First off, we've owned our '79 H27 less than 24 hours, but it feels like home already. We looked at a lot of boats but knew this was the next one right off. This is the biggest boat we've owned so far, and our first diesel. The survey showed it to be in pretty good shape, but there are a few things that need attention. I have checked the archives and I haven't found anything relating to these questions specifically, although the "dropping the rudder in the water" replies were helpful. 1. This boat has tiller steering. There is a lot of slop in the rudder post. The surveyor recommended renewing the rudder bearing, but he didn't know if there was a lower bearing or if it was just a sleeve. Can anyone give me an answer to this, and can it be replaced while in the water by dropping the rudder? I do not have a sling available to me, and digging a hole to drop the rudder from a rented trailer is proving problematic. 2. Related to 1. The gate valve for the Yanmar intake seems to be broken in the "open" position. The Yanmar burps out water with the exhaust, not a steady stream, but given how cold and firm the intake line feels while running I believe that water is getting through the block. I am going to test this by removing the intake hose at the pump and checking the flow from the thru hull. If it's ok, I will worry just a bit less. I had planned to replace this with a proper brass seacock when hauled out for the rudder bearing replacement (which is now looking more difficult than first imagined), along with the sink and head thru hull valves. Here's the question. Can this be replaced while in the water? If I dive under and use a dowel plug in the thru, will that minimise the leaking so that I can replace the valve? Is there a better way to block this opening to replace this valve? Is this a bad idea? At first it seemed so, but after thinking about it, I believe it should be possible if I'm careful about blocking the hole. Has anyone done this? Thanks in advance for your thoughts, and it would be great to hear from other H27 owners on Lake Murray.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
J
Jack
Careful
Rudder bearing I can't help you with. Intake gate valve stuck open is not a good thing. How old are the hoses? If they are rotted and you remove, you may have your own fountain which you can't turn off. Have a tapered soft wood plug ready to jam into the valve. Then you need to pull the boat or have new hose sized and ready to install. In theory you could put a plug into the thru hull to replace the valve but in trying to remove the valve you break the seal betwen the thru hull and the hull you will have to pull the boat to fix. In all honesty I would pull the baot and fix everything at once. Less chnace of Murphy's law kicking in. Good luck.
Rudder bearing I can't help you with. Intake gate valve stuck open is not a good thing. How old are the hoses? If they are rotted and you remove, you may have your own fountain which you can't turn off. Have a tapered soft wood plug ready to jam into the valve. Then you need to pull the boat or have new hose sized and ready to install. In theory you could put a plug into the thru hull to replace the valve but in trying to remove the valve you break the seal betwen the thru hull and the hull you will have to pull the boat to fix. In all honesty I would pull the baot and fix everything at once. Less chnace of Murphy's law kicking in. Good luck.
K
Ken Osborne
In- water replacements
Can't help you with the rudder questions, but I can tell you if this were my boat I wouldn't consider doing either job while the boat's in the water. Your description of the diesel exhaust sounds normal and ok to me.
Can't help you with the rudder questions, but I can tell you if this were my boat I wouldn't consider doing either job while the boat's in the water. Your description of the diesel exhaust sounds normal and ok to me.
M
Mike
gate valves
I bought a '85 Hunter 28.5 last year with gate valves on all the thru-hulls. I replaced them all with ball type seacocks based on the surveyor's comments (my boat was already out of the water when I bought it). As I removed each seacock, I discovered that all but one of the gate valves were corroded away into gate heaven. It's the gate shafts. The valve body is bronze, the gate itself is bronze, and the shaft is steel. Galvanic action does the rest. The shafts were all corroded through and no longer attached to the gate. I share this to emphasize that your old gate valves are DANGEROUS and you should not delay in getting rid of them - it could cost you the boat. You will not be able to change the gate valves while the boat is in the water. When I removed my gates, I noted that the thru hulls turned a bit as I struggled to get the gates off. This thru-hull movement has the potential to upset the seal around the thru-hull, which would cause a leak that no plug could stop. Such a leak theoretically would be manageble, but why risk it? All it takes to swamp a boat is a steady leak and a dead battery. I would recommend that rather than taking risks, that you remove all the thru-hulls and rebed them with 5200 sealant at the same time you replace the gate seacocks (also inspect the thru-hulls. If anything doesn't look right (ie. bent, or damaged threads etc - replace it) If any of the thru hulls at the water-line are plastic, replace them with bronze. On my Hunter, my galley sink flushes out at the waterline and had a plastic thru-hull - dumb because those plastic jobs have a tendancy to simply snap off at the slightest touch as they age - I lost two above the waterline that way. After you take the gates off, and remove the thru-hulls, inspect the plywood pads the old gates sat on for rot. If they are rotted, then you will have to replace them too. Note that when replacing those pads, you have to shape that 'darn' piece of plywood to conform to the contour of the hull. You may have to add another piece of plywood on top of the existing pad in order to successfully screw in the new seacocks. New seacocks come with flanges so you can screw them down to prevent twisting. The old pads may be too thin to accomodate this without piercing the hull with the screws (that would be a bad thing). Finally, you will probably experience clearance problems when you switch to modern bronze seacocks as they are taller than the gates. All I can say is be prepared to do some creative thinking to get those new seacocks to work with their surroundings. In my case, I had great difficulty getting the head back on after the new seacocks were in. I had to do some cutting and re-route the waste pump-out discharge hose. I hope my experinces help you prepare for your seacock adventure. It's hard work and involved, but it will save your boat from a watery grave. Good luck Mike
