[Alberg30] Winter project questions - Traveller, Rudder shoe, High Water Alarm, Shaft Coupling exit prevention - suggestions

[John Birch]

Hi Bill, et al

Well I have ice on my pond this morning so I guess Winter is close at hand.
Perhaps my experience below might be of some relevance.

My A-37 Sunstone had the old awful flat track traveler (ha - there's an
oxymoron - travelling under load was one thing it didn't like doing) What I
did was to buy a Harken ball bearing traveller system and track - I
fabricated a teak shim to go under the track to correct the deck camber from
curved down at the ends to flat. Tracing the camber was easy - transferred
that camber to the teak and cut the bottom curve in - left the top flat -
Cetoled and the attached the track, teak and with a ton of calking affixed
it to the deck. Harken makes an infinitely variable slotted bolt pattern
track which allowed me to use the existing bolt holes - please note that the
end cars I deliberately drilled through with robust bolts to prevent the
track from sliding under heavy load. The system works great.

Why flatten the track?

If you notice on really hot racing boats the track ends are bent up to allow
the leach to twist off in heavy winds with the traveler in the down
position - this loosens the leach - allowing twist - but on the Alberg it
would look like hell. The next best thing is a flat rack which does not
impair aesthetics. The worst it to maintain the camber of the deck meaning
that when you down traveller you are tightening the leach - the exact
opposite of what you should be doing in a blow.

The rudder shoe question - the A-37 has an identical arrangement to the
A-30. I had some play which I took out using some very thin mechanical
Teflon bearing sheeting 1/2 the thickness of the play I was trying to
remove. You can get this at any good machine shop supplier or perhaps a
friendly machine shop - a square foot of the stuff will last you for the
next 100 years ; )

I installed the Teflon around the pin - rebedded and attached the shoe and
then did the same treatment to the mid rudder straps which are two piece.
When I unbolted the mid rudder straps I notice the bolts where badly eroded
where they are in contact with the water (and was always in fresh water
too - Yikes). I replaced them with Silicon Bronze flat head bolts, put the
Teflon mechanical bearing sheeting around the shaft and rebedded/reattached
the unit and filed and faired it into the boat using Marine Tex epoxy putty
leaving the smallest indentation at the bolts so I would be able to find
them if I ever needed to do the job again. That was 5 years ago and the
rudder is as snug in it's fittings as it was the day I completed the fix
with no sign of a return of the play.

I immediately noticed the rudder has much more feel - even on a wheel and
turns more easily - likely due to the nature of Teflon.

The whole repair cost perhaps $30 CDN. A trifle in the world of boating
costs.

I also have a shaft prop nut Zink inplace, the engine is wired with a ground
wire to the rudder post using a thin copper strap at the post inside the
boat - though it likely doesn't protect the rudder mid strap as their may
not be an electrical contact between the rudder post and the straps. Copper
being softer than bronze will wear the copper strap and not the rudder post.

I also installed a high water alarm - a Radio Shack ( I think it exists in
the USA too) Weather Proof Piezo Tweeter with two tone options ($13.00 CDN)-
the beeping option goes to the High Water Alarm which is connected to a
surplus bilge pump float sensor about 6 inches up from the bottom of the
bilge and hard wired to the house battery with a fuse. The other steady tone
circuit is connected to an oil pressure alarm. The existing Piezo is
connected to the Water Temp sensor so I know if a steady tone is heard it is
an engine matter - if a tow motor beeping sound is heard I know I have
rising water in the bilge before it covers the seacocks with is usually
where leaks develop.

Why install one?

If you are sailing in heavy weather with the hatch boards in you may not
notice the boat flooding until she becomes sluggish - by that time your
batteries are underwater, your through hulls are mostly too and finding and
correcting the problem becomes much harder and without batteries - you can't
call for help or start the engine. Also - we have a hose clamp on the prop
shaft about an inch away from the stuffing box to prevent the shaft from
exiting the boat or jamming the rudder should the shaft coupling fail.

There was a boat several years ago in Lake Ontario that sank in heavy
weather due to exactly that problem - they didn't have a high water alarm
and when they noticed a problem the water was a foot above the floor boards
and rising rapidly but they couldn't find the leak. All the fitting were
underwater. They spent 18 hours in the water before found - barely alive -
they were very lucky - it was August and the Lake was at it warmest and they
were well dressed - but they were very lucky, they were badly hypothermic
and near death when rescued.

Anyway - just suggestions from my experience and extrapolated from those of
others.

Hope it proves helpful.

Cheers,

John - Sunstone A-37 KC-65 - former A-30 Wind Rose KC-544 owner


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Blevins" <billblevins at mac.com>
To: <public-list at alberg30.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2003 7:18 AM
Subject: [Alberg30] Winter project questions


> When upgrading the traveller from a 1966 original, do you buy a traveller
track that can be bent slightly to the curve of the aft end of the cockpit
or do you somehow shim underneath the track to keep it flat?
>
> Yesterday I removed the rudder shoe from the keel. The pin looked great.
It seems that the movement at the bottom of the rudder was wear on the
rudder fitting and not the pin or shoe. I'm leaning towards just leaving it
now that I'm sure it won't fall off. (it actually looks like quite a bit of
work to remove the rudder - digging through a nice finish to find the bolts
and all.
>
> We didn't notice any vibrations when sailing or motoring this year so I
might just tackle my other projects instead of dealing with removing the
whole rudder at this time. The rest of the rudder and tiller connection
seems to be in good order. Thoughts?
>
> (I just reread a Sept 1985 rudder article and I think I just convinced
myself to "don't fix what's not broken".)
>
> Final question. How do you know when through hull fittings need to be
replaced? From the inside they all appear to be sound. Maybe a little green
here or there. From the outside they are painted over. The exhaust hose
through hull looks the worst but it's above the water line. It actualy
appears to be the newest.
>
> One note of praise for the structure of the A30. Nothing on my boat seems
to have been mounted on deck with a backing plate. I am amazed at the
condition of the deck in areas where there should have been tremendous
forces and things bolted to it with only a couple of small washers and nuts
below deck. The paint and gelcoat - some areas looks original - isn't even
crazed!
>
> Bill Blevins
> Sabrina #158
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