Valdivia Update
Spindrift
David Hersey
Sat 5 Apr 2008 13:41
The men from Princess arrived Thursday afternoon. Within a relatively
short period of time they had analysed the situation. We made a DVD for
them showing the rudderstock wobble and water pouring in.
As I understand it, the big bronze shoe, which connects the rudderstock to
the skeg, is moving. This translates to several centimetres of movement at
the top of the bearing, which by now is totally shot. The T-Bar which was
repaired in Gran Canaria (at a delay of one month to the trip) is fixed to
a large wooden beam, which is meant to transfer the stress to the hull.
It seems that this beam was unaccountably (and contrary to established
procedure) glassed in with Polyester instead of epoxy and the fixing has
massively failed. The beam moves. We think the skeg is intact.
Consequently it appears that the current situation is entirely due to an
inadequate repair in the first place. They have taken core samples back
with them to confirm the precise nature of what was done. There is also
evidence that the surface of the final layer of epoxy was not properly
prepared to receive the glassing in of the beam. I don’t fully understand
why the shoe is moving except to assume this was also due to an inadequate
fix in Gran Canaria.
The good news is that we are in the hands of Alex Wopper (another friend
of Jimmy Cornell’s) who has had more than 20 years experience boating
building with exotic composites, whose staff are more than qualified to do
the repair as per the instructions of Princess. He has all the necessary
materials in stock. He is currently building 5 x 57 foot Cats and a huge
new production shed and really has his hands full but has generously
agreed to support us. He really doesn’t need the work. When he was
younger, he spent four years sailing around the world, wound up in Chile
and never left.
The not so good news is that the boat will have to be hauled for the
repair. There is no easy way to do this here. We had meetings yesterday
with a huge commercial yard, which builds and repairs ships not yachts.
We will have to go up river to have the mast pulled. This means hiring a
crane for the day. We will then be able to get under a bridge in town to
get to the yard.
To haul the boat they will use a “syncrolift”, a device about the size of
a football field.
The lift is lowered, boat is floated into position, divers position
specially prepared cradle supports, the lift is raised and the cradle is
already on a frame with railway wheels, so the boat is tracked off to one
side, freeing up the lift. The technique is the same for our 40 tons of
yacht as it would be for a ship of several thousand tons. The cost of
this haul out will be in the area of 10 times the cost of a normal travel
lift.
If Princess and this yard come to contractual agreement on Monday, the
boat could be out of the water by the end of the week, which would mean
that the repair should be completed within the time frame I had allowed
for our stay in Valdivia. I had scheduled three weeks because I thought we
might do some damage in Antarctica and would need some maintenance. Plus
it gives me the chance to pop back to Europe for a bit.
I am currently in a Hotel in Santiago overnight en route to Spetses. The
men from Princess and I left Valdivia on the same flight last night. They
had already reported their findings to head office. They will need a
couple of days to design and put the repair specification in place. When
we said our farewells at the airport, I said that while it was a pleasure
meeting them, I hoped I would never see them again.
It was very touching saying goodby to Nik who has become a part of the
family over the last few months. He goes back to Finland this weekend to
complete a university entrance examination course in economics prior to
doing a year of national service before he begins his studies. He is
trying to get into the Navy for the year and somehow I imagine his
“economics” will wind up having something to do with boats.