Hello all,
<Trip Report>
This weekend I sailed from Niceville to Panama City, departing after work Thursday and arriving early AM Friday. I motored about 5 hours, sailed the rest via drifter in light winds. I slept almost all day then had a good walk on the beach. Back to the boat for dinner, then I went barhopping and was quite disappointed in the scene, heading back to my boat by midnight. I slept in late and my uncle James was dropped off by his family, and we sailed off the anchor over to Shell island, more walking on the beach and flat seas. The wind increased and by the time we hot back to Tardis we were in a fair chop. Rather than anchor inshore like sane people, I suggested we anchor offshore because it looked so flat earlier. I got offshore only to find sleep was impossible, so we had a boisterous sail back to Destin, averaging 7 kts all night long!
</Trip Report>
< Mechanical Incident Report>
We got to the Destin Pass and the wind was on our nose and current going out, so I fired up the diesel and lowered the sails. Everything was OK until I was exactly underneath the bridge and I heard a terribly loud banging from inside the boat and we had lost power. I did what I could but ended up impacting the wooden bridge walls causing minor damage to the toe rail and ripping out my water vent fitting. If I wanted to get home the same day I needed to be on the other side of the bridge, so I solicited a tow from some fishermen who after 5 minutes of towing me decided they had enough and dropped the line. I would have preferred a bit more towing action, and actually I was about to raise sails! I was left in a terrible position, drifting back into a bridge with no time to get the sails up. I put out 200' of scope in 26' of water, and that put me in a position to impede traffic underneath the bridge, or if my anchor dragged a 2kt current and 15 kt wind would blow me into a bridge that is only tall enough for my mast in its center section.
Now I have the opportunity to see what the problem is. The tubular drive shaft had been severed because the transmission shift cable had been laying on top of it for who knows how long and had worn the tubular metal thin. It just chose a hell of time to fail!!! So I need to make/find/buy a new shaft asap because I'm sailing to Dry Tortugas after Thanksgiving!
</Mechanical Incident Report>
<Vessel Collision Report>
So here I am anchored in a bad spot, and fishing boats anchor on both sides of me to totally obstruct bridge traffic. I guess they figured I was doing it they might as well too. There's also only law enforcement present in the summer around these parts. My uncle and I are inside the boat tinkering with the drive shaft when we hear the VHF go off regarding a big boat about to hit a sailboat at the Destin bridge. That sounds like me. So a 100' oil supply boat is trying to get through this barricade of small fishing boats and me. He's trying to line up but he's fighting a 15 kt wind and a hell of a current, so I watch in terror as he drifts into me. He guns his engines full throttle and starts accelerating. Black smoke obscures his monstrous transom, and I look up at three stories of black steel. The captain knew his boat, and he passed me with only a softish kiss of an impact from my bow rail against his stern flank. This kiss ripped out and ruined my empty anchor roller and bent my bow railing a bit.
As this was occurring I was expecting 1) my anchor rope rode to get sucked into his prop 2)rip the cleat out 3)pay out to the end and rip out the inner stay 4)my boat drifts into bridge 5)mast meets bridge 6) mast falls over 7)boat beats up bridge and vis. a vis. 8)I finally decide it's safe to drop my second bow anchor which was ready to go but I was justifiably afraid to go near because of the aforementioned carnage.
</Vessel Collision Report>
Luckily, my rode was not severed or otherwise molested, the big boat got by safely. No other vessels were harmed in the making of this story. I'll need a new anchor roller but the bow rail isn't bent that badly. The big boat is paying for everything. I got a tow from the fishermen who were anchored next to me and I sailed home. I have a few things to fix.
I saw the other threads about fixing the tubular drive shaft. Did anybody do this and what was the solution? I didn't see the posts in previous threads.
Cheers,
Dr. Capt Mike Sytsma
S/V Tardis, Pearson 367 Cutter # 26
wow! when you have a bad day, you really go all out! :o
Glad things didn't result in meeting Expectations 1-7 and that the oil tanker is willing to pony up for damages. I have nothing to offer on the shaft repair, but hope you keep the thread going.
~ Chris
Pull the shaft by I unbolting the coupler
flange then remove the cap at at v drive
Drop it down and pull it out. Take it to a hot rod
Drive shaft shop. They can weld a new tube
In and balance it. Walter machine may be able to sell
You a used shaft for $2000. If that sounds better.
Good luck captain.
Thanks for the ideas!
Less than one week Battleship Tardis is shafted and is operational! I took it to a driveline place that only does driveshafts, cost 180$ which isn't bad! The rubber madness inside the Walther shaft is an oldschool vibration reduction technique that is no longer in vogue, in fact the guy at the shop thinks it's a terrible idea because as the shafts get older they tend to wallow and damage seals on both ends. The new shaft is a smaller diameter thickwall tube rated for a 300 horse motor. He lathed free the old splined end and reused the portion that bolts to the transmission coupler, so the interfaces are perfect.
I bent the bow rail back into shape with a come-along attached to the dock in about 10 minutes. I have to buy a new anchor roller.
Cheers!
Mike Sytsma
S/V Tardis Pearson 367 Cutter #26
Good info there Mike. What it sounds like you're saying is that the old Walter telescopic drive shafts that are in every Pearson out there may have gone out of balance and are now a source of vibration? The telescopic shaft in my Pearson is long gone as I have a one piece 1" stainless shaft that has the 10 tooth spline on one end. That runs very smoothly.
Always wondered how those driveline shops stay in business. But suspect a lot of their work is farm equipment and the occasional boat.
Pete, with a one piece non-telescoping shaft, how did you insure that the insertion length on the v-drive end was correct? 2.375" according to the Walter manual. In one of your othe photos, it appears that the shaft is welded directly ro the U-joint. Who made the shaft for you?
BTW, what do you use for a shaft brake?
I measured the distance between the flange on the Borg Warner Tranny and the neck of the V drive and added the insertion length and then subtracted the length of my 4 bolt U-joint adapter, and had the machine shop cut it off.
I have about 1/2" of telescopic adjustment with the u-joint yoke at the transmission. I used that to fine tune the insertion length by bottoming the 10 tooth spline into the v-drive and then I backed it out 1/8" so that it can't ever interfere with the first u-joint in the v-drive. Then I spotted the shaft and tightened and safety wired the set bolts.
Pete, do you have a photo of the u-joint end? I am trying to understand where the 1/2" telescopic adjustment is if it is a one-piece shaft. Sorry if I am being thick :-\
This is a 1" shaft with the 10 tooth spline that plugs into the v drive on one end and a custom built 4 bolt flange that mates up with a standard Borg Warner 4" flange. This is made from Dana Spicer automotive drivetrain parts.
(http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l505/banjoband/driveshaft.jpg)
What happened to your Walter Drive shaft? I had to build this because those things are impossible to find and Walter Machine wanted $2200 for a new one.