Hunkered down at American Custom Yachts/Feb. 18-23

Well, It could be worse...

As previously noted, we lost our Bow Thruster on the way across the state.

The crew at ACY was able to haul us out on Monday and check it out.
They first thought we had a gear box problem but it turned out it was just the rubber coupler between the motor and gearbox.

It could have been fixed in the water but we are sure glad we hauled Mystic Lady out.

Details below...

When I mentioned we had noticed a vibration on the river they checked the running gear and found that both prop shaft zincs had come loose.

Our divers in Ft. Myers had just replace both of these in December.
The starboard side zinc was completely gone and the Port side zinc had slid down the shaft and was resting on the cutlass bearing....Not Good.

As seen here he also tested the props for any damage or looseness.

Starboard side gone but you can see where it too had slid down the shaft before being slung off.

I felt the vibration go away completely while coming up the river. Apparently that is when the zinc fell off.

The Port side has also slid down the shaft and rested on the cutlass bearing but was still attached. This was taken just after the mechanic had pulled it up the shaft to inspect the bearing.

The cutlass bearing relies on water to keep it lubricated and with the zinc blocking the flow it could easily damage the bearing.

Both bearings were good....we caught it in time

.And that's not all folks.....

The service manager noticed some looseness in the port prop while doing his inspection. Not related to the zinc issue but also needed attention..
This young tech was certainly knowledgeable and a cool ex-marine. Reminds me of my son Jimmy.
Here he is polishing the shaft after doing a Magna-flux test on the shaft to see if there were any cracks.
None noted, so the prop was put back on and properly tightened.

The tech and his helper are wrapping up this project in record time to get us back in the water where we can wait on the part to fix the bow thruster.
They had all seven zincs replaced, the prop removed/magna fluxed the shaft/and checked the bow thruster issue before lunch.

This is our second visit to ACY and we are quite satisfied with their service.

Now lets put her back in the water and hope we have no more issues while heading over to the Islands.
Planned Gulf Stream Crossing is Monday or Tuesday...Weather permitting of course.


Never a dull moment when you go "Adventure Hunting" with the Chafton's....