Velvet Drive and Engine Mounts

When we first started running the boat, we didn’t fully understand how everything worked — like every new boat owner. On the way home from our first big adventure hauling out in Hoonah, I noticed the transmission was hot. Not warm. Not concerning. 250°F. A full hundred degrees hotter than the manual said it should ever be.

Back home, I dove into research. Everything pointed toward a rebuild. So I tore into it, talked to mechanics, ordered parts, bought tools, and rebuilt the transmission myself. About a thousand dollars and eight weeks later, it was back in the boat and ready for a fishing trip.

On the way home, it overheated again — and started making noises no transmission should ever make.

Once we were tied up, I pulled it out again and shipped it south to a professional. He called back with the verdict: it was never rebuildable. It had pumped so much metal through itself that it was completely toast.

So we ordered a brand‑new (rebuilt) Velvet Drive.

While waiting, I finally found the real culprit. The damper plate — the link between the engine and transmission — had been destroyed by whoever worked on it before us. Once we replaced it, the new gear slid on like it was meant to be there.

Then came the alignment. That’s when things got complicated. Every stainless lag bolt holding the engine mounts had suffered crevice corrosion. They snapped as soon as I tried to loosen them. No way to reuse those holes.

So we stepped back and reassessed.

Short story was steering pedestal came off, beam across cockpit, chain hoist through hole over engine, the engine had to be lifted, New mounts, A redesigned engine bed, Fresh paint on the underside of the engine and the whole transmission. Only then could we get back to that little alignment project.

It was a brutal learning curve but totally worth it. Engine and gear are happy and aligned with the shaft and FULLY attached to the boat

Canopy, Bimini, Topper, Roof or whatever.......

Our Spencer is a center‑cockpit boat, and it came with that sweet original windshield from the builder. But when we bought her, the cockpit was covered by a 20‑year‑old white canvas roof that had seen far better days. It was cracked, weathered, full of holes, and green in all the places canvas likes to hold onto moss and tree parts.

For months we loitered around other harbors studying everyone else’s setups. We looked at how their roofs drained, how far the overhang reached past the windows, and how that front arching panel tied into the everything. Every boat had a different solution, and we stole ideas from all of them.

Eventually we sketched out a design, ordered 3 sheets of 1.25” nidacore panels, and built the whole thing in a friend’s shop.

It’s been on the boat for years now, and honestly it’s probably the biggest comfort upgrade we’ve made besides adding hot water. The cockpit stays dry, shaded, and protected. Rain drains exactly where we want it — even into containers if we need to catch water. And the new canopy gave us a perfect place to mount our first solar panels.

What started as a rotten old canvas turned into one of the most useful improvements we’ve ever made.

Ernest moves on board

Well we went and adopted a cat. He is all black and named Ernest. He has quickly become part of the family and we love him so much! He is loving and sleeps with us every night. The positives of having a pet on board far outweigh any negatives he may bring. Yes somethings have become more difficult, mainly traveling or camping trips. Yet he is full of such personality and love. He is sitting on my lap as I type this. I have just retuned home from work and he is in need of “lap time” He watches us while we work and cook. He likes to cackle at the birds and crows but has not caught one yet. He also hates to leave the boat… He has never jumped onto the dock and freaks out if we take him to someones house to cat sit. He may meow more than is ideal yet we put up with it. Our diet just may consist of more cat hair than it did in the past. Dylan was NOT a cat person. Ever since Ernest, Dylan is now a cat person. Although Ernest is a bit more dog like than any cat I’ve met.

Sometimes he wears clothes.

