When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Well, we're going to open a lemonade stand soon.
The water temp here in Green Cove Spring, FL is 60 degrees. My 3mil dive suit did nothing to keep me warm let alone comfortable underwater. Visibility was about 12 inches. So we asked around and decided to call a diver to put the Hydralign prop back on.
Well, make some popcorn, grab a soda, call the kiddies, and settle back for the Saga of the Ditzy Diver.
Florida is just a stone's throw away from the Islands so we don't sweat it when he is over an hour late...what troubled me was that he couldn't find us. I told him "We are the first ketch (2 masted sailboat) on the North side of the pier. We're the second boat on the left. The name is Holding Pattern" My exact words. He drives up and down the pier and when he does find us shows me his notebook.
"First Catch" for sale on north.
I kid you not. No wonder he had toruble finding us. He laughs nervously... I think he knows that I know that he's all wet before he even gets in the water...
He finally gets suited up and in the drink, comes up a minute later and says "This won't work. This bolt won't go into the end of the shaft."
"I know," say I. "It goes into the end of the zinc to secure it to the nut."
"Oh yeah. My fault"
Red flags are going up but my lips still feel blue from my dip into the murk so I figure it is worth the $50 to have it done. We'll discuss this point later.
So, anyway, he dives again. Surfaces again.
"This prop doesn't go on this shaft. It's the wrong size."
"This prop came across from Sydney, Australia. We've been using it for the last 18 months. It was taken off when we were hauled out. That's when we decided to go to the fixed prop."
"Did you SEE them take THIS prop off?" he asks
"I took it off myself."
"Are you sure?"
My jaw must have dropped six inches. "Quite sure."
"Then the only thing I can think of is the shaft has expanded or the prop shrunk."
I actually laughed out loud. Darn near fell out of the dinghy into the St. Johns River because I was laughing so hard. We're talking a 1 1/4 inch diameter 4 ft long stainless steel shaft. 60 degrees is not extreme conditions for stainless or the bronze propeller. This just isn't possible.
So he shows me that the diameter is too small. I turn the prop around for him.
"It's a tapered shaft. The prop only goes on one direction."
He looks at me like a deer in the headlights.
"We're done. You can get your dive flag and go." Needless to say he did not earn his money.
So now we are going to short haul and do it ourselves after the first of the year when the yard reopens. It should take longer to drop the headstay and un-rig the boat than to put the prop on. And if for some reason the shaft is damaged then it will only take a day or three to repair.
This is the only job in 18 months that we have contracted out. Everything else we have fixed ourselves. Needless to say this was a lesson well learned. We will not be paying someone to do our work again.
Oh...would you like to hear about the rest of the day?
We went to Wal-Mart to get a few things with another cruiser. The Fraud Department at the bank had shut our debit card down because of suspicious purchases. The yard bill and the roller furling. When I called them to unlock the card so I could buy some milk (sarcasm just doesn't relay digitally...) they told me that since the card had rarely been used in the last 9 months the charges seemed strange.
"So you didn't call me? You didn't ask? You just shut it down?"
The airline tickets to visit family cost more than the yard bill and they didn't shut me down over that.
The coup de gras?
The company I contract for mailed my check instead of depositing it. We needed that money. Someone here at the yard loaned me their car to take up the road to the bank... well the battery died.
"I borrowed the car so I wouldn't have to walk the mile and a half from the yard to the bank..." That was my mantra.
Cruising is fixing your boat in exotic places. I'd be happy to fix the boat... I just want to go somewhere exotic!
The sweetness that makes the juice palatable?
We get to go canning. There is a cannery in Jacksonville where you can can your own meats. .49 per can. We have had other peoples...it can be quite good. Will keep you posted. We go Jan. 4. Will haul Jan. 2, 3, or 4.
So...we'll be on our way soon. | 