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The movement is definitly lower bushing in the bottom of the skeg. If anyone has replaced theirs I would be interested in any tips. Many thanks in advance.
I am saving my money and will get a new thu hull depth (mine is non functional) and
speed & temp but until then I need a good way to measure depth I would like to get a in hull depth finder in the bow Close to where my thru hull is, in the v-bearth, is there any core material I need to be wary of. any one have a recommendation ? installation problem ?I recently fitted Blue Pelican with both a through hull Raymarine transducer AND a Lowrance shoot thru the hull transducer. There is no issue with “core Material” in the hull because it is solid fibreglass. I tested the shoot thru hull sysytem by first setting it in vaseline in the intended position. It worked. So I then cleaned away any trace of vaseline and bedded in epoxy [used plasticene/childs modelling clay to form a dam to pour the epoxy into, carefull not to have any bubbles]. The Lowrance is low cost, and works with our Lowrance chartplotter. Although the wire colors do not match, I have also mated a connection as a back-up to the Raymarine system. Works perfectly. Blue Pelican’s primary depth transducer is a new Raymarine branded Airmar. The bronze one that stopped working was too hard to find replacement, and in distant harbours that difficulty is exponentially compounded. Mainstream plastic unit is easiest for swap out repair. However, I cant find fault with the performance of the Lowrance; and there is no hole in the hull, and they are inexpensive. Hope this helps.
Hey Bob [Hi Lyn] We have separate panel circuit breakers for triclor and running lights. Plus. of course, there is the ‘mastlight’ which we would normally call the steaming light. So three breakers in all for nav lights. – In case this may help. PS arrived Tahiti today. Second time in 4 yrs. Nice to arrive and for them to have all the paperwork filled out from our existing file. Pity everything else including internet is just so slow. Hope all well in Aus.
Thanks for your hail,
Jody and I get questioned a lot regarding our route through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Why that route? I like to play it safe. And that route, at that time was the safer route to take over a passage under Africa; in addition more interesting, much easier on the vessel, and a shorter route to those fantastic Greek Islands. But safety was first and foremost in our planning.
Pirates. In reaction to the terrible pirate situation that was occurring in and around the Gulf of Aden , a large coalition of countries supply a network of war ships and planes to provide protection for all craft on a continuing basis. These coalition forces, coupled with pressures on land have wound up pirate activity in that region. We knew this had been the case for quite a number of years. There has been piracy activity on the West coast of Africa, indeed even south east coast of AFrica, but not in Gulf of Aden in the last few years. This seems contrary to most peoples understanding, but is the fact.
Prior to and in the Gulf we received VHF hail from “Coalition Forces Warship/Plane” at least once a day to remind us they were there [ and United Nations accents]. We were registered with UKMTO [as is appropriate] with direct phone contact, and we ran AIS and nav lights [again as is appropriate] so we could be seen. Small boats like us are advised to run in the middle of the traffic separation corridor.
It was this blanket level of air and navy defence security that overwhemingly covered the safety question. If you are considering passaging, then do it whilst the coalition forces are still in place.
