Nice weather, thanks to me

[benjenbav]

I have thoughtfully kept my boat on the hard for another couple of weeks so that you can all enjoy the benefits of some clear skies and calm seas. With any luck some of you may have enjoyed what my favourite bar sign promised:
"Cold beers; hot girls" [seen in Clearwater, FLA].

Anyway, there's no real need to send me a personal message of thanks. But if anyone is interested, I thought I would put up some photos to show why my boat is out of the water.

During some routine maintenance last year, John, the excellent boat-fixing man from Madge Marine in Chichester called me to come and look at the fixing of the tubes that hold the rudders on the outside skin of the boat. The fixing was breaking up but time was short so I asked him to do a temporary fix with some mastic and we'd sort it out properly next time the boat came out.

A few weeks ago I noticed that there was definitely some water ingress and John had another look from inside the boat. The cause was identified as the same issue with the rudder tubes - or rather their mountings - and the work was booked in.

So, a couple of weeks ago we lifted out and this is what we found:

The mount for the tube has broken up and so the rudder assembly needs to come out and the whole fixing needs to be replaced.

Apparently this was easier said than done! No amount of specially fabricated tools was able to shift the mount and, on Friday we agreed that John would have one final go at drilling out the bolts and if that failed he could, gulp, cut the mounts out. Somewhat to my relief, I had a call on Friday afternoon to say that the bolts had been drilled out and when I went to have a look on Saturday this is what I found:

The port-side fitting was slightly worse than the starboard but basically there is a little bit of surface cracking around each hole, which will be ground back once it has all dried out, refilled and then the tube mounts will be rebuilt and the rudders replaced and re-set.

 

[jfm]

Blimey BJB. Looks repairable though! As you look up into the hole in 2nd pic, is that just solid GRP? No plywood? I'd hope it is solid GRP, and my thought would be Aquastar didn't tighten them up enough on installation. It's a common problem: experienced fitters don't understnand the science and dont tighten things enough. The sideways loads should all be taken by friction in an assembly like this. The bolts should never be loaded in shear, only in tension. But to get that effect you have to tighten the bolts and elastically deform the GRP. I bet the salty old seadogs at Aquastar just didn't do that, and that the assembly relied on salty old seadog shiprights doing it by feel, not with a calculated torque/torque wrench. Then the bolts got loaded in shear, hence the cracking, then the assembly started to move against the GRP.

Anyway, all fully repairable, but make sure the thing is installed TIGHTLY this time!

 

[benjenbav]

It's solid grp looking up into the hole in the second picture. But outside the skin there was a wood former (right word?) which you can just about see as what had failed in the first picture. I'm having the replacement built up in grp so should be a big improvement.

Not worried about it; just thought the pix might be of some interest.

I am getting the props polished up though: what you can see in the pic below is the traces of some of the local crustaceans. Reckon that'll give me another 0.1 mpg if I'm lucky, or I mite just fritter it away by hooning around at an ear-bleeding 16.5 knots

 

[jfm]

Ah, ok. The wedge-shaped washer should never have been made from wood in the first place. Big mistake by AquaStar that. Wood cannot take long term compression loads in a situation like this where it is not acceptable to have even 1-2mm of non-elastic deformation to the wood. The tension initially loaded into the bolts will have depleted over time, ultimately leading to a shear loading on the bolts, then movement, then the failure that occured. It should have been made from GRP or a metal, in which case the bolts would still be stretched like elastic bands to this day, which is how they should be. If you can face it, you should get the other side done too...

I meant to say before, thanks loads for the weather though I'm like you and can't really take advantage of it

 

[benjenbav]

How is the leg? I was going to invite you to enjoy a day on a nice smooth vessel with none of this frantic skipping over the waves that you're used to as a sort of tonic. But - as you can see - it wouldn't be much of a voyage at the moment. You're very welcome, of course, once I'm back in the water.

I am having both rudder mountings done; they both need it. But there's only so much lying on my back in a carpark taking photos that I can manage.

 

[jfm]

How is the leg? I was going to invite you to enjoy a day on a nice smooth vessel with none of this frantic skipping over the waves that you're used to as a sort of tonic. But - as you can see - it wouldn't be much of a voyage at the moment. You're very welcome, of course, once I'm back in the water.

I am having both rudder mountings done; they both need it. But there's only so much lying on my back in a carpark taking photos that I can manage.

Good stuff. That'll be a a good repair, literally better than new. Thanks for the boat ride offer (and to many others who have very kindly offered likewise). I'll see how the leg goes, and might take you up. It's all fine, but you just gotta wait for the bones to fasten themselves back together. Saw consultant again last Friday, new xrays, all fine, pic below (hope it doesn't spoil your dinner, and don't try this at home folks). I'm quite a bit more mobile now, got the hang of the crutches, doing wheelies on them kinda thing. I have a Fairline factory visit this Thursday when I'll see the boat in build for the first time, and that's quite an obstacle course even without a broken leg, so should be fun. I'll try to get some pics. Anyway, hope all goes well on the boat work front

 

[EME]

I hope you told the leg-menders that you boat a lot and that, consequently, those screws are 316 Stainless

 

[jfm]

I hope you told the leg-menders that you boat a lot and that, consequently, those screws are 316 Stainless

Ha! Actually we did have that conversation. Consultant said boaters are all pansies and 316 s/s is junk. titanium is the only metal to use he said, if you want a proper job. So I asked FL to make the new boat with titanium fasteners (they did say it is a "custom") but unfortunately it is £1m extra

 

[WALLY]

Please can you get the boat moved a little close to the water just so the temperature goes down a couple of degrees?

ta.

 

[ricky_s]

Was very nice of you to leave your boat out of the water, though I did get burnt to a frazzle waiting to lock in on Sunday.

Over an hour floating about in bugger all water.

Still rest of the weekend was lovely

 

[benjenbav]

Sheesh, Wally, I've just been to the gym for the first time in two years to see if I can build up the pecs and have a go at lifting 8 tons of boat. I'll let you know, but I think that walking is going to be a struggle tomorrow.

On the plus side, I was the only person in the office today without some sort of ugly sunburn. Brits, eh?

Jfm - Will the smaller shin bone knit together on its own? Are the screws pulling the lower part towards the other part? Like my boat, I hope the mend will be better than the original. I reckon seeing your new boat in build will put a fairly unremovable grin back on your face.

 

[MapisM]

It's all fine, but you just gotta wait for the bones to fasten themselves back together. Saw consultant again last Friday, new xrays, all fine, pic below

Geez, sounds like the docs' job wasn't trivial!
When you say that you should just wait for the bones to fasten back together, does that apply also to the fibula?
It still looks worringly split, judging by the x-ray image...
All the very best anyway!

 

[AndieMac]

Could jfm ask his surgeon to check his tool box....I think he may have left an allen key in his ankle near the screws..

BTW that is an impressive break, you must have landed very hard to cause that.

 

[benjenbav]

Update

After completely drying out, new mountings have been formed for the rudder assemblies. The hull around the holes was ground back and the new mountings are in the process of being built in: