Thanks for all the good words everyone, here's the link if you are interested in the T-shirt Pre-Order. We'll be making them next month and sending them out then. wicked-salty.myshopify.com/products/wicked-salty-new-beginnings-t-shirt
Hang in there you guys! I've been watching your videos with my dad for a while and I have to say, yours is the ONLY sailing vlog that I really enjoy. Your humble, down to earth attitude is refreshing. I feel so bad for all the boat trouble you've had! Makes me wish I was rich and could just buy you a new boat! Ignore all the rude comments on here. You seem to be meticulous in maintaining things on your boat, but it'd be difficult to catch EVERYTHING! It's weird to care about someone you've never met, but my dad and I are rooting for you every step of the way! Keep your chins up!
For the raw water output weld to break followed with a stuffing box leak... I would check your motor mounts ! The engine possibly could have jumped / rocked in the cradle to cause these multiple issues to occur simultaneously. Possibly a misalignment issue?
Good call. This is the only explanation for what could be the cause of the joint breaking and the PSS shaft seal suddenly taking on water. Otherwise they'd just be coincidental. The shaft seal works by compression of the bellows so if the motor moved forward it would cause it to leak and would break the crap weld on the elbow. Only other explanation for the seal leaking is if the collar slipped (which will happen if the set screws were not properly installed...use new set screws any time you adjust the seal). Putting a shaft zinc up against the collar is also good insurance against it ever slipping. But I would check the engine mounts for sure. Not a cheap fix either...basically at least a day of labor to replace them, assuming the beds themselves are fine. Good luck! And yes, that is NOT a place you want to break down.
Sounds like they need to get an experienced sailor/mechanic to go over that boat, engine, rigging, everything. Although stories showing masts falling in wind gusts and boats ending up on rocky sea walls get a lot of views, don't want to go there. Boat needs to be out on the hard before it sinks.
@@betageek66 PYI now sells their shaft seals with a split retention collar that clamps the shaft forward of the fixed flange. This ensures that if the weak set screws give way, the forward flange can't move, letting in seawater. The OP should retrofit his shaft; PYI sells these shaft retention collars individually.
I just ordered a shirt. Thanks for not just asking for money, but for offering a great product in return for financial support. You two are living a lot of our dreams, and are some of the coolest people on the RUclipss. Fair winds and following seas to you both (and Lola).
I really enjoy your VLOG... one of the few if any sailing adventurists that have seemed to flood youtube. I admire your passionate but humble adventures and have been following you guys since you started so many years ago. It's a shame so many desktop sailors have nothing to say but negative trash but that is expected when there are those that only wish ill on others following their dreams. I have owned and operated various photography/video production companies for more than 35 years now building a new company for my kids. I am not in anyway concerned with the quality of your videos. I see in your videos the passionate hearts the both of your have and that is far more important than gimbal smooth shots. My best wishes and prayers go out to the both of you and keep on trudging through the inevitable valleys. That's what makes you strong. !!!!
I have an 89 Catalina 30. Same thing happened to our engine. Exhaust riser elbow failure after we hit a sandbar at John's Pass in Madeira Beach, Fl.. Catalinas are made in Largo, Fl. They have a great shop, we took it in and they rebuilt a whole new riser and elbow. Happy sailing!
Wes, I think I know what happened, when the raw water line fitting broke, cutting off water flow to the engine, it also cut water flow off to the PPS shaft seal. With out water pumping it may have caused the bearing surface to over heat and possibly warp. Another thing I saw is when you touched the alternator and it was hot, that might mean it’s got a short in it, and it will drain your battery and not charge correctly. It may have been water spraying in the compartment that’s shorted it out. I just had a similar alternator issue where the alternator was warm/ hot due to a short inside. I noticed you said it was hot when you’ve obviously been on the blocks, so the engine should have cooled off by then. Please make sure you have the alternator checked out too.
About breaking down. I would have 1) killed the engine, 2) closed off the raw water engine thru hull. that would stop your engine water leak. 3) put the engine in reverse which locks the shaft, wrapped the leaking shaft seal with a rag, then saran wrap or some plastic baggies cut flat and then another rag. That would address your water intrusions. Then if you tied your dingy midship you could move under your own power and steer in your boat. I've used my dingy that way when I ran out of fuel between the Truks and Dominican Republic AND there was NO WIND. Ran 6 hours that way! You have to learn to work with what is at hand instead of calling for help like when your nowhere near civilization. Away from the ICW help is not minutes away. Also in the worse flooding just head to shallow waters. Water won't keep rising inside when your aground. Cheers Do you have installed a high water alarm/s below your floor boards??? Never heard of people waking up in the middle of the night with water above the floor boards? I had one small bilge pump for every day use and two 1000 gal rule's each on their own float switches at different heights, both with alarms. Redundancy on a boat is important.
A good argument for a traditional stuffing box. It is why I'd never have a dripless shaft. It must be hauled to fix it. Also a suggestion: Put a light in the cockpit that goes on when the bilge pump goes on. In that way you'll know if you are starting to have a problem of water intrusion quickly. If the light is going on with greater frequency than normal, time to explore. This saved me on one occasion.
Amen. A good stuffing box is the way to go. These fancy new gadgets are not worth it. Besides with a stuffing box you can service it while in the water if you have a decent bilge pump.
Glad you guys were able to save the boat, and that the water didn't make it up to the engine. You were the first boating vlog I started watching a few years back, and since then I bought an awesome 42' boat in Maryland and single handed it down to Fort Lauderdale where I live. You are both experienced sailors and I've got nothing but love for you, and I just know that this boat journey will be a great success for you three. This was just a hiccup and you managed it perfectly!!
So glad to hear you are safely on land. Hopefully you have time (or should take the time) to completely check over all the tubing and connections, and maybe all thru-hulls. Be safe and take care.
Glad you guys are OK. Scary situation for sure. We just had a similar thing happen 3 weeks ago on the exhaust line on our Beneteau 281 in Lake Michigan. In our case, a flexible hose partially slid off a solid fitting, so there was still some water going out the exhaust and we didn't know until the water made it to the floor boards. Flipped the bilge pump on the suction line was kinked, and therefore didn't work. We were able to shut down and fix the leak and make it to the marina and manually pump the rest out, but still scary until we figured out the problem!
Not today! Haha best line in the vid. It's so awesome to see how your previous experiences has prepared you. So well handled and you just roll on. Well done.
Lock motor to tender, lock tender to dock, lock motor to sailboat, lock tender to sailboat at night. It is a long swim with groceries. Try foam earplugs during long day if under power. Replace water impeller often which is another common overheating. I only trust the old fashioned stuffing box that allows you to add more packing.
I see a lot of “Monday morning quarterbacks” here explaining what they would have done. You guys did great under pressure. The mind doesn’t work the same as your boat is sinking. Hard not to panic. Great job guys!! Bottom line: Boats spend their entire life trying to sink! LOL GLAD YOU’RE OK TO SAIL ANOTHER DAY! Rrrrrrrr! Love, and respect, Pirate Roy
Good thing these issues exposed themselves where you were near resources to deal with it effectively. I would be inspecting this boat for any other shoddy repairs and effecting changes. Great video, keep up the good work.
exhausting at times. Sailing friend said to me once "you have to have the bitter to get to the sweet" with boating. After all the work to launch, i actually need a break from the boat for a week and then I am in love again!
Made the riser for our C30 out of black Iron pipe bought online from McMaster. Got the proper mixing fitting from Moyer marine as well as pipe heat wrap from same. I do think they sell a diesel exhaust flange a Moyer (the do A4 mostly) to adapt for the Iron pipe. The riser is pretty much a once every 5 year replace type part. Can be cobbled together for under $100 or so.
My guess is that the dripless failed when the water supply to the dripless stopped. The water cooling from the engine supplies water to the dripless to function properly.
Not on a sailboat. It never goes fast enough to create a vacuum and run dry. For sailboats, the seal comes with a vent hose that you lead above the waterline, close to the centerline. And that was only added in later models just to simplify the product line. All they should have to do is burp the seal when the boat is splashed after being hauled.
