we can access.

Doing this in the water is certainly an interesting challenge. I had considered the need for eye bolts on either side of the rudder, as a means of attaching an emergency steering system, but these would also be very usefull if you need to lower the rudder.

Strygaldwir · 01-03-2009, 09:00

My 37 came with an emergency tiller. There is a hatch cover on the port aft steps. You take that off and the top of the rudder post is visible. It has a square top to it. I place the emergency tiller (An L shaped affair with what looks like a square socket on one end) onto the top and there you are. It would not be pleasant to steer from there for an extended period. But is suppose it could be rigged with pulleys and lines to control it from the cockpit.

The top bushing sits in a housing at the top. The bushing you see just keeps the rudder from falling out. As I think I alluded to before, there is no reason the rudder could not be removed in the water, but it is heavy! Might take two divers and someone to secure it back on the inside.!! I don't know about the buoyancy factor. I certainly wouldn't do it in deep water. I don't think you can get the bushing out if you have a line securing the rudder post on the inside. You have to be able to rotate the bushing 90 degrees to get it out and I think the line will keep you from rotating it the required distance.

Having said all that. When I consulted the factory, they said it was most likely not the top bushing. They suggested that the material the bushing is made out of swells when immersed in water for a number of years. The swelling is what makes the rudder harder to turn. My top bushings were fine. The bottom bushings where the ones that needed dressing up.

Talbot · 01-03-2009, 10:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Strygaldwir

When I consulted the factory, they said it was most likely not the top bushing. They suggested that the material the bushing is made out of swells when immersed in water for a number of years. The swelling is what makes the rudder harder to turn. My top bushings were fine. The bottom bushings where the ones that needed dressing up.

That would suggest that the bushings are made from plastic rather than delrin.

privileged · 01-03-2009, 15:40

Thanks for all the information . Im am going to get our sail maker to sew up a bag in the shape of the rudder with eyelets on each side wich I will tie ropes to and tie them of each side. I have taken out the top bolt that keeps the rudder from falling out once before to lower the rudder and it was jammed tight and needed a lot of force to move.Should have done the job then!! I will take some photos and let you know how it goes. probably next week end. Thanks Mick

svcattales · 01-03-2009, 18:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by privileged

Thanks for all the information . Im am going to get our sail maker to sew up a bag in the shape of the rudder with eyelets on each side wich I will tie ropes to and tie them of each side. I have taken out the top bolt that keeps the rudder from falling out once before to lower the rudder and it was jammed tight and needed a lot of force to move.Should have done the job then!! I will take some photos and let you know how it goes. probably next week end. Thanks Mick

Mick, good luck with your project. The bag around the rudder sounds like a great idea. I also thought about using the threaded hole on the top of the rudder post to attach a safety line that would go inside the rudder tube. I agree with Keith that this would be in the way with bearing removal, but might help with lowering and especially raising the rudder post through the bearings. After you lower the rudder, remove the inside safety line so you can get the bearings out and put the new bearings in...reattach the inside safety line to "steer" the post up through the new bearings.

Please give us all the details and photos of your job. Your lessons-learned in doing this in the water will be greatly appreciated.

maxingout · 01-03-2009, 19:26

On Privilege 39s, it's the bottom bushing that swells making things tight. Our 1993 Privilege never had this problem. Some of the 39s in the charter fleet had this problem with a swollen tight bushing.

privileged · 02-03-2009, 01:42

Greg I liked your idea with the eye bolt in the top of the shaft. so we had a go this afternoon and all went well. I started by removing the quadrant which then gives you a lot more room to work, then I attached the eye bolt with 6mm spectra rope . I had two friends in the water ready. I then remove the the top bolt and spacers, and nothing happened ,the rudder was jamed there, so the the guys in the water worked the rudder back and forth and it slowly started to drop, after about 200mm it took of and droped to the bottom [about 3.6 meters] .We then undid the rope and pulled back through the rudder tube. Next I removed the top bearing. We tied a rope to the rudder and pulled it up on to the bottom steps and checked the top bearing over the shaft and it was fine.Then the we tried to remove the bottom bearing and after spending fifteen minutes trying to move it we gave up. It looked like the alloy bush that the bearing sits in had grown a little as well as the bearing. so we made a sanding stick from 40mm tube and tape sand paper around it , then started sanding the bearing.First go at refiting was not sucessful and it was still too tight, so we droped the rudder back down and sanded some more. Then I droped the rope back down the the tube the guys then tied it back to the rudder and I pulled the rope from inside to guide it up and it poped straight up to the top, and turns freely. The whole job took about two hours and was quite easy , you need two in the water to handle the rudder and the depth was just right for divers to stand on the bottom and push the rudder up. It would be easier to leave the rudder laying on the bottom if you had some way of measuring how much to sand off, may be a piece of pipe the same size as the shaft to check how you are going. I took some photos so if you want to see them let me know. I cant beleive the differnce in steering now it feels like nothing is conected to the wheel . Once again thanks for your help and great ideas Cheers Mick