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