Shear Pin

Well, I think we caught a break. Turns out our driveline failure was a brass shear pin in the drive coupling. I will elaborate further when I get back to the boat and check it out. I think it would have been a good idea to find out where the shear pins were before we took off the first time. Man do I feel stupid.
Upon further review, the part that failed was the brass key stock in the propellor side of the shaft coupling. it apparently was installed incorrectly as only about a third of the key was in the keyway. I will mention that the last installer was Diversified Marine Services in Annapolis. I will also mention that they did my winterization last fall and the fridge hasn't worked since. I can't actually place blame for the fridge but it was working before and was not after. I have to say I am impressed with the service at Lookout Point. Unfortunately, it is a long run up there. Time will tell but our conversations have led me to believe the they have a pretty good handle on the repair business. They certainly seem to have a following in the big money go boats. We are going to do a short haul, check the shaft and get the prop reconditioned and balanced. Hopefully the tranny will last until we are ready to repower in a few years.

Capt. Mike

Back Home for Now

Saturday the 17th, We started the toe rail refinishing project. I guess if you can't sail you can always find a project to work on.

We headed out about 3:00 and will return in a week to see how things are progressing. We have found ourselves, not only paying for space in Point Lookout but also, a dock in Deltaville and our new one in Annapolis. hopefully, the outlays will slow down soon.

Capt. Mike

Hangin at Point Lookout

We had Service Manager Jake and Mechanic Bobby stop by Friday to assess the situation. After checking things out and conferring with the other mechanics, it was determined that our Volvo transmission, although appearing to have been well maintained, had simply worn out. I am not sure what the average lifespan of a transmission is but this one appears to have lasted for approximately 3000 hours. we are hoping for a short layover while the trans is rebuilt. We have been told about a week and a half. Kat and I keep hearing the Eric Stone song "It'll be ready tomorrow". We were able to rent a car from Enterprise and head back to Deltaville and retrieve the truck so we could head back to work for Monday. That killed the rest of the day as it was a 6 hour journey.

Heading North

Thursday Aug 15th, we got up early to take on water and head out for a long day to the Solomon's. We attempted to time our arrival at the Potomac River on the flood tide as the wind was to be from the northeast. Getting away from the dock proved to be a challenge as the area is a little tight and Zoe will not respond in reverse and immediately tries to turn down wind upon stopping. We had to maneuver back to a docking piling and hold the bow while the stern floated around in order to get headed in the right direction.
After taking on water, we headed out without incident and turned north. Wind was tight on the nose so we decided to motorsail. About 6 hours into a beautiful day,

We developed a new noise. My first thought was something vibrating in the storage area below as we were in 50 feet of water with no obstructions in sight. After about an hour the noise disappeared and the engine smoothed out as if I had shifted into neutral. After shifting back and forth and not finding any drive in either direction we decided we had a serious problem. I dug out the lazarette and determined that the shaft was still in place and we were not taking on water. To shorten the story we were in virtually no wind were not forecasted to get any more for at least a day so we made the call to be towed in for repair. About 6 hours later after a lovely dinner and a very pleasant cruise up the Potomac thanks to Tow Boat US, we ended the day at Point Lookout Marina.

Capt. Mike

Ready to splash

Wednesday Aug 14 was splash day for Zoe. After a long summer of waiting for repair we left Deltaville Yachting Center (thanks to Lew and the crew there). We headed back to Stingray point for the afternoon to prepare for a trip back to Annapolis on Thursday. After taking on fuel we headed for the pump out at Stingray but were unable to dock as there was a transient tied off for the night. We decided to take on water on the way out in the morning. We spent the evening preparing the dingy and motor for use on the trip and loading the new Honda generator.

After a nice dinner at Cocomos we called it a day.