My Christmas Break.

[triman]

Early December the boss decided we'd close for the Xmas New Year period, coming back on the 2nd January. Did all the usual arrangements etc then on December 19 he asked me if I could assist with getting his new toy from Newcastle to Melbourne before the 25th.
So, on the 21st I flew to Newcastle and he joined me that night, together with an Engineer. We departed on the 22nd and there it all turned to crap.
Strong winds forced us into Kiama so I drove home on the 23rd, had the festivities and drove back to Kiama on the night of 26th/27th.
We tried to leave Kiama morning of the 27th but we picked up a storm mooring, bent the port prop shaft, punctured the hull and had to make an emergency docking in Ulladulla.
Eventually we made Melbourne on the 4th January.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c142/triman692003/DSCN1231.jpg
The boat

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c142/triman692003/28_12_200611_25AM_0004.jpg
The bent shaft

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c142/triman692003/28_12_200611_24AM_0001.jpg
Another view of the shaft

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c142/triman692003/28_12_200611_23AM_0002.jpg
And again

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c142/triman692003/28_12_200611_26AM_0006.jpg
Hull damage

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c142/triman692003/2_01_200712_21PM_0009.jpg
Repairs complete

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c142/triman692003/2_01_200712_21PM_0008.jpg
Hull repair and the A frame

As a matter of interest the port prop shaft is about 5.6M long, 2.25" diameter and was bent well and truly out of true. A small workshop near Nowra straightened it in 30 minutes using a couple of Vee blocks and a 50 tonne press. He managed to get the shaft back within 10-thou of true.

[brent]

Yep, that's a nice boat... My mate has one quite similar docked at the docklands but he's never offered to take me out cause it belongs to his Dad who's a bit precious about it (fair enought too!)

His Dad actually hit something on the way back from Geelong one night and damaged the whole left side of the boat!! Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of repairs later (and 6 months) and it's fixed. Ouch!

[triman]

This boat needs to go up a slipway for some more work in the near future. The insurers have agreed to replace the port shaft, so the straightened one will be kept as a spare.
The shaft seal, skeg and A frame bearings all need renewing on the port side so we'll do the starboard ones as well.
We will probably fit a desalinator while she's dry, touch up some leftover fibreglass work, fix the thruster and generally tidy up below the waterline.
We're just waiting for the manufacturer's rep to get back to us with shaft and prop details as well as General Arrangement and Docking Plans before we book a slip for a week, or find a travel-lift capable of handling just shy of 40 tonnes.