Lots of good info in here about what could have happened. To add one small note, with your prop shaft turning while you are trying to hold the dripless from leaking, you could have put the transmission into reverse to stop the shaft. Might have helped slow the leak a bit, and at that point you could have packed it with towels or something instead of using your hands.
You did a good job, vessel was saved. I would change all the coolant hoses, belts, exhaust elbow before heading out in a used boat. When the hoses are off back flush the heat exchanger and engine block, bits of rubber impeller will probably come out. Install a new raw water pump impeller. Or better yet install a Speed Seal kit (Google it). The dripless prop shaft seal should have the rubber gator compressed about an 1", there is an exact specification in the installation notes. The seal should have a vent with a hose going above the waterline. If yours does not have a vent its quite old and needs to be replaced. If it drips a bit it can be compressed a bit more. Then install a second stainless ring to prevent the dripless ring from moving forward. When motoring look closely at the engine every hour to confirm everything is OK. A bilge alarm is cheap insurance. You can also get a flow alarm on the raw water hose, Defender sells them. Fair winds !
Glad you saved it. So now it is on the hard check all conections for other potential issues Try to get a bilge alarm with an off switch for alarm Get tape that can take heat for emergancy repair Flex seal tape too Add another bilge pump one with high gph I believe it is johnson that has a 3k and 4k gph pump Amazon has it and bilge alarm pretty cheap West marine has the one tape walmart and lowes flex seal tape
Not Today!!! (Great slogan for Wicked Salty t-shirts). I was on the edge of my seat for that whole video, sorry for your distress and thanks for sharing.
That’s why I haven’t changed my old fashion packing gland to a PSS shaft seal. Check your heat exchanger while you’re in there. Mine just failed because a bushing was epoxied into the boss for the zinc anode by the previous owner. Long story, but epoxy let go leaving a hole for water to pump into boat.
Get wood plugs for all thru hulls and try them to the valve so they are there within reach if a hose or thruhull fails. Be sure on the lifting straps are not on a thruhull the weight of boat can cause the fiberglass to fail and your through the hull fitting breaks out and you flood. Get a water float switch with a loud audio alarm in the cockpit you can hear when engine is running. This is personal experience I hope you don't have to learn the hard way. One flooded boat is enough. I seen some water hoses with double hose clamps and some with single hose clamps. Do you know why it is a good idea for double clamps? Don't depend on a boat inspector to find all the problems. Some make check lists and schedule inspections to prevent supprises. Have a happy and safe 2021.
Wes. I am sure you have things handled by now. Some advice. Water temp is not accurate if it does not have water on the probe. Oil temp is a safer way to determine when the motor is getting critical. I.E. the water temp can show no overheat due to 160deg. Air temp while the oil shows critical heat.
Oh, and if you don't have one, you should definitely invest in a bilge alarm! I won't have a boat with out one, my friend almost sank his 48' motor yacht one sunny day because he was making coffee and in order to do so was running his generator. A hose clamp failed and the exhaust cooling water from the gen set started pumping into the bilge. He took on about 1500 gallons of water and almost sank before he realized there was a problem. Almost turned a nice cruise around the bay into a disaster! He later had to replace all 3 starters, alternators and much of the wiring in his engine room. Needless to say he installed a bilge alarm after that!
A bilge alarm is nice, I simply added an alarm to my bilge pump. Whenever the bilge pump sees power it also is energizing a pizo alarm screaming in the cockpit (with a silence button obviously because you don't need a screaming alarm once you realize you have a problem and are dealing with it.) I will eventually put in another high-water alarm on a separate circuit and another float switch higher up someday. We have a very dry boat and only get a tiny bit of water in the bilge over weeks and weeks of the stuffing box slowly dripping when we are moving. The bilge pump never runs unless we forget to manually pump out the bilge once a month or so of the quart of water that might be at the bottom. So if the bilge pump does run, I want to know about it right away. I also installed a counter on the bilge pump so I can immediately tell if it has run when we were away from the boat, and how many times. The counter is part of the bilge pump panel I built at the nav station, right next to the on/off/auto switch, the alarm silence button, and the fuse that protects the motor.
You guys were right in my back yard. Glad you made it into the slings safely. The current can definitely get gnarly in the canal and it can be a tight fit when the big boys come through. I assume you are gone by now which is a shame. Happy sailing and thanks for sharing.
Just ordered my new shirt, cannot wait! You guys are awesome and smart. Glad that your crisis was diverted. You saw how true boaters will jump in to help one another!
Yes. It is called the "Golden Rule" and it works great! [ No government intervention needed for the human race to survive quite well on its own. Imagine that.]
That's why we have an outboard on our sailboat. Fair enough, it's smaller than yours, but the peace of mind is worth it! I'm going to remove all the through-hulls later this year. A boat should have no holes below the waterline!
Better to find these problems now, in places where it’s easy to fix, than later, anchored off some island in the middle of nowhere! Thanks for sharing!
Hi. Been following you for some time. Love the vlogs. The new format sounds great. People love to see the local areas from a cruisers viewpoint. If you are still in the C&D there is a great little town almost across from you, Chesapeake City. We are from Brewster but boat winters in Florida. One suggestion, if you guys like coffee, we bought a stainless French press coffee maker. Its easy to use and clean and makes great coffee. Hope your latest problems are easily solved. Fair winds.
GOOD SAVE. The two leaks may very well be related. Check the engine mounting area to see if it has loose bolts/mounts. Make sure the engine vibration is minimal. GOOD SAVE. GOOD LUCK from down under.
Nice job staying cool, calm and collected under pressure cap't, nice save for all on board. Love tortilla pizza's...try a seafood pizza, white clam sauce, clams, garlic and jack cheese....sometimes I'll throw a few grilled shrimp on there too...
OMG you guys...so glad you guys caught it when you did and had a place to haul out quickly. Previous owner AND surveyor need some words at the least for that jury rigged elbow. Best wishes and hope to see you soon!
Wow guys! SOOO Happy history didn't repeat itself. You both have such an amazing attitude (and I know off camera it might not be all wonderful but), way to live up to the experience you're getting on this one right? Experience always tests you before teaching you the lesson, glad you were able to manage this one! Hang in, we all love you!
Not again!!! Given that your boat's previous owner thought that pipe was an acceptable repair / maintenance, I think you really need to ask what else has been compromised like that - what other systems are held together with scotch-tape and luck? I suggest that you start looking. At everything.
I think it was covered in that heat tape, I doubt any surveyor is going to remove the tape to check the elbow. Also, if the elbow is rotting from the inside out, which what they normally do, by the time they start leaking, its a short period to serious leaking or major failure. However, from my own experience and being around boats, I would not splash a boat without thoroughly going thru all seacocks hoses, clamps and fittings, the mixing elbow being one of them. I actually keep a spare on my boat always. The heat exchanger and exhaust system should VERY thoroughly be inspected, its a source of water entry into the vessel, same thing with that shaft seal. One needs extreme confidence in these systems. Ignorance is bliss will catch you out in boating. Boat survival 101=keep water out of boat
Heck with the surveyors , They look at the boat once when you buy it. They can be all over the map with quality of work and detail. I remember one looking at rigging, saying it was fine, and then going out and checking it and finding broken pieces of cable , very easy to find. If you value your life, you've got to check your own boat with a really good head lamp and a pad writing down EVERYTHING questionable. Some things just need to be done even if they look fine. Corrosion means possibly no zinc on your prop shaft outside. They should be clamped to the prop shaft just behind the propeller. A surveyor isn't going to dive and look at that. Playlist with a bunch of things to look at and try to understand . Sailing Technology ruclips.net/video/_qaw4PYQ2CY/видео.html Also, pick up these books. before you lose your boat ! www.cruisingworld.com/how/meet-guru-sailing-systems
It's hard to tell from the video, but bellows on the PSS shaft seal did not look compressed at all. The compression make the seal between the carbon bushing and the stainless rotating rotor.2 set screws lock the rotor to the shaft and maintains the compression.You should absolutely add a 2 piece locking collar in front of the PSS stainless rotor as a secondary means of keeping the rotor from sliding and losing compression. They have stainless steel ones on Amazon. You just need to know your shaft diameter.If you look on the PYI website, the locking collars are standard on the "PRO" model.
