Oh boy

'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'
Pete Bernfeld
Tue 13 Aug 2013 15:51
Having studied the saildrive manual man I don't even know where to start! Well, not strictly speaking true, I reckon I can disassemble enough to get the top plate off and uncover the top gear housing, maybe. There's a list of 'special tools' which no doubt can be got around  by  a competent 'bush mechanic' but realistically not by me. I think it will depend on what I see when the plate's off and I'm really debating the wisdom of me trying this. Nobody in the anchorage has tried anything this complex before, or complex-sounding/looking. Maybe it's easier than it would appear. Because I can still get forward gear occasionally with the engine at idle revs it has, logically, got to be a matter of adjustment.
I think I'm stuck with waiting for the mechanic to work his way through the list of jobs on other boats and then we're going to have to have a talk about money before he does anything. He's just about finished an outboard where he had to get new bearings pressed locally. That cost $300 and I'd be pushed to raise that right now after having to buy the raw materials for the new rudder in Darwin.  Maybe if I do the dis-assembly? On the other hand this might be a case of sailing on. In that case I'd probably be better off to check out of Indonesia here at Kupang and attempt to go direct to Malaysia. Transiting Singapore waters without an engine I'd prefer not to think about right now,

Why me/why here and now, couldn't this have waited to Malaysia? No obviously not so maybe this is the show stopper after all. Things may look better in the morning but the bank balance won't magically have got better. Sorry to be a winger, others have worse problems I know.

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