Greetings, mateys!
As you know, a surprise project came up when attempting to run wiring for new instruments, and it was discovered the steering pedestal bolts were all completely corroded. In addition, it was clear water had gotten into the wood below the cockpit sole, which was rotten and disintegrating in places. So my repair work focused on a) keeping the water out of the steering assembly as much as possible; and b) if water got it, preventing it from getting to the wood.
Here’s what it entailed:
- Remove steering pedestal
- Remove corroded bolts
- Remove all wiring
- Disassemble throttle/gear assembly
- Remove table/instrument pod assembly
- Remove gear shift box
- Remove feet
- Remove what was remaining from old sealant
- Clean all surfaces
- Scrape out all rotten/disintegrating wood
- Fill all holes and voids with glass-thickened epoxy
- Re-drill holes
- Countersink bolt holes
- Seal all holes with plain epoxy
- Seal cockpit sole where gear box foot will mount
- Clean bottom plate/steering pulley assembly
- Apply butyl tape to bottom of pedestal & pedestal bolts
- Install pedestal with new bolts, using nylon washer to separate from bottom plate
- Slowly tighten bolts over the next four days
- Remove excess butyl tape from pedestal base
- Re-assemble steering mechanism (make sure center is still center!)
- Caulk pedestal base with Life Calk polysulfide
- Drill, tap, and countersink screw holes into three new stainless steel pedestal feet
- Seal pedestal feet bushings with Life Calk
- Apply butyl tape to bottom of gear box foot
- Install & tighten gear box foot
- Reinstall gear & throttle cables
- Reinstall gear box
- Reassemble gear & throttle mechanism (make sure forward & reverse have not been swapped!)
- Life Calk on bottom of remaining two feet
- Install & tighten remaining two feet
- Reinstall table/instrument pod assembly
- Life Calk tops of all feet
- Butyl tape on top of gear box, top of pedestal, and top of instrument pod mounting plate
- Reconnect compass light wiring
- Reinstall compass (keeping original orientation so as not to change deviation!)
- Apply Tef-Gel to threads of nearly all bolts & screws
- Install & tighten all pedestal & gear screws
- Tighten steering cables
Here’s some pictures from along the way:
And here’s the finished product:
Now I can finally get back to wiring the new instruments. 😌
In other news, the drogue chainplates have been installed! This is super exciting. A project that was 2 years in the planning and making, and a key checklist item for offshore voyaging.
It’s unclear if we’ll be departing this year or delaying a year. Current events have set back the schedule quite a bit. There’s still so much to do and only 54 days left?!? Whether we depart for the Big Journey this year or not, we’re sure to have some fantastic adventures on the high seas.
That’s all for this update. Hope you all are healthy & doing well!