Not only did you save 2000 quid, your meticulous approach did a far better job than a “pro’ would’ve done. Beautiful work. Brilliant. Looking forward to the coming cruising season. Onwards and upwards.
Feels good to have it done, although perhaps not as meticulous as I would have liked as others have pointed out I put the outside rubber on upside down?! Doh! 🤯😂
Your mum has been on! " Please tell our Dom to use eye protection and a mask when power sanding the hull, especially when his head is under the area being sanded!" There I've passed the message on. Good job btw. 😉😆😆👍
As a general rule, one shouldn't use a petroleum-based grease or petrolatum on rubber parts as those can attack the rubber. Better is to use some silicone grease on rubber parts.
It’s things like this that I love, learning from the hive mind of more experienced salts out there. Thanks for sharing that nugget of wisdom and I’ll now know for next time, and others attempting this for the first time may (hopefully) read comments like this and not make the same mistakes as me 🙏🏼😌
Think that qualifies as a big job Dom! Amazing work! Never ceases to amaze me the size of quotes we receive for boat work. Love how you broke down the quote into parts and labour, you can really then see where things don’t add up! Like you, we often just end up doing it ourselves, which is often interesting, perfectly doable, much cheaper and sooooooo satisfying! I’d have been reluctant to take in this job that you did, but great work in motivating us idiots to give it a go!
I have to admit that I am lucky that I have a really cool boat mechanic who's often in my orbit who's brains I pick regularly though, one who allows me to pay him in whiskey donations, but in all fairness this job turned out to be more straight forward than I realised, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't check, double and even sometimes triple check with Alan (the awesome boat mechanic) here and there 😬😇
Well, you have to consider they would likley have to travel to the boat with their tools & most boatyards have little facilities & at times it would involve two people.... Dom has great facilities not out in the open in a dark cold boatyard in winter months like most of us.. Hopefully, they would also have prepared area also which means drying times for fiberglass/epoxy... Good video, though if Dom had counted the hours involved & travel times getting parts prepared if he was getting paid mechanic rates, I wonder how much he would charge?..
@@jg8144 all true, but the quotes we’ve seen have been eye watering even considering this. There appears to be more demand for the labour than supply available, meaning they can charge what they like. If the buyer is willing to pay, happy days. This is not true just of boatyards unfortunately; many skilled and semi-skilled industries are underrepresented in the UK. I had a conversation with two roofers recently who outlined that they have so much work on that they make up silly prices for new quotes, to dissuade the customer… but they still say yes, please go ahead! I still think £2k for 2 people for 2 days is nuts for this type of work, but each to their own!
I did a full restoration and modernisation on my Trident 24, called a marine mechanic once to sort one small electrical job, he quoted £280 per hour x @5 hours. A few youtube videos later and I sorted it myself in under an hour! When your not a millionaire and you own a boat, you have to know how to fix and replace everything yourself!!
As long as you have the time. If you are a UA-camr not only do you have the time but you are making money at the same time as you are saving money, so it's an obvious decision. If you are a hedge fund manager ... not so much. Over the decades I've attempted a few jobs I wish I'd never started.
I am a boatbuilder myself, and for the genuine ones be kind to us. Most of us do the best we can in sometimes horrible places and conditions. And people asking for quotes and then go shopping around with then doesn’t make it better hahaha. Just being honest there is a balance in almost shaming being overpriced and being the extreme legend you are that you can do this yourself!
Hi Dom, as a DIY sailor myself it’s great to see how your confidence and skills have developed over the years. I saw Sailing Britaly’s video years ago, now together with yours I’m ready to tackle mine this year. Great vidéo and great inspiration. Not only do you save a lot of money, knowing another piece of your boat inside out is undoubtably a great feeling. 😀😀😀😀 Brilliant.
I spent two whole months in the boatyard last winter - when I should have been sailing - replacing the oil pan. This required lifting the engine. During the process one of the engine legs snapped, the exhaust manifold cracked, the engine mount isolator broke, and the starter motor seized. Never having owned a single tool until I bought Thalassa , two years earlier, the various inhabitants of the boatyard were running a book on how long it would take to - if indeed I was even capable of - addressing all these issues. Took the full two months, but she went back in the water, and has performed admirably ever since.
Great work. The beauty of owning a sail boat. You don't need a certified licence to repair it yourself. Unlike being a Private Pilot. As always a great learning video.
