Unpredictable Weather!

The weather here in Marathon swings from one end of the pendulum to the other just like elsewhere in the country.

Tuesday it was a beautiful day in paradise. We decided to take a sail out in Hawk Chanel just out side of Sisters Creek. This was the first time we ventured out the shallow creek known as Sisters Creek. It was just shy of high tide so we felt safe. We went slow and made it out with no less than a foot and a half to spare under the keel. There was very little wind about 8 knots but we put the sails up and got 3 1/2 knots of speed over ground. Hunters are light boats and do well in light winds. Everything was going well until I went below and noticed a strange noise. I ask Larry to come below and listen to it. Sometimes under sail the prop still continues to turn and makes a soft swishing sound. We had that sound but with a clicking sound, not good. Larry usually puts the transmission into reverse and the prop stops turning. It didn't work! He then, after starting the engine, put the transmission into forward gear but the boat didn't move. Oh Boy we had trouble. After bringing in the sails Larry began to investigate. He checked the transmission, which is located of course under our bed. He discovered that the shaft for the prop came out of the transmission. He then went into the water to make sure we had not wrapped a crab pot around the prop or shaft. No crab pot. After some working he was able to put the shaft back into the transmission. The forward motion and force kept the shaft in place under slow propulsion so we could limp back to our mooring. We had ask a friend to stand by just in case we missed the ball. We could not put the transmission into reverse because the the force would also be reversed and pull the shaft out. Our normal approach is to come up onto the ball and then put the boat into reverse, which will stop the boat. We were lucky there was very little wind and we made a safe landing. When we got settled, Larry decided to wait for the next morning to get a fresh start to tackle the job.

Wednesday morning I went to shore to do laundry and Larry started his repair. After working for several hours to remove four bolts that just would not budge, he called the diesel repair shop. He set up a time to take the boat to shore for the work to be done. We weren't looking forward to that bill at $90 dollars an hour. After lunch Larry decided to give it one more shot and off came the bolts after sitting with a product called Blaster soaking in for a few hours. Yeah! Now to find the proper fitting wrench (30 mil). After riding his bike for miles and visiting several possible sources with no luck, it looked like we were still going to need a mechanic. While I was in the laundry I met another cruiser and her husband was a mechanic. Yeah! He didn't have the proper metric tool we needed. Worth a try! Guess we still need to go to the mechanic tomorrow.

Well as you can see by the picture the weather turned foul again on Thursday. No way are we going to move the boat to a dock in this weather. We cancelled our appointment.

Here in Marathon we have what is known as the cruisers net, every morning at 9 AM. On this net you can ask for help from other cruisers. We did just that and ask if anyone had a wrench we could borrow. Unfortunately no one did but our friend from the laundry came to our rescue. He had the night before sat with conversion tables and found a wrench he had that would work. Yeah! With that wrench Larry was able to fix our transmission and shaft. Now we just have to wait for a new dip stick for the oil on the transmission. When he went to remove it to fill the oil that drained out the threads broke off. Go figure. All in the life of a sailor. We feel fortunate that all this didn't happen on a Bahama crossing over the Gulf Stream.

New Link to Our Pictures!

As promised on my last entry, a picture of our new throne or head as it known in nautical terms. When I reread our last two entries I realized that I hadn't put the whole story of the head in details. Two entries ago I mentioned Larry was at the Home Depot to buy a larger snake. Well as you can probably guess it didn't work. We had no choice, if we were ever to use the facility on our boat, but to change the 18 feet of sanitation hose between the toilet and the holding tank. The trick is to not make a mess and get the new hose in place using the existing hose. Larry explained many times at West Marine this Summer to customers the process of doing just that but had never done so himself. He got his opportunity to see if it works, first hand.

To start he disconnected the old hose from the toilet and connected the new one to the old one with a joint and taped them together. Then corked off the open end outside. The trick is to push, not just pull the new hose though the many 90 degree turns and distance between the toilet and the tank. Being that it was 18 feet of distance it required three of us to do the job. It is the sign of a true friend when someone is willing to help with this job. Last year Larry went up the mast for Chris on S/V Maggie M. Chris heard about our dilemma on the morning net when we ask for suggestions the first time and he offered to help. Larry was on the pushing end, Chris was in the middle working under our bed and I was outside in the stern. The process had to synchronized as not to disconnect the two hoses because then we would have a very much not wanted mess. Larry would push and move the hose about a foot, then Chris would pull in the middle and I would pull outside. To our delight the whole process was fast and we didn't spill a drop. After Larry had us all hooked back up he noticed that the pump on the toilet was leaking where it had cracked. We could have replaced just the pump but we also could use a new seat and the parts cost more than a whole unit. I guess I will never understand that concept but oh well isn't our new toilet pretty. OK we won't go that far but we like the new design that twists and locks via the pump handle. No more smell! Yeah!

Last Saturday was my birthday and I did just what I wanted. Read a book and relaxed on the boat. It was a warm enjoyable day.

Sunday night I noticed that I seemed to be coming down with Larry's cold. Living in close quarters as we do we tend to share everything. He was under the weather but still moving around with his cold but it seemed to knock my feet out from under me. I had several things planned for the week but canceled them all.

Yesterday I finally went to shore for more than a shower, we went to Publix for some food. Our weather took a turn for the worse last night and we wanted to ready to stay aboard and not have to do errands that took us out in the weather. About 6:30 PM last evening the wind came up to 20 knots and the highest we saw was 34 knots. The boat was like a disobedient child having a tantrum tossing from side to side. I moved a few things from on our shelves so they didn't hit the floor and sat down so I didn't hit the floor. The front came though fast and gave us some pelting rain as a result.

During the night as well as today we have had high winds with some gusts. We have stayed put on the boat except for our trip to shore for a shower. To our surprise the water was hot not just luke warm. With the mooring field full, chances of getting a hot shower are slim. I guess most everyone must have stayed on their boats today.

We had cancelled the internet service we used with a tether to our cell phone in January. We felt we would use the service at the marina to save some money. Today we subscribed again to our internet. Convenience won out over saving money. I've been on for a good part of the day and finally figured out how to link my new picture page to this site. The pictures are from a few years ago but now I'll put more on the site now that it is linked. If you look on the links at the right sidebar and click on Flickr pictures you will be able to view more pictures that I've taken. I will be adding more so keep checking back.