We had our boat hauled out of the water this week for the final preparation before our trip. We have a shortlist of items that needed to be done to the hull so needed the boat out of the water.

KSF coming out of the water
  • Bottom Paint – A new coat of anti-foul paint that keeps sealife from growing on the hull.
  • Replace Zincs – Zinks protect components on the boat from corroding. They are a regular maintenance item and need to be replaced about every 1-2 years.
  • New Cutlass Bearings – Cutlass bearings are inside the struts that support the propeller shaft under the boat. We had a bit of play in one so while the boat was out of the water, we replaced them.
  • Replace Exhaust Ports – The exhaust ports were leaking below the water line, just a slow drip, but annoying and we didn’t want them to get worse.
  • Replace thru hulls – We had two through hulls that were pretty corroded. One for the A/C and one for the generator. Thru-hull failure is one of the biggest reasons boats sink!
  • Install a stern thruster – Not really necessary as we are a twin engine, but it should make locking and docking a lot easier. SideShift ST350 (http://www.sideshift.com)
  • Replace Seawater Intake hoses – This doesn’t need to be done out of the water, but while we were messing with thru-hulls we decided to replace the 14 year old sea-water intake hoses. They still looked good but a failure could easily sink the boat.

We brought the boat down to Hazzard Marina in Georgetown, SC, and had it pulled out of the water, power washed, and blocked in the boatyard. We cruised down on Sunday and we were supposed to be pulled on Monday, but there was an issue with another boat being put back in the water so they were not able to pull us until Tuesday afternoon.

Power Washing – The black is river slime!

When we pulled the boat, they power-washed all of the gunk off of the bottom and inspected the propellers and shafts. We found that one of the propellers was loose and that the cutlass bearings (just forward of the propellers) needed replacing.

As of Sunday, we’ve got the new Stern Thruster installed, and all of the old hoses, thru-hulls, and exhaust ports out and new ones are in hand. We’ve started re-installing the new hoses and will finish the hose and thru-hull work on Monday. Also, Monday they will start sanding and painting the lower hull.

We’re having some custom flanges made to re-enforce the exhaust ports and keep them from leaking in the future, those should be ready on Monday, so Tuesday we’ll be installing the new exhaust ports.

Hopefully, the painting will be done and we’ll re-launch the boat on Thursday or Friday and do an engine re-alignment.

This is the last (we hope!) mechanical work before AND DURING our trip!


 Cheers!
 Tom & Brenda