When we got back in the water after 2 weeks on the hard in Zeke’s boatyard last July, the shaft seal started leaking. We could have kicked ourselves to have missed out on the opportunity to change it while we were out and hoped that it would just adjust a bit and probably stop by itself, but no, it kept dripping and we had Stanley (the dry/wet vacuum) out every day to dry the bilge.
Regular shaft seals don’t fit in our engine room, so we had to order one from the same German company we’d used before. It took them over 2 months to send the part, so our whole cruising itinerary got messed up (again). When it finally showed up, we made an appointment with the Penuwasa boatyard in Kudat (Malaysia, Borneo) for a pricey haul-out: 500 Euros!
At least it was quick and efficient to get hauled with the huge travel lift and the workers set us up in no time on a stone-henge style arrangement using a forklift to bring the odd support system into place.
Fortunately we had made friends with a very nice mechanic while we were at Zeke’s, he had brought over his boat to Kudat in the meantime and agreed to change the seal–a tricky operation that involves removing the aquadrive and CV joint in order to get the old seal out and the new one in… Poor Sie did NOT have a good time in our tiny, tight engine room–thanks a lot, Sie, and sorry for the back-ache!
After just one day on the hard we splashed again, finally dry, but with 1.200 Euros less on the bank account. We could have saved most of that money if Christian had brought along a new seal from Austria (instead of pricey shipping) and installed it at Zeke’s (instead of hauling out again). Could have been, should have been… In Austria we call this type of expense a “Deppensteuer”, literally translated a fool’s tax 
Sidenote: repairing the shaft seal cost about the same as repairing Squeak’s femur with a plate. Interestingly enough when you spend that much money on a boat, people just shrug it off as a necessity and nobody asks why you didn’t simply let the boat limp on or put it down
