Monday morning and we were anxious for the service department staff to come in and hopefully get Aquaholic pulled out of the water to assess what our issues are. Late yesterday afternoon a 34' sailboat had gotten towed into the marina and was now rafted off of us at the dock next to the bay where the travel lift is located. We found out during morning coffee and conversations that the sailboats captain, David, has just recently purchased the boat and has started his Great Loop journey. He unfortunately also found the bottom of the ICW with his rudder. The impact with the bottom had apparently bent the shaft to the rudder to the point where it would no longer steer. We enjoyed an hour or so of sharing stories and learning about each other before the 8am hour rolled around and the service dept staff came in.
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| Our new neighbor for the night, David, flying his AGLCA flag on the mast of his sailboat It was nice to have a fellow 'Looper' as company to talk to and laugh about our similar misfortunes |
The marina may be small and rural but the service staff was punctual and QUICK to get the travel lift fired up and get Aquaholic as well as David's sailboat our of the water. Just as quickly as the boat came out of the water we quickly saw for certain that the issue with the vibration was being caused by a bent shaft on the starboard drive. Fortunately, it appears that the strut was not bent or damaged. It took several hours for the staff to circle back around to us to start getting the prop and shaft removed because after pulling us from the water and placing us on stands they also pulled David's sailboat and while it was still hanging in the slings of the lift were attempting to straighten the rudder shaft (which they were able to get straight enough for it to at least operate). The yard guys got the shaft out by a little before noon and the service manager, Charlie, loaded it and the props into his truck to to transport over to a prop and machine shop in Brunswick to see if it was repairable or if a new one would need to be made. This took most of the afternoon but at about 4pm we received the news that the shaft was not going to be able to be straightened and we would have to wait for a new shaft to be made. The machine shop is giving an eta of Thursday at best and possibly not until Friday to have the new shaft made. We will be crossing our fingers for Thursday or early Friday in order that it can be gotten back to the marina in time to have it re installed before the end of the day on Friday. The service yard guys do NOT work on Saturday or Sunday. So, if it does not get there early enough on Friday we may be held up here in Darien until the first of next week. We are going to hope for the best and plan for the worst.
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| Aquaholic back on stands...hopefully not for too long |
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| prop off and shaft out |
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| nope...its not supposed to be bent at the end like that :-( oh bother! |
We grabbed a hotel room in Darien at an Econolodge so that we would be in A/C and have good internet for Renee to do the school work that she needs to complete. We had a very fancy dinner of leftovers from lunch and peanut butter/jelly sandwiches for dinner before settling in for a good nights rest.
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