I bought a '85 Hunter 28.5 last year with gate valves on all the thru-hulls. I replaced them all with ball type seacocks based on the surveyor's comments (my boat was already out of the water when I bought it). As I removed each seacock, I discovered that all but one of the gate valves were corroded away into gate heaven. It's the gate shafts. The valve body is bronze, the gate itself is bronze, and the shaft is steel. Galvanic action does the rest. The shafts were all corroded through and no longer attached to the gate. I share this to emphasize that your old gate valves are DANGEROUS and you should not delay in getting rid of them - it could cost you the boat. You will not be able to change the gate valves while the boat is in the water. When I removed my gates, I noted that the thru hulls turned a bit as I struggled to get the gates off. This thru-hull movement has the potential to upset the seal around the thru-hull, which would cause a leak that no plug could stop. Such a leak theoretically would be manageble, but why risk it? All it takes to swamp a boat is a steady leak and a dead battery. I would recommend that rather than taking risks, that you remove all the thru-hulls and rebed them with 5200 sealant at the same time you replace the gate seacocks (also inspect the thru-hulls. If anything doesn't look right (ie. bent, or damaged threads etc - replace it) If any of the thru hulls at the water-line are plastic, replace them with bronze. On my Hunter, my galley sink flushes out at the waterline and had a plastic thru-hull - dumb because those plastic jobs have a tendancy to simply snap off at the slightest touch as they age - I lost two above the waterline that way. After you take the gates off, and remove the thru-hulls, inspect the plywood pads the old gates sat on for rot. If they are rotted, then you will have to replace them too. Note that when replacing those pads, you have to shape that 'darn' piece of plywood to conform to the contour of the hull. You may have to add another piece of plywood on top of the existing pad in order to successfully screw in the new seacocks. New seacocks come with flanges so you can screw them down to prevent twisting. The old pads may be too thin to accomodate this without piercing the hull with the screws (that would be a bad thing). Finally, you will probably experience clearance problems when you switch to modern bronze seacocks as they are taller than the gates. All I can say is be prepared to do some creative thinking to get those new seacocks to work with their surroundings. In my case, I had great difficulty getting the head back on after the new seacocks were in. I had to do some cutting and re-route the waste pump-out discharge hose. I hope my experinces help you prepare for your seacock adventure. It's hard work and involved, but it will save your boat from a watery grave. Good luck Mike
D
Debra B
Thruhull replacement with valves...
If the gate valves are original, (as they were on my '79 37) you will probably want to replace them as well. Mine were corroded to the valves so that it was necessary to cut them out (maybe not required, but I was paying by the hour...) Not sure about the H27, but the rudder on the H37 has a stuffing box (similar to the propeller shaft.) I am assuming that when I pull it, it will be open below the water line.... so it needs to be done on the hard.
If the gate valves are original, (as they were on my '79 37) you will probably want to replace them as well. Mine were corroded to the valves so that it was necessary to cut them out (maybe not required, but I was paying by the hour...) Not sure about the H27, but the rudder on the H37 has a stuffing box (similar to the propeller shaft.) I am assuming that when I pull it, it will be open below the water line.... so it needs to be done on the hard.
M
Mark Mowery
Replacement of intake valve
I've replaced the intake valve on my H33 while in the water. You'll need a helper and a dinghy. Feed a blue plastic tarp under the hull (like a big diaper) by fastening lines to both ends of the tarp. Use a boathook or oar to get the tarp started under the stern. You and a helper can then each take a line and walk the tarp forward until you've covered the intake. Get in the dink and use the boathook to force the tarp up against the hull in the area of the water intake. When you disconnect the intake hose a small amount of water will gush in, but water pressure will quickly force the tarp against the hull and seal off the intake. You can then take your time and replace the valve. Your exhaust burping is normal: exhaust gas and water enter the muffler until the muffler fills up with water, then the water is forced out all at once by exhaust gas, and the cycle repeats.
I've replaced the intake valve on my H33 while in the water. You'll need a helper and a dinghy. Feed a blue plastic tarp under the hull (like a big diaper) by fastening lines to both ends of the tarp. Use a boathook or oar to get the tarp started under the stern. You and a helper can then each take a line and walk the tarp forward until you've covered the intake. Get in the dink and use the boathook to force the tarp up against the hull in the area of the water intake. When you disconnect the intake hose a small amount of water will gush in, but water pressure will quickly force the tarp against the hull and seal off the intake. You can then take your time and replace the valve. Your exhaust burping is normal: exhaust gas and water enter the muffler until the muffler fills up with water, then the water is forced out all at once by exhaust gas, and the cycle repeats.
J
john geiger
h27 rudder bearing
I have 79 h27 with tiller. There is no bearing only a sleeve and a peice of teak at top in the cockpit. This year I replaced my rudder with a new one from Foss Foam in flordia (Orginal equipment) $805. Five years ago when I first bought boat I took rudder out becuse of wobble There is no bearing either top or bottom,only the fiberglass tube. This year I found out there should be a spacer between rudder and bottom of hull 1/2" starboard 3" ODX 2" ID holein center will work. This was missing on mine! In the water the wobble doen't seem to be much of a problem.
I have 79 h27 with tiller. There is no bearing only a sleeve and a peice of teak at top in the cockpit. This year I replaced my rudder with a new one from Foss Foam in flordia (Orginal equipment) $805. Five years ago when I first bought boat I took rudder out becuse of wobble There is no bearing either top or bottom,only the fiberglass tube. This year I found out there should be a spacer between rudder and bottom of hull 1/2" starboard 3" ODX 2" ID holein center will work. This was missing on mine! In the water the wobble doen't seem to be much of a problem.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.