As always Ant is correct and it will cost a tiny amount of speed. But not critical. I’m sure you have enough to do at the moment and these damn things fall of after 1/2/3 seasons depending on glue effectivnes. But a real bugger to remove when newly glued. If it is any comfort I’ve seen dozens done wrong like this 😂
@@milesbuckhurst504 well truth be told I get most of the real value from these videos when I do something wrong and get corrected by the hive of more capable salts than me, live, in real time 😂 Hopefully someone else can learn from my mistakes before they make them themselves, and in such a circumstance the video and slight embarrassment on my part would have been worth it 🫣😬
@@CadohaAdventures experienced sailors make loads of mistakes don’t you worry. Even basics like mooring cleats and how to tie up. I think you have sailed plenty now and you do great. Enjoy the maintenance - even if frustrating and exhausting. It will lead to wonderful sailing soon. I grew up & learnt to sail in Cornwall - fully agree the British coastline is wonderful.
Your artistic approach is always excellent. Thanks for making this one. You are, as always, very thorough and that is enjoyable. These sail drive units remind me of the old front wheel drive volkswagen rubber boots that would always go bad and require a several $thousand rebuild of the front axel. Following Parlay Revival (and he is a marine engineer) I am counting that he has replaced these rubber barriers 3 times in 5 years. Question: Why did you unscrew the motor mount from the boat (metal-fiberglass/wood) rather than unscrew the motor attachment point to the mount (metal-metal)? I would worry that playing with those mount bolts might disturb something in the stringer support. I don't think the (Pound)2000 mechanic would have leveled off the metal to make a smooth surface, nor had the metal ring repainted with epoxy. You clearly did a far better job and it all looks very very good, thanks for sharing this.
I wonder what it is that prompts mechanics to quote so much, is there some massive insurance risk that costs them loads, it's vital water doesn't get in. Is it a market niche where they can often charge ludicrous prices, because enough people don't want to tackle it themselves? Anyway good job! Thanks to Volvo for suffiently explaining how the pieces go together.
If you plan to lubricate O-rings, it is advisable to use silicone grease which is harmless (inert) and won't degrade the O-rings although it should not be used on silicone O-rings. Let's hope the seacock grease? will be OK... 🤞 On a more serious note only use silicone grease on diving equipment O-rings. Is there a reason why you didn't paint the saildrive leg while it was off to make it all spiffy?
I don’t have a sail drive but if I did, you’d be my guy. Seriously, this is a potential UK winter and then later a world cruising income earner? Such nice work.
Good effort Dom and 2k better off! My bum would have twinged a little at that price, I mean it looks a bit of a sod of a job, but £1k a day seems pricey - boat tax I suppose! However, looks like you've got yourself another skill there and if you ever need some pocket money, changing sail drive seals is clearly a good earner!
Dom, Great job, I admire your approach to boat jobs. Well done! One thing I’d check is the external seal bonded to the hull, I maybe wrong but I think it’s upside down, the outside should be flush to the hull… Maybe an extra half knot!
Wow Dom. I started this with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach … ‘I was quoted £2,500 and it turned out to be 3 times that’ or similar. Instead you tackled it yourself, and boy, what a job you made of cleaning everything up and doing it right. Brilliant job. And to think you started not quite sure about ‘playing’ with an outboard! And I well remember your beautiful job of the heat exchanger, which I consider the definitive demonstration on how to do that completely. Big big congratulations 🎉
Regarding the outside boot. A marina manager said he has never found a boot that stays on with adhesive. When I did mine I glued it and then cut a picture frame out of old fibreglass and screwed it to the hull to retain it
@CadohaAdventures *_ Hey Dom, you do realize that you have just made a UA-cam "How to Change your Saildrive Diaphram" for all other would-be DIY sailors out there!! Crack on mister and once again a great vlog! _*
Tbh, compared to changing a nappy, that looked easy :) . Seriously though, I'm very impressed you tackled it, if you can do that i can't think there are many boat jobs beyond you. It does make you wonder how bodged it would be for someone to do it in a day (even a couple of days). Great that you now have the knowledge to do it yourself, and shared that with us.
I have frequently heard the 7 year life thing with sail drive diaphragms, but in the years I've been sailing I haven't heard of one failing in service, let alone a boat being lost from such a failure. We replaced ours when we rebuilt the engine back in 2003 (also did it ourselves) and the original we took out that had been there since the boat was built in 1979 was still in excellent condition. Since then we've just followed principle that we'd inspect it frequently and monitor for any indication of degradation, and change it again if we had any cause to separate the saildrive leg in future. It's been in place since then with no change in condition like yours was. I think they are just massively strong for the job they do and the location means they don't suffer from much in the way of UV or ozone degradation. Regarding the external sail drive leg gaiter, we tried a few different adhesives and many of them came off after a while. The one that did the job and has stayed in place for many years with no sign of lifting was Evo-Stik Serious Stuff.
Super impressed Dom. Been following for many years and your mechanical confidence, much like mine, through cost necessity, has blossomed. How hard can it be hey!
