May 15 – 20
Hi All,
It is with a rather fatigued body & spirit I write this blog. We have had to admit defeat on the windlass and send it back to the doctor in Seattle. So we wait, wait, & wait in Sitka not sure of what to do. However, right now, we are sooooo tired from the 6 day marathon work/stress that we are just going to chill/nap/read for a few days to get our mojo back….arghhhhhh!!!
Oh wait….while I was writing this blog we have made a decision to go back to California for a week or so. We will go back on Wednesday, May 24 and come back to Sitka when the windlass arrives, maybe 1-2 weeks later. We need to install and go get the anchor and chain asap before they corrode away in the saltwater.
As one friend wrote to us….”We were burned out on boat failures, then we got to anchor and had one of those “it was all worth it!” moments… followed by today where it’s blowing like snot and one of the hoses on the newly installed water heater blew off… back to “what the hell are we thinking we are too old for this shit!”. Kathy and I had to LOL in empathy as that is exactly how we feel.
We did make it back to Sitka on Sunday, May 14th and started the windlass battles on Monday:
The people at Vetus-Maxwell offered excellent technical support. As we feared we could find no help in Sitka. No one with windlass expertise and any shop that might help was 3-5 weeks booked out….ugh. So, it was Kathy and me. We have had the windlass serviced 3 times in the 19 years but always by qualified mechanics so this was a first for both of us!!
The first chore was getting the windlass unbolted from the deck…just 4 bolts….easy peasy, right…well after many hours we finally got it. All 4 bolts are blind…you have to reach under the deck through the chain lockers, blindly locate the nut on the bolt and then hold while one of us ratchets the bolt from the top. Ok….John-boy could do this on the port side with his left arm but no way could my right arm do this torquing on the starboard side. I was very disappointed how the right shoulder is still not 100% healed….ugh!!! One of us had to go in the chainlocker and work the nut, reaching overhead. I tried but couldn’t wiggle in with the right shoulder, so Kathy volunteered and after several attempts she got in and was able to locate the nut and hold it while I ratcheted the bolt from on top. Small happy dance!!! Then I unbolted the 3 battery cables. Of course the windlass is securely sealed on the deck to protect from water incursion. The last mechanic used Sikaflex. I was able to get some screwdrivers under the windlass and break the seal. Then I was able to lift the windlass off the windlass deck and onto the bow deck to start to work on it….hmmm, as we later found out the windlass weighs 80-lbs…whoa…John-boy, maybe the right shoulder isn’t so weak after all!!!
After several calls to Maxwell and studying the parts diagram we diagnosed the problem as no connection from the motor to gear box. We took the motor off and found the roll pin was broke. We ordered parts from Emerald Harbor in Seattle and Monday night we were feeling pretty good we would have a working windlass by the end of the week. The parts arrived Wednesday afternoon and then the fun began again. In the meantime on Tuesday and Wednesday am I did another long round of maintenance…greased stabilizer fins & rudder, pumped up the hynautics for the engines and transmission controls and autopilot, changed carbon filter on watermaker, changed out the dinghy winch remote which failed on the day we dropped the anchor & chain, and finally sucked out the water in the keel.
The good news, the original problem with the windlass was solved!!! It was the rolled pin that connects the motor shaft to the gear box worm gear…it had sheered off….hmmmm, what could make that happen….I was concerned a gear had broke in the gearbox. Ater several hours of unsuccessful attempts to get the roll pin in the shaft hole I called Maxwell tech support….Dave in an amused chortle said….gee John, you need a press….well, Dave, don’t have one…hmmmm, maybe try a vise or some other force as that is required….ok, got out our vise and after several hours of trying to position everything just right with both of us using all hands and feet, we got the dang pin inserted….oh joy, happy dance!!!
But, it still wasn’t right….we could not get the horizontal shaft out (I wanted to check the gear box) and Kathy did not think it sounded right when we hooked up the power. Of course this took mounting the windlass and hooking up the battery cables several times as well as taking off the motor….another ~6-8 hours of trouble shooting. I could move the shaft a little with the motor off and turning the worm gear by hand which indicated the gear box was ok, but this did not explain why the shaft would not come out. The killer was when I could not get any of the chainwheels on the shaft….either side. In all our gyrations somehow the treads at the end of the shaft, both sides, got damaged….we could not screw anything on the shaft….a most sickening situation. No shop in Sitka was able to help, although one guy gave me some suggestions to try to clean up the threads, which after several hours did not work. So, we said screw it and just now completed a 1.5 day ordeal to ship the windlass back to Emerald Harbor in Seattle for a complete service.
First you need a box….hmmmm, no office store in Sitka, as well as no UPS or FedEx retail stores….went to 3 different stores asking for boxes….no joy but LFS gave us two boxes with the intent to make our own custom box….hmmmm, got the windlass off, wrapped it in bubble wrap, got it in the box only for us to realize the box was not going to handle the weight….so, more calls, a nice woman at the computer store had just the box….so, cart the dang unit 1 mile to the store….box will work…got the windlass in the box and then realized we had forgotten all the chainwheel bits….Kathy goes back to Mystic….get parts, about 35 pounds and carts back….ok, finish packing, call a cab, 30 minutes later it shows…off to post office, only to find out the box weighs 115 pounds….say what…opened box, took out all the chainwheel bits and boxed into a 2nd box….but the shit monster is still having fun…windlass box weighs 79-lbs, sorry our weight limit is 70-lbs, can’t ship….what can we do, don’t know….we gather the 2 boxes and go off, sulk, say a few sailor words and think what to do and finally call AML, the barge people….no, we do not air freight and it will take 7-10 days by barge, but she says try Alaska Cargo….and, our luck changes….we take a cab to the airport….a nice lady says no problem, flight leaves later today and the boxes will be in Seattle later tonight….and I’ll just charge you for general services, $86….wow!!! Called Emerald and Kelly will have a courier pick the boxes up on Monday!!!!
And today is our Anniversary…#47 baby….but we are both too tired to celebrate….we will celebrate another day!!!
That’s it for now….I’ll post again in a few weeks with the rest of the windlass story!!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Sitka Alaska
View of the marina and Mount Edgecomb in the background in Sitka
Looking down into the chainlocker to the windlass solenoid I changed out initially
Head of Ushk Bay; love the clouds in the reflection
There’s the 2 buoys holding up the chain and anchor we left behind
Kathy tying off the 2nd anchor on the starboard side. Note no chain or anchor on the port side. Good view of the windlass and chainlockers.
Cruise season in Sitka….huge Crown Princess
The broken windlass bits….circlip and roll pin
Inside the windlass….motor to worm gear to gear box and horizontal shaft at the bottom