It’s Thursday morning here in CT and it’s cloudy, again. \u00a0After a winter of SUN in the Bahamas, I am amazed with how cloudy it’s been here in the last few weeks. We have been trying to find a few days to head north to Vermont to celebrate our 37th wedding anniversary (Yes, I know, we look like two kids just playing house. \u00a0 37 years? \u00a0I wish we looked more the part too.) \u00a0 Anyway, the weather has been cloudy more often than not. \u00a0We’ll give it another try early next week. \u00a0Who wants to head out on a “mini-vacation” for a few days in the rain? \u00a0Not I, no make that Not We. \u00a0Well, wish us good luck and a few sunny days.<\/p>\n
However, June is nearly half over and I am NOWHERE toward getting Pandora in shape to do a bit of cruising this summer. \u00a0As I have moaned about to anyone who would listen over the last year or so, I have been frustrated by an ongoing vibration problem in the running gear on Pandora. \u00a0It seems that we have vibration that comes and goes and I am about out of ideas as to how to \u00a0correct the problem. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Last summer I sent out the Max Prop for rebuild, it’s second visit to the manufacturer, because of vibration problems. \u00a0Unfortunately, this did not solve the problem and after getting the engine aligned and having the prop shaft tweaked a bit, the problem just won’t go away. \u00a0No, make that, the problem won’t stop and sometimes happens and as quickly goes away as the vibration is intermittent. \u00a0In any event, I decided “enough is enough” and ordered another type of propeller, this time an Autoprop.<\/p>\n First, here’s a video of the Max Prop (the one that has been giving me fits), an elegant piece of machinery if there ever was one. \u00a0Don’t worry, the video is only about 30 seconds. \u00a0However, be warned that the “speaker” isn’t going to get an Oscar for his delivery. \u00a0In concept, this prop is a wonderful piece of equipment. \u00a0However, it needs a fair amount of ongoing maintenance as it has to be filled with grease three or four times a year. \u00a0And, unless you are an occasional cruiser that hauls their boat at least once a year and doesn’t put many miles on it, \u00a0this means swimming down under the boat with a grease gun to get the job done. \u00a0And, if all was well and the prop ran smoothly, I’d be ok with that. However, after years of frustration, Max is Min for me so it’s time for a change.
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