I Gotta Leak

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by BlackOak

Happy to say, we have no Leaky Leak onboard the S/V ANA. After 2 days of thinking about it, reading up on it, listening to YALL, staring at it, and finally man'ing up to the task, I went ahead and fixed the dern thing. Wasnt as bad as I thought it would be, and barely leaked in any water while making the repair. What a load off my mind! I cranked up the motor and spun up the RPM in reverse, and forward after fixing it and I can report all is well. I am extremely thrilled not to have to haul it out to repair.

Thanks Yall for your advice!

Good for you. Note, however, that your type of packing gland does require a tiny bit of leakage, at least one drip every 20-30 seconds as previously noted, to ensure the packing material is cooled/lubricated unless the packing is Teflon impregnated. While you are running, at least initially, shut the engine down and leave the shifter in gear to lock the shaft in position and reach down and, carefully, touch the packing gland. If it is hotter than just warm to the touch, you need a tad more leakage for cooling/lubrication.

FWIW...

[Exile]

Originally Posted by BlackOak

Happy to say, we have no Leaky Leak onboard the S/V ANA. After 2 days of thinking about it, reading up on it, listening to YALL, staring at it, and finally man'ing up to the task, I went ahead and fixed the dern thing. Wasnt as bad as I thought it would be, and barely leaked in any water while making the repair. What a load off my mind! I cranked up the motor and spun up the RPM in reverse, and forward after fixing it and I can report all is well. I am extremely thrilled not to have to haul it out to repair.

Thanks Yall for your advice!

Hate to ruin your well-deserved congrats, but those hose clamps are showing corrosion, and appear to be clamping the all-important engine wet exhaust hose as it descends off the elbow into the muffler. You'll likely want to replace them soon with ABA-type clamps that don't have the perforations. Bring one of the old ones in for proper sizing. May wanna consider replacing the hose itself while you're at it, since any leak could let seawater & dangerous exhaust gas into the cabin.

A perfect example of boat ownership, i.e. the "while-you're-at-it" syndrome. Ya see, there's the job-at-hand, then there's the jobs you notice while you're doing the job-at-hand, and finally there are all the jobs you need to do before you get to the job-at-hand! Of course, once you've pretzled yourself into position with all of your tools, new parts, & supplies in place, there's usually the realization that the fasteners you need to remove require a phillips vs. a flathead screwdriver, and you've left the phillips on the other end of the boat!

[HappyMdRSailor]

Congrats!!!

Another skill set under your belt!!!

[endoftheroad]

Originally Posted by BlackOak

Happy to say, we have no Leaky Leak onboard the S/V ANA. After 2 days of thinking about it, reading up on it, listening to YALL, staring at it, and finally man'ing up to the task, I went ahead and fixed the dern thing. Wasnt as bad as I thought it would be, and barely leaked in any water while making the repair. What a load off my mind! I cranked up the motor and spun up the RPM in reverse, and forward after fixing it and I can report all is well. I am extremely thrilled not to have to haul it out to repair.

Thanks Yall for your advice!

BO,
There are alot of things with these darn boats that can be intimidating or worrysome of an unexpected haulout that turn out to be not so bad a fix.
I have 2 wrenches that are probably the perfect fit for your boat for making the adjustments. If you have future plans for adjustments or replacement of the material make sure you give me a shout so you can borrow em, no need to go buying everything at once if you can borrow for a while. If I would have seen this thread earlier I would have left my wrenches in my cockpit for you to grab.
Usually channel lock pliers wont do the trick unless they're a large pair and there just aint much room down there. I remember seeing yours and you have pretty good access.
Also, be carefull when you spray pb blaster or wd40 down there, spray it in the cap first and then carefully dump it on.

btw,
I remember you have some drain hoses that are very important to replace and double up the clamps on some of them. This is very urgent as you have open seacocks that get left unnattended. The hoses are cheap and each one that you replace is a huge relief and an easy sense of satisfaction.
I was waiting for you to get back to Key West to go through your boat with you to point out some potential hazzards. Personally I wouldn't have a problem with someone looking at my boat for potential probs, a second set of eyes never hurts.
It's not only about personal safety, or loosing your boat, it could be about the huge expense of being responsible for a salvage firm re-floating your boat.

Good going taking care of that leak, I went through the same contemplations as you the first time I messed with the thing.

Also a float switch on your bilge pump helps greatly at easing some tensions for when your in town eating cheeseburgers, another cheap and easy addition towards "Ana's" serenity.

endoftheroad

[BlackOak]

Thanks EOTR, the door is always open for ya, anytime. I brought some tools from home, one being a pipe wrench, and some big channel locks. Will re-look the hoses and see where I need to double up.

Yeah I need to get a float switch, gonna tie a string around my finger to remind me. For some reason, when I hit the dink dock, my mind goes blank. Too much "input" being in civilization.

I need to find that patch of sandy bottom you told me about awhile back. Need to clean the hull and scrape the prop. Gotta get ready for my passage in June.