Whacked the stern tube out. And as we all know, one job leads to another. In this case, after peering into the now missing backside of Yankee's bilge, it seemed like a great occasion to fidget with the engine placement just a bit and then align the new tube to it. I always wanted to drop the engine about 3/4 of an inch. The total space available above and below the engine totals a whopping 2 1/4 inches. Really tight. But if I lower the engine just a tad, a nice 316 dry riser I had fabricated in Florida will fit perfectly. Yankee will have a clean 12 inch drop to the muffler.

I know, I am so far from where this particular adventure began that I cannot find all of the breadcrumbs, but the result will be a fit for the new engine, Aquadrive, Aquadrive bulkhead, shaft, stern tube, and cutless bearing that can only be achieved with this sort of attention. Happily, Yankee is built like a 1950s dump truck and she does not change shape enough upon reentering the water to make additional jiggling necessary. So, tomorrow I fidget with the engine position and next week will see the stern tube in and trim tab back on. Since there are no parts on the far side of the already reconditioned feathering prop, I should be able to get back to whatever it was that I was doing before ending up here.