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Bad news good news

mike cunningham

mike cunningham

Freedom 30 "Jacqueline"
Pulled the boat at Berkeley Marine for a long overdue shaft seal replacement and a bottom job. The bad news for me is I won't make the round the rocks, the good news is my keel won't be shedding fiberglass crap half way to Hawaii.



jax keel berk marine.JPG
 
mike cunningham said:
Pulled the boat at Berkeley Marine for a long overdue shaft seal replacement and a bottom job. The bad news for me is I won't make the round the rocks, the good news is my keel won't be shedding fiberglass crap half way to Hawaii. View attachment 3323
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Awww. I saw Jacqueline there in the yard on Tuesday. Good thing you found it two months ahead of time ....
 
I assume it wasn't like that on haul-out...for the curious, what happened? Did you start fixing a blister and it grew from there, or did something take a deep bite out of the leading edge and water got in?
 
Lanikai said:
I assume it wasn't like that on haul-out...for the curious, what happened? Did you start fixing a blister and it grew from there, or did something take a deep bite out of the leading edge and water got in?
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Ha Ha, I would sort of like to say it was like this for the last race to Hawaii but no, it was not like this at haul out. My keel sump is about a foot deep. TSP, the original builder, installed a cladding of some sort of material from the sump/keel seam to the bottom of the keel. This stuff has always been a little flaky but I have sort of patched and Mcgyreved around and ignored it. This time I think water had finally loosened it up to the point where aggressive sanding started to gouge out large pieces of the cladding and I had to bite the bullet and remove it all. Its just lead under there so no water intrusion issues from a structural standpoint. Its all a good thing at the end of the day. I should have fixed this a while back. The lead has been recovered in several coats of epoxy and will be painted in due course.

BTW since I have never, ever, not once, gone aground in the twenty years I have owned the boat, I have no idea how water could have gotten under the cladding.

The shaft seal replacement has been a hassle though, now there is a new problem of some sort. Talking to the yard Monday to understand the latest drama. Typical...
 
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The Smokester said:
Sorry to see this. Hopefully you will be good to go for June 23?
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Yea, no problem with that. All good as of today. I should have the boat back in the water by Friday. However, I am implementing a new sleep strategy this year.

Just before the race the real Jacqueline and I are going to Europe to visit my Son and other relatives. We leave on 28 May and come back on 19 June. I figure the jet lag will put me in good time zone shape for an all nigher through the Farallons.
 
mike cunningham said:
Just before the race the real Jacqueline and I are going to Europe to visit my Son and other relatives. We leave on 28 May and come back on 19 June. I figure the jet lag will put me in good time zone shape for an all nigher through the Farallons.
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You do like to live dangerously, Mike.
 
Geez Mike. Gotta like your style. Return from a short hop to Australia, a little keel drama in the boatyard, fly over to Europe on vacation while the rest of us are stressing, then do the Singlehanded Transpac in your sleep. No worries.....just switch on those disco lights.
 
dolfinbill said:
Geez Mike. Gotta like your style. Return from a short hop to Australia, a little keel drama in the boatyard, fly over to Europe on vacation while the rest of us are stressing, then do the Singlehanded Transpac in your sleep. No worries.....just switch on those disco lights.
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Ha, ha, gotta love that retired life. Maybe lovin it a little too much huh? With the restocked liquor cabinet, my case of Negra Modelo and my cool cabin lights, I probably should get some special consideration re my downwind rating.

BTW, I have my disco lights listed on my electrical budget. Very low draw, depending on the amount of dancing I do.
 
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Here is a pic of the old Syntron shaft seal. I wanted to take it apart to see what the guts looked like. Glad I replaced it before the race.

syntron guts.jpg

syntron body.jpg
 
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