When Time is of the Essence, High Seas Delivers Results

2017 December 3
by Chris Brown

While at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, we were approached by the Captain of a new 164’ yacht whose vessel was on display at the show. After a brief sea trial before the show, the vessel had reason to believe that the shafts were bent and Thordon bearings were damaged. While this was an unfortunate turn of events, the problem was magnified by the fact that the yacht was scheduled for a charter in the Caribbean only a week and a half after the show ended.

As you can imagine, most of the boat yards in South Florida were booked for the days following the boat show leaving this Captain with little options of getting the work done quickly. And forgoing the work for a long trip south was not an option.  Get it done or cancel charters.  We worked with Lauderdale Marine Center to “squeeze” the yacht into the haul out schedule a couple of days after the show ended.

Once hauled, our team sprang into action. While still in the blocking process, the High Seas team started pulling the props.  The next day the shafts were out of the vessel and on the way to the machine shop.  Fortunately, our machine shop, Straight Line Marine, is located on site at Lauderdale Marine Center.  No loss of time calling for a truck to load and transport to an outside facility.   Within a short period of time, the machine shop went to work on straightening. With a little overtime, the shafts were ready to install a day later.

We also found Thordon bearings that were damaged and needed to be replaced.  Since this was suspected during our first meeting at the boat show, we ordered Thordon material and it was on-hand before the vessel hauled.  Thordon bearings require custom machining to fit the vessel.  Our machine shop got it done while the shafts were being straightened.

We then re-installed the shafts and props, did an optical scope alignment and sea trial and sent the yacht on her way in a matter of days so she could make her charter.

This Captain found himself in a tight spot but working with Lauderdale Marine Center to fit this 164-footer into the schedule, hard work on the part of the High Seas and Straight Line Marine teams, a machine shop on-site and ready to go and the dedication to customer service that is the foundation of our company, this yacht is on her way to making a charter guests’ dream vacation come true.

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