Day 257

Today we finalized our decision on the aft steps. It was left to me to decide what type to put in upper and lower, and the dimensions etc.

Gena finished my step nicely!

The swim platforms angle to the transom is so steep, a ladder can't really be used properly with out it going right down off of the edge. The only place a ladder would have fit would have been the center of the platform. Unfortunately Gena wants the self steering rudder to be mounted there so that's out.

I finally gave up on the ladder and decided to run steps up the side. At first they were all to be inset but the second step presented a problem in that the width of the inner wall gets pretty narrow. It would be hard to step into from the top step because of it's size.

The two lower step will need to be coming out of the inner wall.

The top step needs to be 6" in and have rounded corners for comfort when heeled either way, plus must be easy to grind smooth. I bent up 3 pieces of 2" 1/4" flatbar and cut out a plate for the back. ( photo left )

It was pretty easy to put together, easier than the way the steps from the lower deck were.

Ready to go in!

The second step position

Once the welding and smoothing was completed I cut out a hole to insert it into. Once in, the square edges were trimmed off and the whole thing welded in place.

I had made the two frames for the lower step, but access to the welded was a constant battle ( hehe ) as I needed some 309 wire and Gena needed mild steel wire.

Once she had finished smoothing the top step, we got so excited to put it in, we forgot that the hole was needed to run the welder through to weld the lowere steps on! Silly! Now I must make an extension for the hoist so we can get the welder out of the boat. ( 200 + lbs way to heavy! ) so the work can be continued.

Waterscoop for cutless bearing

Genas main project today was adding more anode bolts and installing water scoops for the prop shafts cutless bearing.

Under water silt and sand may get caught in the bearing and especially sand will wear down both the bearing and the shaft. The water scoops allow flow through the bearing while under way so the silt gets forced back out.

This is all fine but if there were no water scoops to let the silt and sand in, in the first place, wouldn't the problem be solved? Seems illogical to me, having no experience in these matters we installed them.

In the diagram for how they are shaped etc. There were no gussets; like the top left inset in the photo. I think that might be a weed/net/whatever catcher so Gena put on little tiny gussets ( They were so cute! ) shown in bottom inset.

She had quite a time drilling out the holes as the tube is half inch thick and fairly hardened.

Also the welds around the prop tube were checked and welded as needed. DOn't want any problems in this area. It's a weak point through into the keel because of the angle.

The boatcam ran all day today. Boatcam wmv's are at Boatcamvids.htm ( july 6 )