I hope you are performing a safe tagout/lockout prior to diving on all U/W systems. I would invest in a simple hooka rig to avoid using SCUBA. Something with small CFM and a 120ft length hose/umbilical. You could have topside comms and could be alerted on topside events, traffic, weather etc. I would like to look at your bow thruster zincs, if you are tightening the fastener directly to zinc material, then that is the issue, it should have a CRESS insert. Are any of these systems that require cathodic protection are internally grounded? My U/W ships husbandry experience is from US Naval and commercial vessels. I would like to see more of your efforts. Well done.
Really good video of the stuff we usually don't see on maintenance. Thanks for taking the time to film it. I learned a lot from this short video. Thank you
you produce excellent videos. I like the text over the scene so I know what you are doing. Your videos show a lot more to boat ownership than eating steak and lobster dinners in the salon.
Try drilling small holes axially (google it) into socket head capscrew and zinc and tying the two together with stainless wire that is twisted between points. Have the wire twisted against the clockwise direction of the capscrew. Practice that one on dry land first. Do not use flat washers as this gives another surface to slide against. Use a lock washer alone. To remove you will need side cutters to cut wire. As a millwright, we deal with high vibration machinery daily. Not uncommon to use “mousing”. Wire tied to capsrews. (Bolts).
Nice that you have the right equipment to dive in cold water and take care of that maintenance. A little maintenance goes a long way to keeping equipment running a long time.
OMG! I've watched only a couple of your videos and I absolutely love the angle your presenting to cruising life! Two questions 1. You said your on a budget, what (places, miles, months away, cost) did you budget for? 2. What type of unexpected strains if any has it put on your marriage (stressful moments, disagreements)? My wife and I are looking to do the great loop and I feel your videos have helped me plan better! Thank you for taking the time and effort to help so many people! God bless you and your family!
Justin - our apologies for the delay in responding - but we do try to answer all questions that people post in the se comments. We've been really busy in the process of selling one boat and trying to buy another but I did want to take some time to reply to your questions. 1. Budget - this is a topic that is probably due way more discussion than a short answer here but I'll try to give at least a broad answer. When we took off on our journey last summer we had money that we had allocated for cruising expenses and some educated guesses on what we would need as far as monthly expenses. We were guessing roughly $2k-$4k per month which is a pretty wide range but there are a lot of variables. We could probably look at regular living expenses such as marina fees, food, fuel and see some consistency. The big variables for us were expenses with unplanned repairs on the boat. Initially we had issues that we had to deal with probably just due to the fact that the boat had been mostly tied to the dock for the past year before we left and a lot of the systems hadn't been exercised. The real answer is we didn't really spend enough time cruising full on the 40 to see any real trends as far as expenses and average maintenance costs. When we get into another boat, it will be for the long haul and we will track expenses closely and eventually share. Jen has an accounting background and I am an engineer so we both like to look at real data. 2. The main advice that I would give in the area of relationship stress or disagreements is to make sure you are on the same page as far as expectations. There are so many different ways to do things while traveling by small boat and we saw extremes of remote sections of wilderness in Northern B.C. and Alaska last summer to resort marinas, to being in big cities like Seattle and Vancouver. Jen initially wasn't used to being isolated and "stuck" on the boat for days on end when we first started cruising up the inside passage. Being able to make stops at larger towns or places with more shoreside facilities helped to break up those periods where we were alone on the boat for days.
Underwater threads - use lock seal thread. Can be purchased from a plumbing supplier. Hardware stores would not carry this. There are also other sealants which can be used under water, also found at the plumbing supplies.
Another great video. Have you considered mounting camera to mask or head to free up your other hand? Also suggest some T-handle Allen keys - much easier to use in limited dexterity situations.
