The Starboard shaft came out the other day and was immediately taken to the machine shop where I had stocked some 1-3/8" stainless steel rod, and two new shafts are being made now. The Port shaft hub was removed the other day, and we left the shaft in place until last night. It came out reasonably easy with the use of a pipe wrench rotating the shaft and pulling like the dickens as it rotated. It was a two man job, but with a little WD40 it came out reasonably well. Looking at those strut bearings surprised me, they look fine and tight, but they're being replaced anyway.
We need to do a little more touch up, and put the boot stripe on, and that should be a pretty easy "stand up" job, as the finishing touch.
Strut bearing set screws were heated with a torch, soaked in penetrating oil, tapped with a hammer and out they came easily. Strut bearings look like they have been cut out previously, and it was done properly. The cut is on the TOP SIDE of the strut bearing (closest to the hull) because the inevitable "overcut" into the underwater gear is therefore into the heaviest metal section in the piece, and not the weakest part (on the bottom of the strut bearing housing). Rather than devise the threaded rod technique, I decided to cut them out as prefiously done, and follow the same cut line.
This afternoon I'll pick up some new packing material, and then I guess I could hook up the depth sounder electricals, but the transducer is in now and looking very good. It's the kind that has a point on each end.
If the shafts are done today or tomorrow, I can easily be in the water for the week-end. I'm anxious to try out the new 4-blade props, especially after seeing my favorite boating journalists's (John Clemans) hands on account of 3-blade vs 4-blade in the latest (just released to mail subscribers, August) edition of Motor Boating Magazine. Speeds at certain RPM are actually higher with the 4-blade props which means less fuel consumption and better efficiency, perhaps, but he experienced less top speed. I know the 38 Commander hull is faster than a Bertram, so it will be interesting to compare notes on speed, rpm, planing, vibration, etc.