[C38] Rudder packing gland is the pits

[Charles]

All of this reminds me that one of us had a problem with the cockpit 
floor and fixed it my making it into an engine access hatch?  As I am 6" 
5" and haven't been able to touch my toes for more than 50 years... 
getting to this part of the boat is out of the question.  If I am 
correct, could whoever made the hatch in the cockpit floor tell us how?

Thanks,
Charles Finn
Mighty Quinn,  #114

D. R. Strong wrote:
> Les:
>     I have wrestled with the packing gland repeatedly, and finally seem 
> to have mastered it. In my estimation, the cramped space for the packing 
> gland is the worst aspect of our boats. Access to the gland is very 
> difficult. The quadrant for wheel steering has to be removed to gain 
> access to the gland. After having a good laugh at our expense, Cree at 
> Berkeley Marine Center taught me how to replace the packing material. He 
> assured me that it would be far better to replace the packing material 
> properly than to screw around trying to install a gaitor; we simply 
> don't have enough room for a gaitor.  The main advantage of being too 
> small for high school athletics is that (taa da!) I can work on my own 
> C38 packing gland! Accessing the engine compartment through the sail 
> locker, then wriggling sternward, one can remove the quandrant then deal 
> with the front two bolts of the gland; the rear bolts of the quadrant 
> and rear two bolts of the gland are removed through the stern locker.
>     You should use 3 lengths of packing material. The key to getting the 
> packing material right is to make a diagonal cut with a very sharp razor 
> blade, getting the exact length by cutting wraps that have wound around 
> the rudder shaft (which you can access in the cockpit by removing the 
> bolting base of the tiller: THE RUDDER WILL SINK WHEN YOU REMOVE THE 
> BOLTING BASE. SECURE THE RUDDER WITH A ROPE HARNESS). Then, grease up 
> the cut length of packing material with water proof axle grease, and 
> slip it into the gland from the stern locker. Space the cut ends by 60 
> degree intervals, score the gland so you can remember where the ends of 
> each length are. Then go back inside and tighten the two front bolts, 
> then the two rear bolts from the cockpit. Then replace the quandrant. 
> The whole activity should took 6 intense hours the first time. My mood 
> turned so foul that Karin left the boat and went shopping. The second 
> time took about 4 hours, and the third time, After Cree's instruction, 
> when I got the cuts in the packing material right and used the axle 
> grease method, took about 3 hours.
>     I used a mirror on a stick to assure myself that the gland was not 
> leaking, during a hard sail. With the mirror, I found that the hose at 
> the bottom of one of  those horrid rubber things holding the ping pong 
> ball in the cockpit drain was loose and leaking. I replaced the cockpit 
> drain hoses (which is another long story).
> Don
>
> Les wrote:
>   
>> Hi, Everyone,
>> 	Sometime ago there was discussion of using a gaitor on the rudder tube.
>> I am curious about the effectiveness and installation cost, also if the
>> packing gland were removed, and did that affect the play in the rudder
>> shaft?  
>>
>> We just had the packing gland adjusted for JACE.  I am a bit too bulky
>> to get in there, and Nancy doesn't understand what needed to be done, so
>> I got someone skinnier and more flexible to do it.  But that brought
>> home a point.  What happens when we're out?  How could I stop the
>> ingress of water from the stern?  
>>
>> I feel I should mention that I did make a modification to the stern
>> locker floor inserts, using some bits of mahoghany 1x2.  I cut the
>> existing pieces from port to starboard, so that it is now 4 pieces.
>> Then I added a support from aft to the rail over the quadrant to support
>> the intersection.  Finally I added the 1x2 under the forward pieces to
>> support the aft pieces, set up in such a way that they 1x restricted the
>> support from moving side to side.  This means the whole thing, the four
>> pieces and support fit together in such a way that they can be easily
>> removed from the top, but will not slide down into the bilge.  I will
>> add fasteners to the pieces to hold them in place so that they will
>> effectively be one piece.
>>
>> I did this when I had my minor panic attack from the bilge pump hose
>> slipping off the thru hull and causing water to circulate, but I didn't
>> know that at the time, what I saw was a lot of water flowing into the
>> bilge while the bilge pump was running continuously.  I thought I was
>> sinking.... What a rush!!  Fortunately we fixed the hose and it turned
>> out to be "nothing".  By the way, check the hoses, mine were just glued
>> in and the glue had dried out, which was the source of the problem.  Now
>> I'm hose clamped good!!
>>
>> Even with this stern locker floor out, we can only reach one bolt of the
>> three under the quadrant on JACE.  I don't know if all the boats use the
>> same packing gland or not.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Les H
>>
>>
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>>   
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>
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