Visited with friends, Brian and Carolyn Handy and Harry and Donna Schepers on the Saturday night before the family dinner. It was great to see everyone again, even if the time was too short.
We got back to the boat on Wednesday. Had a terrific drive with all of the fall colors so vibrant. We took a short side trip down the Land between the Lakes (Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake) We wished we had more time to take in some of the attractions.
When we returned to the marina - they said they were unable to get the boat out of the water. They tried for 3 hours, but they needed another 6 inches of water. They waited for our return to make some decisions of how to proceed.
Peter asked them to check the starter. It seemed to take a long time to turn over. It is OK.
As they couldn't pull the boat out, we then needed a diver to come and do the work. It is a process of elimination. We have a spare Gori prop so we wanted to change the prop to see if the problem was the prop or a bent shaft. (We did hit a deadhead on the Mississippi) (You just can't miss all of the debris, all of the time) It took 4 guys for this process. The diver and his assistant, and the mechanic and his assistant. 4 guys for one full day. This took a full day to replace the prop. When we tested it, we found that the shaft definitely was bent. So now the propeller has to come off and they determined that the rudder must come off so the shaft can come out. Peter worked for another hour or so after all of the workers left to get the rudder unhooked so it could come off the next morning.
One of the local boaters had arranged for some fresh Maine lobsters to be shipped in for a feast. I think they are all feeling so bad for us that they invited us to join them. Whatever the motivation, we did not turn down a lobster dinner. What a bonus. Fresh lobster dinner. The first of the trip.
It is now the next day. The same 4 guys show up again. The shaft came out fairly easily. We took it to a machine shop that said we needed a new one. Being as this is Friday we probably won't get another one till Monday at the earliest.
Everyone is so good here. They treat us really good and are so helpful. They are really sorry that it is taking so long to get this done. It would have been quicker if we could have had the boat pulled out, but that can't happen. So you do what you have to do to get the job done. The bill for this must be adding up quite quickly. Kaching, Kaching. Randy, the marina manager, has just told Peter that we should probably make a claim with our insurance as he expects that this will be around $2,000.
The good thing is we are eliminating a number of things, and hopefully the shaft will fit when it comes.
We are only about 2 days travel from the 35th parallel where we have to stay for insurance purposes as we are not covered below this area. Whether we spend some time here or at the Pickwick Dam/Grand Harbour area makes no difference to us. Peter was suggesting that perhaps we take some time and go to Nashville or we could just take it easy on the boat and get caught up on our reading. Decisions, Decisions. Perhaps we should go to Memphis and tour Elvis' home.
Another hardship is that each morning they make fresh cinnamon buns and coffee for the boaters. I have great resolve in the middle of the night not to have a sticky bun, BUT come the morning when Peter asks if we should go for our sticky buns......all my resolve disappears and I find myself walking up to the marina building for my morning treat.
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