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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>1. Alva Windham, now commodore of the Solomon
Island YC, inquired of me today if I knew if anyone had an Atomic 4 they wanted
to sell--he's looking for one to rebuild. He tells me that he once had an
A30, named Dolphin. He left the Assn. in the late 1980's. If you have an
A4 for sale, or know where there is one in rebuildable condition, please contact
him directly at <A
href="mailto:windham@chesapeake.net">windham@chesapeake.net</A> or send the
information to me.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2. I removed the stern tube, stuffing box, hose,
and clamps from Nevermore today; the engine is out and I am taking advantage of
the opportunity to replace, rebuild, and repaint without the joy of lying on my
belly in the cockpit and working beyond fingertip reach (in the
rain). What I found was troubling if not positively dangerous. The stern
tube is about 1/8th inch OD larger than the stuffing box hose flange OD. For
some reason, a previous owner had used standard exhaust hose (two pieces,
one over the other) on the tube which flares down to one piece (only) on
the stuffing box, all about 10 inches long. Its been in the boat at least
since I bought it in 1991, and is quite ready for replacement.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The standard way to do this is to purchase a thick
wall hose which is sold particularly for this purpose, in lengths of about 4
inches. If used, this would have put the stuffing box back closer to the
deadwood by about 3 inches, and may have been beyond the reach necessary to
tighten the gland nut when necessary. The problem,(as I see it) is
that exhaust hose is not the proper material to use, and using two thicknesses
of exhaust hose means that the clamps never actually bear on the inner hose,
and, as the outer hose gets old and stiff, it may leak and fail--and you can't
fix it without pulling the boat.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Any comments from y'all? I'd like to know if
this is the normal way Whitby did this, or was this the braincramp of a lesser
genius?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>RA</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>