Always check for water over the transom when you start your engine. Double clamp your through hulls! Glad you were on board this time. Do you have a set wooden boat plugs? Also take on board a roll of double sided pipe tape that works in wet situations. . Any hole in the bottom of you boat should be checked or at least touched with your hand weekly. (like aircraft folks do with their vital fittings.) I have a yacht designer friend who refuses to put any through hulls in his offshore boats...period.
Interesting. Very interesting. I have to believe Catalina wouldn't have designed it that way.... If you find out let us know! My Catalina 320 hit the water this week, will do all the necessary stuff on Saturday and Sunday and hopefully we get out on Monday. Long cold spring it has been...... Sorry you guys didn't stick around the Chesy for a while, would have loved to do a meetup. I will follow you back down, and if the timing is right, maybe figure something out then. Looking forward to your further adventures.
The reason that piece failed is because of dissimilar metals corrosion. When you weld two different types of metal together, or use a different type of filler metal for the weldment, then you put it in a marine environment you will get electrolysis at that junction of the dissimilar metals, which will eat the weld right out. If it was my boat I would be building a brand new piece out of 309L stainless, the L stands for "Low Carbon" it is not as strong as high carbon steel, but it will not corrode unless in an anaerobic environment, meaning stainless needs to breathe. So as long as there is air flow, you are good!
I would strongly disagree on your reasoning why it failed.... as a welder and i apologize if this is overly long response as im trying to keep it short (believe it or not :). From that video, it looks like they added that smaller pipe to the larger one (that cracked) or someone repaired it at some point. IMO it doesn't appear to look like a cracked weld but the pipe itself cracked most likely from when they joined that smaller pipe in or repairing it. The pipe that cracked looks like cast iron, and if you've ever welded cast iron you know it's a pain in the ass and if you dump to much heat into to fast and also without any preheat you will get cracks or it will start to crack. Equally as important in the welding of cast iron is the selection of filler material. Most cast iron repairs are welded with a rod with high nickel content but many people get by using a filler like 308 or 309l because of their ability to absorb carbon from the cast iron. If using regular mild steel filler it becomes too hard and so to speak, it cracks. Cast iron can also be tig brazed which is acceptable with an believe it or not aluminum bronze filler as long as it doesnt have any heat cycles or thermal expanding. From day 1 when that was welded/ repaired it had a small crack in and over time spread throughout and around till it cracked off. Nothing to do with dissimliar metals corroding but more to do with metals heating up and cooling down expanding at different rates (thermal expansion) which causes and spreads cracks in cast iron. Cast iron is much more brittle than say mild steel. You can weld stainless with mild steel filler rod like er-70s6 no problem, obviously your filler materials isnt going last as long in a marine enviroment and certainly not the best choice, but for the most part they will not cause galvanic corrosion between the two metals. Steel on aluminum will cause galvanic corrosion and seize pretty quick but usually not steel on steel regardless of stainless on mild. Im sure you know but its pretty much impossible to weld two very dissimilar metals like aluminum and steel. If going stainless steel route replacement 309L is a fine choice, but 316 is best imo. One thing is for sure, stainless ain't cheap and finding someone to bend some pipe can be difficult. Kind of hard to tell from the video but I probably would see if some flexible exhaust hose could fill the gap removing the entire piece thats connect to the crack (or cutting the end off of the cast piece like two inches above where it cracked) or last idea ill throw out their... but not the best find some 5052 aluminum tube with like 1/4 inch wall thickness and have someone bend that because its going to be much much much cheaper than stainless and still last quite along time, Have them weld a couple posts on the inside for a sacrifcial anode...
Looking at the shots of the Racor filter change, it looks like a blob of the black bacteria that can grow in old fuel. If it is, that can build up in the tank over time and plug filters if you get into really rough water and stir it up. I would suggest you use a biocide like Biobor or West Marine's version regularly. Fuel polishing might be worth doing.
So much that can go south with older boats. While I hate checklists, when it comes to connections below the water line a checklist combined with daily inspections is something to consider. I'm currently shopping for my next boat and the Catalina 30 is one of the vessels I'm considering so your near critical misfortune is a learning experience for me. Better luck to you in the future.
Good job guys. You are doing great. Saved your boat from sinking. Pay no mind to the Monday morning quarterbacks. If you fix everything on your boat before you drop it in the water I guarantee you'll never get to sail it. If I remember right you picked up the boat in Deltaville. Why didn't you keep it there to fix it up? Lots of upside there.
Why give negative remarks or the thumb down, iff you can't say anything nice about people don't say anything at all, why are some people so negative ?, has to be jealousy. Good vidios you two and the little dog looks cute in her coat, safe sailing.
I have one of those dripless fittings. I was told, and i have purchased a bycicle inner tube. Cut it lengthways to make a big rubber bandage. If it leakes, wrap around the dripless and hold it in place with cable ties. As for leaking...check the allen screws are tight. Should be two. Then there should be another alen screw which holds the inner screw in place. If it leaks, it is usually because the tension on the bellows is not enough.
The bike tire could be very useful in a pinch. I have some rubber around that could probably suffice for now but adding it to the list for emergencies.
You know Wes, while you're out might be good to check that rudder tube area as well. Im not sure how your vessel is configured but that can be a rupture point as well and typically unnoticed until it's an issue. There's a bearing and gland there as well. Good luck. Capt Kaz
Same thing happened on our 1989 Catalina 30 last summer. Catalina Direct has the part but will not sell it to you without also buying a very expensive heat blanket to put on it so you don’t burn the wood directly above it. From what I understand it is the welding of the stainless steel that causes these to fail on a fairly regular time line. Bottom line about $500 bucks as I recall. You will also need the gasket that seals the exhaust riser bracket to the engine to remove to replace the riser. Also a gallon of antifreeze. That exhaust riser gasket is not easy to remove from the engine so be prepared to spend some serious time with a single edge razor blade removing it. Keep practicing your whistling. You will get better over time and people will always know when you are around as they will hear your unique sound and immediately know you are around.
That is more common on XP25 engines than you would like to think. The proper exhaust riser is expensive and many mechanics will "make" one up for you. I have see this failure, or rust out etc for boats in salt water.
Most of the mixing elbows I have seen are made from hardware store black iron pipe that screws together. I built one for my Atomic-4. You just have to expect that it won't last more than about 10 years or so.
Wes and company, all the stuff that failed there should be a regular look see. Exhaust elbows are prone to clogging and rusting from the inside out. The clogging reduces water flow to the engine, and when they fail it’s usually pretty quick. The “smoke” was probably steam. I also have one of the dripless glands and worry about it. They are ripe for catastrophic failures. If you haven’t done so already, change your raw water impeller. You may have damaged it when you ran dry. Keep several spares. Never trust what the survey says, they barely look at things and give statements like “ it appears” to be in working order. Such BS. Do your own inspections, check your own hoses etc. One more thing, when you come down the Delaware, it can be a long day, check out Cohansey River for a possible anchorage. It’s one of the few decent places to drop the hook if you are not going to make Cape May. Nothing much there but it’s deep and fairly protected.
I was just looking at that on the charts, looks a little shallow around the mouth with some shoaling? Have you been up there with a deeper boat? Thanks for looking out!
I have been in the Cohansey twice with 5' draft. Around the first bend is a decent spot close to shore, but lots of current. The approach had lots of crab traps when we were there.
you may want to swap the alternator while at it. my concern is salt on copper, along with wear and tear. and those hoses look so-so. inspect those things. you are going to need to test the heat exchanger before venturing out. March2Mortality is probably right.
It may have been already mentioned but seriously wash your engine with warm soapy water to get rid of all the salt, please do not leave it. Then use misting oil or engine paint ..... otherwise it will rust like hell and devalue the boat ....
