Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The iron sail

Alas ! The wind died of us, as expected unfortunately, and at 2:30 this
morning we had to hoist the Yanmar sail. This is where the stress
starts. I can never feel comfortable whenever motoring. The slightest
abnormal sound or vibration and I imagine the worst.
This time round, the culprit was the intermediate bearing. Because they
could not find replacement parts to reinstall the shaft the way it was,
with a copper sleeve between the bearing and the shaft, what is in place
is an SKF bearing with a locking device to lock it to the shaft. Because
it is a new installation, I kept checking the shaft, the bearing and the
whole damn lot and felt that the bearing was a little too warm for my
taste. I can still keep my hand on it. so I am not burning it, but I am
not comfortable with that temperature. So, I reduced the engine to 1600
rpm from 2000 and then decided to add some grease to the bearing. It
took me all morning to figure out why the grease gun was not working and
what to do to make it work. I also sent an email to the mechanics in
Whangarei to get their advice on how hot the bearing can get safely.
Now, I can only wait and watch the crew enjoying the calm weather to the
point of making cookies and pies.
We have 562 miles to go and hopefully should be able to get back to
sailing tomorrow.

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