Introducing Sundew

Ok so we finally agreed on a name we both love. Sundew shall be the name of our wonderful Spencer 53. I’ve ordered decals for the bow and transom but in the meantime the bow has been hand painted. We love having her be named and able to call her Sundew rather then always just “the boat”

Sweetheart Sockeye

This past month I got the opportunity to go with friends to Sweetheart Creek where there is a terminal hatchery sockeye salmon release. What this means is the fish are released to the wild as babies from this creek and they return to the exact spot. This particular creek ends in a steep waterfall and there is no place to spawn. That means that bears and humans alike come to catch and eat their fills! Per day each household can bring home 25 sockeye. This is a rather good amount of meat! For Dylan and I this is plenty to eat and share through winter. It takes about 3 days for us to process fully - because we were both working full time also. For three days all I did after work was deal with fish. This means gutting, filleting, vacuum sealing, smoking, then pressure cooking all happens to prepare fish for winter. After I fillet, I scrape the carcass was a spoon and collect any and all meat from the bones. We then salt this and keep it for curry. This year Dylan also used it to make lox for the first time! It turned out very tasty.

Guiness (cat) eyeing the fresh lox

First Haul out March 2017

Main reasons for Hauling out the first time.

1) Inspect everything.

2) Repaint bottom.

3) Replace old seacocks

As you can see this is the max height and width that fit on this 50 ton lift in Juneau.

There is some debate between Sara and I about how many thru hulls this boat had when we bought it.

The correct answer is too many.

I fiber-glassed up at least 5 holes after removing the terribly scary thru hull ball valve setup that the boat had previously.

We replaced 7 thru hulls with Groco BV series flanged seacocks and the appropriate bronze Groco thru hulls.

The old backing plates were fiberglass over plywood. Some had moist plywood and I didn’t like it.

We cut off the plywood backing plates and I made some solid fiberglass ones.

We used the new thru hulls to clamp them to hull while being adhered with polyester resin putty.

I really like BoatLife sealants and adhesives. I believe we used lifecaulk to install the new parts.

The old thru hull plumbing was wrong and dangerous.

Straight pipe threaded thru hulls on tapered pipe thread ball valves, rusty hose clamps, corroded and broken handles, and rotten hoses were just a few of the problems we encountered.

First thing we learned about this potential project was this: Thru hulls have a Straight pipe thread or NPS. Most normal ball valves suitable for household and small industrial applications have Tapered thread or NPT. If you attempt to put NPS male to NPT Female you only get a couple threads on before it wont screw in any further.

There are a few “combo threaded” thru hulls that will fit NPT ball valves. We got fancy and went with the very nice (and expensive) Groco Flanged Seacocks with NPS threads.

Cutlass bearing seemed to be in good enough shape although the bronze strut seemed to be in less then perfect condition due to galvanic corrosion or electrolysis

Prop seems to be in great shape. Shaft seems straight.

We now have all new zincs and we are still debating the best way to bond all of our underwater metals to zincs.

Moving on Board

Around September we mentioned to our roommates we were thinking of moving on board in November.

They both proceeded to find other places to live for December and suddenly we realized there was no turning back and we had to make it happen.

We were moved on board for November 1st.

The entire month of October was spent furiously fitting out the V Berth for us to sleep in, finishing head plumbing , and getting rid of most land and house stuff we owned.

The previous Vberth hull sides were a thin glued on foam anti condensation stuff that was stained from freshwater leaks and heavy tobacco use.

We then tore out these waterlogged shelves on either side and replaced just one on starboard side for more headroom.

Most of the water damage was from condensation

Sara meticulously (with lots of cussing) removed all of it with different powered scraping tools and grinders. The best was an oscillating tool with a scraper blade attachment and a sawzall with a scraper blade attachment.

After grinding all the surfaces clean of adhesive and F#*%ing drywall screws we installed some laminated red and yellow cedar “studs”

We also little fiberglass pieces for the deck to hull transition trim pieces.

After refinishing some free yellow cedar T+G we installed the ceiling.

Sara found some Eastern red cedar “closet paneling” that we used for the hull sides to cover the foam insulation we placed in between the “studs”.

All of our hard work paid off in the end. Now we sleep in the V berth every night.