I Got The Shaft On Father’s Day
The Shaft in question!
Well, for my second boat ride of the season, I was reminded of the joys of classic boating. How fun it is to break down. Yup fun. I know this sounds crazy, and one could emotionally go down two paths. I always choose fun. Especially when no one gets hurt.
The Boat In Question – File Photo
So What happened. Well, and this is all 100% on me! While docking Sweet Pea, Reverse Forward stuff. All of a sudden, no transmission. No nuth’n. The good news is I was pulling into a fuel dock, and she just glided into the dock. And so I laughed and just fueled up for the season. One fill up for the summer and she is good to go. She sips fuel like a Prius.
The Fuel Stop In Question. Buzzards point. File Photo
The dock guy was also very cool about it. And we both laughed. And I said, Well, no transmission, and well. gotta place so I am out of the way? We moved the boat over and the Boatress who was ready for a boat ride out into the bay, just sat there and we laughed and had a cold drink.
Good news bad news. Good news, not broken and not the transmission, bad news. Well, sweat fest ahead. Or worse. A tow job!
I looked around, and ding dong dang. The shaft had come out of the coupling. For the record it is about a 25 ft long shaft. It had come out about 2 inches, which is a GOOD thing. No damage, and the set screws had over time backed out. Something to check, AND YES I NEED TO WIRE THEM NOW. Learning as I go! Anyway, a call to Marc who is Wayne Bombs Brother in Law, and we were ready to tow her to the Railway.
Marc Bershaw, Career Fire Fighter, Serious Sailboat Racer, Crab Pot Builder, and can make you laugh about anything. And we laughed. Just imagine, two guys, a shaft and well.
Marc did some serious Sailing for years. Someone else’s file photo
Marc’s Crabpot business makes the best crabpots in the area. Mostly only sold commercially, and also made this for the railway – File Photo
BUT, first, Marc and I, Wayne Bomb was in Norfolk, and jimmy at home doing the Fathers Day deal. Anyway, Marc and I could not deal with a Tow of shame, there is a restaurant in town that we would have had to go past. NO WAY!
The Crazy Crab, the restaurant in Question. File Photo
So two very large pipe wrenches and a ton of sweat, we slowly worked that shaft back into place. 1/16th of an inch at a time. And each time not really knowing if it was moving.
Dang!
And, after about two hrs of laughing and realizing that this was a perfect fathers day gift, we backed out of the slip and I was able to motor back to the railway. Like nuthing happened. BTW, the Boatress Mr B and Oreo abandoned ship and went home once Marc showed up.
Re installing the set screw. Today I am going to remove them and install a wire lock
Close up of the actual set screw being screwed back in.
So is there a lesson in this? Well, other than ALWAYS check the set screws, and everything else. YES. Your attitude when stuff happens is everything, it became an adventure and part of boating fun. We had tools on board, and good friends to call. Cold drinks, and as they say. WARNING, CLICHE AHEAD.. Any day on the water is a good day!
Easy fix compared to what it could have been and you already know about the safety wiring. Next ride will be a jewel!
She got the gold mine, I got the shaft.
Just curious, what’s all the PEX plumbing in the bilge? Never thought to use that for boat water lines.
How about the prop? Hate to have it spin off in reverse.
An old time boat racer in Buffalo, NY said that anytime the set screws are removed for whatever reason they should be replaced with new ones.
Yes, to both your admirable attitude on the matter & to safety wiring that. On the race cars, we sometimes use a stripe of paint as a registration mark, to see if something is moving that shouldn’t be. It allows one to see not just that something has moved, but also how far. Not sure I’d have gone ahead & filled up until after the problem was identified & fixed, as I’d think less weight would be better if you needed to put her on the rails for repair & imagine her fuel load weight is quite substantial.
That was much cheaper and easier than it could have been, for sure! Happy belated Father’s day to everyone.
I share your attitude about boat problems, problem solving is a challenge and always interesting.
They are the drain lines for the water.
We had 2 of the 42 boats that were in the water for the Whitefish Chain Classic Boat Show on Saturday towed in (well, technically Andy Luikens swam his Century Coronado in after overheating – new impeller installed at the dock). The second tow in was Maggie Mell who crapped out before arrival. With the wealth of knowledge available from the captains on the docks, we had her up and running for her ride home – and she took home a trophy!!
If you are going to break down, a boat show is the place to do it. That wealth of knowledge is always there and ready to help!
The only place that could have been better would have been the Railway. At least it didn’t happen out on the open water. Sounds like a cheap fix. You are lucky to have friends who help you out.
We had a fantastic Presque Isle Harbor Wooden Boat Show Saturday. It all started Friday at 11:00am picnic. At 1 pm eight woodies made a 14 mile run around Grand Lake. We made the last mile at full throttle. What a ride. Then Friday at 6 pm we had a fantastic Potluck Dinner with story telling after. Then Saturday, starting about 8 am there was 30 woodies on display, a car show, Model boat show and a Craft Show. Wrapped up about 5 pm. Many new friends made and as stated, a lot of good information was swapped.
🙏
Had a similar experience on Fathers Day myself. At a fuel dock no less.
Went to leave the fuel dock and the starboard engine on Melody would not start, not even turn over.
Long story short: We had a corroded connection in the ground circuit. Once that was discovered and cleaned up we were “Good to Go”. We have actually considered changing Melody’s name to “Good to Go”.
Good to go is a great name! Next time you are here we will rebrand her