Monday 23^rd January 2017

The guys from Watson’s arrived as promised next morning, and the verdict was not good.  The prop is damaged beyond repair and will have to be replaced.  They removed the old prop on Friday, and when the shaft was inspected, it too was damaged and needs to be replaced.  So they came back a second time and removed the prop shaft.  They have today ordered most replacement parts from local suppliers, but the propeller will have to come from Italy, and it is estimated that it will take four weeks to arrive.

On the workbench at Watson’s the damage to the propeller blades is more easily seen.

This was a shiny, smooth, complete blade when last we saw it.                  The pitting in the shaft.

This is not really what we wanted to hear, as the daily rate on the hardstand is ridiculously expensive. However, when we explained the situation to the yard manager, Shane, he said he would extend the January half-price offer into the middle of February, some good news which we very much appreciated.

On Thursday the boat surveyor came as arranged and carried out his inspection of the boat.  Now for the even better news – she is in good shape (apart from the prop of course!) and he made no recommendations for work to be carried out (again, apart from the prop!)  He included a section in the report about the prop damage, which we will use for our insurance claim, and the rest of the report will allow us to be reinsured for the next ten years.

So the current situation is that the boat is now unable to be re-launched until the new prop, shaft and dynaplate are fitted.  The new parts will not be available for at least four weeks.  The thought of staying in the boatyard for all that time definitely does not appeal.  We had planned to visit Western Australia once the boat was back in the water, but as there is nothing to be done right now and it is extremely hot in the boatyard on the concrete, we have decided to head West sooner rather than later.  We have been watching a website that shows the availability of camper vans in need of relocation, and Adelaide or Melbourne to Perth come up quite often, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed one comes up in the next week or so, and then we’ll be off!