Spencer 44
“The Hydrovane is by far the best purchase I have ever made for our Spencer 44, having invested well over $200k in her rebuild/refurbishment over the past 9 years!”
From: Siggi Kemmler
Sent: August 18, 2023
To: Will Curry
Subject: My Hydrovane
Hi Will.
The Hydrovane is by far the best purchase I have ever made for our Spencer 44, having invested well over $200k in her rebuild/refurbishment over the past 9 years!
On our trip up to Bella Bella this summer we unfortunately struck a log at night. Having a full keel the log rolled under the boat and then popped up just enough fast enough to strike our Hydrovane rudder.
On careful inspection it became obvious that the 2” or so of the inner shaft below the lower bearing has been bent. The rudder is in damaged.
The shock carried thru to the upper shaft and I had the rudder fore-aft locking pin in place which strangely sustained a very minor bend, making it difficult to insert/extract the pin. I tested the spare pin which works fine.
I am writing this sitting on my foredeck as ‘Otto’ the Hydrovane is guiding us down the east side of Texada. Still working!
My question is do you have a machine shop in Vancouver or on the island that you have used previously and would recommend for the straightening of the shaft. I have in the past straightened large hydraulic cylinders for our logging equipment so suspect this would not be complex.
Please advise.
Thank you.
Siggi Kemmler
SV Swadeshi
