So we have a plan! After spending yesterday looking at options we have what we think is a good plan. At first we thought we could just put a fiberglass insert into the shaft tube - so a tube in the shaft log - which would keep the water from exiting the holes in the shaft log. Sadly the shaft is 1 1/2 inches in diameter and the metal shaft log is 1 3/4 inches in diameter - not nearly enough room for an insert.
Must be time for a break and lunch at nearby Oriental. We need to think about what we can do now.
On the way to Oriental, we pass over our brother-in-law's bridge - funny that he never mentioned that he had a bridge here in North Carolina!
The view from his bridge is that of the town of Oriental which is one of the largest towns on the Neuse River. They bill themselves as the sailing capitol of NC. Not hard to believe with the number of sailboats moored and docked here.
There are a few restaurants in town along with a hardware store and an interesting marine consignment store. Quite an interesting collection of items in that store but we didn't find anything we needed.
During lunch (we do our best thinking when we are eating :-) ), we decided the best (and possibly only) solution is to dig out the concrete surrounding the shaft log near where the leaks are and enclose the shaft log with a 'sleeve' (in yellow in the first picture) - sealed at both ends. This would effectively contain the water which at the present time is flowing out of the shaft log and making it's way into the boat. So that's the plan.
First step is to remove the totally rotted wet wood from the fiberglass box which holds the top of the shaft tube in place. Dave (the fiberglass guy here) will decide what to put in the box to replace the wood (again wood or maybe some liquid epoxy mix?? not sure). So Steve spent quite a bit of time digging this mess out. Once that was pretty much done, he attempted to cut the fiberglass covering the concrete (it's above the white fiberglass crossbeam in this picture) but we just don't have the right tools.
We've done (well, Steve did) what we could. Now we wait on the yard to have time to take over the job. Hopefully Dave will be able to free someone up on Monday to start attacking the concrete area.
In the meantime, two guys from the yard tackled the job of replacing the cutlass bearing. This bearing is just a rubber sleeve that keeps the shaft centered in the shaft tube. There really wasn't that much play in it but Steve thought we might as well replace it while the shaft was out.
What a job. Of course Steve knew this because last time we replaced it (4 years ago) he tried to do it himself. Finally gave up and had the marina in Cleveland finish it.
It was no easier the second time around - much to the dismay of Don who does this all of the time. Said he'd never had one so hard to get out.
Basically a sawzall is used to cut the bearing (bronze with rubber) several places and then pound it out. As you can see, it became quite stuck.
Success in the end though :-)
So that's where we are. A plan - yet to see if it will work or if the concrete can be broken up without destroying the shaft tube (my nightmare now is watching the jackhammer go right through the bronze tube!). We should know more Monday. The marina is closed over the weekend so we are enjoying the day being around Matt and Wendy's home. Funny how well it has turned out that they live here on the east coast instead of still being on the west coast :-)
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