The Sailing Brothers · video

What this video covers

A propeller spins off the prop shaft of the Sailing Brothers' catamaran while picking up a mooring in Nelson Bay, Port Stephens, Australia, leaving the boat with no forward or reverse gear.1:39 The locking pieces that prevent the prop from unscrewing in reverse were broken — a fault Adam and Luke acknowledge they should have caught.1:22 Rob from Squid Diving Co. in Nelson Bay dives to seven metres in cold, murky water and recovers the propeller after a 20-minute search.3:37 Reinstallation is complicated by a missing nose cone: the original spacer is gone, and without it a standard nut is too small to bear on the shaft correctly.6:25 A chance encounter with Steve, another Prout owner, produces a stainless steel washer; a local engineer in Salamander turns it on a lathe to 26 mm.7:47 Drilling through the prop shaft for a split pin proves impossible with available tools, so Luke finds a Navy safety-wire technique — drilling through the nut's flange and locking it with seizing wire — which they execute with a Dremel.15:08 The repair uses Loctite and a nylon locking nut and costs roughly £20 against an estimated £500-plus to ship a replacement cone from the UK.18:05 The boat departs Nelson Bay Thursday, heading south down the coast.19:55

Boats in this video

More from The Sailing Brothers

Sailing from PARADISE to the Loudest City in IndonesiaAug 2026SAILING AND ANCHORING IN SUPER DEEP WATER. HIKING AN ACTIVE VOLCANO Aug 2026Channel Update From IndonesiaAug 2026Theft, Damage And Corruption. Worst Week Of Our Cruising Adventure!Aug 2026

From The Sailing Brothers — see the channel’s boat, crew, and every analysed video.

The Sailing Directory Newsletter

One email with the fleet's best finds — the moments, boats, and stories worth your watch time. Enter your own address to get your own copy.