Love watching your videos and thanks for reminding me to go down in my boat to check my zinc's dread the job again when I used to dive in very cold water it sounds kind of weird but I used to put a hot water bottle right on my chest and zip up my dry suit just to keep me a little warmer and it kind of worked and thank you for the reply on the side rails cuz that would be something my wife wanted me to ask you we have side rails on our boat now and we love nor hobbins but she's just really concerned about not having side rails but thank you for the fast reply good boating Vegas bill
radbcc - the transom and especially the metal guard and shroud around the stern thruster are very exposed to sunlight which makes the growth pretty fast in that area. Anti fouling paint doesn’t stay on the stainless tubing that forms the guard to well either. We could have painted that metal with the same Propspeed coating that we use on the running gear but it is super expensive and it’s really not too difficult to clean growth from that part of the boat.
I would get several bow thruster screws and put blue lock tight on them and keep the extras with the zinks. That way you have them ready when you need to change. I suggest you get some tee handle hex wrenches for the sizes of the screws on the zincs. They will be much easier to use underwater with gloves and put snap lanyards on them to keep from dropping them.
They must have factory maritime bolts already coated in locktite, as I have used something similar on high performance motorcycle brakes, and you don't want them coming loose on a ride out
you guys outta go up on a grid every now and then, stop into a rental store and grab a pressure washer with a turbo fitting while your at it and pressure wash the bottom. Usually the zink store is within a short walk from the grid in case you forgot one. Im pretty surprized the leading keel cooler zink was in such good shape. The boat is obviously well bonded and electrically protected, also while on the grid you can apply lok-tight to the zink fasteners (probably not gonna save those thruster zinks but whatever) and on the grid you can check the stern most keel cooler zink, its not as big a pain on the grid as it is while diving
I suggest using never seize and stainless nylock nuts on those hull zincs. The never seize will help with bonding and the stainless nylock nuts will not corrode. Also, you might want to set up a tool kit on a tether to one of your D rings, just for underwater work.. I'm looking forward to buying a 62. Nice job. Safe travels!
Great video. I thought it would be more difficult then it looks. I power washed my sidewalk and basketball court last week and don't know if it would work underwater. It probably wouldn't do a wide enough swath under water. It would be worth trying to clean your boat.
Good viewing and educationally interesting. Love the motor cruiser, appears to outclass the sail boats that are more commonly used but is probably much more costly to run and maintain. Congratulations on a magnificent vessel. I have viewed all your episodes - thank you for sharing. Amusing part was when your wife was on the foredeck guiding you through the floating ice and clad with boots and so much insulative clothing and then your little daughter walks out in pyjamas and barefoot. Typical children - love their spirit. Wishing you guys safe cruising.
Interesting comment/question re: motor vs sail costs/maintenance? Certainly a big consideration to factor in when making a decision to become a boater.
Dry suit in 50 degree water... getting soft there aren't we? Our SCUBA club used to do a dive every New Years Eve in the strip mines North of Pittsburgh, PA under the ice at night. The fire company would come out and light it up with their spotlights and build a big fire for after the dive. They would cut a hole in the ice with chain saws and we would dive with buddies under the ice in wet suits. The only skin not covered were out lips around the regulator mouthpiece and for the first few minutes it would feel like they were being sawed off with a hack saw. Then they went numb and all was good. Young and adventuresome I guess. I went on to college to major in Marine Biology and Oceanography and used to work for a professor doing sediment transport studies for the Army Corp of Engineers on the Delaware Bay. We used to dive installing sediment traps in various sites at the mouth of the bay all year long in wet suits. Not the glamorous Jacque Cousteau diving I dreamed of, but I learned a lot. Spent my whole working career in Human Resources so go figure. :-). I love your videos and having owned several boats they bring back a lot of memories. I used to dive on them as well to clean the hull and replace zincs.
NICELY DONE... USE WHITE TEFLON TAPE (ABOUT 2 to 3 ROTATIONS) on the socket head cap screw threads for the thruster prop and a STAINLESS FLAT AND STAINLESS LOCK washer ... that will help to tighten it up.... due to vibration. I don't think lock tight will work under water. So the proper sequence would be: cap screw, flat washer, lock washer, teflon tape on treads and then the zinc.
