Friday 11-7-08
We are back.
After talking to the people at Ross Marine earlier this week, we were assured that FLIGHT would be back together, with all of the factory defects corrected, and floating by this morning. We left home yesterday morning and drove to the Charleston vicinity and got a hotel for the night. First thing this morning we headed to Johns Island where Ross is located, and found our boat waiting for us in a slip. We checked in and proceeded to load our things aboard. The only thing that remained to be done to her was a final adjustment of the engine mounts to precisely align the prop shaft coupling to the coupling on the transmission output flange. This is an important thing and can only be done while the boat is afloat in the water long enough for all stresses and flexing on the hull to be neutral and supported completely. The faces of the two machined flanges must be parallel to one another within .002” - .003”.
The problem: What Ross discovered was that the two bearings (keel cutlass and outboard strut) that support the prop shaft were not aligned properly with one another, and that caused excessive friction load on the shaft. The noise that we were beginning to hear was due to the excessive wear on the bearings and shaft surfaces caused by the misalignment. This required taking the boat out of the water and complete disassembly and removal of the prop, shaft and both bearings. After inspecting the shaft and installing new bearings, they had to add a fiberglass pad (1/4” thick) to the bottom of the hull in order to remount and properly position the outboard strut to be in alignment with the hull bearing. Then reassemble all of the related components.
While we waited for Murray to come aboard to do the adjustment, Polly and I gave the boat a good washing on the exterior and Polly also did some interior cleaning and organizing. Murray was still finishing up a job on another boat when lunch time arrived so we headed out to a Walmart for some groceries and supplies and then checked into returning the rental car early Saturday morning. After we returned, Murray was still involved with the other boat and we began to feel that maybe we would not be able to get away on Saturday after all. I talked to Carlos Baker, the service manager, to see if we needed to make hotel and car arrangements for the weekend since Ross does not work on Saturdays. Carlos assured me our boat would be completely finished by the end of the day – it was. At 3:30 we were out on the river for a sea trial with Carlos onboard listening, feeling, watching all areas of the boat involved with the repairs and after about 30 minutes of forward, reverse, neutral – fast, slow, stop, he pronounced that all was fine. It was - things operated smooth as silk and quiet in all modes. The people at Ross Marine “know their stuff”, it is a top notch operation. I asked the Ross staff what could possibly have caused the problem – “it was born with it”, was the response.
We are back.
After talking to the people at Ross Marine earlier this week, we were assured that FLIGHT would be back together, with all of the factory defects corrected, and floating by this morning. We left home yesterday morning and drove to the Charleston vicinity and got a hotel for the night. First thing this morning we headed to Johns Island where Ross is located, and found our boat waiting for us in a slip. We checked in and proceeded to load our things aboard. The only thing that remained to be done to her was a final adjustment of the engine mounts to precisely align the prop shaft coupling to the coupling on the transmission output flange. This is an important thing and can only be done while the boat is afloat in the water long enough for all stresses and flexing on the hull to be neutral and supported completely. The faces of the two machined flanges must be parallel to one another within .002” - .003”.
The problem: What Ross discovered was that the two bearings (keel cutlass and outboard strut) that support the prop shaft were not aligned properly with one another, and that caused excessive friction load on the shaft. The noise that we were beginning to hear was due to the excessive wear on the bearings and shaft surfaces caused by the misalignment. This required taking the boat out of the water and complete disassembly and removal of the prop, shaft and both bearings. After inspecting the shaft and installing new bearings, they had to add a fiberglass pad (1/4” thick) to the bottom of the hull in order to remount and properly position the outboard strut to be in alignment with the hull bearing. Then reassemble all of the related components.
While we waited for Murray to come aboard to do the adjustment, Polly and I gave the boat a good washing on the exterior and Polly also did some interior cleaning and organizing. Murray was still finishing up a job on another boat when lunch time arrived so we headed out to a Walmart for some groceries and supplies and then checked into returning the rental car early Saturday morning. After we returned, Murray was still involved with the other boat and we began to feel that maybe we would not be able to get away on Saturday after all. I talked to Carlos Baker, the service manager, to see if we needed to make hotel and car arrangements for the weekend since Ross does not work on Saturdays. Carlos assured me our boat would be completely finished by the end of the day – it was. At 3:30 we were out on the river for a sea trial with Carlos onboard listening, feeling, watching all areas of the boat involved with the repairs and after about 30 minutes of forward, reverse, neutral – fast, slow, stop, he pronounced that all was fine. It was - things operated smooth as silk and quiet in all modes. The people at Ross Marine “know their stuff”, it is a top notch operation. I asked the Ross staff what could possibly have caused the problem – “it was born with it”, was the response.
When we arrived at Ross Marine we saw something that put our problem in proper perspective. 
There was a large sail boat (50’-55’), center cockpit and ketch rigged (2 masts) and the masts were wooden. The main mast was broken and the upper third of the mast was hanging down toward the deck and all tangled up with stays, shrouds and miscellaneous rigging. The owner was transiting one of the rivers in the Charleston area and attempted to go und
er a bridge that he thought had enough clearance – it didn’t.
There was a large sail boat (50’-55’), center cockpit and ketch rigged (2 masts) and the masts were wooden. The main mast was broken and the upper third of the mast was hanging down toward the deck and all tangled up with stays, shrouds and miscellaneous rigging. The owner was transiting one of the rivers in the Charleston area and attempted to go und
er a bridge that he thought had enough clearance – it didn’t.
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