New Rigging Installed

After failing the rigging inspection it was determined that the uppers and the headstay were too short ( no visible threads showed through the top of the turnbuckle). The bottom of the uppers had one suspicious swage. The back stay had crack starting in swaged fitting above the back stay adjuster. Since we were changing the headstay, I decided to replace the headfoil with a Harken Carbo 1 7001 ( to get the #6 luff tape ). The Head foil feeder has been very tight and it was time for it to go. 10 years in the FL sun didn't help either, the plastic foil was cracking at the upper end.

The rigging parts, swaging and Carbo head foil ran $891, shipping the bits back and forth to the swaging shop in Miami ran $50, labor was $168 for three trips up the mast and sales tax was $67 for a total hit of $1176. This is part of my pre-retirement boat fix up program.

The existing Nautec turnbuckles were found to be in good shape so only fresh threaded ends were needed.

Leaking Vangmaster & swage cracks

I sent the Vangmaster back to California for fresh O rings for about $70. The vang would leak down after 2 days so it is time for this process. No complaints after 25 years. I spoke to Doug Grant at Vangmaster, 737 Channel St, San Pedro, CA 90731, telephone 310-831-2877.

Today a rigger checked the standing rigging after a recent survey requested this be done. It appears corrosion has started on the back stay and the base of the uppers. Head stay and lowers checked out OK. This set of rigging is 10 years old. We may wait for hurricane season to pass before dismantling the rigging.

Here are a few shots of the new transmission, dripless seal, shaft, split coupling and exhaust hose.

Yard work completed

Yesterday I picked up the boat from the boat yard. Later that evening we had a race and managed to beat the other J/30 we race against. The freshly painted & burnished bottom is working. The some minor blisters, new propellor, cutlass bearing, shaft & dripless seal, coupling, transmission, exhaust hose, new waterline boot top tape and some gelcoat repairs were also done.

July 2 breakage discoveries

The dripless shaft seal faces are pitted so the whole assembly needs replacement. Attached is a shot of the engine end of the shaft that I'm told is worn from the loose coupling.

So we'll be launching with everything new in the drive line aft of the engine except the strut.

Today's news is that the dripless shaft seal faces are shot and were leaking. The mechanic showed me the coupling and shaft that should have been a press fit. Over the years the mating face of the coupling got roughed up during de-mating and caused a miss alignment that caused vibration. The yard located a new transmission.

More discoveries at the boat yard

Some more exciting news from the boat yard today: Phone call #1: the bottom has many small blisters running up the centerline. Very upsetting after having the gel coat peeled and replaced with epoxy in 2003. Phone call #2: the shaft and coupling were machining each other into oblivion at the set screws and the transmission is shot. Looks like this haulout will run about two weeks since the transmission takes a while to get.