Bravo Dom 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Knowing and working on your own boat will help your knowledge if things go wrong whilst at sea, getting you out of situations that would require external help from others, If for example, your gear selector cable snaps, you’ll know where it joins the saildrive and be able to engage gears manually to get you home 👌🏻
Hi, I was wondering how you have held up the back end of the engine when you slide it forward? You don't mention this at all - but at 3:37 into your splendid video there's a glimpse of a 'leg' that fixed the the back end of the casing on the stbd side of the engine. Is that (and presumably one the other side at 5:15 ) something you fixed on, or was it already there, or what?
I had a similar experiance the bottom skeg bearing on the rudder was worn ,I was quoted £450.00 to renew , Got it done by a Club member for $69.00 Job Done . Cheers
Great job! I would probably gone the other route. Insure the engine compartment is sealed from the rest of the boat. Buy the kit. Fit a larrrrge bilge pump. And wait. With routine checks, of course.
Be interesting to know how much the seal kit, the sandblasting and the painting cost. I've heard from a number of people replacing seals that they old ones often look perfect. Volvo seem to have long recommended replacing at 7 year intervals but Yanmar have apparently been inconsistent. My conclusion is that they don't really know and are playing it really safe, given the consequences of a seal failure. I seem to remember that one brand has an electronic device that will alert you if water gets into the seal, before it gets into the boat.
Good on you for doing the sail drive Some people do take the p ss when it comes to yacht , just take your time and make sure you line the engine mounts up to the old paint work But good on you for doing it 😊 When it is done you will have saved yourself £2500 and you know it's done properly.
Dom, did you put a new insulator gasket, between the engine and transmission? That was the translucent gasket @6:04. check the manual, for any extra insulators for the attaching bolts, also I believe they give guidance to check if there is continuity between the engine and transmission case.
Dom. We removed our sail drive and diaphragm a couple of years ago but I let the Darthaven marina technician re-fit it mainly for their 2 year guarantee. A couple of points I noticed in your video. The bolts that retain the halves of the sail drive are normally wired (moused) so they cannot come out. My sail drive had quite a lot of corrosion on one of the face plates which cost about £500. Darthaven would not re-fit it like that so we sanded the whole face down with 120 grit paper and a flat plate sanding tool. It took hours to get rid of the pitting. To get the drive out with the bottom prop shaft still in is really tricky and the engine has to be moved a long way forward. Finally the hardest part was aligning the engine up to the sail drive. This took quite a lot of fiddling. Looks like you did a great job and I like the epoxy coating on the plate. I had mine powder coated. I notice your drive has the plastic insulators which are to help reduce electrolytic corrosion on the sail drive keeping it isolated from the boat earth. Mine is not isolated.
BOAT stands for bung on another thousand.This is so true for amy kind of boat especially narrowboats like mine.Well done a really pro job and it also saved you a packet.
I probably would have removed all the antifouling from the lower leg then had it ultrasonic cleaned and then build the antifouling back up since its be best opportunity to do that. Hopefully you used some blue Loctite where applicable too.
I'm no expert in any of this but I have doubts that a contractor would give the same level of attention as you did. At least you won't worry as to whether the job had been done correctly. Nice job!
Great job indeed. And I do agree with pkrockit below. Whenever you do stuff on your own boat you give it a bit more attention than qualified and payed professionals would do. I would give the old rubber frisbee to Hank and I do not expect it to live for another 15 years. Haha. And.....is Carly OK?
You must have a Volvo D2-40 with SD130 sail drive or similar. Haven't watched video yet. I repaired one of my rings (I have a cat with 2x engines) with epoxy so they were smooth; mine were pitted. I bought one ring they are stupid expensive. . Dropping the sail drive diaphragm means that the volvo guy is going to want to rebuild the SD for that and add new seals throughout. That cost me about 1300 US per SD130 US in Rio Dulce.
1st and last saildrive I had was on a fountain peugot. Went back to straight drives. Saildrives are cheaper and easier for the manufacturer but a pain in the --- for maintaining. I guess I got off easy when I was charged about 2K for a new, leg parts only. (make sure you paint that leg before you go in)
Yes, I’ve never particularly liked the idea of making a huge hole in the boat when you can do the same with a very small hole either. It’s yet another of these massive leaps of faith there are in modern boats (and life) that defy logic but everyone just accepts and moves forward and then wonder why so many things go wrong.
Hi , great work , learning whilst earning ? in some boat yards the saying is Time short cash rich , put a few hundred on . How is Carly doing ? is Hank looking after her and doing his knitting .🤔 👍👍 🐶 👍
Great job Dom, you're amazingly patient and thorough. As ever with boats, the cost of any work seems eye-watering. I just paid £1,000 to get my Yamaha outboard serviced ( 600 hrs) because if a dealer does it, they offer a 5 year warranty.
