Checklist for First Slipping

[Cheechako]

Most rudders are SS ahaft with plates welded on. The GRP skin is often filled with foam. The rudder gets water in it from the area where the shaft exits the top, the foam saturates and the areas where the plates weld on might become suspect. It's pretty common really. The rudder does not have to be removed to fix it.

Regarding the above waterline elimination of thru hulls; you cold wait, and just cap them off ( or leave them shut). Priorities change, money etc etc. No need to do them now if the topsides look decent.

[savoir]

Lots of things :

1. Open, empty and clean every locker including the anchor and lazarette. Toss anything you don't need off the boat. Figure out what it is first.
2. Open and clean every pump and strainer. Order repair kits for all of them. Make a map of where all the seacocks, pumps and strainers are.
3. Dismantle and clean the head. Order a valve kit for it.
4. Check the furler bearings, possibly grease or replace.
5. Change all fuel and oil filters. Order spares.
6. Soak every snap shackle in vinegar then scrub and polish them all.
7. Check your supply of all spare light bulbs and replace as needed. Maybe swap for LED.
8. Clean and grease all winches including the anchor windlass which many forget.
9. Wax and polish the topsides.
10. Polish everything stainless
11. Dry clean all the cushion covers . . . . . . that'll do

Going OTT on your first maintenance really pays off. e.g.

I bought my boat a year ago and it was in terrible shape. It took me 4 days to clean the stainless but this year I did the same job in 1 day. It took me 3 weeks to wax and polish the topsides but next year I reckon it will take 3 or 4 days.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Matt,

While most of the above advice is ok and well intentioned, I think that they miss your mark by a mile. Nearly all of the last few posts involve doing things that can easily be accomplished afloat... maybe they do not understand the typically 100 bucks a day hard stand time fees (or more if on a slip) that seem to be standard in your area.

Your basic list seems pretty complete, and additions may well suggest themselves ad hoc. I wouldn't be removing the rudder to check bearings unless there was excessive play evidenced by shaking the blade a bit... in your sort of boat they are not frequent offenders. I'm not sure that your list includes checking the cutless bearing, if not that is a good thing to do. that may be what you mean by the lower bearing... Getting the prop checked is worthwhile for sure... sometimes fairly subtle changes in blade shape creep in and adversely affect performance. Many prop shops can now do some sort of scan that checks shape as well as balance, and the results have surprised some of our friends!

As to the through hulls: what is the cost comparison between paying someone to glass and paint them versus replacing the skin fitting and capping them off? I sure would be inclined to leave at least one spare in each region of the boat, for if you keep her a long time your needs are very likely to change. The risk factor in a new skin fitting is vanishingly low.

Bottom paint: on our boat, with a longer LWL and likely larger beam, but with less total wetted area (SWAG) we use around 12 litres for two full coats plus extra on the wear areas. Altex 3000 ablative, usually.

Good luck with it all

Jim

[s/v Beth]

Actually Jim, it is cheaper on the hard up here than on the water (next to a dock) which you would have to be to get this stuff done anyway. I bet he could find similar in Oz.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Actually Jim, it is cheaper on the hard up here than on the water (next to a dock) which you would have to be to get this stuff done anyway. I bet he could find similar in Oz.

Newt, that is not my experience in the populous areas of Australia. IE, around 100 dollars/day for hardstand time vs 30-50 bucks/day for short term marina berthing (for boats of his size). Don't know if Matt keeps her in a marina when in the water, but if so, then it is a no brainer, for he would be paying his berth rental while on the hard.

Now if he waited until he got to Tasmania (a stated goal for next summer) it is quite different. In February of this year I had 5 days on the hard in a very nice yard and the total cost was 280 AUD... that includes in/out and use of a pressure washer and all environmental fees and electricity usage. Tassie is such a great place...

Cheers,

Jim

[savoir]

I agree with Newt, my yard fees are almost exactly half my dock fees. I have not used a yard in Australia in a long time so I can't comment there.

If anyone is interested we found the best deal in the Sydney area was the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club which has a small yard a couple of miles North of the clubhouse. It was certainly a very pretty place to spend a few days. Can't remember the price.

[JPA Cate]

GILow:

Most everybody's got you covered, and I have only two suggestions:

1 CAREFULLY CHECK THE SHAFT ALIGNMENT when you replace the dripless coupler.

2 Now is a good time to really check your engine mounts. If they're all compressed, you may not be able to get the shaft alignment right, and you will want to replace them.

A comment, the vibration you described may be due to play in the cutlass bearing. If you don't know when it was replaced, just do it.

A question? Do you plan to put Prop Speed on the prop? In Jim's and my application it does the best of the various (like all the others!) stuff we've used.

Ann

PS, I hadn't read Jim's post, he caught the cutlass bearing issue first; we were not communicating, each of us at his/her own computer. Silly, huh!

[GILow]

Thank you all, that's a really great set of checklists and I will use them, but not all while the boat is on the hard stand.

Sadly Jim Cate is on the money when it comes to the cost of slipping (hard stands) in Australia.

Australia has become a VERY expensive place to live. We recently had a family holiday in the UK, and even after airfares, car rental, accommodation etc, we found we had more money in our account at the end of the few months than if we'd stayed at home. I was able to buy Australian grown food in the UK for less ACTUAL cost than in Aus. The cost of basic living needs in Aus is getting horrible. Boating in Aus is starting to get outrageous. (Sorry, got into a bit of a rant there... back on subject...)

