Blue Angels!

We spent yesterday afternoon watching the Blue Angels over Annapolis. What a beautiful day! We never tire of seeing these guys perform.

Annapolis

Schooners were in town today!

Sideboards

I'm sanding off the old name from the sideboards today in preparation for varnishing and applying the new name. Still some more sanding to go in order to remove the shadow of the old name…

Afterthoughts

Now that we've been home for a couple of days, I have some time to share some thoughts on the journey of about one thousand miles we just completed. We took about a month to travel from Vero Beach to Annapolis. The trip could be shortened if we pressed harder, but part of our plan was to spend some quality time in some of the ports that we found attractive. We spent a week in Charleston, and we spent several days in other ports that we enjoyed, including St. Augustine, Beaufort, NC, and accidentally in Belhaven, NC due to our transmission issue.

Our only mechanical problem of the trip, the problem with the transmission solenoids, was probably caused by some salt water getting to the electrical contacts. We observed some salt water entering the engine room vent on the port side during the sea trial, and we fixed the problem by clearing the vent drain. This was a perfect example of a small problem becoming a bigger problem. A good reminder to address small issues as they come up with the boat.

Someone asked me what I think about the ICW, and I said that there are good and bad things about the inside passage along the East Coast. The bad things are the narrowness, the shallowness in places, and the traffic and no-wake zones that can slow the progress of the boat. But, on the other hand, taking it slow allowed us to see lots of beautiful places, and being sheltered on an inland body of water allowed us to travel on days that might have been untenable on the ocean. We only had one leg, from Charleston to Georgetown, when the conditions were right to allow us to comfortably jump outside and run offshore.

From this trip, we've learned about where the good places to stop are located, and we have a better feel for how many miles we like to cover in a day (between 50 and 80 miles). Our longest run was up the Chesapeake Bay, about 130 miles in 7 hours, running at 20 knots all the way. The next trip will be easier now that we have some experience with the passage. Come fall, we'll be heading south again, and we're looking forward to the next adventure.

Homecoming

We arrived at our marina this afternoon. It feels great to be home! (Thanks to Dennis for the picture.)

Good Morning Norfolk

Historic Portsmouth

Great Bridge Lock

Last Day in the Ditch

On our way to Portsmouth, our last stop before the Chesapeake. Thanks to new friends on Slip Away for the picture.

Avocette

This beauty passed us today!

Passing a Tug

Suzan is giving that tug her full attention as we make a coordinated pass in the ICW. There's just barely enough room for boats to pass. Since the tug was only making 4.5 knots we were happy to get by.

Coinjock

We arrived in Coinjock today, both engines working fine. It's been a good day.

Belhaven

Our spot in Belhaven while we wait for repairs. We're hoping to receive the new solenoids for the transmission this morning. If that works out, we'll get underway later today. (Update: the mechanics were only able to replace one side of the connector to the solenoids, but that was enough to make everything work. We'll replace the rest of the assembly when we get home.)

Update on Mechanical Problems

Today is a new day, and we've made some progress on our problems. We motored with one engine from our anchorage in Slade Creek this morning, and arrived at Belhaven Marina, which was a planned fuel stop. We got a tip from the dock master on a mechanic's shop who could potentially help us, and we contacted them this morning. While we were still fueling, the mechanics dropped by and started to take a look at things. After some examination and experimenting, they determined that we had a bad solenoid on the transmission that allows the gearbox to be engaged. The original solenoid had a corroded connector, and is beyond repair. We suspect that all 4 solenoids (2 on port, 2 on starboard, one each for forward and reverse gears) are probably in similar condition, so the mechanics recommend that we replace all 4. They left the boat to begin the search for the parts, and we went to lunch in town.

After lunch, the mechanic called to let us know that the parts are ordered, and should be here first thing tomorrow morning. So, we're staying in Belhaven for the night, and even though this was unplanned, we're grateful to have a place to tie up and get our transmission fixed. The dock master and the mechanics have been awesome, and we're lucky to have help with our problems so quickly. In a larger port, it wouldn't be surprising to find that nobody is available to help for days or weeks. So, all in all, we're lucky.

Mechanical Problems

We've joined the club… engine problems underway. The port engine won't go into gear. We're anchored for tonight, pulling into Belhaven tomorrow morning. Starboard engine works fine and we can get home with it if no fix possible.

Crew spirits are good, we're safe and not stuck, so it's not too much of a worry. Just inconvenient.