regards
Stephen Parry
S.V. Blue Pelican
KJ4YHYHi Ben,We had a gearbox mechanic service the V Drive when we installed the new motor last year. It was confirmed that water was able to enter the body from the top jacket and after it was cleaned professionally, so we decided to disconnect the water, plugging the ends and run a monitoring method through installing an oil temp guage. In now 140 hours of running in Australian summer conditions, i.e. hot, the temp has remained quite low on the guage. As for oil; we run SAE 30 oil, with 30 – 50% Lucas oil. additive.Hope this helps.Stephen ParryS.V. Blue Pelican
Perhaps try a UK based parts supplier, for a 54hp[or thereabouts] BMC Leyland diesel. Parts will be a fraction of the price. No, Westerbeke will not provide a matching part number.Here is a site that will probably supply the part you want.Perhaps buy a gasket first to see if it fits.We repowered to a Beta 50, whilst we are back here in Australia. Cost [in $US] $11,500 for the motor [5 year warranty], inclusive of velvet drive adapter, and options, and $1,700 for removing the old motor, installing the new and aligning the full drive. Dont beleive “double the price of the motor for fitting”. Sold the old Westerbeke 60.Couldn’t be happier with the upgrade, and I can buy [Kubota] engine parts everywhere globally, easily, and so much more cheaper than westerbeke. Plus Beta publish the Kubota part numbers.Hope this helpsStephen ParryS.V. Blue Pelican
We re-powered 6 months ago, after years of research, selected a Beta 50. Ordered with a factory supplied bell housing that our velvet drive simply bolted onto. Also ordered the remote oil filter and shallow oil pan to ensure proper fit. This fitted pretty well directly onto the mount positions, and was a very simple and inexpensive swap out. Very, very happy with the result. Full hull speed, and the fuel savings are remarkable.Good luck with your decision making.Stephen ParryS.V. Blue Pelican
Hi Evan, we did order the shallow oil pan. My prelim measurements showed that the it was too close to call, so we erred on the safe side. We also ordered the remote oil filter mod, which helps to recompense the otherwise reduction of total oil in the system. Makes for very easy oil changes too.By the way, we are Very, very happy to date with engine, fuel savings are amazing, and for the long distance/ remote sailing we do, it has been a wonderful advancement for the boat.Stephen ParryS.V. Blue Pelican
I am glad to hear this as a topic. Halfway through crossing the Pacific in 2016 I started to hear a dull knock from the steering mechanism, turned out to be this bearing. This occurred in relatively strong trade winds and strong port quarter seas. I reseated the plastic bushing as best I could and occasionally heard a slight noise from it. Subsequently, here in Australia I had the rudder checked externally to make sure there was not a problem further down the rudder shaft- all good, and there hasn’t been the same sensation – now 4 countries later.
A system we use on Blue Pelican is a 10mm aluminium rod, with a looped handle that pokes down the hawser to knock down the pyramiding chain. After many years we still find this the most effective method. Our Lofrans Tigres windlass is mounted below deck in the windlass locker, and the rod is kept there. It length cut to just fit in that locker. The handle loop allows me to use a twist action, if needed. Generally I use it the last 40ft and say 15 ft. It is quick, effective and aluminium is easy on the equipment. I have done quite a bit of research to eliminate this from my anchoring process, but in reality have not found a better solution.
Hi Bill,
We recently repowered with a Beta 50.and now have 12 hours on it. We put it on the bed from which we took out the old westerbeke 60. We retained the velvet drive, and had the new brackets modified to match the feet position at the gearbox end (made by the mechanic that fitted our Beta). Although we drilled some new bolt holes into the engine bed, it otherwise matched up very well. We purchased from Beta the Velvetdrive adapter, the high rise exhaust (which we cut, turned rearward and rewelded), and the remote oil filter which we mounted.
We are delighted with the result.Can provide photos.
Regards
Stephen and jody
Blue Pelican Hull122
Brisbane
We use Lucas Oil HD additive, they say you can use up to 100% for differential gearboxes, we usually keep it at 10 to 15%. it is really very sticky, and I think that has benefits for keeping the Walter gears in good shape. We have also just uncoupled the raw water from going through the unit, and monitoring with a gearbox oil guage.RegardsStephen ParryS.V. Blue Pelican
30 weight Oil. We also add Lucas to ours for added protection.regardsStephen ParryS.V. Blue Pelican
Hi Bill,We have just bought a Beta 50, [with an apdapter to bolt on the Velvet Drive, remote oil filter, high rise exhaust and shallow oil pan]. Although Torque is indeed a more appropriate measure for boat power, many of the technical requirements reviews use horsepower. A review of our P424’s displacement [cruise weight], water line length, beam, hull shape showed that maximum thoeretical hull speed was met with 43 horsepower. This calcuation was conducted by Nanni, who use the same Kubota engine as Beta.We don’t see the need to weigh the boat down with more engine than can be used, nor do we buy the extra capacity argument. The Beta was not the cheapest option, but the 5 year warranty helped to assuage the price differences, and the parts policy and availability wins hands down for us. Having sailed into over thirty countries now, we have an idea how parts can be a real issue, ourselves, and from others with other ‘very popular brands’.Stephen ParryS.V. Blue Pelican
I spoke to a marine gearbox mechanic a few weeks ago, who said it probably wouldn’t be a problem, but that he would only be relaxed about it if the V-drive temperature was monitored. He suggested a temperature guage from the unit. He said whilst he did did not expect any issues running the unit without the water, they were designed to be water cooled for a reason. Are you considering measuring the temperature of the unit?RegardsStephen ParryS.V. Blue Pelican
