We rigged up a line thst went oner the stbd cap rail from the port sheet winch to the strut .Then we set up the hooka rig. I went over the side with a 4lb hammer and as my wife kept the line tight I spent the next 2hrs hitting the strut thats a tuff job underwater. We were able to get about half of the bend back and the shaft off the hull, I could even turn the prop but with great difficulty. Well it seemed thet it might work even that the was working with a curve. Keeping an eye on it we made it to Venezuela. Now in the yard for a real repair. The strut was totaly out of wack and it took a pipe wrench to get the shaft out, after the coupling flang broke with a puller (all is 30yrs old). had to peel out the bearing from the strut and the one in the hull had a set screw we could not find. Using a homade slide hammer that one came out along with the screw.New shaft and coupling made ($300) We were able to bend the strut back into a location that let me turn shaft by hand with very little effort and I'll add a dripless because during all this the stuffing box dissapeared.
