I had a similar problem on a Catalina 30 and the zinc on the prop shaft ahead of the cutlass bearing kept the whole drive train from going into the drink.
John McLaughlin "Falcon" C&C29-2 -----Original Message----- From: Frederick G Street via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> To: Danny Haughey via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Frederick G Street <f...@postaudio.net> Sent: Mon, Jul 17, 2017 9:32 am Subject: Stus-List A cautionary tale... Over the weekend, we enjoyed a nice sail on our 1979 LF38 from our marina out to Stockton Island in the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior. A bunch of boat friends came by in the evening for cocktails and nibbles, then we settled in for the night. Yesterday morning, I started the engine and pulled up the anchor, and we motored back towards the marina. There was enough wind just off dead downwind, so I pulled out the genny and shut the engine down. As we picked up speed, there was a rhythmic clunking sound down below. I tried to put the transmission in forward, then reverse, to see if it was the shaft spinning, but there was no change. So I went down and opened up the engine compartment to see if I could find the source of the noise. The key for the prop shaft at the coupler of the V-drive was sitting down below the coupler, and the shaft was freely spinning. Note that the only way this key can come out is if the shaft slides out of the coupler; that’s what had happened. We were saved by the fact that I had installed a hose clamp on the shaft between the V-drive and the shaft log; that clamp was the only thing that kept us from losing the propeller and shaft out the bottom of the boat. Checking the cap bolt on the coupler, it didn’t seem to be loose, and the shaft has a large dimple where the cap bolt is supposed to capture the shaft. I was able to loosen the cap bolt, line up the shaft and coupler, re-insert the key and slide the shaft back into the coupler and tighten things up. Then I added another hose clamp just ahead of the shaft log, in case things came apart again. I’ll have to recheck the cap bolt after a week or two and see how things look. But that silly $2.00 stainless hose clamp definitely saved us from a world of hurt in the cold waters of Lake Superior… I urge everyone on the list to make sure you have this simple fix in place. — Fred Fred Street -- Minneapolis S/V Oceanis (1979 C&C Landfall 38) -- Bayfield, WI _______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
_______________________________________________ This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you wish to make a contribution to offset our costs, please go to: https://www.paypal.me/stumurray All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