Truth be told if it was question of warranty or not warranty then I'd likely pay a dealer to do the work too. Seeing as our engine is likely very well out of it, and given that we're pretty far from well off, I'm happy to at least attempt many of these jobs myself.
In making the hull opening a flat area with epoxy, and having the sealing ring sandblasted and epoxy painted, you have done a much better job than you would have had for £2500. Did you need to sand/clean the upper part of the sail leg to better seal against the rubber that seals the leg to the hull?
Did you use your volt meter and check continuity from your engine to the saildrive? Yes, this needs to be done. If you didn't get the plastic gaskets put in place right, you will have continuity, and your saildrive won't last long in the ocean
Now I know why I have an old fashioned boats with a traditional engine, gearbox, propshaft, propeller. this modern stuff is all a bit too complicated and besides, being 54 years old, my boat is bristling with the sort of technology that you can hit with a very big hammer when it doesn't work, that usually fixes it
Modern rubber does not seem to last as long as rubber of old. Track rod end boots, drive shaft gaiters, fuel hoses etc. I think curtain ingredients have been removed for health/safety or costs.
Hi Dominic, great video as always but a quick question as to whether you have put the saildrive gator on the right way? When i done mine the ribbed part went on the inside, and the smothe side was to the outside??
Brilliant work Dom. I wonder how many hours you think it took you to do this job. If you applied yourself at ,60 quid an hour what would you have charged yourself? Just curious observer from Melbourne. Love your work.
It probably took me over 40, although much of that time is spent filming, moving cameras, oh and an age sanding and re-levelling where the diaphragm goes.
Ha ha, you must have done this job before, but yes, one of the guys in the shed helped me get everything lined back up after hearing me swearing so profusely for an extended period of time, trying to do it all myself. 😬😇🤣
I wonder if they operate similarly to auto mechanics. Where they quote "book time" and if the worker doesn't take less than book time to complete it, they get screwed, despite the owner still charging for more hours.
![Boat lift out [DIY Failure!]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HrwwXOVZz5E/mqdefault.jpg)
Not only did you save 2000 quid, your meticulous approach did a far better job than a “pro’ would’ve done. Beautiful work. Brilliant. Looking forward to the coming cruising season. Onwards and upwards.
Feels good to have it done, although perhaps not as meticulous as I would have liked as others have pointed out I put the outside rubber on upside down?! Doh! 🤯😂
Your mum has been on! " Please tell our Dom to use eye protection and a mask when power sanding the hull, especially when his head is under the area being sanded!" There I've passed the message on. Good job btw. 😉😆😆👍
As a general rule, one shouldn't use a petroleum-based grease or petrolatum on rubber parts as those can attack the rubber. Better is to use some silicone grease on rubber parts.
It’s things like this that I love, learning from the hive mind of more experienced salts out there.
Thanks for sharing that nugget of wisdom and I’ll now know for next time, and others attempting this for the first time may (hopefully) read comments like this and not make the same mistakes as me 🙏🏼😌
Think that qualifies as a big job Dom! Amazing work! Never ceases to amaze me the size of quotes we receive for boat work. Love how you broke down the quote into parts and labour, you can really then see where things don’t add up! Like you, we often just end up doing it ourselves, which is often interesting, perfectly doable, much cheaper and sooooooo satisfying! I’d have been reluctant to take in this job that you did, but great work in motivating us idiots to give it a go!
I have to admit that I am lucky that I have a really cool boat mechanic who's often in my orbit who's brains I pick regularly though, one who allows me to pay him in whiskey donations, but in all fairness this job turned out to be more straight forward than I realised, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't check, double and even sometimes triple check with Alan (the awesome boat mechanic) here and there 😬😇
Well, you have to consider they would likley have to travel to the boat with their tools & most boatyards have little facilities & at times it would involve two people.... Dom has great facilities not out in the open in a dark cold boatyard in winter months like most of us.. Hopefully, they would also have prepared area also which means drying times for fiberglass/epoxy... Good video, though if Dom had counted the hours involved & travel times getting parts prepared if he was getting paid mechanic rates, I wonder how much he would charge?..
@@jg8144 all true, but the quotes we’ve seen have been eye watering even considering this. There appears to be more demand for the labour than supply available, meaning they can charge what they like. If the buyer is willing to pay, happy days. This is not true just of boatyards unfortunately; many skilled and semi-skilled industries are underrepresented in the UK. I had a conversation with two roofers recently who outlined that they have so much work on that they make up silly prices for new quotes, to dissuade the customer… but they still say yes, please go ahead! I still think £2k for 2 people for 2 days is nuts for this type of work, but each to their own!