Dave Doe - that’s a good point. I’m not sure if the only conductive path from the zinc to the thruster prop shaft is through the screw or not. I’m leaning toward trying a cap screw with a nylon patch embedded rather than the tape so there would be a metal to metal connection anyway.
yeah. I read elsewhere on the internet that folks say that teflon tape actually fills the voids between the threads so there's plenty of metal to metal contact. So Teflon tape is probably a good idea so you can lube the threads. THat way you should be able to torque it down pretty hard
Hey thought id let you know I really like your videos, family and adventures. Waiting till January to see if the new n41 is for us, if not, looking to a boat very similar to yours. Question for ya. I see u have paravanes. Why? I just saw you're stabized?! Also, just for a newbie, your entire scuba set-up there, how much? Can you charge your canisters yourself?
Teflon tape is not a bad idea. Just a little concern with cleaning the old tape off each time you change the zincs. Using 5200 isn't a good idea, mainly due to clean it off each time.
Impressive work with gloves on! Never tried teflon tape, worth a shot. Not sure about 3M 5200 - supposed to be for permanent installations. 3M 4200 would be an alternative - for situations where disassembly is expected.
tsnewhart - it doesn’t suck up too much time if everything is maintained and checked fairly regularly. I like to check things every couple of months. Our hull was very clean this time - combination of cold water and relatively new anti-fouling paint so I didn’t have to spend a lot of time wiping down the hull. In warm water growth can be so fast that it needs to be cleaned every 3 weeks to a month and cleaning the entire hull can take 1-2 hours.
Steve Wright - that’s a very good point and something I hadn’t considered. I was thinking it was solely vibration but when the material goes away there will no longer be compression and the screw would definitely loosen. Several people have recommended the cap screws with an embedded nylon piece since it’s a male cap screw and not a nut that attaches it to the thruster prop. That’s what I think I’m going to try next time I need to replace them.
Next time you have her out of the water to keep your prop clean paint them with egg whites. Procedure is to paint with egg whites allow to dry then repeat three more times. By all accounts this will keep your prop sparkling clean. Don't know how your bow thruster zincs are attached but can you use split pins so there is constant tension on the nuts.
offshorebear - I usually try to use cheap tools with not a lot of moving parts in saltwater. I couldn’t find the correct metric hex wrench though so used that folding set this time. No matter what though I always immerse the tools in a bucket of fresh water and then dry and spray pretty heavily with something like Corrosion-X or LPS 2 to try to prevent corrosion. I’ll never take tools with a starched mechanism under water though because it’s almost impossible to keep them from corroding. Even tools that I don’t use underwater I try to keep covered a light coating of of some type of oil to prevent corrosion just from being stored on the boat. Salt water and salt air is brutal.
I used to use a product called Gun Guard or Gunguardit? Sorry, can't remember the name exactly, great stuff, it was a spray wax coating that would be the perfect thing for your tools. But sadly like many of the best products I can't seem to find it anywhere nowadays. There is Rust Guardit, but I have never tried it, sounds similar. Good luck and thanks for taking us along on your adventure.
I see videos of various youtube sailors cleaning their hull, and I always wonder - doesn't scrubbing the hull scrape off your anti-foul paint? Do you have to take care not to scrub the paint off?
Captain Rick - good call. I normally have a brush and one of those “5 in one” painters tools in my dry suit pocket to get at some of the hard growth but I was a little too lazy to go back under this time. I’m probably going to check everything again in a couple of weeks just because the zincs on the thruster have been falling off so frequently.
Don Johnston - I think most people do hire a diver to do the underwater work. We did when we were back home and working full time. I don’t really like getting in the water in marinas with questionable water quality and the risk of stray shore power current. Cost seems to vary widely by location. In Southern California we were typically paying $1/foot for cleaning plus the cost of any zincs and labor to replace them. In San Francisco Bay, we were paying around $3/foot for cleaning. The bill was usually a little under $200, but every 3 months vs every 3 weeks to month in the warmer water down south.
