Routine trailer repair keeps getting more expensive

As I was cleaning the grease off of the first spindle, I began to get the feeling that something was not quite right. Now, I'm no expert on trailers... but it would seem to me that a spindle should be round.

First hub off the axle

Cleaning grease off the spindle

This one wasn't. It had a substantial gouge cut into the underside surface. Actually, it had a couple.

I briefly considered just attaching the new hub and wheel anyway, and hoping for the best. I'd already bought them, after all.

Damaged spindle

Additional damage to the axle

However, I decided not to. I spent too much time building this boat to risk it. So, after some online searching, I finally found an axle that would fit the dimensions of my old trailer. I ordered it yesterday, along with new mounting hardware. There goes another $185. Better safe than sorry, I suppose. 

I'll also have to see about returning the hub and wheel I bought, and exchanging them for new wheels. These have a 4-hole pattern, and the new axle comes with pre-attached 5-bolt hubs. Hopefully I can get all this wrapped up in time for the G11 boatbuilders gathering in 3 weeks.

In other news, I got the first encapsulation layer of epoxy on the newly-widened stem for the Zip. I had enough epoxy left over that I also encapsulated the aft face of Frame #2.