Today I met with Walter Morh, the Food and Beverage Manager at the Victoria and Alfred Hotel on the Waterfront. Walter is a native of Austria and has live in Capetown for the last 33 years. He has an extensive knowledge of South African Wines. This country is a major wine exporter and this region in particular is known worldwide for its varieties. The South African experiment with wine began in the gardens of the Dutch East India company in the 17th century. The region now boasts over  300 vintages in 60 appellations and covers an area in excess of 100,000 hectares. Our conversation was very enlightening, I learned a great deal about wines and some of the unique characteristics of South African wines. I will be talking more about my conversation with Walter after we take a wine tour he recommended next week.

We were pulled out of the water around 1100 today and are presently waiting for our generator to be set to 60 cycles from 50 so we can have electrical power. I’m sitting in the main salon by the glow of the computer screen with our small generator dutifully chugging away behind me on the after deck. We are hoping the power is restored soon. Our freezers are holding up yet, however they won’t for another 12 hours. 

The Synchro-Lift workers in front of one of the 18 winches.
[ photo - James Frankham ]

It is now 2045 and we are getting another generator, a 100KW unit that will run at 60htz. We are hoping the generator arrives soon, if it does not we are going to have problems updating the website tonight. I’m already having difficulty typing in the dark. James is working feverously on the laptop beside me trying to overcome the issues associated with not having a functioning network and the most up to date TWAIN drivers. 

We are presently sitting in the darkness, it is 2200.

Coming out of the water on the Synchro-Lift was an experience. Essentially we were lifted up on a large platform to a cradle on a set of tracks. We were then pulled by a tractor onto a sliding platform which put us onto a siding and that is our parking place for the next few days. It is a strange feeling to be standing on STARSHIP as she makes headway over dry land.

STARSHIP on the Synchro-Lift with Table Mountain in the background.
[ photo - James Frankham ]

In the V&A today a South African internet service provider called M-Web was running a display for their internet service and did us a big favour by permitting us to use their high speed connection. We downloaded many of the files we needed to do maintenance on the computer systems and to add new multimedia features to the website.

The bottom of the hull was power washed and looks very clean after most of the marine growth was removed. Lisa and Charles, since our last entry, have rescued two more seals.

We are hoping to have power soon - there is a great deal of work yet to do this evening and Charles has been going all day. Sometimes the days where you are required to just standby are the most tiring.

Fair winds, calm seas

Brady

CAPETOWN MAINTENANCE PROPELLER SHAFT. Today’s maintenance feature deals with the water end of our propulsion system. STARSHIP has a propeller with 5 blades. The engine on STARSHIP produces 380 HP and the revolutions are reduced through a reduction gearbox to provide more torque which provides greater thrusting energy. The propeller pitch is fixed which is easier to maintain for a ship like STARSHIP. Pitch is defined as the angle which relates to the distance the prop moves through one complete revolution, which is why a propeller is referred to as a screw.  The prop is connected to the propeller shaft which is made of Aquamat, a form of stainless steel and is 3 inches in diameter. The order of power transfer to the prop is as follows: engine, gearbox, coupling, and the last drop which is a shaft gland. The last drop is composed of a graphite and a steel ring with a spring and together they stop the flow of water through the hull. There is a cutless bearing at the aft end of the tube right before the shaft enters the water. When in balance the cutless bearing does not take any load. Finally, directly before the prop there is a device called a spur which is essentially a series of blades that are designed to slice a line which should inadvertently be run over. The primary purpose of the spur is to prevent propeller fouling. Over the last several months a vibration has developed which is generally the result of a worn cutless bearing and if it is worn we will need to replace it. We will be cleaning the prop and checking the zincs on the spur which prevent corrosion. We will be checking all the bonding which is the physical connection between the different types of metal. Whenever you have to different types of metal together you get an electrical potential which means one will start to corrode. This is the fundamental reason we use zinc as an anode which through bonding we sacrifice to corrosion. The propeller system has a number of these anodes because contrary to popular belief stainless steel will corrode when immersed in sea-water. Depending on the state of the cutless bearing, propshaft and propeller we could have some heavy lifting work as we remove these major components for servicing. Unfortunately because of all the delays in getting out of the water we won’t actually be able to do any of the very heavy work like rudder and prop removal until Monday when the ship yard can provide us with a forklift.

RECENT LINKS :
Shark Photography - www.apexpredators.com
African Shark Eco-Charters - www.ultimate-animals.com
Grootbos - www.grootbos.com
Marine Dynamics - www.dive.co.za
Jim Watt Photography - www.wattstock.com
Wilderness Safaris - www.wilderness-safaris.co.za