SV Panta Rhei Retirement Trip

Vessel Name: Panta Rhei
Vessel Make/Model: Able Apogee 50
Hailing Port: Seattle
Crew: Larry and Karen
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18 September 2017 | Seattle
23 August 2017 | Prince Rupert
15 August 2017 | Anan Bear Observatory
19 July 2017 | Petersburg, AK
17 June 2017 | Hoonah, AK
03 June 2017 | Seward AK
03 June 2017 | Denali
25 April 2017 | Seward AK
23 March 2017 | Seward, AK
11 March 2017 | Seward, AK
23 January 2017 | Seward AK
06 December 2016 | Seward AK
12 November 2016 | Seward Alaska
14 October 2016 | Valdez, AK
21 September 2016
05 August 2016 | Seward, AK
26 July 2016 | Whittier, AK
19 July 2016 | Valdez, Alaska
05 July 2016 | Seward, Alaska
Recent Blog Posts
18 September 2017 | Seattle

We are back in Seattle

It feels like home. Of course we are not in Silshole. Maybe we will be, someday, but there is a list and we are on it. In the meantime we are at Bainbridge Island Marina.

23 August 2017 | Prince Rupert

The dinghy holds air again

It wasn't very nice of the bear to tear the fabric across a seam. We were worried that we couldn't patch it but tried anyway. The glue had a job to do and it did it!

15 August 2017 | Anan Bear Observatory

A Grizzly Bear damaged our dinghy

We were visiting the Anan Bear Observatory south of Wrangell. It is one of the best places to visit in all of SE Alaska BECAUSE it has bears. But (as we learned) there is a dark side to this bear concentration. And of course, there is a story to tell.

19 July 2017 | Petersburg, AK

Moving On

"No matter where you go, there you are" (unknown reference). By now we have been there and done that. Most recently that included Cannery Cove on Admiralty Island. The photo shows the quiet grandeur of the setting with Ron and Suzie's boat SV Tango in the foreground. It has been like that for the last [...]

17 June 2017 | Hoonah, AK

We are in Hoonah, SE Alaska now

We got something resembling a high pressure ridge so we moved expeditously across the Gulf of Alaska. The crossing took three days and weather stayed as forecast. That was a very good thing. The weather changes in the far north far more rapidly and dramatically than we ever experienced in the more southern [...]

03 June 2017 | Seward AK

Crossing the Gulf of Alaska

We are still in Seward, AK. Now that spring has come, why not start south?

Never leave home without your engineer

05 August 2014 | enroute to Brisbane AU from Noumea, New Caledonia, 250 nm to go
Larry Nelson
The autopilot failed. It literally began to rip its hydraulic cylinder off its connection to the hull due to loosening hardware. The autopilot of course kept trying to control the boat in very rough seas. The process sheared the bolt that connects the rudder post to the hydraulic cylinder This is a big bolt. It severed it in two places. Of course then the autopilot stopped working. It happened at the end of my watch, early morning. At the time we were about 400 nm from land in any direction and it was completely terrible outside. Hand steer? I don't think so.

So we hove to, lashed he helm hard over and started work on the repairs. I found the parts for the mount all over the engine room and reinstalled them. That was nearly impossible due to access limitations. It took hours. On this installation though, I used locktite red. No more loosening hardware.

The big problem was the sheared bolt. It was about 3/8 inch by 7 inches. We don't have a spare aboard (yet). I found a long phillips head screwdriver. After disassembling and realigning the rudder post with the bolt hole, I inserted the screwdriver where the bolt should be. It is a little too small diameter, but I could take up the slack jamming the tip into the autopilot arm, preloading it a little. A few wire ties between the handle and the rudder post worked to hold it in position.

The plan is to keep the autopilot loads small by contolling speed. So far, 24 hours later, the plan is working.
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