Rudder Packing Gland to Steering Quadrant Leak

[Ocean Girl]

Here is the full view. The rudder is well supported. We will talk to the haul out tomorrow. Hopefully get hauled out ASAP. I will be part of the repair deal. I'll clear out the quarter berth to try to stay out of the way (there is an access panel only good for looking), but I want to be a part of this repair. I don't trust a complete stranger to our steering system, especially something that can be handled in so many different ways.
Not sure how well they will like me looking over their shoulder, I know I didn't like it when I worked on boats. But I did tolerate it, hopefully they will too.

Wonder if I should try to find a contractor..?

[neilpride]

HEhe he, i let owners to wacht the job done until things start to turn weird, in the shop we have a big warning panel, kind of Authorized personnel only, so far so good i dont have problems with that, i sugest you to ask around in the marina for a pro in this kind of Jobs , office or workshops around, if you feel confident with the Gland job , do it by yourself and let others to deal with the quadrant ...or hire a pro to do a full job in the packing gland quadrant assembly...good luck....

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Here is the full view. The rudder is well supported. We will talk to the haul out tomorrow. Hopefully get hauled out ASAP. I will be part of the repair deal. I'll clear out the quarter berth to try to stay out of the way (there is an access panel only good for looking), but I want to be a part of this repair. I don't trust a complete stranger to our steering system, especially something that can be handled in so many different ways.
Not sure how well they will like me looking over their shoulder, I know I didn't like it when I worked on boats. But I did tolerate it, hopefully they will too.

Wonder if I should try to find a contractor..?

Here's something a British friend taught me: when the guy arrives, first ply him with a cup of coffee, tea, or juice, and some home baked cookies. Explain what you'd tried, let him know you've worked on boats, then probably he'll be happy to go along with it. There's something disarming about friendly hospitality.....

Ann

[DeepFrz]

There's something disarming about friendly hospitality.....

And cookies...(DeepFrz aka Cookie Monster)

What a wonderful design that rudder assembly is for a world cruising boat. The only problem is difficult access but in a 34" boat that is probably to be expected.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

Here's something a British friend taught me: when the guy arrives, first ply him with a cup of coffee, tea, or juice, and some home baked cookies. Explain what you'd tried, let him know you've worked on boats, then probably he'll be happy to go along with it. There's something disarming about friendly hospitality.....

Ann

If an employee in my yard sat down for tea and crumpets with a client before starting work, I'd fire his ass. Minutes count at current rates, and there are no freebees. Just so you're not offended when a fully geared up employee shows up and refuses your goodies! Perhaps that's not how it's done in the antipodes...


OG, are you sure you won't be happy with a thorough after the fact inspection? What will you be unable to see after the fact that you might see during? I'm guessing not much. The running joke with us is that you can hang over my shoulder while I work, but the hourly goes up if you do (it doesn't really). The fact is, jobs take significantly longer when owners hang around, and more mistakes are made. It throws people off their game. You'd probably get just as much info from a thorough inspection and chat with the guy who does the work. If you wanna bribe 'em, come early before work and bring donuts, or come late and bring beer for after work. Don't bring the crappy donuts or beer. Yard employees get bribed a lot and often become discerning as a result...

[Ocean Girl]

Minaret, you are right. I used to own a yacht service and many many times the owner would gum up the well oiled workings of things. I'll dial it back a bit.

And hell yes they can mess up our steering system. Lord, the things I've seen come out of boat yards..

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Minaret, you are right. I used to own a yacht service and many many times the owner would gum up the well oiled workings of things. I'll dial it back a bit.

And hell yes they can mess up our steering system. Lord, the things I've seen come out of boat yards..

Sure they could. But if they did, I'm pretty certain you'd catch them out on it.


BTW, I dunno about this yard, but I often send lots of pics. It's so easy these days and is very reassuring for clients.

[JPA Cate]

By Golly,

Dinsoaur again! (:- D !

Still, maybe at coffee break time? (Smoke-O, they call it here)

Ann

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by minaret

If an employee in my yard sat down for tea and crumpets with a client before starting work, I'd fire his ass. Minutes count at current rates, and there are no freebees. Just so you're not offended when a fully geared up employee shows up and refuses your goodies! Perhaps that's not how it's done in the antipodes...


.......

In the antipodes not only do we charge the higher hourly rate when the owner helps, we also charge for the time we take to drink his coffee and eat his biscuits, cookies, crumpets or whatever. Timeclock starts from when we leave to workshop and stops when we return .

So yeah, we are happy to sit down and chat about the problem over a cuppa when we turn up!

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Wotname

In the antipodes not only do we charge the higher hourly rate when the owner helps, we also charge for the time we take to drink his coffee and eat his biscuits, cookies, crumpets or whatever. Timeclock starts from when we leave to workshop and stops when we return .

So yeah, we are happy to sit down and chat about the problem over a cuppa when we turn up!

Lol! Does this not end in complaints when the owner receives the bill? I try to be all about happy clients. We itemize down to the tenth of an hour, my bill would have to specifically say "twenty minutes for tea & biscuits=x$". This does not lead to happy clients!

[Ocean Girl]

It really depends on your client. Some clients don't know anything about their boat. They just point and say fix it. But with liveaboards and cruisers, we know our boats, communication is very important.

We spent three days with a great mechanic after our little engine fire. He and Brian worked together. Ted ( with IQ marine) tried to pair down the time billed because there was some down time here and there waiting for someone to get back from west marine with a part, or just plain trying something that didn't work, so he would have to back track. We would not let him pair his time down. He was paid for the minute he set foot on the boat to when he left( with a generous tip at the end). He allowed us in on the repair, we didn't slow him down, we help save him time because we new our engine. So certain diagnostics could be ignored due to our info, and real focus could go to the areas that was in need.

He understood the client he was dealing with. And in reply, he got a healthy paycheck and two direct jobs from our recommendations.

[Ocean Girl]

Oops, let me clarify. BRIAN knows the engine. I just stayed out of the way with occasional questions

[neilpride]

Hey i dont want to sounds a smartass, but do you consider the idea to drop the rudder and do a full inspection job? i mean clean the rudder stock, grease the bushings, check for unusal plays at the bearings etc.... now with the boat in the hard.... ??

[Ocean Girl]

Neil, she is not hauled yet. We still haven't heard from the yard. We just inspected our rudder, cutlass bearings, etc during bottom job a month ago. All looks very well. No play in rudder. The only issue is the rudder packing.
Another Pacific Seacraft 34 owner is telling us that his experience is that she does not need hauled, just work on the bolts, make sure the surrounding bolts are not torquing the rudder stock bolt ( apparently that is the key). He thinks the bolts can be removed. Hopefully he is right!!

[Stumble]

OG,

I tried to respond to your pm, but the system went wonky. Here are my thoughts...

Seabrook is a perfectly fine yard. We use them for our large boat since they are the only hoist that can pick it up, and while they have done good work, I also know of a few major screw ups (failing to ground a generator for instance).

Steve at Sintes would be my first choice for this type of job. They tend to be a little more expensive, but also do a much better job. Steve Sintes is the yard manager, and also does a lot of the work. When possible I prefer Sintes hands down.

I would absolutely recommend NOT using either Schuberts or Murrey. They both have major problems in turning out quality work, and frankly their book keeping is awful. Without getting into details, I don't trust their yard guys to know what they are doing, and I don't trust their management to charge for only what was done.