Good news there not sinking. Keep in mind if the water being pumped out of the bilge was really hot those plastic bilge pumps will deform depending on how long/hot it was!! Also double check your motor mounts, or your cutlass bearing. Vibration could have done the exhaust in....A flexible coupling or a sigma drive coupler makes a lot of those thrust issues and engine alignment a non-issue. A flexible coupling also makes the engine last longer, cutlass bearings last longer, and probably reduces the engine noise by like half for a lot of people.
We had the whole engine gone through by a great professional, even went above and beyond. Brought us replacement belt, when through the electric pump filter, checked transmission oil, new coolant, new mixing elbow, check it thorough and said the mounts looked great. We dropped the collar on the stuffing box back 3/4" and had it properly set, don't think this was the case before..
I think it is a good boat, and it sounds like the surveyor is one stand up guy. Everybody can miss things too, and sometimes things just break when they get used. Perhaps no need to jump on anyone over this, but that is best left up to your own opinion. Still a flexible coupling or a Sigma Drive Coupler can save you a whole lot of headaches and maintenance costs in the long run. I have a friend that has one of the Brunton's Sigma Drive couplers on his fishing boat. It has saved him what he says is 25000 in costs over the past couple years. (Constant engine alignment costs, haul out, cutlass bearing replacements, shaft replacement, vibration damage) Sailing Prism did a bit in a video about the coupler that I just watched after looking for a review. Search their videos to see what I am talking about.
Moving the collar not too long before the leaking... any connection there? Also, if you didn't burp the shaft seal to release the air in it when you launched, you may have damaged the facing ring ( carbon, I think) by running it hot for too long. Having used such seals over many years, I have seen one fail, but by starting to drip, not completely failing suddenly.
good job on getting out of there. if you aren't already doing so, you might want to check all hoses leading to and from the engine and maybe all hoses connected to through hulls. keep smiling :-))
Didn’t you have a surveyor when you bought boat? He should have picked that up. As far as the shaft leaking very common needs new packing. Glad you guys are safe.
If you had your boat surveyed as recommended in a required by most insurance companies from the approved list of surveyors make a call enlarge a complaint against the surveyor with proof that this was missed on a survey any insurance company May remove him from their list I did this to a surveyor he missed a cracked through hull valve because he didn't cycle them
Hallo chaps! So sorry that you had this problem 😕😤 Fate, however, seems to have luckily played a role, inasmuch as you didn't have this terrible situation 'in the middle of nowhere '!☺ All love, and best wishes, Claire, Berlin 😘 😘 ✌ 👍
Needs a full inspection and replacement of those inspection items found. Also where is the log book for these things which I would think should have been found by who ever surveyed your boat. Log book should have data on filters, packing, zinc and other things that last only so long. An entry on a home depot fix should have alerted everybody. A separate maintenance schedule sheet should be in use too letting you know it's time to do a packing fix, replace all the rubber, etc etc so you go on the hard when you need all this kinda stuff done. What you need to study up on and cheapest route to getting all this done. Ops too long.
Looking at the busted weld and the PSS shaft seal failure I'd say that you really need to look at motor mounts and the engine bed condition. These two events are definitely linked, and the common denominator points to excessive engine movement. I would also take a very close look at your prop-shaft for a bend in it, as well as a worn cutlass bearing. Running with a loose engine and/or excessive vibration can destroy a cutlass bearing in no time. Or a bad bearing can be a contributor to excessive vibration in itself. You guys are at a marina and it looks like you have some professional help. Hopefully they are on this and giving you good advice here. Good luck. Hopefully your wallets can absorb this hit. An unexpected haul-out can be pretty expensive in itself. Get everything fixed-up so you don't need to do this all over again soon.
ALL PROPELLER SHAFT SEALS FAIL AT SOME POINT. Conventional stuffing boxes fail a little bit at a time over a long period of time letting you know along the way (by dripping progressively worse and worse along the way). DRIPPLESS seals fail suddenly and let you know they have failed by sinking your boat. GET RID OF THE DRIP-LESS P.O.S. next time you haul out. A properly maintained and adjusted conventional stuffing box drips at a rate less the ambient evaporation...you'll never know it is dripping if you'll learn how to use it. No need for a drip-less that will sink your boat again.
Glad to hear you guys didn't sink. What day was that? I was just out there last weekend sailing my little catamaran about a mile up the river from where you were. My buddies parents live right across from the canal entrance and I launch there sometimes.
Whistle, and you might “whistle up a storm.” This superstition is another that’s well known, so much so that it’s worked its way into modern vernacular. But whistling in and of itself wasn’t thought to be unlucky. In fact, sailors might whistle intentionally to try to stir a breeze when their boat was becalmed. Still, the danger of turning a breeze into blustery winds meant sailors had to be judicious when they pursed their lips. It is also said blue invites water onto boat
Dripless mechanical seal - has 4 set screws that keep that stainless steel ring tight against the shaft. Need to preload the bellows more and tighten the set screws up against the carbon face of the bellows. Check out PSS Shaft Seals website for step by step instructions.
Wes bud, you guys have more courage than 99% of the people out there, myself included, but you have to learn how to work on a boat. On a 20 year old boat the first thing you do when you buy it is replace every hose. Cooling water (you would have seen the home brew on the cooling circuit), water to the head/sink, fuel fill, head discharge...every hose that touches water or exhaust. Working on boats isn't fun (sometimes), but it is rewarding. You'll bust up some knuckles, you'll learn yoga contorting your body into weird engine spaces, it hurts, but you have to learn how to work on the boat. Cleaning a boat isn't working on a boat...if you haven't rebuilt each seacock and ensured that they're properly installed (Don Casey writes some great books...buy any of his 'how to maintain old boats'), read it and follow the advice. Please dude...if that isn't your first priority then you're setting yourself up for trouble. It's not a surveyor's job to find every leaking fitting, hose, thru-hull...new dinghies and LED lights that change color are nice but you're on borrowed time if you don't focus on the right things. You guys are both extremely brave, and I love your passion, your positive outlook, your channel, but you have to get that boat in order...don't have somebody else look at it...do it yourself...learn your boat.
Exhaust is a 5-year maintenance issue. A leak would spew water and exhaust. Check my videos for a quick tutorial on exhaust and stuffing box maintenance.
![How we made our Sailboat's Engine 50% quieter - [Ryan's Tech Corner]](/img/1.gif)
Thanks for all the good words everyone, here's the link if you are interested in the T-shirt Pre-Order. We'll be making them next month and sending them out then. wicked-salty.myshopify.com/products/wicked-salty-new-beginnings-t-shirt
Just a little dry rot, every boats got it. You’re lucky, yours is above the waterline. Well, mostly, anyway. Captain Ron!
How are the T-shirt sizes? I can't find any size charts. What size does Wes use? I bet I'm between the size of Wes and Kate somewhere.
Hang in there you guys! I've been watching your videos with my dad for a while and I have to say, yours is the ONLY sailing vlog that I really enjoy. Your humble, down to earth attitude is refreshing. I feel so bad for all the boat trouble you've had! Makes me wish I was rich and could just buy you a new boat! Ignore all the rude comments on here. You seem to be meticulous in maintaining things on your boat, but it'd be difficult to catch EVERYTHING! It's weird to care about someone you've never met, but my dad and I are rooting for you every step of the way! Keep your chins up!
For the raw water output weld to break followed with a stuffing box leak... I would check your motor mounts ! The engine possibly could have jumped / rocked in the cradle to cause these multiple issues to occur simultaneously. Possibly a misalignment issue?
Good call. This is the only explanation for what could be the cause of the joint breaking and the PSS shaft seal suddenly taking on water. Otherwise they'd just be coincidental. The shaft seal works by compression of the bellows so if the motor moved forward it would cause it to leak and would break the crap weld on the elbow. Only other explanation for the seal leaking is if the collar slipped (which will happen if the set screws were not properly installed...use new set screws any time you adjust the seal). Putting a shaft zinc up against the collar is also good insurance against it ever slipping. But I would check the engine mounts for sure. Not a cheap fix either...basically at least a day of labor to replace them, assuming the beds themselves are fine. Good luck! And yes, that is NOT a place you want to break down.
