LAHOWIND » Just you, me, + the dog.

Replacing the Sheared Off Screws on Our Gooseneck Fitting that Attaches the Boom to the Mast.

Wow, that’s a mouthful. Holy moly!

The boom on our sailboat is attached to the mast by a gooseneck fitting, which is basically just a big, bulky hinge (so that the boom can pivot and swing freely). The gooseneck fitting is mounted on the mast by eight stainless steel screws. Three of the heads of those screws had sheared off (long before we even owned the boat).

Unfortunately, there is no “easy” way to simply remove the affected screws and replace them.  Awesome.

^^I missed this project while it was in action, so we only have an “after” shot.^^

The solution we found was to somehow perfectly drill each one out… because, if you mess up, you will in effect be drilling out the threads and will not be able to screw in another screw. Which would be a a massive bummer.  And a major headache!

Jereme had mentioned this little project to our diesel mechanic, who confirmed how difficult it is… so we hired him to help!

To do this little project perfectly, we had to make sure the drill bit went right down the center of each old screw that we were trying to remove because, again, if we were off by just a hair, we would ruin the threads. We also made sure to drill very very slowly so we didn’t risk breaking off the drill bit in the old screw.

Once we drilled through the screw, we hammered in a left-handed drill bit and then twisted it counter-clockwise to remove the old screw. This required moving very slowly and carefully so we didn’t screw up.  If it were to bind up while unscrewing, we would’ve had to stop. ….And if that drill bit were to break within the screw, we’d be screwed (pun intended!). 😉

Let’s just say the whole process to remove three measly screws took about three hours!

Jereme also sprayed PB Blaster (kinda like WD40 but stronger) all over the broken bolts to help loosen them up. He applied PB Blaster three or four times during the week leading up to the actual screw removal.

We successfully removed the 3 broken screws, along with the 5 other unbroken, yet old screws, and replaced all 8 with brand new screws, using loctite — so that they won’t unscrew on their own or get loose over time.

Project complete!  Yay!

>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing.

Kelley - Sailing ChanceDecember 20, 2013 - 12:33 am

We had to do this a bunch when we first got the boat. If you guys have more of these to deal with you can just drill the screws out. If you slip and take out the threads you can just retap the holes at the size up. Your boom isn’t going to hate having beefier screws holding it in place 😉

LAHOWINDDecember 20, 2013 - 1:52 pm

Good to know! Leave it to Mr. Engineer to want to make sure this is done perfectly (without bigger screws), but he did say after I wrote the post that that was an option. Figures. 😉 -Kim

RogerSeptember 14, 2014 - 4:41 pm

If you do mess up the threads and can’t install larger screws, you can re-tap the holes and install heli-coils. These are special springlike devices that actually replace the original threads. Most good hardware stores have kits that include the heli-coils, the tap and the correct size drill bit.

Like Us? Then “Like” Us.

Because we’re now on Facebook!

We finally got around to starting a LAHOWIND Facebook page!  …You know, since we are getting closer and closer to cutting our proverbial docklines and sailing away.  We want to make it super easy for all of our friends, family, and whoever heck else might be reading our sailing blog to stay up to date on the latest and greatest.

Although, let’s not lie, our new FB page is pretty lackluster at the moment. I did throw up some miscellaneous content so it wouldn’t be totally empty.  (And let’s hope we have more than 2 friends or family willing to “like” us.  😉  I snapped the screenshot below before publishing our new page.)

We’d love for you to pop on over to facebook and “LIKE” our new page. Thanks for following! xo.

>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing.

JackieDecember 18, 2013 - 2:13 pm

Pssshhhh, looks like you’re doing pretty well!! 🙂 I was wondering if/when you’d be FB’n it. Do you have a target date set? I can’t wait to follow along…I’m going absolutely bonkers up here with this dark, cold, snowy winter!

LAHOWINDDecember 18, 2013 - 2:39 pm

😉 Thanks Jackie! We hope to be “officially” cruising by the end of January. However, that *really* depends on whether or not we can get everything done by then. I’m hopefully optimistic. Jereme’s last day of work is Jan. 10th, mine TBD. Keep your fingers crossed for us! -Kim

Tuesday Tell-Tales.