I did a full restoration and modernisation on my Trident 24, called a marine mechanic once to sort one small electrical job, he quoted £280 per hour x @5 hours.
A few youtube videos later and I sorted it myself in under an hour!
When your not a millionaire and you own a boat, you have to know how to fix and replace everything yourself!!
As long as you have the time. If you are a UA-camr not only do you have the time but you are making money at the same time as you are saving money, so it's an obvious decision. If you are a hedge fund manager ... not so much. Over the decades I've attempted a few jobs I wish I'd never started.
I am a boatbuilder myself, and for the genuine ones be kind to us. Most of us do the best we can in sometimes horrible places and conditions. And people asking for quotes and then go shopping around with then doesn’t make it better hahaha. Just being honest there is a balance in almost shaming being overpriced and being the extreme legend you are that you can do this yourself!
And to be completely fair Dom, it would be nice to include the time you spend on it and the tools it took to complete. 😘
Hi Dom, as a DIY sailor myself it’s great to see how your confidence and skills have developed over the years. I saw Sailing Britaly’s video years ago, now together with yours I’m ready to tackle mine this year. Great vidéo and great inspiration. Not only do you save a lot of money, knowing another piece of your boat inside out is undoubtably a great feeling. 😀😀😀😀 Brilliant.
I spent two whole months in the boatyard last winter - when I should have been sailing - replacing the oil pan. This required lifting the engine. During the process one of the engine legs snapped, the exhaust manifold cracked, the engine mount isolator broke, and the starter motor seized.
Never having owned a single tool until I bought Thalassa , two years earlier, the various inhabitants of the boatyard were running a book on how long it would take to - if indeed I was even capable of - addressing all these issues.
Took the full two months, but she went back in the water, and has performed admirably ever since.
Great work. The beauty of owning a sail boat. You don't need a certified licence to repair it yourself. Unlike being a Private Pilot. As always a great learning video.
Bravo Dom, you saved yourself some serious money, and now you could help someone else get that job done
Hi Dom. The outer gator has been put on inside out. The formed shape side goes inside. The smooth side is outside. Sail Safe mate. Ant & Cid
Hold on, after all that are you saying I've put the rubber flappy thing on the wrong way around? (The one on the outside of the hull?) 😳
@@CadohaAdventures Yes Mate.
As always Ant is correct and it will cost a tiny amount of speed. But not critical. I’m sure you have enough to do at the moment and these damn things fall of after 1/2/3 seasons depending on glue effectivnes. But a real bugger to remove when newly glued. If it is any comfort I’ve seen dozens done wrong like this 😂
@@milesbuckhurst504 well truth be told I get most of the real value from these videos when I do something wrong and get corrected by the hive of more capable salts than me, live, in real time 😂
Hopefully someone else can learn from my mistakes before they make them themselves, and in such a circumstance the video and slight embarrassment on my part would have been worth it 🫣😬
@@CadohaAdventures experienced sailors make loads of mistakes don’t you worry. Even basics like mooring cleats and how to tie up. I think you have sailed plenty now and you do great. Enjoy the maintenance - even if frustrating and exhausting. It will lead to wonderful sailing soon. I grew up & learnt to sail in Cornwall - fully agree the British coastline is wonderful.
Well done 👏👏👌 . 10/10 for the job. 1/10 for calling epoxy ‘E’ Poxy. 😂
Your artistic approach is always excellent. Thanks for making this one. You are, as always, very thorough and that is enjoyable. These sail drive units remind me of the old front wheel drive volkswagen rubber boots that would always go bad and require a several $thousand rebuild of the front axel. Following Parlay Revival (and he is a marine engineer) I am counting that he has replaced these rubber barriers 3 times in 5 years. Question: Why did you unscrew the motor mount from the boat (metal-fiberglass/wood) rather than unscrew the motor attachment point to the mount (metal-metal)? I would worry that playing with those mount bolts might disturb something in the stringer support. I don't think the (Pound)2000 mechanic would have leveled off the metal to make a smooth surface, nor had the metal ring repainted with epoxy. You clearly did a far better job and it all looks very very good, thanks for sharing this.
I appreciate your choice of adding some tango to the job. Makes it all more enjoyable while getting one’s hands dirty 🔧
I wonder what it is that prompts mechanics to quote so much, is there some massive insurance risk that costs them loads, it's vital water doesn't get in. Is it a market niche where they can often charge ludicrous prices, because enough people don't want to tackle it themselves? Anyway good job! Thanks to Volvo for suffiently explaining how the pieces go together.
If you plan to lubricate O-rings, it is advisable to use silicone grease which is harmless (inert) and won't degrade the O-rings although it should not be used on silicone O-rings. Let's hope the seacock grease? will be OK... 🤞 On a more serious note only use silicone grease on diving equipment O-rings.
