Well Summer hit us here on the coast like falling into the oven. It's HOT!
(I think i'm gonna die hot. That kind of hot.)
But i'm not writing about the heat. I'm writing about boat work. This week we got new Lifelines. The Lifelines are up on the deck for you to grab or hold instead of accidentally falling overboard.
I had new Lifelines installed on Prodigal this week. My old ones were cracked and rusted. Imagine grabbing the wire for support only to have it break helping throw you overboard.
My OLD rusted cracked ones.
First pull out all the old cracked stuff. trash it.
on the bottom he's taking out the old and on the top he's preparing the new.
Dyneema line is what I'm using. (it's stronger than steel)
Dyneema cable can be twisted or braided into a number of cable and cord constructions including those commonly found in steel wire constructions and is often considered as a direct replacement for steel. Dyneema cable is made from high modulus polyethylene (HMPE) fiber, and is up to 10 times lighter weight than an equal strength steel wire cable.
In addition to New Lifelines, I had NEW hydraulic steering installed. My old steering crapped out when we recently put in my new Garmin hydraulic autopilot. It seems the rudder would reach it's stop and the hydraulic pump could not tell, so it would continue to push until it blew the seals and hoses... Solution? More new parts! Garmin recommends a rudder sensor so it will know when to stop. Garmin grf10 Rudder Feedback Sensor. ($200)
But wait, that's just the start... I also needed a NEW steering pump. ($1,100) Lastly a NEW valve module aft to control the rudder. (plus re-plumb the parts and hydraulic lines) Then a NEW rudder sensor. Oh and you have to build a bracket to mount the sensor on.... EASY!
STEERING PUMP (the wheel mounts on the end of the post)
The OLD leaky valve and hoses.
Old valve ripped out.
Parts and new valve.
