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That is a 31 year old boat, during a time that boats are selling for stupid money right now. If you decide that it is the one to own have it looked at by a trained marine mechanic to make sure that the major components are solid. Remember if there is a major component that needs to be replaced like , motor, hull damage, rotted transom the repair cost will make this a huge mistake to recover from. Art

Shimano Peterborough is some of the best customer service I've ever come across.

Take or send it to Shimano in Peterborough, they have a box full of them at the desk by the door in the parking lot, I'm sure they will take care of you...

That's a pretty good bend. It will be hard to try and straighten that shaft with that cover in the way, let alone the chances of getting it perfectly straight to line up with the bearings. I would think you'd be able to buy a replacement part, but the thing you also need to consider is the potential internal damage done to the bearings themselves and the associated support structure. I would suggest removing the bearings and simply giving them a physical test to see if they rotate easily and nice and smooth, not bumpy at all. Bearings can be found for sure, might cost as much to ship them if you bought them on their own. If I was ordering a handle shaft assy I'd definitely order a set of bearings at the same time, just because. Lastly, while your doing that, make sure you take a real good look at the support frames on each side for cracks. Clean them real good and use magnification to inspect if you can. No use buying the other parts if the frame is shot, right? At least it was you that stepped on it and not someone else hehe... Good luck

Toss it in a vice and get is as straight as possible. Replacement shouldn't be very expensive if you've gotta go that route.

I was in automotive for 42 years with 21 years as an owner and sold to a national chain in 2017. I miss my long term guys and a lot of my customers, but I do not miss the day to day grind, especially finding competent techs. I totally understand your feelings, mine was like I was selling my baby. We are up here at the cottage now and after a lot of thought we are going to sell the cottage. I am not getting any younger and owning a cottage 1300 miles away just ain't what it used to be. Of course Covid entered into the decision with the lockdowns, but with Toronto big money chasing cottages we have decided to take advantage of the situation.

Damn man, all the best to your friend. Scary scary stuff. ive seen a few similar stories on the bass boat central forums. Guys literally posting from the hospital, somewhat stuck, they seem to be recovering but then they go off of the oxygen and their levels just crash and back they end up on oxygen.

If you see someone trying to launch or retrieve his boat that appears to lack experience, don't sit and criticize him but go over and offer some advice or even offer do it for him. Too many people forget they were new and inexperienced at boating at one time themselves but would rather sit back and ridicule others rather than offering to help.

Friend of mine had a Mercury Mystique (same car) and they had 3 transmissions put in it under warranty. They were not too happy with theirs either.