Michael Brownewell Sr - that’s a great idea - however it’s a socket head cap screw (with a mail thread) that goes into threads in the thruster prop so it needs to be something on the screw.
Yumpin Yimini - not sure I understand the question. The bottom was painted about 6 months before this was shot with good anti fouling paint. Even with good paint the hull still needs to be cleaned in the water.
Sorry, I have been out of boating for 20 years and I am sure there are more environmental restrictions. Heck, back when I started boating (80's) there was leaded anti-fouling out-drive paint. It was banned and I had to strip my drives down to bare metal, prime, paint and then use a Teflon spray coating. A pain in the butt for that processes but it worked well. This was in CT. My marina was not bad but some near large cities had so many chemicals and pollutants that the water just ate right through the expensive bottom paint. Not cheap. My boating center told me to just buy the cheapest but best working bottom paint. I think it was "Interluxe Bottomcoat" Worked great in salt polluted water and also years in fresh water. I just thought there is some bottom paint you can buy that would last more than 6 months and not have to scrape crap off the hull. Just saying, expensive doesn't mean best. Ask your home dock people. They will know what works best. LOL - Lots of Luck!
Bolts or screws do have lock tight on them from the manufacture. Will help for removal will not seize. www.longlok.com/s.nl/it.A/id.42696/.f This is one for example.
Ronald Hayek - thanks! So many great suggestions in these comments. That or the screws with a nylon piece embedded on the thread is what I am leaning toward trying.
Here is a link to McMaster-Carr. They have 316 SS Screws with a Nylon patch on the thread that will act like a thread locker. www.mcmaster.com/#96209a715/=1dxg6v0
Scott Stephenson - thanks! ... so many great tips since we put up this video. I should have thought of McMaster-Carr as a source. I’ve used them for sourcing fasteners for work over the years and purchased set-screws with the nylon patch but didn’t realize that they sell cap screws that also have it.
I hope you are performing a safe tagout/lockout prior to diving on all U/W systems. I would invest in a simple hooka rig to avoid using SCUBA. Something with small CFM and a 120ft length hose/umbilical. You could have topside comms and could be alerted on topside events, traffic, weather etc.
I would like to look at your bow thruster zincs, if you are tightening the fastener directly to zinc material, then that is the issue, it should have a CRESS insert. Are any of these systems that require cathodic protection are internally grounded?
My U/W ships husbandry experience is from US Naval and commercial vessels. I would like to see more of your efforts. Well done.
Wielki Szacunek Kapitanie
Really good video of the stuff we usually don't see on maintenance. Thanks for taking the time to film it. I learned a lot from this short video. Thank you
you produce excellent videos. I like the text over the scene so I know what you are doing. Your videos show a lot more to boat ownership than eating steak and lobster dinners in the salon.
thanks for showing the hull cleaning, nice to see some maintenance work on a motor yacht.
You made it look easy, I'd be dropping tools, nuts, bolts, etc.... especially with those heavy gloves on..great video. Thank you.
Doing all this maintenance yourself will save thousands of dollars and there is a certain peace of mind knowing the mechanicals of your boat.
An idea to try , try using some using some lock nuts or plumbing tape to keep your zincs on you bow thruster or try using some thin nylon string.
Springtime in BC till about July you can get phenomenal growth. If the dock has a crappy electrical system you can burn through zincs in weeks.
your NORDHAVN is cool ,your videos are great , keep up the awesome work ...
Try drilling small holes axially (google it) into socket head capscrew and zinc and tying the two together with stainless wire that is twisted between points. Have the wire twisted against the clockwise direction of the capscrew. Practice that one on dry land first. Do not use flat washers as this gives another surface to slide against. Use a lock washer alone. To remove you will need side cutters to cut wire. As a millwright, we deal with high vibration machinery daily. Not uncommon to use “mousing”. Wire tied to capsrews. (Bolts).
Nicely done! Not easy to hold a camera while working on the bottom. Wishing you the best.