AmfIII I agree especially since he has the good seal on that boat
ditto
Sounds like they need to get an experienced sailor/mechanic to go over that boat, engine, rigging, everything. Although stories showing masts falling in wind gusts and boats ending up on rocky sea walls get a lot of views, don't want to go there. Boat needs to be out on the hard before it sinks.
@@betageek66 PYI now sells their shaft seals with a split retention collar that clamps the shaft forward of the fixed flange. This ensures that if the weak set screws give way, the forward flange can't move, letting in seawater. The OP should retrofit his shaft; PYI sells these shaft retention collars individually.
How can you not love these all American sailors!!!!! I love wicked salty!
Capt Christine
I just ordered a shirt. Thanks for not just asking for money, but for offering a great product in return for financial support. You two are living a lot of our dreams, and are some of the coolest people on the RUclipss. Fair winds and following seas to you both (and Lola).
I really enjoy your VLOG... one of the few if any sailing adventurists that have seemed to flood youtube. I admire your passionate but humble adventures and have been following you guys since you started so many years ago. It's a shame so many desktop sailors have nothing to say but negative trash but that is expected when there are those that only wish ill on others following their dreams. I have owned and operated various photography/video production companies for more than 35 years now building a new company for my kids. I am not in anyway concerned with the quality of your videos. I see in your videos the passionate hearts the both of your have and that is far more important than gimbal smooth shots. My best wishes and prayers go out to the both of you and keep on trudging through the inevitable valleys. That's what makes you strong. !!!!
Not Today! Congratulations, Job Well Done Under Pressure!
I have an 89 Catalina 30. Same thing happened to our engine. Exhaust riser elbow failure after we hit a sandbar at John's Pass in Madeira Beach, Fl.. Catalinas are made in Largo, Fl. They have a great shop, we took it in and they rebuilt a whole new riser and elbow. Happy sailing!
Wes, I think I know what happened, when the raw water line fitting broke, cutting off water flow to the engine, it also cut water flow off to the PPS shaft seal. With out water pumping it may have caused the bearing surface to over heat and possibly warp. Another thing I saw is when you touched the alternator and it was hot, that might mean it’s got a short in it, and it will drain your battery and not charge correctly. It may have been water spraying in the compartment that’s shorted it out. I just had a similar alternator issue where the alternator was warm/ hot due to a short inside. I noticed you said it was hot when you’ve obviously been on the blocks, so the engine should have cooled off by then. Please make sure you have the alternator checked out too.
About breaking down. I would have 1) killed the engine, 2) closed off the raw water engine thru hull. that would stop your engine water leak. 3) put the engine in reverse which locks the shaft, wrapped the leaking shaft seal with a rag, then saran wrap or some plastic baggies cut flat and then another rag. That would address your water intrusions. Then if you tied your dingy midship you could move under your own power and steer in your boat. I've used my dingy that way when I ran out of fuel between the Truks and Dominican Republic AND there was NO WIND. Ran 6 hours that way! You have to learn to work with what is at hand instead of calling for help like when your nowhere near civilization. Away from the ICW help is not minutes away. Also in the worse flooding just head to shallow waters. Water won't keep rising inside when your aground. Cheers
Do you have installed a high water alarm/s below your floor boards??? Never heard of people waking up in the middle of the night with water above the floor boards? I had one small bilge pump for every day use and two 1000 gal rule's each on their own float switches at different heights, both with alarms. Redundancy on a boat is important.
A good argument for a traditional stuffing box. It is why I'd never have a dripless shaft. It must be hauled to fix it. Also a suggestion: Put a light in the cockpit that goes on when the bilge pump goes on. In that way you'll know if you are starting to have a problem of water intrusion quickly. If the light is going on with greater frequency than normal, time to explore. This saved me on one occasion.
Amen. A good stuffing box is the way to go. These fancy new gadgets are not worth it. Besides with a stuffing box you can service it while in the water if you have a decent bilge pump.
I’m so glad that you guys got to a safe place without sinking and I can’t wait to see how y’all fix it I enjoy the videos and adventures keep it up
Glad you guys were able to save the boat, and that the water didn't make it up to the engine. You were the first boating vlog I started watching a few years back, and since then I bought an awesome 42' boat in Maryland and single handed it down to Fort Lauderdale where I live. You are both experienced sailors and I've got nothing but love for you, and I just know that this boat journey will be a great success for you three. This was just a hiccup and you managed it perfectly!!
So glad to hear you are safely on land. Hopefully you have time (or should take the time) to completely check over all the tubing and connections, and maybe all thru-hulls. Be safe and take care.
Glad you guys are OK. Scary situation for sure. We just had a similar thing happen 3 weeks ago on the exhaust line on our Beneteau 281 in Lake Michigan. In our case, a flexible hose partially slid off a solid fitting, so there was still some water going out the exhaust and we didn't know until the water made it to the floor boards. Flipped the bilge pump on the suction line was kinked, and therefore didn't work. We were able to shut down and fix the leak and make it to the marina and manually pump the rest out, but still scary until we figured out the problem!
Not today! Haha best line in the vid. It's so awesome to see how your previous experiences has prepared you. So well handled and you just roll on. Well done.
Lock motor to tender, lock tender to dock, lock motor to sailboat, lock tender to sailboat at night. It is a long swim with groceries.
Try foam earplugs during long day if under power.
Replace water impeller often which is another common overheating.
I only trust the old fashioned stuffing box that allows you to add more packing.
I see a lot of “Monday morning quarterbacks” here explaining what they would have done. You guys did great under pressure. The mind doesn’t work the same as your boat is sinking. Hard not to panic. Great job guys!! Bottom line: Boats spend their entire life trying to sink! LOL
GLAD YOU’RE OK TO SAIL ANOTHER DAY! Rrrrrrrr! Love, and respect, Pirate Roy
truth! thanks pirate roy!
Good thing these issues exposed themselves where you were near resources to deal with it effectively. I would be inspecting this boat for any other shoddy repairs and effecting changes. Great video, keep up the good work.
Glad we got it fixed, seemed like a ticking time bomb after noticing and addressing it.
“Not Today!” - Love Love Love you two’s attitude.
exhausting at times. Sailing friend said to me once "you have to have the bitter to get to the sweet" with boating. After all the work to launch, i actually need a break from the boat for a week and then I am in love again!
So true, love hate at times, but it beats not being on the water!
Made the riser for our C30 out of black Iron pipe bought online from McMaster. Got the proper mixing fitting from Moyer marine as well as pipe heat wrap from same. I do think they sell a diesel exhaust flange a Moyer (the do A4 mostly) to adapt for the Iron pipe. The riser is pretty much a once every 5 year replace type part. Can be cobbled together for under $100 or so.
My guess is that the dripless failed when the water supply to the dripless stopped. The water cooling from the engine supplies water to the dripless to function properly.
Not on a sailboat. It never goes fast enough to create a vacuum and run dry. For sailboats, the seal comes with a vent hose that you lead above the waterline, close to the centerline. And that was only added in later models just to simplify the product line. All they should have to do is burp the seal when the boat is splashed after being hauled.
Lots of good info in here about what could have happened. To add one small note, with your prop shaft turning while you are trying to hold the dripless from leaking, you could have put the transmission into reverse to stop the shaft. Might have helped slow the leak a bit, and at that point you could have packed it with towels or something instead of using your hands.
exactly. Or even reset the tension on the bellows.
You did a good job, vessel was saved.
I would change all the coolant hoses, belts, exhaust elbow before heading out in a used boat. When the hoses are off back flush the heat exchanger and engine block, bits of rubber impeller will probably come out. Install a new raw water pump impeller. Or better yet install a Speed Seal kit (Google it).
The dripless prop shaft seal should have the rubber gator compressed about an 1", there is an exact specification in the installation notes. The seal should have a vent with a hose going above the waterline. If yours does not have a vent its quite old and needs to be replaced. If it drips a bit it can be compressed a bit more. Then install a second stainless ring to prevent the dripless ring from moving forward.
When motoring look closely at the engine every hour to confirm everything is OK.
A bilge alarm is cheap insurance. You can also get a flow alarm on the raw water hose, Defender sells them.
Fair winds !
