We had a very successful haul-out — although “successful” may not be the same thing as “according to plan.” We had quite the list to tackle: replacing shaft seals, zincs, and the transducer, plus fiberglass repair, bottom paint, and waxing the hull. I scheduled an entire week, thinking that would surely be enough time. Famous last words.
First up was the fiberglass repair, so we arranged for the crew to come the first full day after haul-out. Around noon they arrived to inspect the damage and make a plan. Pretty soon more and more people started showing up. Now there were three of them standing around conferring, which is rarely a sign of inexpensive news. We wandered down to see what was going on.
Turns out they were concerned that the hull was still dripping after being out of the water for 24 hours. They drilled a hole in the keel and water absolutely GUSHED out. And not just a little. It poured for a long time. They drilled a second hole farther down — same thing. Then a third hole — same again. Water streamed out for about twenty minutes.
After letting everything dry over the weekend, they came back and got to work. It ended up taking about 12 hours of grinding to remove all the damaged material. At that point they let us know there was absolutely no chance we’d be back in the water by Thursday. And of course it’s a long weekend — because these things always happen on long weekends. So now we’re probably looking at a Tuesday launch after Victoria Day.
Honestly, I’m relieved this was discovered and properly addressed instead of becoming a much bigger issue later.
Meanwhile, Jim tackled the shaft seal replacement. A daunting project that took about a day and a half, but thanks to some FANTASTIC advice from the Nordic Tug forum, success! Without those tips, we might have cried “Uncle” and called in some professional help.
The transducer replacement itself was fairly straightforward. Routing the cable, however, was an entirely different story. (Insert angry red-faced swearing emoji here.)
We hired out the waxing, thankfully. At this point we’re on day four of the fiberglass repair and hoping to get an estimated completion date soon. Jim is still working through the final items on the list while the fiberglass crew buttons everything up.
As frustrating as delays can be, these are not things you want rushed.
It hasn’t been all work and no play though, I got to go play some mahjong at the Brentwood Senior Centre, go to a concert, and get a massage (thanks, girls 🙂
I’ll be spending the next few days getting the inside to look as gorgeous as the outside.. we have friends coming on Monday!
Talk Soon.