Nice that you have the right equipment to dive in cold water and take care of that maintenance. A little maintenance goes a long way to keeping equipment running a long time.
Nicely done. Excellent job capturing and editing this video. Thank you for taking the time to do it right.
stunning under water shots!
OMG! I've watched only a couple of your videos and I absolutely love the angle your presenting to cruising life! Two questions 1. You said your on a budget, what (places, miles, months away, cost) did you budget for? 2. What type of unexpected strains if any has it put on your marriage (stressful moments, disagreements)? My wife and I are looking to do the great loop and I feel your videos have helped me plan better! Thank you for taking the time and effort to help so many people! God bless you and your family!
Justin - our apologies for the delay in responding - but we do try to answer all questions that people post in the se comments. We've been really busy in the process of selling one boat and trying to buy another but I did want to take some time to reply to your questions.
1. Budget - this is a topic that is probably due way more discussion than a short answer here but I'll try to give at least a broad answer. When we took off on our journey last summer we had money that we had allocated for cruising expenses and some educated guesses on what we would need as far as monthly expenses. We were guessing roughly $2k-$4k per month which is a pretty wide range but there are a lot of variables. We could probably look at regular living expenses such as marina fees, food, fuel and see some consistency. The big variables for us were expenses with unplanned repairs on the boat. Initially we had issues that we had to deal with probably just due to the fact that the boat had been mostly tied to the dock for the past year before we left and a lot of the systems hadn't been exercised.
The real answer is we didn't really spend enough time cruising full on the 40 to see any real trends as far as expenses and average maintenance costs. When we get into another boat, it will be for the long haul and we will track expenses closely and eventually share. Jen has an accounting background and I am an engineer so we both like to look at real data.
2. The main advice that I would give in the area of relationship stress or disagreements is to make sure you are on the same page as far as expectations. There are so many different ways to do things while traveling by small boat and we saw extremes of remote sections of wilderness in Northern B.C. and Alaska last summer to resort marinas, to being in big cities like Seattle and Vancouver. Jen initially wasn't used to being isolated and "stuck" on the boat for days on end when we first started cruising up the inside passage. Being able to make stops at larger towns or places with more shoreside facilities helped to break up those periods where we were alone on the boat for days.
Underwater threads - use lock seal thread. Can be purchased from a plumbing supplier. Hardware stores would not carry this. There are also other sealants which can be used under water, also found at the plumbing supplies.
Thank You For Sharing The Experience!
+Kenneth T. Glover - thanks for watching!
Another great video. Have you considered mounting camera to mask or head to free up your other hand? Also suggest some T-handle Allen keys - much easier to use in limited dexterity situations.
Great ideas!
Love watching your videos and thanks for reminding me to go down in my boat to check my zinc's dread the job again when I used to dive in very cold water it sounds kind of weird but I used to put a hot water bottle right on my chest and zip up my dry suit just to keep me a little warmer and it kind of worked and thank you for the reply on the side rails cuz that would be something my wife wanted me to ask you we have side rails on our boat now and we love nor hobbins but she's just really concerned about not having side rails but thank you for the fast reply good boating Vegas bill
Love this stuff. Thank you. Always wondering about this. Engine maintenance video?
That was cool! Thanks
Loved your new ears at the end of the video ... ;-))
Wow, despite being in colder climes, you still had quite a bit of growth, was not expecting that...
radbcc - the transom and especially the metal guard and shroud around the stern thruster are very exposed to sunlight which makes the growth pretty fast in that area.
Anti fouling paint doesn’t stay on the stainless tubing that forms the guard to well either. We could have painted that metal with the same Propspeed coating that we use on the running gear but it is super expensive and it’s really not too difficult to clean growth from that part of the boat.
Thanks much...
I would get several bow thruster screws and put blue lock tight on them and keep the extras with the zinks. That way you have them ready when you need to change. I suggest you get some tee handle hex wrenches for the sizes of the screws on the zincs. They will be much easier to use underwater with gloves and put snap lanyards on them to keep from dropping them.