Glad you saved it.
So now it is on the hard check all conections for other potential issues
Try to get a bilge alarm with an off switch for alarm
Get tape that can take heat for emergancy repair
Flex seal tape too
Add another bilge pump one with high gph
I believe it is johnson that has a 3k and 4k gph pump
Amazon has it and bilge alarm pretty cheap
West marine has the one tape walmart and lowes flex seal tape
So sorry about your troubles Brother. At least this time you didn't sink. Good luck from now on.
Thanks for posting. So glad you had the help you needed to take care of those leaks!
Thanks Lance!
Not Today!!! (Great slogan for Wicked Salty t-shirts). I was on the edge of my seat for that whole video, sorry for your distress and thanks for sharing.
not today ! Glad you enjoyed it!
That’s why I haven’t changed my old fashion packing gland to a PSS shaft seal.
Check your heat exchanger while you’re in there. Mine just failed because a bushing was epoxied into the boss for the zinc anode by the previous owner. Long story, but epoxy let go leaving a hole for water to pump into boat.
Get wood plugs for all thru hulls and try them to the valve so they are there within reach if a hose or thruhull fails. Be sure on the lifting straps are not on a thruhull the weight of boat can cause the fiberglass to fail and your through the hull fitting breaks out and you flood.
Get a water float switch with a loud audio alarm in the cockpit you can hear when engine is running. This is personal experience I hope you don't have to learn the hard way. One flooded boat is enough.
I seen some water hoses with double hose clamps and some with single hose clamps. Do you know why it is a good idea for double clamps?
Don't depend on a boat inspector to find all the problems. Some make check lists and schedule inspections to prevent supprises.
Have a happy and safe 2021.
Wes. I am sure you have things handled by now. Some advice. Water temp is not accurate if it does not have water on the probe. Oil temp is a safer way to determine when the motor is getting critical. I.E. the water temp can show no overheat due to 160deg. Air temp while the oil shows critical heat.
65 Riv very nice
Oh, and if you don't have one, you should definitely invest in a bilge alarm! I won't have a boat with out one, my friend almost sank his 48' motor yacht one sunny day because he was making coffee and in order to do so was running his generator.
A hose clamp failed and the exhaust cooling water from the gen set started pumping into the bilge.
He took on about 1500 gallons of water and almost sank before he realized there was a problem.
Almost turned a nice cruise around the bay into a disaster! He later had to replace all 3 starters, alternators and much of the wiring in his engine room.
Needless to say he installed a bilge alarm after that!
A bilge alarm is nice, I simply added an alarm to my bilge pump. Whenever the bilge pump sees power it also is energizing a pizo alarm screaming in the cockpit (with a silence button obviously because you don't need a screaming alarm once you realize you have a problem and are dealing with it.) I will eventually put in another high-water alarm on a separate circuit and another float switch higher up someday. We have a very dry boat and only get a tiny bit of water in the bilge over weeks and weeks of the stuffing box slowly dripping when we are moving. The bilge pump never runs unless we forget to manually pump out the bilge once a month or so of the quart of water that might be at the bottom. So if the bilge pump does run, I want to know about it right away.
I also installed a counter on the bilge pump so I can immediately tell if it has run when we were away from the boat, and how many times. The counter is part of the bilge pump panel I built at the nav station, right next to the on/off/auto switch, the alarm silence button, and the fuse that protects the motor.
You guys were right in my back yard. Glad you made it into the slings safely. The current can definitely get gnarly in the canal and it can be a tight fit when the big boys come through. I assume you are gone by now which is a shame. Happy sailing and thanks for sharing.
Just ordered my new shirt, cannot wait! You guys are awesome and smart. Glad that your crisis was diverted. You saw how true boaters will jump in to help one another!
Yes. It is called the "Golden Rule" and it works great! [ No government intervention needed for the human race to survive quite well on its own. Imagine that.]
Thanks so much Scott! we really appreciate it
Thanks so much Scott! we really appreciate it
That's why we have an outboard on our sailboat. Fair enough, it's smaller than yours, but the peace of mind is worth it! I'm going to remove all the through-hulls later this year. A boat should have no holes below the waterline!
Better to find these problems now, in places where it’s easy to fix, than later, anchored off some island in the middle of nowhere! Thanks for sharing!
That's the truth! Thanks ralph
Lesson learned. Inspect everything. Replace all rubber hoses. Don't take anything for granted.
Hi. Been following you for some time. Love the vlogs. The new format sounds great. People love to see the local areas from a cruisers viewpoint. If you are still in the C&D there is a great little town almost across from you, Chesapeake City. We are from Brewster but boat winters in Florida. One suggestion, if you guys like coffee, we bought a stainless French press coffee maker. Its easy to use and clean and makes great coffee. Hope your latest problems are easily solved. Fair winds.
GOOD SAVE. The two leaks may very well be related. Check the engine mounting area to see if it has loose bolts/mounts. Make sure the engine vibration is minimal. GOOD SAVE. GOOD LUCK from down under.
Proper alignment is a standard issue to cope with when the engines lyes so far from aft
Glad everything worked out. and you saved the boat.
Nice job staying cool, calm and collected under pressure cap't, nice save for all on board. Love tortilla pizza's...try a seafood pizza, white clam sauce, clams, garlic and jack cheese....sometimes I'll throw a few grilled shrimp on there too...
OMG you guys...so glad you guys caught it when you did and had a place to haul out quickly. Previous owner AND surveyor need some words at the least for that jury rigged elbow. Best wishes and hope to see you soon!
Wow guys! SOOO Happy history didn't repeat itself. You both have such an amazing attitude (and I know off camera it might not be all wonderful but), way to live up to the experience you're getting on this one right? Experience always tests you before teaching you the lesson, glad you were able to manage this one! Hang in, we all love you!
I'm so glad you were able to save you boat
Not again!!!
Given that your boat's previous owner thought that pipe was an acceptable repair / maintenance, I think you really need to ask what else has been compromised like that - what other systems are held together with scotch-tape and luck? I suggest that you start looking. At everything.
Why didn’t your surveyors find these problems?
smokedoliver1 I wondered that as well. You'd think a good surveyor would've spotted an old half-assed patch job.
I think it was covered in that heat tape, I doubt any surveyor is going to remove the tape to check the elbow. Also, if the elbow is rotting from the inside out, which what they normally do, by the time they start leaking, its a short period to serious leaking or major failure.
However, from my own experience and being around boats, I would not splash a boat without thoroughly going thru all seacocks hoses, clamps and fittings, the mixing elbow being one of them. I actually keep a spare on my boat always.
The heat exchanger and exhaust system should VERY thoroughly be inspected, its a source of water entry into the vessel, same thing with that shaft seal.
One needs extreme confidence in these systems. Ignorance is bliss will catch you out in boating.
Boat survival 101=keep water out of boat
Heck with the surveyors , They look at the boat once when you buy it. They can be all over the map with quality of work and detail. I remember one looking at rigging, saying it was fine, and then going out and checking it and finding broken pieces of cable , very easy to find. If you value your life, you've got to check your own boat with a really good head lamp and a pad writing down EVERYTHING questionable. Some things just need to be done even if they look fine. Corrosion means possibly no zinc on your prop shaft outside. They should be clamped to the prop shaft just behind the propeller. A surveyor isn't going to dive and look at that. Playlist with a bunch of things to look at and try to understand . Sailing Technology ruclips.net/video/_qaw4PYQ2CY/видео.html
Also, pick up these books. before you lose your boat ! www.cruisingworld.com/how/meet-guru-sailing-systems
Glad everything worked out guys keep up the great videos!!!
It's hard to tell from the video, but bellows on the PSS shaft seal did not look compressed at all. The compression make the seal between the carbon bushing and the stainless rotating rotor.2 set screws lock the rotor to the shaft and maintains the compression.You should absolutely add a 2 piece locking collar in front of the PSS stainless rotor as a secondary means of keeping the rotor from sliding and losing compression. They have stainless steel ones on Amazon. You just need to know your shaft diameter.If you look on the PYI website, the locking collars are standard on the "PRO" model.
