Hi Vance. Ya, That was my thoughts as well. It just seems to make sense
that a propeller shaft with all the different stresses involved would need
bushings or bearings to keep the shaft lined up. I know on regular prop shaft
thru-hulls for surface boats there is a "packing box" with internal seals and
usually thrust bearings are used as well. I don't have a copy of the K boat
drawings but I've seen some photos of older K boats that have been taken apart
during re-fit and the shaft thru-hulls always had a lot of rust and crud in
there. You know my thoughts about not having ANY shafts penetrating the hull so
I won't labor on about it.
I have often wondered how a guy could adapt a spline shaft from a truck
transmission into a prop thru-hull so the penetrator could be locked in place
with a "packing box" and the internal motor shaft could slip into the spline
set-up. This could make sealing the thru-hull more maintenance friendly and
perhaps more water tight.
I appreciate George's simple designs and with a good maintenance schedule
it was a great and cost effective way to handle the situation. Still, there's
room for improvement and lots of K boat builders have "tweaked" his original
designs to fit their own needs.
Are you still working on getting a deal going for development of the
Euro-sub in America ?
That's a really fine boat design and I've always kind of thought it's
like an updated version of the K boats.
I'm often surprised by how many psubs are under construction and it
seems like more are popping up all the time. Can't wait until we can have your "
sub rodeo" some day. That's going to be a real blast !
Hope to see you soon. I'm aiming for the Daytona move by June.
Frank D.