[sailordave]

Recently skippered a friend's boat to the islands a few months ago. I don't have to tell you all the details about the trip except the last two days. We were hand steering as it was still rough, but not as rough as it had been. This was easier on the boat as the Autopilot was always RE-acting to the waves v. anticipating.
Anyway, the wheel started occasionally "catching" and a grinding noise or clank began happening. A quick inspection of the base and linkage showed no problem. The issue definitely was inside the pedestal above deck.
It got worse. We put the boat on AUTO and continued on under triple reef and some jib. Fortunately the seas improved.
In port the mechanic (FINALLY) got the pedestal apart and this is what we found. Appeared to be a flaw in the casting.
Lewmar Cobra 6 pedestal. Lewmar said they could have a part made and delivered in APRIL!
Manufacturer of the boat said the owner could have a complete pedestal system from one of the boats under construction for $$$$$ plus shipping. Uh, no.
Machine shop in the islands repaired the rack and re-installed it. Owners are happily off sailing now.
How F'ing ridiculous is it that a company cannot supply such a critical part in a more timely manner.
Spoke to a person in the know about Edson pedestals and they said their rack could have been turned around and used the other side.

 

[sailordave]

One wonders how a business can operate with such a ridiculous lead time.

Mark

Exactly. It's not like they aren't still producing them. The VERY NICE yacht that my friends have is still being made and till using that Lewmar pedestal. I was very surprised that was what failed. And even more thankful that it failed when it did and not several days earlier when conditions were "not pleasant".