In my last blog post, I asked if anyone had any ideas as to how I could position the propeller to vertical so that I could pull the drive leg up through the drive leg well. Normally this is an easy task, as all I need to do is align the a mark etched on the pedal axle with another mark on the seal of the upper gear box. However, if a gear or shaft broke inside the drive leg, there would no longer be any kind of controlable link between the pedals and the propeller, so getting the prop into a vertical position is difficult.

Many of you came up with the same solution – that is to insert a long steel tab down the gap between the tapered chockfast block on the drive leg and the well in the torque tube to push the prop to a vertical position. Well, I built it and it works – perfectly! THANK YOU!!

Shown below are photos of the modification. I had to cut a slot in the stainless steel flange that the upper ‘T’ gear box is mounted to. The slot also serves as a way to align the tab so that it pushes against the prop hub and blade to push it around. This solution won’t work if the prop is seized. Hopefully, I’ll never actually have to use this solution.

Also shown in the photos is our second, backup identical drive leg. Like having spare oars aboard an ocean row boat, having this second drive leg, plus a complete set of spare gear box shafts, gears and spare props is the safe thing to do.

We have also finished installing the two Katadyn water makers – the 40E electric unit and the 35 manual pump. They both fit into the seat back compartment and both use the same input tube and pre-filter by moving the lever on a T valve. I’ll post some photos of the installation soon. I made a tub of salt water and use both of the desalinators every couple of days to keep bacteria from growing inside the filters and membrane, and also as a test of the system.