Back in the Water

After a week or so at dry dock Ge'Mara is back in the water.  There is still work to be done but all of the remaining upgrades can be accomplished back in her home slip so back in she goes.  While she was out of the water we had her bottom pressure washed and the anti-fouling paint re-applied.  Anti-fouling is a special kind of paint that discourages mussels, barnacles and other forms of sea life from attaching themselves to the hull.  The rust spots were ground off of her keel and covered with epoxy.  The zincs had completely fallen off the prop shaft so we had those replaced.  (In order to prevent corrosion to the propeller in salt water, zinc orbs are attached to the propeller shaft.  For an explanation of how and why zincs work, click here).

The rust spots on the keel were ground off and sealed.
Note also the new black anti-fouling paint on the bottom.

New zincs were attached to the propeller shaft

The biggest item we had to attend to was replacing a worn rudder bushing.  This meant disconnecting the rudder from the steering system (quadrant) and removing it entirely from the boat.  There are actually two bushings, one at the top of the rudder shaft and one near the bottom.  The top one was the more significantly worn and the bottom one is encased in the fibreglass hull.  Given the work required to replace the bottom one we just did the top.  This involved having a polypropylene cylinder machined to precise specifications and then slicing off an amount required for the bushing.  The remaining material will be kept as a spare in case we need to repeat the procedure for the bottom bushing.  It was a bit of work and expense for something that isn't highly visible but you know what they say about an ounce of prevention...

Ge'Mara going back in the water.  Note her new
lettering on the transom.  The name remains the
same but she's now proudly from Vancouver. 

By the time we "splashed" the boat and fired up the engine I was ready to ferry her home to Coal Harbour.  It was a rainy spring day and after spending several hours tinkering with the boat in the rain I was ready to make the short trip to our slip and dash home to dry out.  I said my farewells to Laurence and the helpful crew at Granville Island Boat Yard and headed out under the Burrard bridge.  I was just nicely passing the False Creek channel markers and settling into my own thoughts when the engine started to hesitate and lose power.  I recognized it immediately as the same problem that we had coming through Porlier pass last summer when we completely lost the engine.  The wind was blowing briskly in English Bay and as the rpm's continued to drop I had images of being the latest sailboat to be washed onto the Vancouver shoreline for the amusement of people walking on the seawall.  Fortunately the engine stabilized at about 1500 rpm and I was able to turn around and limp back toward Granville Island.  I made a quick call to Laurence and found that he was still at Granville Island and could meet me at an open slip to investigate the problem - another lucky break.  I silently wondered whether the outcome would have been any different if we had changed the name of the boat and risked the wrath of Poseidon.

After some fuel system diagnostics it became apparent that there was something wrong with the brand new Raycor fuel filter that had been installed just a few months ago.  It seemed odd that this would be the case, given how new the filter was and the fact that the engine was running fine when we brought her in for dry dock.  In any event, as I motored away for the 2nd time in the pouring rain, I reflected that this had been a valuable day of learning.  By helping Laurence replace the rudder and then watching him diagnose the fuel flow problem I had at once gained valuable knowledge and realized how much I have to learn.