[alberg30] Another new owner!

[sunstone]

From: sunstone <sunstone at idirect.com>

Sanders:
The following is a copy of a note I sent another A-30 owner a while
back:
"The early A-30s, KC-150 is one of them, shared the feature of water
coming up through the stern tube and into the cockpit and back out the
drains.   Other than it being a pain it's normal for this to happen
under power when pushing it a little, as long as the water isn't getting
into the bilge.
You can retrofit a stuffing box at the next haulout, but you'll have to
drop the rudder enough - not a big thing if you store on dirt and can
dig under, just make sure your cradle will allow it."

If you have water coming into the bilge things are definitely amiss.  
If you are sure its the shaft, either engine or rudder and there is a
stuffing box on the rudder then repacking is not too awful even in the
water.   Get a few friends to stand on the bow, a case of beer located
there helps to keep them in place, as this will raise the box well past
the water line, although it likely already is, and install new packing
making sure you have the old packing out of the nut, use a dental type
pick or a long #6 brass screw to pull out the old packing.

The packing is 1/4" waxed flax, don't use graphite impregnated packing
as the salt in the water will create a lovely battery and voilà no more
metal fittings.

Remember to cut the packing in concentric rings at 45o with the edges
out of phase so that the packing acts like a series of washers.   And
don't be tempted to coil it into the stuffing box either.

While you're at it check the seacocks and hoses to see if they are the
culprit.

Also check to see if it isn't your water tank leaking, this is more
common on any type of boat than you'd think.

When you haul or decommission, check the chain plate bolts, if they are
1/4", bore them out to 5/16 or greater and replace them with shanked hex
bolts of the larger size.

They are great boats and the problems with them are few but there are
some annoyances mostly done at Whitby Boat Works, the chainplates bolts
being the most dramatic in an an otherwise robust rig.

John Birch, Sunstone KC-65

SandersM at aol.com wrote:
> 
> From: SandersM at aol.com
> 
> TO THE LIST:
> 
> On Sunday, I purchased Hull 297, (soon-to-be-ex) LADY JO, and sailed her
> around from Jamaica Bay on the South Shore of Brooklyn, around and up through
> New York Harbor to her new home in Oyster Bay, New York, on the Sound.  With
> a strong southerly, we had a long reach west to the Verrazano Narrows, a long
> run up the Harbor and the East River, and another long reach east up the
> Sound to Oyster Bay.  What a great sail!  I guess I'll have to discover how
> she goes to weather on another day, but this boat reaches like a dream.
> 
> We had one unpleasant surprise along the way -- we filled her bilges several
> times with water, apparently from the stuffing box for the rudderpost.  Is
> this a common occurrence?  Any wisdom on the point that I should know?
> 
> Anyway, I guess this makes me a permanent member of this mail list.  I look
> forward to getting to know you all.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Sanders McNew,
> New York City.
> 
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