Day 43: Great Keppel Island

Tried to sink the boat today. We have a speed sensor, aka speed log, that is a little paddle wheel that sticks out of the bottom of the boat. The higher the speed of water over the hull, the faster the paddle goes. This information is very useful for sailing the boat efficiently. They are also notorious for getting clogged up with weed and crap. In our model, the sensor can be pulled out of its hull mount inside the hull for cleaning. A flap closes over the hole to slow the inflow of water, and a blank piece can be inserted while the sensor is being cleaned.

Combined fish-finder transducer, speed log, and water temp gauge in the port bilge.

The readings from this instrument appear to be a little low so I decided to clean it. I pulled out the sensor and inserted the blank without problem. The sensor had a few growths so I cleaned them off. When I went to put the sensor back, it all went south. For the life of me, I couldn't reseat the sensor. It went in about half way and just wouldn't go any further. I spent about half an hour struggling with this unit before pulling it out and checking the shaft. Against the incoming water, I could feel the flap had jammed across the hole. Not only wasn't it really keeping the water out, it wouldn't let me seat anything that would block the hole. , which took the flow down to a trickle, while I swam under the boat to deal with the problem. I managed to knock the flap off its mountings so that it could be removed. Once it was out, I could get the sensor back in and screwed down.

Failed flap.

Not sure I would try this again, even after it has been fixed. Others, it seems, either only clean the sensor during a haul out, or get in the water with a toothbrush. I will probably do the same from now on.

Caught a couple of mullet for the crab trap and I set this just on dark.

Crab country.

Location

Great Keppel Island