  1. Would you believe it cost us $55 to FedEx Oliver’s Bahamas doggie permit docs from Naples to Nassau? Kinda expensive considering it was 4 single sheets of paper that got mailed, and only $15 for the actual permit.  I’m happy to report that his paperwork has been *officially*  delivered in Nassau. I suppose the “tracking” peace of mind is worth the price?
  2. We’re really rockin and rollin around here. Lots more smaller boat projects in the works so we can get cruising come January, plus we recently ordered new port lights! Woot woot!
  3. Speaking of boat projects, it’s probably a good time to update this handy list.
  4. How do we have multiple “head” (aka bathroom) projects on ^^that list^^ but no line item for the shiny new shower head Jereme just replaced? Figures.
  5. Changing subjects, I bet the guy who wanted underwear & socks regrets his request. 😉
  6. And someone please tell me how the heck Christmas is only ONE week away???  This year’s holiday season has unfortunately passed us by without much hoopla (it was our first year sans Christmas tree).
  7. But we did manage to get our our holiday cards out on time. Yay us.

>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing.

Mark and Cindy - s/v Cream PuffDecember 17, 2013 - 10:33 pm

Thanks for sharing the link to the WestJet video. That was soooo coooool!

Looks like you are making a lot of progress on the to-do list

Mark and Cindy
s/v Cream Puff

LAHOWINDDecember 18, 2013 - 12:29 am

I know, that video is so great! 🙂 We are working our tails off around here! Hope you guys are doing well! -Kim

Kelley - Sailing ChanceDecember 20, 2013 - 12:34 am

If you go back to the Bahamas just mail the forms in – cost less than $2 for first class. There is no point in sending priority which is a lot more money because once it leaves the US tracking is void anyway. Ours got to Nassau in just a couple of days. Getting our permit back was another story 🙂

LAHOWINDDecember 20, 2013 - 1:50 pm

We’d probably take the cheaper route next time, but I’m kinda nuts like that and wanted to be able to track the envelope. FedEx was able to provide tracking (not sure USPS can)…and surprisingly we already have our permit back! It literally took them 1 day to process. Which was shocking! -Kim

Donna WalkerDecember 20, 2013 - 6:46 pm

We are doing the exact same thing, leaving Dec. 2014. This is perfect timing as I can prepare and learn from your experiences. Have fun! We sailed around Belize last week on vacation. A blast!

boat life lately. according to my iPhone.

Join the party and follow us on instagram!!! @lahowind

Instagram

>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing.

wherethecoconutsgrowDecember 16, 2013 - 8:21 pm

Even your iPhone pictures ROCK! Isn’t it a beautiful life we’re living? 🙂
-jody, S/V Mary Christine

LAHOWINDDecember 16, 2013 - 8:52 pm

Thanks girl! And yes, yes it is! 🙂 -Kim

A different kind of sailing.

Life just seems to be whizzing by a mile a minute. Kinda scary.

Back in October, Jereme and I rented out our house (super fast I might add) and had a measly 10 days to pack up an entire 3 bedroom house and move the hell out.

Sounds like plenty of time, right?  WRONG!!!

With two full-time jobs, plus busy season for my photography biz, plus the fact that we had to consolidate a house worth of crap into one small walk-in closet for storage, plus figure out what we needed to keep separate for the boat/cruising = not as easy as one might imagine.

Let’s just say, Jereme and I needed to sell a TON of stuff in a very small amount of time.  Three beds, a couch/loveseat, console/coffee tables, dressers, patio furniture, our (Boston Whaler) boat, a few tv’s/electronics, barstools, and lots and lots of household items (think every item in your kitchen), all of our decor/accessories, etc. etc. etc. Oh, plus a garage full of crap too!

One. Massive. Undertaking.

So, we held a huge blowout garage sale the very last weekend in October…hence the “different” kind of sailing, or should I say “sale”ing. 😉 Thank god we live in a neighborhood that quite possibly could qualify as the garage sale capital of the world. It makes the advertising/ generating traffic part of the sale rather easy.  And after a full day of “sailing,” we had sold 75% of our stuff. Yay!

