As it turns out, it was the noise of the prop sliding around (and off the shaft) because it wasn’t installed properly by a certain Shilshole based boat yard that made plenty of mistakes along the way of our refit over the past couple of years.

If you’ve been following the saga, you will recall that we developed a horrible “whipping” noise/vibration from the back of the boat. This started between San Diego and Ensenada, it happened at all RPMs, in forward and reverse, and was totally reproducible.

Our haul out got moved up a day to yesterday, Monday the 13th of December, and it was truly amazing to have so many professionals tending to our boat. If you ever get a chance to get boat work done at Baja Naval in Ensenada, I can’t recommend this yard enough, but you better make your appointment well in advance, their skills and capabilities are apparently legendary already and there’s no “slow period” at this yard.

Upon haul out, about six of us jumped onto the prop, the piece of equipment that Rachel and I had narrowed the cause to (ruling out the engine, mounts, transmission). With some caution (or maybe wishful thinking), I just did not believe it was the cutlass or the shaft, but I was prepared for that outcome.

We found only a little movement in the blades of the Max Prop, but nothing that any of us would describe as the smoking gun. There was definitely movement in the entire prop assembly though, it just wasn’t clear where this was coming from. And so the majority consensus at the yard was cutlass bearing.

I remained skeptical. First of all, I replaced that bearing in 2018. Before that replacement we had hardly any vibration, but the bearing was so worn that I could move the shaft around by hand easily. In other words, it was clearly worn at the time. And also, it was about 15 years old! On the other hand, the current bearing not only looked good, but there was hardly any motion. A couple of bigger guys, with the force of their weight and a hammer where able to move it a little bit.

There were a lot of frowns and unhappy faces as people felt that replacing the prop was just a waste of time.

But what else could we do, we were already hauled out, and there was only 3 hours until sunset. To replace the prop and get back in the water would tell us definitively. If it was the bearing or shaft, it would have to wait until January, because the yard is currently full. So, hanging in the slings, we got to work.

The technician dove into the disassembly of the prop while Rachel and I provided the parts, consulted with them, and provided moral support. Three things about the technician:

1. The best mechanic I’ve ever worked with, hands down. He never minded us hanging around, he didn’t have the least bit of ego or superiority complex, he knew his stuff, he was fast, and inclusive. He brought the junior folks over to teach them how a MaxProp works, how to assemble it, and the finer points of its inner workings.
2. An absolutely stunning memory. He took note of the gear settings once, he memorized it immediately for the rest of the work. Truly amazing.
3. Incredibly detailed oriented. It’s how I would do the work myself, to my own high standards, with the difference being that he’s highly skilled and experienced.

It was during re-assembly of the refurbished prop that we discovered the big problem. The shaft key, number 3, was too long by more than a 1/4 inch. A huge distance. So, the prop wasn’t really on the shaft all the way, and whatever had happened got progressively worse with use, or maybe some kelp we had caught, or any number of reasons, but the prop was no longer balanced on the shaft. Franky I’m shocked we’d gotten away with it so long.

The yard that did this work apparently couldn’t be bothered to take the time to go file down the top of the key so that our critical PROPELLER “slid completely onto the shaft”. Let’s just call it what it is, lazy, shit work, oh yeah, and that at $150 an hour or whatever it was.

So this was a pretty big deal. The guys that were working on the boat were now intrigued, and the managers came by to verify the situation, it was nice for all of that we’d found a smoking gun.

And how did they file it down? How it should be done, slowly. Because we don’t have another key. They took it one step at at time, filing in the machine shop, then re-fitting. All total, they went back and forth four times, to make sure they got it just right. Now the prop could actually slide on properly. They got it right on the mark.

The rest of the re-assembly was so meticulous, the only way I can describe our new best friend mechanic, is El Maestro. He preferred McGyver, but I’m sticking with Maestro.

I’ll leave the venting at that. I probably should’ve just quit my job earlier and done a bunch of the refit work myself up at Boat Haven in Port Townsend, that way I’d know it was done right. I can rant for another six or ten paragraphs, but on the other hand I can also go on about how professional and excellent these guys were yesterday.

Anyway, things are looking much better, the noise is gone, the boat is moving along nicely. Now we can provision for the next 700 miles of Baja and start our move down south in the next days. Ensenada has been awesome, honestly one of the nicest resort towns I’ve been to, you certainly have to spend the time to get to know the city, it may look rough on the surface to an American eye, but let there be no doubt, this place is a diamond under the covers.