They must have factory maritime bolts already coated in locktite, as I have used something similar on high performance motorcycle brakes, and you don't want them coming loose on a ride out
you guys outta go up on a grid every now and then, stop into a rental store and grab a pressure washer with a turbo fitting while your at it and pressure wash the bottom. Usually the zink store is within a short walk from the grid in case you forgot one. Im pretty surprized the leading keel cooler zink was in such good shape. The boat is obviously well bonded and electrically protected, also while on the grid you can apply lok-tight to the zink fasteners (probably not gonna save those thruster zinks but whatever) and on the grid you can check the stern most keel cooler zink, its not as big a pain on the grid as it is while diving
Great idea. Saw a lot of commercial fisherman doing that in Alaska.
I suggest using never seize and stainless nylock nuts on those hull zincs. The never seize will help with bonding and the stainless nylock nuts will not corrode.
Also, you might want to set up a tool kit on a tether to one of your D rings, just for underwater work..
I'm looking forward to buying a 62.
Nice job. Safe travels!
Well that was interesting. Thanks for posting.
Great video. I thought it would be more difficult then it looks. I power washed my sidewalk and basketball court last week and don't know if it would work underwater. It probably wouldn't do a wide enough swath under water. It would be worth trying to clean your boat.
Michael Prosperity - power washers work great when boats are hauled out of the water but I have not heard of one being used underwater.
Great video
Awesome video! Thanks!
Longer heads with holes on the bolts holding the bow thruster zinc and wire them on with stainless steel wire.
Good viewing and educationally interesting. Love the motor cruiser, appears to outclass the sail boats that are more commonly used but is probably much more costly to run and maintain. Congratulations on a magnificent vessel. I have viewed all your episodes - thank you for sharing. Amusing part was when your wife was on the foredeck guiding you through the floating ice and clad with boots and so much insulative clothing and then your little daughter walks out in pyjamas and barefoot. Typical children - love their spirit. Wishing you guys safe cruising.
Interesting comment/question re: motor vs sail costs/maintenance? Certainly a big consideration to factor in when making a decision to become a boater.
Dry suit in 50 degree water... getting soft there aren't we? Our SCUBA club used to do a dive every New Years Eve in the strip mines North of Pittsburgh, PA under the ice at night. The fire company would come out and light it up with their spotlights and build a big fire for after the dive. They would cut a hole in the ice with chain saws and we would dive with buddies under the ice in wet suits. The only skin not covered were out lips around the regulator mouthpiece and for the first few minutes it would feel like they were being sawed off with a hack saw. Then they went numb and all was good. Young and adventuresome I guess. I went on to college to major in Marine Biology and Oceanography and used to work for a professor doing sediment transport studies for the Army Corp of Engineers on the Delaware Bay. We used to dive installing sediment traps in various sites at the mouth of the bay all year long in wet suits. Not the glamorous Jacque Cousteau diving I dreamed of, but I learned a lot. Spent my whole working career in Human Resources so go figure. :-). I love your videos and having owned several boats they bring back a lot of memories. I used to dive on them as well to clean the hull and replace zincs.
Can you "double nut" the thruster bolts? Old Farmer's trick, but YMMV. Enjoy your maintenance videos very much.
Hey wait, what happened to the Cassidy outtro? "Thanks for watching..." ;-) Good stuff y'all, thanks for sharing.
Great video!
NICELY DONE... USE WHITE TEFLON TAPE (ABOUT 2 to 3 ROTATIONS) on the socket head cap screw threads for the thruster prop and a STAINLESS FLAT AND STAINLESS LOCK washer ... that will help to tighten it up.... due to vibration. I don't think lock tight will work under water. So the proper sequence would be: cap screw, flat washer, lock washer, teflon tape on treads and then the zinc.
angels814ever - the Teflon tape is a great idea. I’ll try that next time I check the zincs.