Is there a reason why you didn't paint the saildrive leg while it was off to make it all spiffy?
Well documented video.. As the saying goes "Plus est en Vous"..Outstanding job well done..
Great job! How's that baby doing? So excited for you both. As a now grampa remember those first child days fondly.
I don’t have a sail drive but if I did, you’d be my guy.
Seriously, this is a potential UK winter and then later a world cruising income earner?
Such nice work.
Good effort Dom and 2k better off! My bum would have twinged a little at that price, I mean it looks a bit of a sod of a job, but £1k a day seems pricey - boat tax I suppose! However, looks like you've got yourself another skill there and if you ever need some pocket money, changing sail drive seals is clearly a good earner!
Dom, Great job, I admire your approach to boat jobs. Well done! One thing I’d check is the external seal bonded to the hull, I maybe wrong but I think it’s upside down, the outside should be flush to the hull… Maybe an extra half knot!
I think you're right, you're not the first person to notice that 🤣🙈
Wow Dom. I started this with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach … ‘I was quoted £2,500 and it turned out to be 3 times that’ or similar. Instead you tackled it yourself, and boy, what a job you made of cleaning everything up and doing it right. Brilliant job. And to think you started not quite sure about ‘playing’ with an outboard! And I well remember your beautiful job of the heat exchanger, which I consider the definitive demonstration on how to do that completely. Big big congratulations 🎉
isnt that seacock grease for blakes seacocks and is slightly abrasive? think i would have used silicone grease on those o rings
Regarding the outside boot. A marina manager said he has never found a boot that stays on with adhesive. When I did mine I glued it and then cut a picture frame out of old fibreglass and screwed it to the hull to retain it
Good job, work soldier. Letter of commendation added to your file.
Excellent job! Ever so slightly envious of you being in a shed. What an awful winter for boatwork 🤦🏻♂️
@CadohaAdventures *_ Hey Dom, you do realize that you have just made a UA-cam "How to Change your Saildrive Diaphram" for all other would-be DIY sailors out there!! Crack on mister and once again a great vlog! _*
Tbh, compared to changing a nappy, that looked easy :) . Seriously though, I'm very impressed you tackled it, if you can do that i can't think there are many boat jobs beyond you. It does make you wonder how bodged it would be for someone to do it in a day (even a couple of days). Great that you now have the knowledge to do it yourself, and shared that with us.
I have frequently heard the 7 year life thing with sail drive diaphragms, but in the years I've been sailing I haven't heard of one failing in service, let alone a boat being lost from such a failure. We replaced ours when we rebuilt the engine back in 2003 (also did it ourselves) and the original we took out that had been there since the boat was built in 1979 was still in excellent condition. Since then we've just followed principle that we'd inspect it frequently and monitor for any indication of degradation, and change it again if we had any cause to separate the saildrive leg in future. It's been in place since then with no change in condition like yours was. I think they are just massively strong for the job they do and the location means they don't suffer from much in the way of UV or ozone degradation.
Regarding the external sail drive leg gaiter, we tried a few different adhesives and many of them came off after a while. The one that did the job and has stayed in place for many years with no sign of lifting was Evo-Stik Serious Stuff.
Super impressed Dom. Been following for many years and your mechanical confidence, much like mine, through cost necessity, has blossomed. How hard can it be hey!
For a moment there I was in a French cafe while a storm was howling outside. Meanwhile some Pommy tradesman was fixing something next door.. 😂
Great work - not only saving money but most likely you’ve done a better job than the mechanic would have
Great job Dom
Bravo Dom 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Knowing and working on your own boat will help your knowledge if things go wrong whilst at sea, getting you out of situations that would require external help from others,
If for example, your gear selector cable snaps, you’ll know where it joins the saildrive and be able to engage gears manually to get you home 👌🏻
Nice informative video. Thank you. Not that it makes any difference but I think you attached the rubber hull seal the wrong way (inside out).
You are correct, someone else pointed that out too, doh!! 🥹
Awesome job. It's been those insanely high quotes that motivated me to learn everything from building log homes to automotive repair and painting.
Hi, I was wondering how you have held up the back end of the engine when you slide it forward? You don't mention this at all - but at 3:37 into your splendid video there's a glimpse of a 'leg' that fixed the the back end of the casing on the stbd side of the engine. Is that (and presumably one the other side at 5:15 ) something you fixed on, or was it already there, or what?
I had a similar experiance the bottom skeg bearing on the rudder was worn ,I was quoted £450.00 to renew , Got it done by a Club member for $69.00 Job Done . Cheers
Sounds like you’ve got some great club members around you there matey 👌🏼🍻☺️
Correction it was £ 60,00 not £69,00@@CadohaAdventures
Well done , I was sh/tting myself when you were thumping the aloy leg on the deck .
