8am at it
Parts pick up
The new port running light is installed by Tom. Max and I do the dockside set up on the autopilot and we head out to do the sea trial calibration.
I move to inspecting some of the chafe spots Tom is concerned about. I had noticed that the spinnaker halyards showed chafe where they had been allowed to hit the spreaders, but hadn’t been concerned about it myself. Tom ran his own rigging company for 15 years, so I listened to him and ran a messenger so we could get a better look at it before going up. The chafe was barely into the cover, and it was core dependent line, but I’m glad I decided to go aloft because the U bolt that held the spinnaker halyard block to the masthead crane had a nut that was in the process of spinning off, and I was effectively hanging on one nut.
Some jobs require a lucky hat.
Outboard nut is backed off. Hard to see here. these are not “nylock” nuts because they are supposed to be hammered with a pin to prevent this. Pro Tip: get a rigging survey when you buy a boat.
The most dangerous job here is going to a height you wouldn’t survive a fall from. The second most dangerous job is being under a person working. I use lanyards when I can but never pull a tool out until people below are clear. If you are on the deck move slowly if the boat is small and tender and always watch the person aloft.
We cast off with hard won confidence and by 14:30 the transmission starts slipping. We disconnect the cable from the transmission to confirm that it wasn’t because it just wasn’t engaging all the way and find that it was in fact engaging and that the transmission was just failing.
Slipped again, then tried extending the arm by removing the binnacle attach point and adding quarter inch throw, then tried removing entirely and pushing arm on the transmission all the way down.
Tom looked up the Hurth transmission finding that “when they go they go” Rick confirmed and added that they don’t bother rebuilding the kind we had.
Not the first retreat from the ocean but a far better time to find out than off the coast.
We turn back dejected but happy to use the now building Southwesterly that the 30 knot coastal winds is bringing us. We are fighting an ebb and the chop gives us a taste of of how the boat will preform in the ocean with a following breeze…a bit of a “Tilt’n Hilton” but not quite a “Broach Coach”.
I inform owner that Rick can get a new transmission installed at emergency rate the following day and have us back on the water in a day or two. The owner agrees and we sail past PA for Port Townsend. I call Odin Smith a shipmate and rigger colleague that lives aboard in Boat Haven that we may have to sail in and to advise us on wind strength in the harbor and if the outside linear dock is clear. He says it only 10 knots in the marina, the dock is clear, and offers to come out if we need a hand.
PT is a more convenient place for the repair and a more interesting place to spend free time.. that free time unfortunately never presents itself at least to this captain. (However he does find time for a slice of his much loved Waterfront Pizza and a pint at the Sirens bar.)