You can also liquid Teflon thread lubricant that way the screw still still makes metal to metal contact ..works on mine...
wait won't teflon tape interrupt metal-to-metal contact? Or do the threads cut through it?
Dave Doe - that’s a good point. I’m not sure if the only conductive path from the zinc to the thruster prop shaft is through the screw or not. I’m leaning toward trying a cap screw with a nylon patch embedded rather than the tape so there would be a metal to metal connection anyway.
yeah. I read elsewhere on the internet that folks say that teflon tape actually fills the voids between the threads so there's plenty of metal to metal contact. So Teflon tape is probably a good idea so you can lube the threads. THat way you should be able to torque it down pretty hard
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing
Hey thought id let you know I really like your videos, family and adventures.
Waiting till January to see if the new n41 is for us, if not, looking to a boat very similar to yours.
Question for ya. I see u have paravanes. Why? I just saw you're stabized?!
Also, just for a newbie, your entire scuba set-up there, how much? Can you charge your canisters yourself?
Will those bolts on the zinks take a lockwasher ? maybe that will help ?
see if you can have it changed for a left handed thread on the side that keeps losing the zinc
Teflon tape is not a bad idea. Just a little concern with cleaning the old tape off each time you change the zincs. Using 5200 isn't a good idea, mainly due to clean it off each time.
Impressive work with gloves on! Never tried teflon tape, worth a shot. Not sure about 3M 5200 - supposed to be for permanent installations. 3M 4200 would be an alternative - for situations where disassembly is expected.
put blue/medium lock tight on the screw first and let it dry before installing?
I don't know boat maintenance but that was exactly my first thought.
Underwater applications need the thread (or string) type lockseal (or lock tight). On the right track though.
Loctite also comes in a stick which you can use under water..
A product that may be useful is called Unbrako Flexloc nuts which are self locking and may come in stainless.
Great video, would second the teflon tape. Has been successful for me.
a dab of 3m 5200 on the threads. Cures under water and is plyable and seals out some corrision
Useful video. This maintenance appears to be a required routine. What is the time allocation?
tsnewhart - it doesn’t suck up too much time if everything is maintained and checked fairly regularly. I like to check things every couple of months.
Our hull was very clean this time - combination of cold water and relatively new anti-fouling paint so I didn’t have to spend a lot of time wiping down the hull. In warm water growth can be so fast that it needs to be cleaned every 3 weeks to a month and cleaning the entire hull can take 1-2 hours.
When the anode etches away it removes material and loosens the screws.. Maybe a stainless nyloc nut or similar...
Steve Wright - that’s a very good point and something I hadn’t considered. I was thinking it was solely vibration but when the material goes away there will no longer be compression and the screw would definitely loosen.
Several people have recommended the cap screws with an embedded nylon piece since it’s a male cap screw and not a nut that attaches it to the thruster prop. That’s what I think I’m going to try next time I need to replace them.
Next time you have her out of the water to keep your prop clean paint them with egg whites. Procedure is to paint with egg whites allow to dry then repeat three more times. By all accounts this will keep your prop sparkling clean. Don't know how your bow thruster zincs are attached but can you use split pins so there is constant tension on the nuts.
Do you do anything to prevent corrosion on the tools? I know those dewalt hex key sets rust up quickly in salt air.
offshorebear - I usually try to use cheap tools with not a lot of moving parts in saltwater. I couldn’t find the correct metric hex wrench though so used that folding set this time. No matter what though I always immerse the tools in a bucket of fresh water and then dry and spray pretty heavily with something like Corrosion-X or LPS 2 to try to prevent corrosion. I’ll never take tools with a starched mechanism under water though because it’s almost impossible to keep them from corroding.
Even tools that I don’t use underwater I try to keep covered a light coating of of some type of oil to prevent corrosion just from being stored on the boat. Salt water and salt air is brutal.
I used to use a product called Gun Guard or Gunguardit? Sorry, can't remember the name exactly, great stuff, it was a spray wax coating that would be the perfect thing for your tools. But sadly like many of the best products I can't seem to find it anywhere nowadays. There is Rust Guardit, but I have never tried it, sounds similar. Good luck and thanks for taking us along on your adventure.