Ha ha, I hope I put enough disclaimers in that it wasn’t a how-to video 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼😂
Great job! I would probably gone the other route. Insure the engine compartment is sealed from the rest of the boat. Buy the kit. Fit a larrrrge bilge pump. And wait. With routine checks, of course.
Be interesting to know how much the seal kit, the sandblasting and the painting cost. I've heard from a number of people replacing seals that they old ones often look perfect. Volvo seem to have long recommended replacing at 7 year intervals but Yanmar have apparently been inconsistent. My conclusion is that they don't really know and are playing it really safe, given the consequences of a seal failure. I seem to remember that one brand has an electronic device that will alert you if water gets into the seal, before it gets into the boat.
The blast and epoxy spray was around £40 in a shop just over the itchen bridge, a place called Tristan.
Good on you for doing the sail drive
Some people do take the p ss when it comes to yacht , just take your time and make sure you line the engine mounts up to the old paint work
But good on you for doing it 😊
When it is done you will have saved yourself £2500 and you know it's done properly.
Awesome video Dom. Brilliant and entertaining. Thank you !
Dom, did you put a new insulator gasket, between the engine and transmission? That was the translucent gasket @6:04. check the manual, for any extra insulators for the attaching bolts, also I believe they give guidance to check if there is continuity between the engine and transmission case.
Your awesome man! Love the editing and learning a lot. Will definitely do my seal on boat after seeing you work
Dom. We removed our sail drive and diaphragm a couple of years ago but I let the Darthaven marina technician re-fit it mainly for their 2 year guarantee. A couple of points I noticed in your video. The bolts that retain the halves of the sail drive are normally wired (moused) so they cannot come out. My sail drive had quite a lot of corrosion on one of the face plates which cost about £500. Darthaven would not re-fit it like that so we sanded the whole face down with 120 grit paper and a flat plate sanding tool. It took hours to get rid of the pitting. To get the drive out with the bottom prop shaft still in is really tricky and the engine has to be moved a long way forward. Finally the hardest part was aligning the engine up to the sail drive. This took quite a lot of fiddling. Looks like you did a great job and I like the epoxy coating on the plate. I had mine powder coated. I notice your drive has the plastic insulators which are to help reduce electrolytic corrosion on the sail drive keeping it isolated from the boat earth. Mine is not isolated.
BOAT stands for bung on another thousand.This is so true for amy kind of boat especially narrowboats like mine.Well done a really pro job and it also saved you a packet.
Sailing Dauntless went through several of these repairing their Catamerans.. they also lost one to corrosion due to stray currents in the water . 😬
As a mechanic of 35 years defo grease on the o rings!👍😁
I probably would have removed all the antifouling from the lower leg then had it ultrasonic cleaned and then build the antifouling back up since its be best opportunity to do that. Hopefully you used some blue Loctite where applicable too.
Well done. I felt a little bad getting the AA to change my battery the other day.
I'm no expert in any of this but I have doubts that a contractor would give the same level of attention as you did. At least you won't worry as to whether the job had been done correctly. Nice job!
Great job indeed. And I do agree with pkrockit below. Whenever you do stuff on your own boat you give it a bit more attention than qualified and payed professionals would do. I would give the old rubber frisbee to Hank and I do not expect it to live for another 15 years. Haha. And.....is Carly OK?
Very Good show Mate.
You must have a Volvo D2-40 with SD130 sail drive or similar. Haven't watched video yet. I repaired one of my rings (I have a cat with 2x engines) with epoxy so they were smooth; mine were pitted. I bought one ring they are stupid expensive. . Dropping the sail drive diaphragm means that the volvo guy is going to want to rebuild the SD for that and add new seals throughout. That cost me about 1300 US per SD130 US in Rio Dulce.
you are a brave man! In my hands, I would have finished with 10 extra parts (I wouldn't know what to do with) and a wobbly drive :)
Congrats, you took a risk and you succeeded.
I can see why i
you would have been quoted £2500! What a huge job
Nice work Dom 👍🏻💪🏻
Proper job, well done!
1st and last saildrive I had was on a fountain peugot. Went back to straight drives. Saildrives are cheaper and easier for the manufacturer but a pain in the --- for maintaining. I guess I got off easy when I was charged about 2K for a new, leg parts only. (make sure you paint that leg before you go in)
Yes, I’ve never particularly liked the idea of making a huge hole in the boat when you can do the same with a very small hole either. It’s yet another of these massive leaps of faith there are in modern boats (and life) that defy logic but everyone just accepts and moves forward and then wonder why so many things go wrong.
Nice work 👍
Very well done Dom! Impressive work.
