Replacing the Steering Cross-Wire Idlers

Cross-Wire Idlers

While working on the steering system, some rusting was noticed on the steering idler backing plate.  It looked mostly like surface rust, and so it was cleaned with a wire wheel,  painted with some rust neutralizer spray, and then painted with white Rustolium spray paint.  

old wire idler

painted old wire idler

Soon after, a message from one of the CnC listers described his challenges and mechanical problems he encountered during the "Isla Mujeras Regata al Sol", a biannual race from Pensacola sailing 545nm to Isla Mujeras in Mexico.   In short, he had steering issue due to the idler backing plate corroding and giving away allowing the steering cables to go slack.

He added this statement in his message:

"I hope to share this experience with everyone in that it's not enough to inspect your steering cables and sheves - mine looked fine prior to race.  Advise removing binnacle to get a very clear view of backing plate and how well sheves are attached.  If your going off shore this is a must. No matter how much you prepare - AIS, radar, all safety gear, rig inspection etc etc. there is always more to consider prior to going off shore."

The Regata Al Sol is on my bucket list (and possible within the next few years too as Pensacola is in the neighborhood).   So at this point I had to drop the wire idlers, and holly crap look at what I found, my own disaster waiting.  At the same time, I pulled the steering pedestal (recovered one of those brake pad washers I had dropped), checked all the pedestal steering components, over drilled, epoxy filled, and re-drilled holes for the steering system and pedestal mount.     

Thanks to Steve for the motivation.

corroded wire idler support plate 

New Cross-Wire Idlers

New cross wire idlers were purchased from Sailnet at a good price, and they were shipped directly from Edson Marine.  The new idler feature an anodized aluminum base rather than a steel base of the old design.  In order to fit the LF38 fuel tank which sit right under the steering system, the wire idlers were modified by removing the small downward extending tabs (compare pictures below).

Edson 776Al-4AL

new wire idler purchased from Sailnet

new wire idler installed and adjusted with fuel tank in place

Rudder, Radial Drive, and Steering Cable Repairs

Cockpit sole aft of helm: The rudder is held in place by a large circular threaded
collar.  Between the bottom of the collar and the thrust bearing bushing is a flat
1/8" thick thrust bearing made of Ultra-Wear-Resistant PTFE-Filled Delrin
Acetal Resin. The collarhas two locking set screws.  The top of the rudder stock
protrudes for easy connection of an emergency rudder control arm.  Also shown
 is an access port used to grease the rudder post.

Steering System

This job started off small and grew into a major project.  I noticed the steering seemed stiff and when the wheel was turn quickly the rudder would chatter and vibrate a bit.  I was concerned that the rudder stock may have been bent, so I decided to drop the rudder to explore.  After removing the steering cables, I noticed a few meat hooks so these had to be replaced.  Next, the radial drive was to come off before the rudder could be dropped. That was good challenge.  After dropping the rudder, I found lots of old dry-hard and crusty grease, this was cleaned out with Naphtha and upon installed lubed with SuperLube.  The rudder movement now is nice and smooth.  In the end, the whole steering system (including pedestal and idlers) was completely removed and renovated in the process.


Removing the Radial Drive Wheel

Four stainless steel bolts are threaded into the Aluminum radial drive holding the two halves of the radial drive onto the rudder stock.  Normally, there is very little access to the steering system, but with the engine, fuel tank, and steering cables removed,  there was somewhat easy access.   The bolts holding the radial drive would not budge.  I tried using a breaker bar. I tried PB Blaster.  I tried Kroil.  I tried heating with a Bernzomatic torch.  I tried combinations of penetrating oil and heat.  Nothing worked.     I decided to cut the bolt heads off and separate the two halves of the radial drive.  Using a Dremel, I cut the bolt heads off.  I pounded. I got a bigger hammer and pounded.  Still the radial drive would not budge!  Finally, I used a sawzall and a thin metal cutting blade to cut along the two halves of the radial drive, cutting through the bolts, and at last, the radial drive was off.

radial drive with bolt heads cut off 

cutting the towards the bolts with a sawzall

cutting the bolts with a sawzall

rudder stock with radial drive removed,

Dropping the Rudder

Compared to the radial drive work, lowering the rudder, even single-handed, was an easy task.  First a hole was dug deep enough for the rudder shaft to completely exit the tube.  Then the rudder was propped up to release the top screw-on rudder collar.  To control gravity, two lines were wrapped around the rudder and lead back to the genoa winches.  These lines were used to slowly lower the rudder.  Installing the rudder later on was just reversing this process.   The photo below was taken during installation of the rudder.