Always check for water over the transom when you start your engine. Double clamp your through hulls! Glad you were on board this time. Do you have a set wooden boat plugs? Also take on board a roll of double sided pipe tape that works in wet situations. . Any hole in the bottom of you boat should be checked or at least touched with your hand weekly. (like aircraft folks do with their vital fittings.) I have a yacht designer friend who refuses to put any through hulls in his offshore boats...period.
Interesting. Very interesting. I have to believe Catalina wouldn't have designed it that way.... If you find out let us know! My Catalina 320 hit the water this week, will do all the necessary stuff on Saturday and Sunday and hopefully we get out on Monday. Long cold spring it has been...... Sorry you guys didn't stick around the Chesy for a while, would have loved to do a meetup. I will follow you back down, and if the timing is right, maybe figure something out then. Looking forward to your further adventures.
The reason that piece failed is because of dissimilar metals corrosion. When you weld two different types of metal together, or use a different type of filler metal for the weldment, then you put it in a marine environment you will get electrolysis at that junction of the dissimilar metals, which will eat the weld right out.
If it was my boat I would be building a brand new piece out of 309L stainless, the L stands for "Low Carbon" it is not as strong as high carbon steel, but it will not corrode unless in an anaerobic environment, meaning stainless needs to breathe. So as long as there is air flow, you are good!
I would strongly disagree on your reasoning why it failed.... as a welder and i apologize if this is overly long response as im trying to keep it short (believe it or not :). From that video, it looks like they added that smaller pipe to the larger one (that cracked) or someone repaired it at some point. IMO it doesn't appear to look like a cracked weld but the pipe itself cracked most likely from when they joined that smaller pipe in or repairing it. The pipe that cracked looks like cast iron, and if you've ever welded cast iron you know it's a pain in the ass and if you dump to much heat into to fast and also without any preheat you will get cracks or it will start to crack. Equally as important in the welding of cast iron is the selection of filler material. Most cast iron repairs are welded with a rod with high nickel content but many people get by using a filler like 308 or 309l because of their ability to absorb carbon from the cast iron. If using regular mild steel filler it becomes too hard and so to speak, it cracks. Cast iron can also be tig brazed which is acceptable with an believe it or not aluminum bronze filler as long as it doesnt have any heat cycles or thermal expanding.
From day 1 when that was welded/ repaired it had a small crack in and over time spread throughout and around till it cracked off. Nothing to do with dissimliar metals corroding but more to do with metals heating up and cooling down expanding at different rates (thermal expansion) which causes and spreads cracks in cast iron. Cast iron is much more brittle than say mild steel.
You can weld stainless with mild steel filler rod like er-70s6 no problem, obviously your filler materials isnt going last as long in a marine enviroment and certainly not the best choice, but for the most part they will not cause galvanic corrosion between the two metals. Steel on aluminum will cause galvanic corrosion and seize pretty quick but usually not steel on steel regardless of stainless on mild. Im sure you know but its pretty much impossible to weld two very dissimilar metals like aluminum and steel.
If going stainless steel route replacement 309L is a fine choice, but 316 is best imo. One thing is for sure, stainless ain't cheap and finding someone to bend some pipe can be difficult. Kind of hard to tell from the video but I probably would see if some flexible exhaust hose could fill the gap removing the entire piece thats connect to the crack (or cutting the end off of the cast piece like two inches above where it cracked) or last idea ill throw out their... but not the best find some 5052 aluminum tube with like 1/4 inch wall thickness and have someone bend that because its going to be much much much cheaper than stainless and still last quite along time, Have them weld a couple posts on the inside for a sacrifcial anode...
So glad your held your prop shaft together and got the boat out... live to fight another day!
Looking at the shots of the Racor filter change, it looks like a blob of the black bacteria that can grow in old fuel. If it is, that can build up in the tank over time and plug filters if you get into really rough water and stir it up. I would suggest you use a biocide like Biobor or West Marine's version regularly. Fuel polishing might be worth doing.
So much that can go south with older boats. While I hate checklists, when it comes to connections below the water line a checklist combined with daily inspections is something to consider. I'm currently shopping for my next boat and the Catalina 30 is one of the vessels I'm considering so your near critical misfortune is a learning experience for me. Better luck to you in the future.
The list is big on checks more than ever. Glad the vid helped and shed some light!
Good job guys. You are doing great. Saved your boat from sinking. Pay no mind to the Monday morning quarterbacks. If you fix everything on your boat before you drop it in the water I guarantee you'll never get to sail it.
If I remember right you picked up the boat in Deltaville. Why didn't you keep it there to fix it up? Lots of upside there.
yup id agree defently a bad diy try but you'll gather all fixed up the right way great vid
Why give negative remarks or the thumb down, iff you can't say anything nice about people don't say anything at all, why are some people so negative ?, has to be jealousy. Good vidios you two and the little dog looks cute in her coat, safe sailing.
So happy you guys are ok. Can't wait for the t-shirt.
Thanks so much Brian!
I have one of those dripless fittings. I was told, and i have purchased a bycicle inner tube. Cut it lengthways to make a big rubber bandage. If it leakes, wrap around the dripless and hold it in place with cable ties. As for leaking...check the allen screws are tight. Should be two. Then there should be another alen screw which holds the inner screw in place. If it leaks, it is usually because the tension on the bellows is not enough.
The bike tire could be very useful in a pinch. I have some rubber around that could probably suffice for now but adding it to the list for emergencies.
Wow, you got lucky this time! Thank god! You should get a spare bilge pump and a cable and lock for the dingy.
Time to ditch the PYI dripless shaft seal, they have been causing problems for years. The traditional stuffing box is your best and safest bet.
Yay!! Shaun and Julia "shout out."
You know Wes, while you're out might be good to check that rudder tube area as well. Im not sure how your vessel is configured but that can be a rupture point as well and typically unnoticed until it's an issue. There's a bearing and gland there as well. Good luck. Capt Kaz
Same thing happened on our 1989 Catalina 30 last summer. Catalina Direct has the part but will not sell it to you without also buying a very expensive heat blanket to put on it so you don’t burn the wood directly above it. From what I understand it is the welding of the stainless steel that causes these to fail on a fairly regular time line. Bottom line about $500 bucks as I recall. You will also need the gasket that seals the exhaust riser bracket to the engine to remove to replace the riser. Also a gallon of antifreeze. That exhaust riser gasket is not easy to remove from the engine so be prepared to spend some serious time with a single edge razor blade removing it. Keep practicing your whistling. You will get better over time and people will always know when you are around as they will hear your unique sound and immediately know you are around.
That is more common on XP25 engines than you would like to think. The proper exhaust riser is expensive and many mechanics will "make" one up for you. I have see this failure, or rust out etc for boats in salt water.
Stash is coming in brah.....
Another 30+ yrs and you be stylin' ;)
Most of the mixing elbows I have seen are made from hardware store black iron pipe that screws together. I built one for my Atomic-4. You just have to expect that it won't last more than about 10 years or so.
Wes and company, all the stuff that failed there should be a regular look see. Exhaust elbows are prone to clogging and rusting from the inside out. The clogging reduces water flow to the engine, and when they fail it’s usually pretty quick. The “smoke” was probably steam. I also have one of the dripless glands and worry about it. They are ripe for catastrophic failures. If you haven’t done so already, change your raw water impeller. You may have damaged it when you ran dry. Keep several spares. Never trust what the survey says, they barely look at things and give statements like “ it appears” to be in working order. Such BS. Do your own inspections, check your own hoses etc.
One more thing, when you come down the Delaware, it can be a long day, check out Cohansey River for a possible anchorage. It’s one of the few decent places to drop the hook if you are not going to make Cape May. Nothing much there but it’s deep and fairly protected.
I was just looking at that on the charts, looks a little shallow around the mouth with some shoaling? Have you been up there with a deeper boat? Thanks for looking out!
I have been in the Cohansey twice with 5' draft. Around the first bend is a decent spot close to shore, but lots of current. The approach had lots of crab traps when we were there.
you may want to swap the alternator while at it. my concern is salt on copper, along with wear and tear. and those hoses look so-so. inspect those things. you are going to need to test the heat exchanger before venturing out. March2Mortality is probably right.
