Thursday, November 3, 2016

Titusville - at last

Sunrise over Daytona - we do get up early sometimes...
When we were in the Skull Creek marina, we backed out and the current was so strong we flipped our dinghy and backed into a line on our dinghy. We thought we were in the clear when the diver took the last of the rope off the prop and we motored strongly afterwards with no ill effects. The next day was uneventful as we motored to Ft Matanzas and anchored out. However, the next day we started hearing a rattling when the rpm's went above 2200. We thought perhaps there as something still on the prop so we went through a backing up routing several times but the rattling was still there above 2200 rpm. We motored to our Daytona anchorage and had no ill effects as long as the rpm's were low. Today we motored for Titusville and the top rpm without a rattle gradually grew less. As we enter Titusville, we couldn't get above 1800 without the dreaded sound.

So now we think that either we still have something on the prop or the cutlass bearing has deteriorated, allowing the shaft to wobble and produce the noise. Strangely, it doesn't produce any noise in reverse, even at 3000 rpm (as we tried to spin off anything on the prop). We have a diver coming Saturday to look at the prop and the cutlass bearing and we'll take it from there. In addition to that we have to get the rear oil seal on the engine replaced, a separate issue. It will be a busy couple of weeks.

Titusville is full!
I guess the word has gotten out about Titusville. It's busier than I've ever seen it. In fact, it's almost full. Usually C dock is almost empty but not anymore. The new management has taken great steps to make the marina one of the best on the east coast. All the docks have key card gates for security, the WiFi is first rate and suitable for streaming Netflix, no problem there. There's a dog park for pet lovers right next door and lots of trails for running and walking. Downtown is within walking distance and Enterprise is nearby with their $10/day weekend rate. Tonight we had Papa John's pizza delivered to the boat, great service.

Now I have to schedule the repairs on the boat in time for us to leave for the holidays up north. We'll see how that goes after the diver comes Saturday morning.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bob'n Ann,

Regarding your "rattle", I'm betting that the dinghy painter did enough damage to the prop side of the cutlass bearing that in forward gear there isn't sufficient water pressure on the forward end of the bearing to get a lubricating flow through the bearing. In reverse, the flow off the prop would be at a sufficiently high pressure to force flow past the damage. Just a guess but...

Regarding the photo of McMansions with screen enclosures, its because of the "Skeeters" and No-See'Ums especially so close to the water. Absent a screen cage, the lanai and pool deck on our shore-side home, which is on a nature preserve with a small river tributary about 100 yards through the woods from the house, would be unusable due to the critters that can be fearsome!

N'any case, good luck with your repairs!

Scott'n Kitt
s/v HyLyte

Bob423 said...

Scott, regarding the rattle, what you said makes sense. We'll have a diver on Saturday to look the prop and cutlass bearing over. About the screens, I was being sarcastic.