I couldn’t resist posting a few snaps from our big sale back in October…

^^I want to remember this time in our lives always. Our little family of 3 in front of our home. Thanks Heather for snapping this cute photo!^^

I will say, for the most part, getting rid of the insane amount of crap we’ve managed to compile over the past several years was easier than I anticipated.  It’s actually really nice to simplify.  Our mantra throughout the whole process has been… “if we can’t ever replace it, then keep it.” In other words, we mostly kept the one-of-a-kind, sentimental stuff.  Plus, I was thrilled to finally get rid of a few of my not-so-favorite furniture pieces (i.e. some of the ones Jereme picked out). 😉

After the big g-sale and some craigslist sales, we were left hauling four “keepers” of my grandma’s and great aunt’s china, one “keeper” a piece of childhood stuff for Jer and I (think yearbooks, old photos, etc.), a “keeper” of antiques and favorite house decor, our favorite piece of furniture from the house — our unique indonesian wood TV stand, some of my photo biz gear/props that I am still using for sessions, some tools that Jereme can stash in his dad’s garage, a few electronics (only bc we wouldn’t be able to sell them),  a ton of clothes (since we’re still working and not yet living on the boat), and all the miscellaneous items we’ll need/use on the sailboat — think towel sets, a few kitchen items, coolers, sheet sets, etc.

I am happy to report that there has only been one minor freakout during this whole process (so far), and it involved yours truly.  I may or may not have had a major meltdown over the fact that we sold our pizza cutter.  Yes, I said pizza cutter. I literally broke down into tears over accidentally selling it at the garage sale (or throwing it away, who knows).  My meltdown was not pretty.   Clearly, the pizza cutter was just representative of my emotions and stress in having to part with all of our stuff (in a very short amount of time), but after Jereme talked me through it, I was at peace with losing said cutter.  …And I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to buy another one without a problem. Lol! 😉

We are now settled in at Jereme’s parents’ house (three blocks over from our old house) for the time being, until we set sail in January (hopefully).  We are very fortunate that they are willing to let us use their second home in Naples while they are still living in Ohio.  Not to mention, it made for a super convenient move, being only three streets over from our old house (although I swear to god we probably made 25 trips between the two houses just trying to move everything).

^^Our good friends Heather+Chris helped us a ton with the whole process! Thank you both!!!^^

^^Chris was clearly tasked with a *very* important job up there — beer in hand and all!^^

^^working hard or hardly working? you be the judge.^^

>>Thanks for visiting LAHOWIND sailing blog! We’d love for you to get to know us and follow our story as we attempt to navigate a whole new world of sailing.

Kelley - Sailing ChanceDecember 15, 2013 - 8:31 pm

I had a meltdown too. Mine came while going through all my shoes. It was heart breaking and really not pretty to witness. Jason found me lying on a pile of my “get rid” of clothes and shoes all over the room. Not my best moment. Looking back a year later, I haven’t thought about those shoes once. I kept more than I should of but don’t tell Jason 😉

LahoWindDecember 16, 2013 - 4:38 am

Good to hear I’m not alone in the meltdown department! 😉 I also might have accidentally kept a few more items than “agreed upon.” -Kim

[…] + resort)! …He bought me a pizza cutter! Hah! For those of you who might recall my little >>meltdown<< over accidentally selling ours way back in October at our big garage sale, you know how awesome […]

MarlenaJune 5, 2014 - 2:03 pm

Meltdown? What meltdown? 😉 It’s not completely normal and acceptable to fully lose it over an inanimate object? This has been me every time I’ve moved. Selling gigantic luggage because seriously I’d never use it (but it was a HS graduation gift!). Unpacking and finding a Crate and Barrel platter cracked (waaaaaaaaaaaaaa). And the clothes, the clothes! Don’t get me started. But each and every time no one was hurt and I was going to be okay. Wishing you all the best, K & J. It helps to purge, relieve yourself of additional weight (physical and emotional) and make room for new items and new memories along the way. Love it!