Degrees

I see things in degrees, neither totally good nor totally bad, but somewhere in between. So, although a blown transmission is definitely near the bad end, it could of been worse.

I'm sitting in the travel lift sling next to the dock right now, and Zoe is sunning herself nearby. I'll probably be here at least a few weeks. The guys in the yard tell me they'll need to pull the engine to get to the transmission, but I'm a little dubious. I've had the prop off and the shaft out already when I replace the cutlass bearing and stuffing box, and it sure looked like there was plenty of room down there to get her off.

So I put a few calls into friends who work on this stuff and finally got in touch with Boston (Harold) up in Marion. He has the same engine on his boat, albeit a different transmission. He gave me a few ideas and told me that if it was him, he'd pull the prop, uncouple the shaft, slide it out, and unbolt the transmission without pulling the engine. He also told me that it wasn't something he didn't think I could do, so that's where I'm at.

I'm going to see if I can get the prop off and shaft out today, and probably tackle the transmission tomorrow. He also said that there's often a plastic disk (not sure exactly what he called it) that connects the flywheel to the spline, which will sometimes break. If you engage the engine at idle and there's no load, it turns the shaft fine, but if you add throttle, it will start to slip and make a lot of noise. I think that may be what I've got, but I won't know for sure till I get if off.

I wish I could have gotten down to look at the prop and eliminate it as the problem before they pulled me, but at least I'm learning more about my systems. I'd also like to continue doing all the work myself, so pulling the transmission is actually a good thing. However, I'm also seriously considering buying a dry suit before I leave -- I don't want to have this happen again.

I also need to make a good rope ladder while I'm here as well, otherwise, I won't be able to get back on board very easily. I'd like to have something like cargo netting I can hang off around the cockpit when underway, and pull up in port. I've had some experience climbing up cargo netting, and it wasn't bad.