Two steps forward, and one step - a huge one - back...

So, we have the first 10 gallons of epoxy barrier paint on the hull. We'll do one more coat, of a different color, to warn us in the future if the barrier coat has been breached (it would show red). We did a fantastic job, if we do say so ourselves.

Unfortunately, timing-wise, this being the Labor Day weekend, we couldn't order either of the last couple of gallons of barrier coat, or the two different colors of anti-fouling paint we'll put on, the first of which will be virtually simultaneously with the last barrier coat in order for the epoxy to bond to the anti-foul paint.

So, casting about the boat for stuff to cross off on our list of small stuff which remains to be done, the attaching of the new packing gland for the driveshaft appears. The packing gland was slid onto the shaft as it entered the boat, so it was ready to use some soapy water to make it slide onto the shaft log, the fiberglass tube in which the shaft exits the boat.

Unfortunately, inspection, which we'd not thought of, given the excellent alignment of the drive shaft flange and the transmission flanges, showed that our shaft is nowhere near centered in the shaft log.

We had a dripless gland before, and that used a flexible bellows between the shaft log and the bearing/gland. I'm sure that non-centered position was why the installation of that gland was such a challenge to set up properly, and, with it still in place, the guy who installed the new engine mounts and brackets for same, these 5 years ago, didn't see it as being misaligned, there, either. Of course, therefore, he blithely aligned the shaft and transmission - but with the entire assembly off-center.

So, before we can proceed with keeping the water out of the boat, I'll have to realign the engine. As long as it's been, I'm expecting that will involve lifting the engine and removing all the parts which will need to be free during the alignment, those likely having corroded such that they won't move. It's a technically stultifyingly simple job, but I'm afraid the execution will be massively irritating and lengthy.

Pictures when I get them and solve my failure of my remote WiFi adapter...

L8R

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