dropping and raising the rudder single-handed

Rudder Tube and Thrust Bearing

The rudder shaft turned out, thankfully,  to be fine.  The problem with the steering was the result of old hardened grease in the rudder tube and on the rudder stock.  The tube and stock were cleaned using  Naphtha soaked rag, a rod, and rope in a manor like cleaning the barrel of a rifle.  Super Lube synthetic grease was used for re-lubricating the rudder.   The rudder thrust bearing backing plate was badly corroded and needed to be replaced.  A new backing plate was made out of G10 structural fiberglass board.   With the thrust bearing removed, the deck core material was reamed back at the hole in the cockpit sole,  and the area filled with epoxy thickened with colloidal silica.  The bearing and backing plates were sealed using Bostik 940FS sealant during reinstallation.

old hardened grease in the rudder tube

top of rudder tube

new thrust bearing backing plate

replacing the thrust bearing backing plate

Thrust Bearing Bushing & Limber Holes

The thrust bearing bushing was replaced with new one made from 1/8"  Ultra-Wear-Resistant PTFE-Filled Delrin Acetal Resin obtained from McMaster-Carr.    The new bushing was cut out of the material using a sabre saw and then trimmed using a Dremel sanding drum.   Only the planar surfaces are important for the thrust bearing.

Another of Wally Bryant's brilliant ideas is the PVC epoxied limber hole.  I first installed these in my C&C 29 with great success, and I have now installed them in here by the rudder tube and forward of it in engine/fuel tank stringer.  

epoxied limber holes around rudder tube

new thrust bearing bushing 

Restoring the Radial Drive

The stainless steel bolts were galled solid in the Aluminum radial drive and the only way to remove them was by drilling them out. This meant over drilling the internal threads and using external stainless steel locking nuts with new stainless steel bolts (and plenty of Tef-Gel during the installation) .  After stripping the surface clean of dirt and corrosion, the radial drive was painted with several coats of black VHT epoxy paint making the radial look like new.

drilling out galled stainless steel bolt
from the Aluminum radial drive

radial drive after cleaning up
and epoxy painting

                 

test fitting the radial drive without the fuel tank installed

Steering Cables

New 1/4" 7x19 stainless steel aircraft cable was purchased from Web Rigging Supply online.  At $1.10/ft  it was a great price and much more than initially required was purchased, so one thought.  A great deal was found on Ebay for a Swag-It  #3 tool which covers swages from 1/8" to 1/4".    After practice of using the swage, two beautifully swaged eyes were made onto the ends of the two 1/4" cables.  It was later realized that the Edson chain-eye connector had a closed loop and should have been included in first set of eyes during swaging.  After cutting off the ends and correctly swaging, the steering cable lengths were just the right amount.

When ordering I thought I was purchasing much more than I needed and almost reduced the amount.  Next time, I'll add 25% to the already "much more than I need amount".

beautifully, but incorrect,  swaged eyes on the
ends of two 1/4" cables

correctly swaged cable for Edson steering chain

• See posts on steering idler replacement.

Topside Repair Work

Repairing Damage and Painting Topsides

damage region of pit & gouges in topsides

The topsides had an area of pits and gouges confined to region of about  a 2 foot radius.   The first photo shows this area.   I am not sure of the origin of damage to the topsides or if it was associated with the missing rub rail and missing toe rail as they all were located on the starboard aft end of the boat.

I used a grinder and a 36 grit sand flip disk to gingerly sand this area down.  And even though this area is above the waterline, I decided to use epoxy and an epoxy fairing of 50-50 colloidal silica to 3M glass spheres.

repaired topside region after sanding epoxy fairing

It appeared that the hull was previuosly painted and that it looked like and exact match to Brightsides white.    The area was first painted using a rolling and tipping technique, but due to the shine of the new paint and the sharp edges of rolling and tipping, you could see the shaded patch.   I sanded this down with 320 grit and using a Preval spray gun, painted over the area and blended out the area.

 topsides after touch-up painting with Brightside
using a Preval spray gun

after painting, polishing, and waxing

here is another area requiring wet sanding,  notice the shaded
region near the bow 

removing old name required wet sanding and touching up

Painting the Stern

stern freshly painted

The Johanna Rose was missing the original LF38 swim ladder.  In it place was a plywood board which was used to temporarily mount an outboard engine.  I filled all of the holes with epoxy thickened with colloidal silica and re-drilled the original swim ladder holes.  Since the transom is a confined finite area I decided to sand and paint it all by rolling and tipping with two coats of Interlux Brightsides.

Installing a New Swim Ladder

Installing a New Swim Ladder

The stern topside freshly painted prior to ladder installation.

The Johanna Rose was missing the original LF38 swim ladder.  In it place was a plywood board which was used to temporarily mount an outboard engine.  I filled all of the holes with epoxy thickened with colloidal silica and re-drilled the original swim ladder holes.  Prior to ladder installation, the transom was painted  by rolling and tipping with two coats of Interlux Brightsides.  See post on panting topsides for painting details.

swim ladder installed and looking pretty

I started looking for a swim ladder which would work and look somewhat original.   I was not happy with the one I found online and especially at the prices listed.  I was then able to get measurements of the LF38 swim ladder from other owners.  The plan was to now have one manufactured.   I started obtaining quotes from various places online, and one of the places I looked into to was listed by Stella Blue in a post on "Stanchion and Rail Bases".   The vendor was Tops-in-Quanity which now links to White Water Marine Inc in Port Huron, MI.   I sent them photos of the ladder along with the best measurements that I had.  When I spoke to Mike over the phone at White Water Marine he said  they could build that swim ladder and in fact they still had the specs sheet from when they built the originals!  Wow, I was getting an original remanufactured LF38 swim ladder and all for $330.  Double Wow!

