After hours of working on getting the transmission mating flange off of the propshaft, we FINALLY broke it free.  Yesterday’s adventure was attempting to get the shaft log out of the boat so we could replace the bearing.  We tried everything we could think of to no avail.  Today we rented yet another pulley puller and tightened that as far as it would go on the shaft and flange.  We greased it up with penetrating oil (even in the now-empty set screw holes!) and repeatedly bashed it with a hammer!  It finally broke loose! …but it still wouldn’t slide out.  Jason widened the hole in the bulkhead so it would have a larger angle and we finally got it free.  So now we have the shaft log and the shaft itself out of the boat.  The shaft didn’t necessarily need to come out, but I figured I might as well polish it. 😉

Time to get the new bearing ordered and everything prepped to reinstall it in the boat!

In between tasks I put the first two coats of gloss on the outside table base! It’s starting to come along nicely.  I also bought pieces to attempt to repair the actual fold up table.  wish me luck.. woodworking isn’t really something I’m good at.. but I *am* good at halfassedly gluing things together, so it might work out in the end!

We didn’t get the hardtop mounted to the frame *again* but I did get the mounting pads measured and installed and ready to have holes drilled.  We brainstormed for daaaays about how to mount the top.  In the end we found some 1″ handlebar clamps meant for dirt bikes and bicycles.  With 8 in total I think we’ll break the frame off of the boat before we bust a mount.

As you can see in the picture, I had to remove the old top fabric piece of the dodger.  That leaves the windows floppy and sad because the top is what actually holds them in place.  My plan is to install the top and then modify the fabric to reattach to the frame afterwards.  In short… I’m just going to wing it. 😉 It’s not like it can look worse!

On the subject of sewing and winging it… I started making bags out of the old sail that I took off the boat.  It had a wide sunbrella lined strip down the side and I thought that would make really sturdy cargo bags. (it’s like 4 layers of fabric. Not even kitty claws go through it!)