Latest is that finally all the bits have been removed from the shaft that holds the cutlass bearing.  Hooray. 

We now have three options.  Haul out and fit the new bearing, which needs epoxy to fix it and will take 3 days.  Not great. 

Send our new bearing to be machined so that it can be put in under water inside a copper sleeve.  Not great because no-one has any idea how long it would take the machinest to do the job.  Possibly tonight but then......  We have learnt already that a sense of urgency is not a national trait here so wouldn’t expect the work to be done  any day soon.

Or, they have a second hand one that can go in under water.  Third option can be done tonight so we could leave tomorrow.  Not surprisingly we have gone for the second hand bearing.  We plan to haul out in Delaware around May next year so it only needs last a few months.

So, bearing goes back in tonight.  It is now going dark and there is no sign of anyone..........