Hi , great work , learning whilst earning ? in some boat yards the saying is Time short cash rich , put a few hundred on . How is Carly doing ? is Hank looking after her and doing his knitting .🤔 👍👍 🐶 👍
Great job Dom, you're amazingly patient and thorough. As ever with boats, the cost of any work seems eye-watering. I just paid £1,000 to get my Yamaha outboard serviced ( 600 hrs) because if a dealer does it, they offer a 5 year warranty.
Truth be told if it was question of warranty or not warranty then I'd likely pay a dealer to do the work too. Seeing as our engine is likely very well out of it, and given that we're pretty far from well off, I'm happy to at least attempt many of these jobs myself.
Good show Dom… ✅
Yes, as the decades go by we more n more have gone the DYI method do to exorbitant pricing..!!
Nice work
Fantastic, thanks for sharing.
In making the hull opening a flat area with epoxy, and having the sealing ring sandblasted and epoxy painted, you have done a much better job than you would have had for £2500. Did you need to sand/clean the upper part of the sail leg to better seal against the rubber that seals the leg to the hull?
Good for you! 🇨🇦
Nice one Dom, great video as always, job well done 👍👌
Quality presentation, Dom - thanks for sharing 👍
Well done.
Did you use your volt meter and check continuity from your engine to the saildrive? Yes, this needs to be done. If you didn't get the plastic gaskets put in place right, you will have continuity, and your saildrive won't last long in the ocean
No I haven’t but will do now you mentioned it. Appreciate that 👍🏽🍻
Great video. Really enjoyed it. Thank you. P.
Looks like you did a great job. So how much would you charge someone to do the same job now you have done it yourself ? 😊
Now I know why I have an old fashioned boats with a traditional engine, gearbox, propshaft, propeller. this modern stuff is all a bit too complicated and besides, being 54 years old, my boat is bristling with the sort of technology that you can hit with a very big hammer when it doesn't work, that usually fixes it
Thanx Dom awesome job
God I missed you three!
Well Done!
😎
Nice job well done
while you had all that apart ?? would it have been a good idea to change the berings in the drive sharft ???? just saying ??????
Possibly, I didn’t notice any worn bearings? I’ll check again in 2031 😬
You sure about that external seal - i have Volvo saildrive and mine is flat on the outside
No, it seems I got that bit wrong! 😭
Modern rubber does not seem to last as long as rubber of old. Track rod end boots, drive shaft gaiters, fuel hoses etc. I think curtain ingredients have been removed for health/safety or costs.
Well done, man!! But...will it be at the back of your mind for the next 5 years? haha
Hi Dominic, great video as always but a quick question as to whether you have put the saildrive gator on the right way? When i done mine the ribbed part went on the inside, and the smothe side was to the outside??
Cunningly I have indeed put the outer rubber on the wrong way around 😂🤯
Yep it is on upside down, but won’t make much different … little bit of drag and no reason it should make it come off
Wow well done you. Now I know why I love Yanmar.
Brilliant job save shed loads
Absolutely classic quoting system think of a number and then double it then add tax
Brilliant work Dom. I wonder how many hours you think it took you to do this job. If you applied yourself at ,60 quid an hour what would you have charged yourself? Just curious observer from Melbourne. Love your work.
It probably took me over 40, although much of that time is spent filming, moving cameras, oh and an age sanding and re-levelling where the diaphragm goes.
I've got two mates in the marina who have done similar saildrive seal jobs who I will send your video too!
Question is, did it take two of you to engage the gearbox splines?
Ha ha, you must have done this job before, but yes, one of the guys in the shed helped me get everything lined back up after hearing me swearing so profusely for an extended period of time, trying to do it all myself. 😬😇🤣
Has anyone ever seen Dom and Oli Chessum, England Rugby Union No 5, in the same room? Think they may be one and the same. :D
Ha ha, almost identical, bar the 20 year age gap, half a foot height difference and the 20+ kilo in weight that separates us 😂
Bar that we’re twins 😬
Good job, considering the 2 stars were not directing you
its basically of risk of failure, would have a liftout. basically they don't want to do it .
Not a job I’m in a hurry to do again either 😬
I wonder if they operate similarly to auto mechanics. Where they quote "book time" and if the worker doesn't take less than book time to complete it, they get screwed, despite the owner still charging for more hours.
The problem is some well to do idiots will actually pay for that job to be done, and then say how wonderful the company was.
Well laddie. Now that you've saved a couple of thousand quid you can buy a bottle of single malt. You deserve it.
air filter looks a little dirty
I think I'd pay the 2500 so I'd have someone to blame if things went wrong. 😆
Climate kind of dictates upkeep on rubber products like that seal
What kind of climate/ environment do you think would be the worst for such an item? Genuinely not my area of expertise 😬