Squeaky Rudder Seizing up? - Replacing our Rudder Bushings TWICE on Blue Dot Voyages PILAR.
Sailing PILAR - Blue Dot Voyages
Sailing PILAR - Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing channel sharing adventures of Dawn and Stephen Bell on SV PILAR, a 2015 Leopard 48 Catamaran Yacht. ⛵️Currently weekend and vacation voyagers, while we finish out the last years of our careers and prepare to sail around the world. ⛵️Sail extensively in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and Georgia. ⛵️Sailed Grand Cayman, Cuba and BVI. ⛵️Offer sailing charters when we can that are longer travel opportunities where you learn to sail our catamaran! ⛵️We are not "Below Deck" drama, but focus on sailing fun, life on the water, boat maintenance, marine creatures, unique places and islands. Visit our Web Site Blog for more than videos. https://bluedotvoyages.com Follow Facebook for sailing opportunities. https://www.facebook.com/bluedotvoyages Follow Instagram for the best travel pics. https://www.instagram.com/bluedotvoyages.sailingpilar
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Here is the short story on why we replaced our rudder bushings twice!
When we hauled the boat at Thunderbolt Marine in Savannah in January 2020, we had planned to replace the rudder bearing in the lower rudder shaft bearing carrier since they had become loose over time which is common. The rudder bearings are made of a material similar to Delrin (like Teflon) but of a material that is not shared from the OEM. Thunderbolt Marine had a machine shop that could make the bearings and knew the specifications from Leopard. That material was Delrin.
After about two weeks we sailed and started to hear the squeaking and determined it was coming from the new bearings. That also caused a strain on the auto-pilot and got worse in short order. Turns out the bearings swelled once in the water and tightened up on the shaft causing the squeak and the strain.
So we had to go back on the hard to replace the bearings. Thunderbolt offered to make new ones but I was leery after the first failure. We got in touch with International Boat Spares who supplied the original JP3 bearings. We had those shipped from France and we were there for the reinstall of the lower bearings. The bearings Thunderbolt made had swelled so much we had to cut them out of the bearing carrier under the boat. The original ones we took out fell out of the bearing carrier when we pulled them to be replaced. And the new ones from International Boat Spares slid right in for the reinstallation. Problem solved; lesson learned. At least in this case, buy OEM parts.
http://www.international-boat-spares.com/en/44-inner-ball-bearing-type-10
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Blue Dot Voyages is a Sailing Adventure Company. On our Leopard48 Sailing Catamaran PILAR, we sail, fish, snorkel, scuba, and we offer travel advice on our blog and vlog. We offer charter trips when we can. Watch our videos and live vicariously through us!
Master Captain: Stephen Bell
First Officer: Dawn Bell
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