Early February Boat Business
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| Main Shaft Zinc Anode....With Proper Clearance on the Line Cutter and Cutless Bearing |
While we've been anxious to get Ghost Rider out
of her slip for a sea trial, Rick wanted to wait until the diver could get
back to the boat and not only clean the bottom, but take photos of the zinc anode
positions on both prop shafts. That
finally occurred on 06-Feb and everything below the waterline looked good. We got a good tide later that afternoon, so we sortied out into the river and headed downstream on a
lovely winter day in southwest Florida – sunny skies, moderate southeasterly
breeze, with air temps in the low 80’s.
We
had a bit of a struggle backing out of our tight corner slip this time….it took
Rick a few minutes to figure out the right combo of thrusting to port with a
back-and-forth throttle in the breeze that was pinning us to the dock. But we finally got out of there without kissing
the dock or dinging the two boats beside and behind us.
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| When We Started the Sea Trial This Was the Position of the Stuffing Box's Pusher / Follower Collar....With Inadequate Water Flow. |
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| Eventually We Had to Back Off the Follower By a 2x Factor, Pumped It Back & Forth, Then Reset to Its Original Position. |
But
within the first 30 minutes of the sortie the main shaft’s stuffing box was
already above 100F in water temperatures that hovered around 72F….even at a low
1200 RPM. Not catastrophic by any
stretch, but the drip rate was insufficient and that mark was certainly above
Rick’s preferred target of ambient plus 20-25 degrees. So once again Chelle manned the helm and Rick
went to work in the engine room making a series of stuffing box
adjustments. It took another 30 minutes
before he got it figured out, but eventually we got to the point where the main
stuffing box was holding steady at just under 92F – even at wide open throttle. We (finally!) were able to declare victory on that item.
We
did not have a lot of time to play with the wing engine’s shaft, but a short
run revealed too-warm temps and insufficient water flow….we’ll schedule another
sea trial where Rick can focus on and play with that one, but after some more
dockside adjustments. Wing engine
stuffing boxes tend to be temperamental, even without alignment issues, so that
one is not a big surprise.
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| The Final Result Was a Reasonable Drip Rate and a Very Good Temp Reading Even at WOT. |
All
other systems were tactical on this sea trial sortie…basically it was a good
day.
Upon
return to Legacy Harbour Marina we decided to dock up stern-in to our corner
slip vs. bow-in. This was mainly to
position Ghost Rider so we could
launch the dinghy into water vs. onto the concrete dock, as we wanted to be in
position to perform some sea trials on the tender’s outboard engine -- we have not run it since we left Palm Beach in late October. Rather surprisingly the docking went quite
smoothly, with zero drama. That made it
a very good day.
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| Ghost Rider Sterned In to Give Us Room to Float the Dinghy Which is Limited to a Starboard Side Launch |
After
we got Ghost Rider tucked in, plugged
in and cleaned up, Rick pinged James over at Yacht Tech via SMS to let him know the results; typical of James he
immediately called back to Q&A about the details of the anode inspection
and sea trial results, and make some recommendations for the wing engine. Classy guy.
The
next day we turned our attention back to the water heater. Craig from VIP Marine came to the boat in the
early afternoon as previously scheduled. We managed to extract the big anode
pipe from its near-permanent thread sealant, and replaced it with the new
magnesium anode. Rick also asked Craig
to test the unit’s pressure relief valve while he was there as we had concerns
with its discharge valve – it did not drain very well, nor did it appear to be
fully closing once the lever was released.
Turns out it was pretty much shot.
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| Located Underneath the Master Stateroom Bunk, the Water Heater With the Old Anode Removed (On Top) and the New Anode Installed |
A
faulty pressure relief valve on a water heater can be dangerous – water heaters
actually make pretty good bombs when that valve fails to meter temperature and
relieve pressure. (When your bunk is
located right on top of the thing it makes you ponder such matters.) We found a replacement valve at a nearby
hardware store and swapped it out.
Next
up: we've still got a few weeks to tend to some home-based administrative and social obligations while we also work through the remaining minor and preventative maintenance items for the boat, and continue to provision for the upcoming journey.
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| It Hasn't Been All Boat Maintenance...We Thumbed a Ride on Dan & Cher's Gorgeous New Grady-White Last Weekend |
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| Captain Dan at the Helm of His New "Baby Grady" Heading to Brunch in Charlotte Harbor |
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| Another Shot of Ghost Rider Moored Stern-in at Her Slip at Legacy Harbour in Fort Myers |
