Prop Shaft Blues

We give thanks for safe passage across the Gulf Stream last Thursday, March 3rd. The seas were too rough to get to Ft. Lauderdale so we headed to Miami, the nearest port, instead, relieved to be off the ocean at last. Anchored for the night near some lovely homes on the Intercoastal Waterway north of Miami, we planned to stop the next morning at Ft. Lauderdale's Cable Marine to have the starboard propeller shaft checked before heading up the east coast. Friday morning, we began pulling up anchor only to discover the starboard transmission had once again disconnected from the prop shaft. Thank goodness this didn't happen on the crossing! So we cruised to Cable on one engine.

Just like a good car care clinic, the team at Cable was able to haul Adagio out of the water shortly after arrival, remove the propeller and its 12-foot shaft, and send it to the prop shop next door for diagnostics. The verdict: prop's OK, shaft is shot. Normally this would take three week to repair, but since Ft. Lauderdale is the self-proclaimed "Yachting Capital of the World," local shops can mill a new shaft in three days. So Adagio is docked in the Cable work yard, where Charles is happy as a clam watching the work on other boats and I have migrated to Las Olas Blvd for major retail therapy. We have come along way from our stay among the yachts at Atlantis.

We hope to be moving again by Wednesday or Thursday, and are glad Adagio is in capable hands at Cable. The delay allowed us to attend Sunday worship service at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church where our friend and opera singer, Joan Peitscher, sings in the choir. It was SO good to be in worship in person again, and the music and message were just what we needed.