As Jim suggests, those VERY good checklists have to be split into two categories, those that need the boat out of the water and those that don't. It will cost me $60 per day IN ADDTITION to my ongoing marina/pen fees to keep the boat on the hard, and that is a heavily discounted rate as I am a club member (which costs me another $1200 per year for membership, on top of the pen fee, which is close to $4000 per year). Buying the pen that my boat is in now would cost me somewhere around $150,000, or more than twice the cost of the boat itself and I would still need to pay the $1200 membership costs to use the pen each year. And Adelaide, where I live, is one of the smaller capital cities too! (Oops, started to rant again...)

So thank you, I will print those lists out and check them off, as there are some great tips. I particularly like the idea of making a map/chart of where the fittings are.

I take the point also that a new skin fitting is probably so low risk as to be worth keeping on the off-chance, so I will install new fittings and sea cocks to one of the forward skin fittings and one of the midship/rear fittings that I know are good and accessible from inside the boat, just in case changing needs require extra fittings.

P.S. I got the 16 litres of antifouling figure from another Swanson 42 owner. My jaw nearly hit the desk, but I figure he'll be right, so there's another $800. Sigh.

Thank you all.
Matt

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Now if he waited until he got to Tasmania (a stated goal for next summer) it is quite different. In February of this year I had 5 days on the hard in a very nice yard and the total cost was 280 AUD... that includes in/out and use of a pressure washer and all environmental fees and electricity usage. Tassie is such a great place...

Cheers,

Jim

Jim, SHHHHH! Stop it! If my wife sees this she'll have us moving to Tassie. She's already checked out houses when she was down there a few weeks ago, and came back saying how good it was and that we should move. I have some SERIOUS misgivings about the circumnavigation for this reason. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to live in Tassie, but I really love living in Adelaide more.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

1 CAREFULLY CHECK THE SHAFT ALIGNMENT when you replace the dripless coupler.

2 Now is a good time to really check your engine mounts. If they're all compressed, you may not be able to get the shaft alignment right, and you will want to replace them.

A comment, the vibration you described may be due to play in the cutlass bearing. If you don't know when it was replaced, just do it.

A question? Do you plan to put Prop Speed on the prop? In Jim's and my application it does the best of the various (like all the others!) stuff we've used.

Ann

Ann,

I WISH I had engine mounts to inspect, sadly Manera's engine is hard mounted. This, combined with the fact that the engine is a 4 cylinder 3.3 litre could account for some of the staggering harmonics at various engine revs, but yes, I will be carefully checking the whole prop shaft for wear and movement.

Have not given thought to coating the prop... probably should. I was going to see how it looked when we got the boat out of the water and decide. I am happy to dive down now and then and give it a clean, this was one of the most enjoyable jobs on the dive boats we used to holiday on actually. Kind of therapeutic.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

In short, with a new to you boat, just completely disassemble and put it back together the right way. Easy

Good call.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

PS, I hadn't read Jim's post, he caught the cutlass bearing issue first; we were not communicating, each of us at his/her own computer. Silly, huh!

Secret to a long and happy marriage I reckon. We don't need his and hers bathroom sinks like some couples, but we do need his and hers computers.

[Amnesia II]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Newt,

Now if he waited until he got to Tasmania (a stated goal for next summer) it is quite different. In February of this year I had 5 days on the hard in a very nice yard and the total cost was 280 AUD... that includes in/out and use of a pressure washer and all environmental fees and electricity usage. Tassie is such a great place...

Cheers,

Jim

Jim, I'm heading down to Tassie next summer.....are you talking about Kettering for that haul out?

Cheers, Alan

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Alan,

No, not Kettering... one of the clubs. But K isn't too much dearer, and they now have a working travel lift. I've noted that most Yanks are more comfortable with a TL than with a slipway, so that might be a factor for you... I dunno!

The only place that I would avoid is Clean Lift, up the river in Hobart. Big TL, clean yard but Sydney prices... not what I am after. Most of the other ones that I have investigated are ok and all are less expensive than on the mainland, but it pays to shop around.

Cheers,

Jim

[banjoship]

matt, comments staccato.
rudder is glass, air space may be ballasted. lower bearing is a bronze/monel strap rivetted to keel, rudder pintle slots into strap. to remove rudder,drill out rivets remove strap, quadrant, etc., drop rudder. bolts on strap may be evidence of prior removal.

to test bearings before removal of rudder, take weight of rudder on jack, apply significant lateral force to see if any movement. bearings are usually good. removal/replacement of rudder is not trivial.

check/repack gland on rudder shaft, may be greased.

replacement of cut less bearing can be difficult. should be a cotton reel spacer between gearbox and drive shaft , remove, remove prop, slide shaft forward to gain access to bearing. if not enough room, drop gearbox. complete removal of shaft may require slewing engine to side. or iff rudder is removed, can take shaft out stern. if shaft comes out,check for true, end for end, and or rebuild bearing surfaces. machine shop can do all that.

have heard of cutting a v in rudder to remove shaft without disturbing rudder or engine/gearbox. glass up v to finish. might work.

if old and new antofoul are of unknown match, need tie coat primer before new anti foul. tie coat also if extensive prep removes significant existing anti foul and primer. I usually do all prep myself, get yard to spray tie coat and anti foul. quicker, better job than roller, more even application. yard should also pass on lower cost of bulk supply of tie coat and anti foul.

with heavy blast and extensive prep, expect mechanical damage to gel coat in form of small patches coming off. not osmosis. grind and bog. patches size of 5-20 cent piece . osmosis blisters ooze slippery fluid.

don't know your dripless shaft seal. if PSS, replace bellows, download instructions from PSS. source parts from us rather than aus distributor. have parts on hand before lift as may/will not be in stock

lee