Bottom Work

The Haul Out

Removing the old ablative bottom paint

This may sound crazy but it worked out very well and made the job much easier.   I starting off making little but steady progress sanding off the old bottom paint with a combination of 40 and 80 grit sandpaper using an orbital Dewalt sander.  This is a messy, toxic, and muscle aching process.

I found that scraping off the old bottom paint went much faster. The paint came off in chips which fell nicely onto a tarp for easy clean up.  The key is using a good scraper.  I used a Bahco scraper with a long lasting sharp carbide blade.  I even purchased a replacement blade but never needed to replace the original blade.   Yes, one blade scraped the whole hull and it was still sharp.   But more important than needing to replace blades is that a good sharp carbide scraper will remove the bottom paint without gouging the underlying surface.  After scraping, a light sanding with 80 grit and it was done.

Below are pictures illustrating the process.

jack stand patch showing old bottom paint

Bahco carbide scraper

jack stand patch during scraping with Bahco scraper,
after scraping and a lite sanding, the area looks like surrounding 

Keel Fairing

Standard for C&C, the Landfall 38 comes from the factory with an external lead keel bolted through a solid fiberglassed keel stub.  Most C&C sailboat exhibit a mostly cosmetic crack along the keel/hull joint.   This is commonly referred to as the C&C smile.  There are many solutions to deal with the C&C smile, typically ranging from yearly caulking and painting to more long term elaborate fiberglass wrapping.   At some point prior, the Johanna Rose had her whole keel fiberglassed over.  Unfortunately, the fairing which was used over the whole keel was a polyester based as it (and only the fairing) was full of blisters.  From my inspection, it appeared that the work was done using epoxy resin and fiberglass, but for easy sanding, polyester fairing was used over the fiberglass.  It may have seemed reasonable at the time, or unwisely justified since a barrier coat was applied over the fairing.

The fairing was removed down to the fiberglass on the keel.  The fiberglass was in great shape with absolutely no blistering issues.  A gallon of East System epoxy with hardener was purchased  along with a gallon of colloidal silica and a gallon of 3M glass spheres from Noah's Marine Supply.   First the exposed fiberglass was wetted with epoxy then faired over that with thickened epoxy using a mixture of 50-50 colloidal silica to the 3M glass spheres.   As most know,  sanding epoxy is a like sanding a rock.   Thickening with 3M glass spheres, makes sanding the fairing much easier, but on vertical surfaces you need to add colloidal silica to the mix otherwise the fairing runs and sags.  Te West System pumps were used to meter the epoxy (5:1) which greatly aided in making many batches.   Once cured, the fairing was sanded with 80 grit using an orbital sander.

Barrier Coat

After performing all hull and keel fiberglass, epoxy fairing, and sanding work, an Interlux Interprotect 2000E barrier coat was applied.   As recommended by the manufacture, 5 coats of Interprotect 2000E was applied in alternating colors of grey and white.    The barrier coats went on without much issue.  For the current temperature, each coat required at least 2 hours of drying time before overcoating with additional barrier coat.   The last barrier coat required special attention and planning as you needed to apply the bottom paint within a time window(there is a finger print test).  In my case, about an hour after applying the last barrier coat,  I was applying the bottom ablative paint.  Since it took about an hour to apply the last barrier coat, I basically went from barrier painting to bottom painting.

hull prior to barrier coating

first application of Interprotect 2000E

flush mounted thru-hulls

four coats of Interprotect 2000E ready for the fifth coat followed  by bottom paint

strut with cutlass bearing and shaft removed

Ablative Antifouling Bottom

Pettit Ultima SR-60 Antifouling Paint was used on my C&C 29, and after several years in the water, the bottom was still looking great.  The only problem occurred with the bottom 6" of the keel which was due to the keel sitting in soft silt during the winter low tides.  A good stiff brushing did clean this area up and exposed fresh antifouling paint.  The rest of the hull would get a little slimy which would be remove with a dive mask every few months wiping with a microfiber wash glove.    Based on the good previous results,  Pettit Ultima SR-60 was chosen for the antifouling bottom paint.   This stuff is a bit expensive, but too often I see people pay half as much for bottom paint but then need to paint 3 times as often.  

bottom painting

bottom painting 

a look from astern

bottom with rudder installed and painted

 propeller, shaft, and new cutlass bearing

 Bottom Paint Performance

I hauled the vessel out at the end of 2017 so that I could install a new refrigeration system which required replacing the galley sink thru-hull and seacock with integrated thru-hull heat exchanger.