Earl Franklin - thanks for the tip!
I see videos of various youtube sailors cleaning their hull, and I always wonder - doesn't scrubbing the hull scrape off your anti-foul paint? Do you have to take care not to scrub the paint off?
Light scrubbing like this won't affect the paint much.
I would take a small wire brush with you next time. thanks for sharing!
Captain Rick - good call. I normally have a brush and one of those “5 in one” painters tools in my dry suit pocket to get at some of the hard growth but I was a little too lazy to go back under this time. I’m probably going to check everything again in a couple of weeks just because the zincs on the thruster have been falling off so frequently.
Yeah I don't know what to tell you about the zincs falling off.... Maybe look here on "The Tube" and you might find something on that.
how much money did that save you?
nyloc nut should fix the issue on the thruster!
I assume a fair number of boat owners hire others to to this cleaning and maintenance. What are typical costs for this service?
Don Johnston - I think most people do hire a diver to do the underwater work. We did when we were back home and working full time. I don’t really like getting in the water in marinas with questionable water quality and the risk of stray shore power current.
Cost seems to vary widely by location. In Southern California we were typically paying $1/foot for cleaning plus the cost of any zincs and labor to replace them. In San Francisco Bay, we were paying around $3/foot for cleaning. The bill was usually a little under $200, but every 3 months vs every 3 weeks to month in the warmer water down south.
How about using a nut with a nylon insert?
Michael Brownewell Sr - that’s a great idea - however it’s a socket head cap screw (with a mail thread) that goes into threads in the thruster prop so it needs to be something on the screw.
You might try Loctite 242 Blue...not water soluble so should work...doesnt take much force to release
Jamb nut will keep it in place
Put some 5200 on the treads
A cheap plastic scrapper is good for getting those barnacles and your gloves will last longer.
You know you have to pull the boat out of the water every 2 to 3 years to redo the anti-fouling bottom paint. What did you think you would have to do?
Yumpin Yimini - not sure I understand the question. The bottom was painted about 6 months before this was shot with good anti fouling paint. Even with good paint the hull still needs to be cleaned in the water.
Sorry, I have been out of boating for 20 years and I am sure there are more environmental restrictions. Heck, back when I started boating (80's) there was leaded anti-fouling out-drive paint. It was banned and I had to strip my drives down to bare metal, prime, paint and then use a Teflon spray coating. A pain in the butt for that processes but it worked well.
This was in CT. My marina was not bad but some near large cities had so many chemicals and pollutants that the water just ate right through the expensive bottom paint. Not cheap.
My boating center told me to just buy the cheapest but best working bottom paint. I think it was "Interluxe Bottomcoat" Worked great in salt polluted water and also years in fresh water.
I just thought there is some bottom paint you can buy that would last more than 6 months and not have to scrape crap off the hull.
Just saying, expensive doesn't mean best. Ask your home dock people. They will know what works best.
LOL - Lots of Luck!
Double nut and tighten against each other
Bolts or screws do have lock tight on them from the manufacture. Will help for removal will not seize. www.longlok.com/s.nl/it.A/id.42696/.f This is one for example.
Ronald Hayek - thanks! So many great suggestions in these comments. That or the screws with a nylon piece embedded on the thread is what I am leaning toward trying.
Here is a link to McMaster-Carr. They have 316 SS Screws with a Nylon patch on the thread that will act like a thread locker. www.mcmaster.com/#96209a715/=1dxg6v0
Scott Stephenson - thanks! ... so many great tips since we put up this video. I should have thought of McMaster-Carr as a source. I’ve used them for sourcing fasteners for work over the years and purchased set-screws with the nylon patch but didn’t realize that they sell cap screws that also have it.
Looks to me as though if you want to own a boat to cruise in you might as well learn to be a diver as well.
wrong music. Jaws theme!!!!! LOL
Great Video!