 |
||
| Blanche Dubois contemplates the technical issues confronting her autopilot installation. |
or “The Second Worst Project Ever: The Stunning Conclusion“
There is no way this autopilot installation would ever have come together relying purely on my own technical skills. As previously stated, I’m pretty decent with electrical and electronic things – I can usually make the lights blink and the messages get from point A to B. I’m not bad at mechanical fix-it things; swapping out a pump or replacing a hose.
I am not a machinist.
I am not a carpenter.
My fiberglass skills are rather limited in the range of my repertoire.
So to make this installation go I had to step out of my regular range of comfort and take on something new. To which I responded with the same spunk and usual go-get-it attitude that has helped me over the years with this typical solution: Ask around, and find someone that actually knows what the fudge they are doing and ask THEM for help.
In the case of the Hydraulic Linear Actuator (which I think makes you sound very technically intimidating if you can work it into conversation without stuttering or tripping over it) I needed to machine some parts, and permanently attach a sturdy, relatively level shelf in the bilge of the boat to rest the pump on.
Problem 1: The wrong bits of metal in the wrong place
For a hydraulic arm to move a rudder it has to have some place to attach to it. In most cases this involves an arm that has a slotted key that fits in a groove on the rudder post. This arm is generally where the autopilot drive attaches, preferably out towards the end of the arm to increase leverage and decrease the work the drive has to do. In my case, there was one of these that the old system used. This is a REALLY strong and heavy piece of bronze, essentially two large bronze triangles screwed together around the post.
My mistake was in assuming that I could use the same hole and/or connection point for the new hydraulic ram. Nope…while Reading The Fine Manual for the Hydraulic Linear Actuator (or HLA) I discovered that the arm on that was not supposed to move more than eleven (11) inches in and out, lest the unit hyper-extend itself and blow all the hydraulic seals or some other similarly horrible outcome which results in a dead, leaky drive. Maybe I should guesstimate measure how far it would really swing? Well, that seemed to be about 14″, or more than enough to destroy the expensive new drive on the first hard left turn.
Back to high school math. Radii, circles, trig, pi…this can NOT be that complex. Turns out I needed a new hole about two inches closer to the rudder post. According to the manufacturer the loss in leverage by moving the connection closer in would be more than offset by the incredible power of this HLA. A few moments of looking at the piece of precision machinery crouched in it’s box, and my hand held Ryobi cordless drill, and the half inch thick piece of bronze…and I figured out I needed to go visit my friend Tom, the machinist.
As it turns out, of course not only do we need a new hole but we need a bigger mounting pin. And some way to screw this whole mess on the boat that wouldn’t get ripped right out again the first time we put some serious load on it. A half hour or so of discussion, measuring and sketches and Tom had his plans. A few days later he had manufactured for me some new mounting hardware, some heavy duty steel backing plates, and of course a couple of perfectly drilled and precise holes through the big chunk of bronze. Later we met on the boat and put it all in. After a few tries (having nothing to do with the precision of Tom’s work!) it all came together.
Problem 2: Making things out of Wood and Fiberglass is not my forté
Which is kind of like saying that hitting a sinking curve-ball was never one of Mikhail Baryshnikov’s strengths. I’m reasonably certain Barry wasn’t too good with a fastball, either.
So once again, in a state of completely flummoxed confusion I sought out someone with a clue. In this case I started in one of my usual research sites – the Cruising forum at Sailing Anarchy, where you can usually find some really useful information wedged amongst the profanity, porn and puerility. In this case the help came from an individual I will not name by anything but his Sailing Anarchy pseudonym: Anomoly2. Yeah, I know – that makes him sound like some kind of 14 year old script kiddie hacker, but we usually keep things anonymous over there. Having met him, I can tell you he really is a grownup and he knows his stuff.
From Anomoly2 I learned the magic of Thickened Epoxy, and how to make a Fillet (which has nothing to do with fish). I also learned how to “Scribe” which, once someone shows you how to do it makes you slap your head like a V-8 commercial and give our a Homer Simpson like “d’oh” because it really should be obvious. After the fact, of course.
So with Anomoly2’s help we shaped some marine plywood to fit in the odd curved place, stuck a shelf to it with epoxy, and then used epoxy to stick the whole thing to the boat. And the result was quite nice.
Learning New Things is Good
Even when it makes you feel clueless.
This wouldn’t have come together without the generosity of a couple of people – one an old family friend, and one a complete stranger I met on an internet sailing community. For which I am very thankful.
Now if I could just figure out how to bleed the damned thing.
