Breaking All the Rules ...

[homeless]

Originally Posted by Cadence

I would think a good machine shop could repair the damaged cog?

I could probably get the gear repaired in a major city like Brisbane or Sydney, but not sure I could get that done in Cairns. I believe the damage is minor and has been there a long time, so is not getting worse or causing damage to the meshing cogs, so should be OK to get me home.

[KASHMIR]

Indonesia rally departs there next Monday, must be a busy place at the moment. Look out for my friends on Paseafique.
Good luck with getting the boat back together.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by homeless

I could probably get the gear repaired in a major city like Brisbane or Sydney, but not sure I could get that done in Cairns. I believe the damage is minor and has been there a long time, so is not getting worse or causing damage to the meshing cogs, so should be OK to get me home.

FWIW, lots of good engineering servicing in Cairns. North of there, not so.

Ann

[homeless]

I have spent the last two weeks walking the industrial areas and chasing down mechanics, but not sure the skills here extend to gear tooth milling.

Called the mechanic today to find out why my new drive plate is late. Seems that ZF in Sydney decided to save a few dollars by putting it on a truck instead of an airplane, which delays my departure from Cairns by another week.

I picked up the gearbox parts from the mechanic today, but when I tried to put it back together the gears did not mesh. After a few hours of trying different sequences of assembly and assuming I was doing something wrong I came to the conclusion that the mechanic who specialises in these gearboxes had assembled the output shaft with the gears in the wrong sequence, and the workshop manual confirmed this. I have now completely stripped the output shaft and reassembled with the gears in the correct sequence, and it now fits. When I receive their bill at $104 per hour I am going to find it very difficult not to tell them what I think of their skills.

[homeless]

Not a good day. I have spent enough time working on the gearbox that I assembled the gearbox output shaft in the dark last night, which turned out to be a mistake.

This morning I assembled the shafts into the box, spread out the gasket goo, bolted it up, and then had a play with the gear lever to see if all was good. Found that one gear had more friction than the other, and when in neutral the output shaft still turned, which would make parking in a marina rather interesting. I pulled apart the gearbox, took the shafts out, and then disassembled the output shaft and found that a small wood chip had gotten stuck between two of the clutch plates and I had not noticed in the dark. When reassembling the shaft I found that the shaft end had become slightly mushroomed due to hammer use during the multiple rebuilds. The deformation was minor, but was enough that the heated bearing race cracked when being hammered on. No idea how many times that bearing had been pressed or hammered on and removed again in the past, but today was one time too many.

Surprisingly a local bearing shop was open on Saturday, and I was able to get a replacement, then get back to the boat and reassemble the shafts, file down the shaft deformation, install the new bearings, close up the gearbox, and bolt on the new cooler and mounting plate before dark.

So some lessons for the future. Don't assemble anything in the dark even if you think you know what you are doing, as a small piece of dirt can have a big impact. It would have been preferable to use a press to install the bearings instead of a hammer to avoid damage to the bearing or shaft, but unfortunately the boat is not big enough for a full workshop, which is why I paid a mechanic to reassemble the shaft, but they got it wrong which forced me to do it myself with limited tools and time

[monte]

Well done homeless. You're certainly clearing quite a few hurdles!

[homeless]

By the time I get this boat home I will know more about boats than 99.99% of the world population, and more about fixing boats than 90% of boat owners. Almost qualifies me as a surveyor

Not sure at this point if that knowledge will scare me off ever owning a boat again, or if it will give me the confidence to make even bigger mistakes !

[homeless]

Not a good day. After waiting 8 days for the new drive plate because the distributor in Sydney put it on a truck instead of an airplane I received it today to find it looked nothing like the old drive plate and did not fit my engine

Looks like I will be stuck in Cairns a bit longer. Broker called and is trying to talk a buyer into flying up from Tasmania to look at the boat, but I can't imagine they would be impressed to fly that distance to look at an engine in pieces.

[homeless]

Got an offer on the boat which basically values my last 6 months of 7x12 hour days of hard work at about $15,000, which I could earn in about 10 days sitting in a chair in my usual profession.

Hmm. Should I be insulted and wait for another buyer and more profit, or be thankful that I learned a lot of valuable lessons and didn't make a loss.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by homeless

Got an offer on the boat which basically values my last 6 months of 7x12 hour days of hard work at about $15,000, which I could earn in about 10 days sitting in a chair in my usual profession.

Hmm. Should I be insulted and wait for another buyer and more profit, or be thankful that I learned a lot of valuable lessons and didn't make a loss.

sounds familiar!

you should become a delivery skipper.....we do 24hr days for even less money

[homeless]

Originally Posted by atoll

sounds familiar!

you should become a delivery skipper.....we do 24hr days for even less money

Actually this project has given me a lot more respect for delivery skippers. I have spent 8 months fixing and getting to know one boat, with the luxury to stop and spend money and fix problems, but a delivery skipper may get a new boat with new problems every few weeks or months, and just have to push on and suffer through the breakage or bad weather.

[monte]

Making money on any boat is a bonus! If you've taken into account all your expenses and still come out 15K ahead it's a pretty good deal. Of course you can counter offer if you want more. But for me the money wouldn't be the main concern so you have to weigh up how it will effect future plans, sailing with the family etc. I've sold quite a few things like cars, houses etc, where the first offer was the best, and ended up selling them months later for much less.
On the other hand the offer is probably subject to survey so may well mean less in your pocket after a professional survey. Anyway, any offer is good news, it gives you options so congratulations on that.

[Snowpetrel]

Ha, homeless. Very impressed with the work you've got done, and your attitude. At least with a delivery it's not your money on the repairs, only your time. I've only ever lost money on boats, so your beating the odds at the moment.

Sent from my HTC_0PCV2 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[homeless]

Well Snowpetrel, if the offer is for real and works out the boat may end up as your neighbour. One funny part of the offer was that the buyers would increase the amount if the handover was further South.

Unfortunately this is really the wrong time of the year to be heading South, and you could not pay me enough to bash into a 30 knot SE wind for weeks. Better to wait for the Northerlies or go all the way around.

Actually I would not be surprised if we knew a few of the same people as I worked at the Antarctic Division a fair while ago and your interests seem to lean in that direction.

[Snowpetrel]

Originally Posted by homeless

Well Snowpetrel, if the offer is for real and works out the boat may end up as your neighbour. One funny part of the offer was that the buyers would increase the amount if the handover was further South.

Unfortunately this is really the wrong time of the year to be heading South, and you could not pay me enough to bash into a 30 knot SE wind for weeks. Better to wait for the Northerlies or go all the way around.

Actually I would not be surprised if we knew a few of the same people as I worked at the Antarctic Division a fair while ago and your interests seem to lean in that direction.

Ha, done a few deliveries south at this time of the year. Slow and wet, but if you've got plenty of time it's not too bad. I normally wait till the trades die down to under 15 knots or swing east or south, then hammer it. fwiw I charged about $3 or $4 per nautical mile +reasonable costs. works out as a just slightly better hourly rate than your refit... unless you get weather or repair bound for weeks. at least TRS's aren't a problem!

You could do worse than bring the boat down yourself, nobody knows her like you do. Just get a crew so you can make good miles while the weather is good.

Retired from deliveries now, with a two year old to look after, so I cant really justify the time away for the pay. When he gets older I might start doing them again.

Yes I know a few Antdiv guys, great place down here. Best of luck with getting the engine back into one piece. It's scary how crap some of the engineering/repair companies have gotten. Maybe brain drain to the mines?