Yup! She was cold in the grocery store! I can relate! Don't like their ac even though I know that it is a good thing for the food..... BUT NOT ME!
It may have been already mentioned but seriously wash your engine with warm soapy water to get rid of all the salt, please do not leave it. Then use misting oil or engine paint ..... otherwise it will rust like hell and devalue the boat ....
Good news there not sinking. Keep in mind if the water being pumped out of the bilge was really hot those plastic bilge pumps will deform depending on how long/hot it was!! Also double check your motor mounts, or your cutlass bearing. Vibration could have done the exhaust in....A flexible coupling or a sigma drive coupler makes a lot of those thrust issues and engine alignment a non-issue. A flexible coupling also makes the engine last longer, cutlass bearings last longer, and probably reduces the engine noise by like half for a lot of people.
We had the whole engine gone through by a great professional, even went above and beyond. Brought us replacement belt, when through the electric pump filter, checked transmission oil, new coolant, new mixing elbow, check it thorough and said the mounts looked great. We dropped the collar on the stuffing box back 3/4" and had it properly set, don't think this was the case before..
well he sure missed that one pipe/hose :-(
I think it is a good boat, and it sounds like the surveyor is one stand up guy. Everybody can miss things too, and sometimes things just break when they get used. Perhaps no need to jump on anyone over this, but that is best left up to your own opinion. Still a flexible coupling or a Sigma Drive Coupler can save you a whole lot of headaches and maintenance costs in the long run. I have a friend that has one of the Brunton's Sigma Drive couplers on his fishing boat. It has saved him what he says is 25000 in costs over the past couple years. (Constant engine alignment costs, haul out, cutlass bearing replacements, shaft replacement, vibration damage) Sailing Prism did a bit in a video about the coupler that I just watched after looking for a review. Search their videos to see what I am talking about.
Moving the collar not too long before the leaking... any connection there? Also, if you didn't burp the shaft seal to release the air in it when you launched, you may have damaged the facing ring ( carbon, I think) by running it hot for too long. Having used such seals over many years, I have seen one fail, but by starting to drip, not completely failing suddenly.
good job on getting out of there. if you aren't already doing so, you might want to check all hoses leading to and from the engine and maybe all hoses connected to through hulls.
keep smiling :-))
Didn’t you have a surveyor when you bought boat? He should have picked that up. As far as the shaft leaking very common needs new packing. Glad you guys are safe.
If you had your boat surveyed as recommended in a required by most insurance companies from the approved list of surveyors make a call enlarge a complaint against the surveyor with proof that this was missed on a survey any insurance company May remove him from their list I did this to a surveyor he missed a cracked through hull valve because he didn't cycle them
Hallo chaps!
So sorry that you had this problem 😕😤
Fate, however, seems to have luckily played a role, inasmuch as you didn't have this terrible situation 'in the middle of nowhere '!☺
All love, and best wishes, Claire, Berlin 😘 😘 ✌ 👍
Just got a shirt to help. Plus that is a boss color. Good luck!
I love your sound track that you use,,,,,,,, lol I have to get one from you sometime. when you first started you had some awesome sound track too.
Wow the surveyor should have caught that issues !!!
Love you guys (including little furry friend.) Keep up the good work!! 👍👍👏👏👏💪💪
wow that was way too close for comfort. hope you get it back together ok. Cheers from PEI Canada, Bryan.
Not Today!!! Love that.
Needs a full inspection and replacement of those inspection items found. Also where is the log book for these things which I would think should have been found by who ever surveyed your boat. Log book should have data on filters, packing, zinc and other things that last only so long. An entry on a home depot fix should have alerted everybody. A separate maintenance schedule sheet should be in use too letting you know it's time to do a packing fix, replace all the rubber, etc etc so you go on the hard when you need all this kinda stuff done. What you need to study up on and cheapest route to getting all this done. Ops too long.
Looking at the busted weld and the PSS shaft seal failure I'd say that you really need to look at motor mounts and the engine bed condition. These two events are definitely linked, and the common denominator points to excessive engine movement. I would also take a very close look at your prop-shaft for a bend in it, as well as a worn cutlass bearing. Running with a loose engine and/or excessive vibration can destroy a cutlass bearing in no time. Or a bad bearing can be a contributor to excessive vibration in itself. You guys are at a marina and it looks like you have some professional help. Hopefully they are on this and giving you good advice here.
Good luck. Hopefully your wallets can absorb this hit. An unexpected haul-out can be pretty expensive in itself. Get everything fixed-up so you don't need to do this all over again soon.
ALL PROPELLER SHAFT SEALS FAIL AT SOME POINT. Conventional stuffing boxes fail a little bit at a time over a long period of time letting you know along the way (by dripping progressively worse and worse along the way). DRIPPLESS seals fail suddenly and let you know they have failed by sinking your boat. GET RID OF THE DRIP-LESS P.O.S. next time you haul out.
A properly maintained and adjusted conventional stuffing box drips at a rate less the ambient evaporation...you'll never know it is dripping if you'll learn how to use it. No need for a drip-less that will sink your boat again.
Glad to hear you guys didn't sink. What day was that? I was just out there last weekend sailing my little catamaran about a mile up the river from where you were. My buddies parents live right across from the canal entrance and I launch there sometimes.
Whistle, and you might “whistle up a storm.” This superstition is another that’s well known, so much so that it’s worked its way into modern vernacular. But whistling in and of itself wasn’t thought to be unlucky. In fact, sailors might whistle intentionally to try to stir a breeze when their boat was becalmed. Still, the danger of turning a breeze into blustery winds meant sailors had to be judicious when they pursed their lips.
It is also said blue invites water onto boat
Dripless mechanical seal - has 4 set screws that keep that stainless steel ring tight against the shaft. Need to preload the bellows more and tighten the set screws up against the carbon face of the bellows. Check out PSS Shaft Seals website for step by step instructions.
Wes bud, you guys have more courage than 99% of the people out there, myself included, but you have to learn how to work on a boat. On a 20 year old boat the first thing you do when you buy it is replace every hose. Cooling water (you would have seen the home brew on the cooling circuit), water to the head/sink, fuel fill, head discharge...every hose that touches water or exhaust. Working on boats isn't fun (sometimes), but it is rewarding. You'll bust up some knuckles, you'll learn yoga contorting your body into weird engine spaces, it hurts, but you have to learn how to work on the boat. Cleaning a boat isn't working on a boat...if you haven't rebuilt each seacock and ensured that they're properly installed (Don Casey writes some great books...buy any of his 'how to maintain old boats'), read it and follow the advice. Please dude...if that isn't your first priority then you're setting yourself up for trouble. It's not a surveyor's job to find every leaking fitting, hose, thru-hull...new dinghies and LED lights that change color are nice but you're on borrowed time if you don't focus on the right things. You guys are both extremely brave, and I love your passion, your positive outlook, your channel, but you have to get that boat in order...don't have somebody else look at it...do it yourself...learn your boat.
Was that y'all that I heard scream out "NOT AGAIN!!!!" LOL I am glad y'all got hualed and safe and sound.
Every cruiser knows you should have at least 1 spare for every filter on board !
Exhaust is a 5-year maintenance issue. A leak would spew water and exhaust. Check my videos for a quick tutorial on exhaust and stuffing box maintenance.
Do you have a link?
So what is the link ?
Capt Chef Mark SV Alcina ruclips.net/video/9Lg_Ca8s1d0/видео.html
Terry Peake ruclips.net/video/9Lg_Ca8s1d0/видео.html
March2Mortality , I don't think that was maintenance move like repair. Good idea about not doing up the locknut all the way.
Never whistle on a sailboat. Bad Luck!
so happy this had a happy ending!! stop whistling i think it is calling the bad luck gods!!! lol
You kept your cool... Well done.
Those Home Depot specials are because parts for marine engines are unbelievably expensive.
Glad ur back up and youtubing. Hate to see a repeat of last year.
Your surveyor seems to have not done a very thorough job. Good luck.