About 15 years ago we went to the Seattle Boat Show. One of the many vendors there was the factory rep from Scanmar. They make the monitor servo-pendulum self-steering wind vane. After talking a while he convinced us to buy a repair kit. We remember that it was quite pricey, to us, at the time. We wondered if we would ever need it.

Over the years we have moved the location of this little bag stuffed with bolts, washers, bearings and nylon bushings. About once a year while cleaning out lockers we would find the bag of parts, make sure it was sealed, and then put it away. Over the years it has changed location several times but thanks to the locker management book that Wendy maintains it is easy to find.


So, when the bushing, two special washers, and snap ring washer, decided to go for a swim in the middle of the night we were hopeful that we had the parts. We looked through the parts breakdown diagram and instruction manual. Hurray, Jeff shouted as he found the needed parts. Now, all we needed to do was install them.

Working over water with small parts always has its risks. Since we only had enough spare parts to do this job once and the ideal way to install the bushing & washers was to remove the entire unit and work at a work bench, we needed to improvise. If we dropped one of the replacement parts the swift Nassau current would take it and it would be gone for good.

First, we thought about launching the dinghy and tying it under the monitor. However, given the lack of a No Wake Zone in the harbor, the frequent wakes make CALYPSO jump around, sometimes without warning. We thought the wake would have the dinghy banging into the rudder and Monitor and increase the chances of dropping something. So, we rigged a spare sheet from the pilot berth under the monitor. Looking like a large diaper it fit well but we hoped that is was not going to be needed.


With Jeff perched on the end of the Boomkin and Wendy keeping track of the small parts we went to work. After about 30 minutes the final snap ring was in place. After checking for binding it was pronounced, fixed!


The Few Final Thoughts
• The nylon bushing was on the upper portion of the monitor. It is possible after several years of operation the sun finally broke down the material and it came apart under the stress of use.

• There is an identical part which we believe is somewhat shielded from the sun but we intend to replace at the next opportunity.

• Spare parts kits are good!

More Later,
US