The yard crew got the prop and shaft out this morning, and I had a visit with the shop folks later.
They’re banging the damaged prop back into shape. It’s a three blade 24×22. I got a second 4 blade 24×28 prop with the boat, and it looks like we can depitch it to fit. So I’ll have a spare prop.
The guys here convinced me to get a line cutter. I’ve been concerned about the exposed running gear, and this will help against prop entanglements. We settled on a Piranha unit.
The old shaft was in poor condition. I had noted some pitting when I bought the boat, so was not surprised. It was pretty deep and extensive. I’ve opted to have a new shaft made. This is going to likely delay launch by a couple of days and add a few thousand to the bill.
As a side note, I had booked a haul here in early September to have this work done. But I didn’t have any shore side plans, and I was thinking of hauling here for the winter and could do it then, so I deferred the work. If I fall behind on time lines it’s on me.
Heavy rain today, but decent weather coming in a day or two to get the outside stuff done. Bottom paint, topsides cleaning.
I’ll try to remember to take some pictures at the shop. They’ve been making props and custom castings there since the 19th century. I got a tour of the foundry today. Fascinating.
Boating Adventures 