Leak Repaired

Our mechanic replaced a gasket on the coolant tank to stop the leak, so the engine should be A-OK now.

DIW

Well, some problems are not as simple as you might hope. When I tested the engine last night, I discovered a much more serious coolant leak. This one is in the coolant tank on top of the engine. Some of the metal has corroded away so the tank will have to be replaced. Drat! It may take a few weeks before I can get my mechanic out to help, so no sailing for me this weekend.

Coolant Leak

I went over tonight and looked in the riser to find... no coolant! Searching for a leak I noticed that the area around the expansion tank, near the hot water heater was damp. So, I refilled the riser with perhaps a quart or so of coolant to top it off, and started the engine. When the temperature got to about 150, the cap on the expansion tank began to leak. The cap was old and rusty, so it looks like the fix for our problem is just a new radiator cap.

Tow

After 20 years of sailing, I experienced my first tow today. We had a beautiful sail in 10 knots of breeze, and then we started the motor to head home. We noticed the engine temperature running very high after a few minutes, so we slowed down to see if the engine temperature would drop. No luck, so we shut the engine down and called Tow Boat US. They arrived in about 20 minutes, and hauled us in, through the draw bridge and to our dock. We restarted the engine briefly to put the boat in the slip, and shut everything down, with the engine starting to overheat again. We think that this might be a bad thermostat, or maybe a fresh water coolant leak. I will spend some time in the engine room this week figuring out the problem.

Spring

The list of spring chores is getting shorter. Today I changed the oil in the engine and generator. Last weekend, I replaced the impeller in the engine, replaced all of the zincs in the heat exchangers, and scrubbed the decks. Now we just need a warm day to go out and raise sails.

Packing and Stuffing

Last weekend I went to the boat and measured the propeller shaft, and found it to be 1-1/4" in diameter. Based on discussions that I read on the web, I concluded that I needed either 1/4" or 5/16" packing. West Marine carries GoreTex packing in both of those sizes, and since it was three times as expensive as the cotton flax packing, I figured that it must be the best choice!

Today, Dennis met me at the boat to lend morale support and guidance. He has replaced the packing on his boat, so I figured that having an experienced hand around would be a good thing. We went through the process methodically, and everything went perfectly. The amount of water leaking around the shaft after opening the nut was very tolerable for the bilge pump. I had the right size packing, 1/4". The packing cut easily with the fresh razor knife that I had on hand. The clearance for the packing nut allowed me to slide it way down the shaft to an area with great access under the floor board. The PVC pipe section that I made to use as a tool to help the packing push into the nut did it's job. And when I hand-tightened the packing nut, the water flow stopped. Total time working: 55 minutes. The sea gods smiled on me today, and I am grateful.

Stuffing Box

Last season it became clear that it is time to re-pack the stuffing box. The adjustment nut has become hard to tighten as the packing has become compressed. It's been about 5 years since the last re-packing, so the timing seems about right. This time, I plan to do it myself, with the boat in the water. This should be exciting, since once you open up the stuffing box nut, the boat will begin to take on water around the prop shaft. I'm using the following link as a reference: http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/stuffing_box&page=1

This is the best example that I have found on the web so far. I need to take some measurements from the shaft this weekend, and then collect some supplies for the job.

Snow and Ice

I visited Silence today, to dig out the cockpit after yesterday's snowfall and to make sure that all is well with her. The surface ice on the creek is building up, but our de-icer is running smoothly in the water, keeping the ice at bay. We are eager for spring and the beginning of the sailing season.

Approaching Winter

Silence has been down-rigged for the winter. Antifreeze has been run
through her systems, and her sails have been flaked and stowed. Now we
begin the wait for spring.

Schooner Race Day

We cancelled our planned outing to see the Schooner Race today. It's
raining, 48 degrees, and blowing 20 knots at Thomas Point. It's a good
day to go to the office and stay dry and warm...

More Pictures

For still more pictures, check out Frank's website:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chesbay1ah/collections/

Home Sweet Home

We arrived in Annapolis and came through on the 2:00 bridge opening. It feels great to be home. We are going to get the boat squared away, have a drink, and then go home to take a really long shower.

Cocktail hour

Suzan and I will be having cocktails at the dock this afternoon, around 5:00. We still have some vodka, but we have drunk all of the rum. Anyone reading this is welcome to join us. We will post a more precise time when we gat close...

Homeward Bound

This morning we are motoring south, headed to Annapolis. We have light winds and flat seas.

When you go away for this long it's like having a second life. For a month we have made a life onboard Silence. We are looking forward to getting back to our first life, but we will miss this one. You only get to live one life at a time, unfortunately.

Today's Thundestorm

As we approached the top of the Delaware Bay, where the channel narrows, we saw the black storm clouds of an approaching thunderstorm. We quickly struck sail, and prepared for the storm. We have been sailing in company with S/V Kathryn, and we watched them strike sail
as well. Coming up the channel was a large freighter.

The storm came on strong from the beginning, with 20 knots of breeze, and driving rain. We were positioned outside the channel where the freighter loitered.. on our starboard side we were hemmed in by the shore. The winds climbed quickly through the 20s, then through the 30s, and the boat becamed difficult to manage. Visibility was almost zero and none of the other boats in the area were visible. The winds continued to increase, hitting 48 knots, and the bow was being blown off, towards the rocks waiting onshore. We throttled up to point the bow up into the wind, but we had to be careful not to enter the channel where the invisible freighter was waiting. All the while we hoped that the freighter wouldn't drift down on us in the extreme wind. We were able to stay on station, but just barely.

The winds stayed in the high 30s for half an hour, which is a long time when you are blind and just trying to hang on, and you don't know where the other boats are.

Eventually, the winds tapered off, and the rain stopped. Silence was OK, but we couldn't see S/V Kathyn anywhere. We motored ahead slowly, watching astern with binoculars for any sign of them beyond the bend of the river. We eventually spotted them underway in the distance.

We turned into the C and D Canal, with no wind and flat waters, a welcome sight. Now we are anchored in the Bohemia River, happy to be almost home.

Safe and Sound

We just arrived in the Bohemia River, near the top of the Chesapeake.
We had a wild thundestorm this afternoon, but Silence and crew
weathered it well. More later...

Delaware Bay

We are currently sailing along on a broad reach, up the Delaware Bay.
The winds are 15-20, so we have reefed the main. We expect more wind,
and some rain, but for now the conditions are pleasant, and we are
making good time. Our boatspeed is around 7 knots.

Weather from Cape May

We have nice weather here this morning, but we expect rain and more
wind this afternoon. We will be getting out shortly and will get as
far up the Delaware as we can before the weather hits. There is no
place to stop before the canal, so we will just have to live with
getting wet.

Thunderstorm

It's just after 3:00 A.M and we had a thundestorm pass over us. Winds
in the low 20s, then some brief heavy rain. Lots of lightning. The
boat did fine riding to its anchor. John's boat is anchored nearby.

Cape May

We arrived in Cape May about a half hour ago. We ae anchoring for the
night, next to the Coast Guard station.
We had an easy day of motoring, sailing, and then motoring again. We
saw hundreds od dolphins feeding just north of Cape May.