The day here started with a ridiculously long ride to the nearest shore to walk the dogs. It’s easily over a mile across open water. It was a perfect morning though and the ride was dry. The last 2 times we’ve stopped here I’ve pretty much gotten my ass kicked all the way to shore and back so today was a pleasant change.
We hauled anchor when I got back and were headed to Marathon by 0800. Yesterday was a perfect day in the Hawk Channel and today was just as nice. The wind was on the beam but only packed 5 to 10 knots of breeze. We had close to fifty nautical miles to cover today so we were going to have to motorsail all day, so we could get into the harbor at a reasonable hour.
The winds speed and direction enabled us to just roll out the genoa and make good time with that sail alone. We were moving along at about seven knots for the better part of the day.
Marathon, it’s been the focal point of our trip south. Getting to Marathon to finish provisioning, make last minute repairs and upgrades, wait through the holidays and then head over to the Bahamas for 4 months or so.
It seemed like the last couple of miles before we reach the Promised Land. We were motor sailing along and all of a sudden “vroom!” The engine raced a few hundred RPMs faster then it had been running all along. F*#K me.
I quickly chopped the throttle back to an idle. My first thought was that the engine was no longer connected to the rest of the drive train. We ascertain the fact that indeed, we did not have any forward or reverse. Shit, so close.
The wind had petered out to about 5 to 7 knots and we were able to keep our present heading and maintain a speed of just over 4 knots. I went below and took the small access panel off the side of the engine room so I could see the shaft coupling. The panel is supposed to be held in place by 6 screws but I’ve only been using one since I’m in there so much. I may even switch to Velcro. When I got a glimpse of the coupling I was both disappointed and elated at the same time. The repair will be challenging, but should be cheap.
All 4 coupling bolts have sheared. The coupling that connected the transmission to the propeller shaft has separated because the bolts have broken. Why, I don’t know. We haven’t hit anything, there’s been no vibration. I don’t know if they’ve been failing one at a time or if they all just let go just now. Right now it’s not important, I gotta get it fixed so we can get through the lift bridge and enter the harbor when we get to Marathon.
I went topside and had Christy round us up into the wind so we could throw up the mainsail as well. This goes smoothly and increases our boat speed to between 4 and 6 knots depending on the wind puffs. At 6 knots I’ll have less than 2 hours to get the engine back online.
The 2 plates that bolt together are very hard to get too. I can only reach them with one hand at a time with my arm at full extension. I just can’t get both hands in there at the same time. The aft plate has 4 through holes that the bolts slip through before screwing into the 4 threaded holes in the front plate. The threads of all 4 bolts are still firmly occupying there respective holes. Crap.
As luck would have it though, there is a fifth hole in the forward plate. It is also threaded and would line up with one of the holes in the aft plate. I figured if I could pull the plates back together and get one bolt into place we should be good for a short, low RPM stint through the bridge and onto the mooring ball. Now I just need a bolt.
We have a pretty good selection of nuts and bolts onboard so I thought that it should go fairly well. I had the right thread, but the length of the bolt was a half inch too long. There was no room for any extra bolt length, it had to be exact. We have a small vise onboard that clamps onto the bracket that the outboard motor for the dinghy sits on. I clamped on my tiny vise, secured the bolt and used a hacksaw to cut it to length. A little clean up of the cut end with the Dremel and we were in business.
Pulling the aft plate forward to meet the forward plate was a bear of a job. The water flowing past the hull was trying to hold the propeller back so pulling the shaft forward was more than a chore. I had to hold the new bolt and washer in my hand while I was twisting and pulling the shaft forward. Once in place I had to thread the bolt into place while the ocean was competing to pull the shaft away, oh yeah, don’t forget, all with one hand. It sucked but could have been worse.
Now there’s nothing to do but sail right up to the bridge and see what happens. When we got to the entrance channel we restarted the engine and left the transmission in neutral and slowly sailed towards the bridge. Now in the protected confines of the channel, the wind died away to nothing. Christy engaged the transmission while I laid on the cabin sole to watch the repair to see how it would hold up. It looked good, she upped the throttle to about a thousand RPM and the coupling looked rigid with no vibration. So a thousand RPM it would be.
Our friends the Freedoms called ahead to the bridge keeper and explained our concerns about our jury rigged drive train. I didn’t want to be circling waiting for the bridge to open or worse yet jockeying forward and reverse while trying to hold position. He was totally appreciative of our situation and had the bridge fully opened when we came around the corner. We were riding a slight incoming tide so we were able to make about 4 knots as we headed into the harbor.
Jim & Deb, on Freedom were just off our bow as we headed through the bridge in the event my repair failed. If that had happened, we hoped to pass a line to them so they could tow us the rest of the way through the bridge.
Fortunately the repair did well and taking a mooring went smoothly. Even though there was technically no anchoring involved there was definitely a Post Anchoring Cocktail.
I’ve already sprayed a little penetrant on the broken bolts. I’ll let it soak in for a day while I ponder just how to get those broken bolts out. I have 3 or 4 ideas, some conventional, some, well not so much. We’ll see what comes to me……..
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