Sorry to say that I am on my third shaft and third propeller. Boat sat in warm salt water. and was subject to corrosion. So nhaft Number one was replaced. On the shakedown cruise with the previous owner, half the two blade propeller dropped off in his saltwater canal off the Caloosahatchee river in Florida. A new propeller was manufactured in Bradenton Florida to the mate with the metric shaft. A sleeve was provided to mount the propeller on the shaft. After several incidences of loose propeller, and finally losing one, I came to realize that the problem was and in adequate size key. most seem to be square, but I needed a rectangular shape to make up for the added dimension of the sleeve. Hopefully my luck will change and we’ll go on. Happy sailing.
not to be labor, the story, my broken shift happens off Hampton. All of a sudden no power. First mate went below to furiously, empty out the rear cabin, and lift boards to find. no shaft. Of course, the boat was taking on water. Unfortunately, she knew the location of the bag of bungs. It went in the hole in the hurry which stop the water leak. A little bailing with my Y’allternative 12 V bilge pump got most of the water out. I should add that when I called towboat, they immediately got the Coast Guard on the telephone with us and need a security message to get nearby boats to standby. Also Norfolk police boats showed up on the scene very soon. towboats put us to a marina in Hampton, which mobilize the crew to get us out of the water as soon as possible. We were very lucky indeed.
