We continued to be in "Watching and Waiting" mode for our Big Bend Crossing from Carabelle. The weather was windy and rainy at times and we so we planned to stay here at Port St. Joe Marina with its good facilities, close shopping, and internet and telephone access instead of moving to Apalachicola or Carrabelle itself with dockage that could be questionable in strong river currents. All chores aboard our boat have been completed and we are ready to go!
On Saturday evening we decided to have a Chinese take-out dinner aboard with Sallyann and Andrew. When placing our order, we were a little confused when the order-taker didn't seem to know where the marina was located, even though it is only a few blocks away.
George finally got a message from the deliveryman that he was on his way and George went to the front of the marina office to wait for him. Pat then got a phone call from the deliveryman in very broken English about where he was. She tried again to explain what George was wearing, and where he was waiting, but all she got was a garbled answer.
Then from the front of our boat she could see George dashing around the front of the marina flailing his hands. Evidently the deliveryman who was on foot had been in front of the "Piggly Wiggly" supermarket which was 2 blocks away. He had commandeered a customer into calling George to find out where he was. He got directions to the marina, but when George finally saw him he still wasn't headed to the marina until George flagged him down. What we had was a failure to communicate, but it was worth a lot of laughs!
Sunday was a day of rest and planning for our crossing. We decided to head straight to Carrabelle tomorrow, bypassing the marina there and going to an anchorage near the East Pass where we would tentatively leave at 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Having consulted with meteorologists, weather prognosticators, sea buoy sites, NOAA wind and wave sites, etc., we determined that our weather window would open from Monday afternoon into Wednesday morning. Our boats can make the crossing in 15 hours, so for some of the time will have to travel in the dark. With a 2 a.m. departure we will only have about 4 1/2 hours of full darkness and can safely make the journey across the Gulf before dark in Clearwater. This is our current plan!
In preparation for departure the captain always checks the engines. Upon checking the transmission oil he noticed a large bolt in the bilge. This was not a good sign!
This began a search to find from where it came. While looking around, another bolt, then another, then large nuts and washers began to appear in the bilge. A total of three bolts, four nuts, and four washers were found. "Houston, we have a problem!" Finding this collection of hardware rolling around the bilge could scare any captain.
What was found was that the propeller shaft coupling was parting from the transmission. The remaining bolts were only hanging on by a few threads and the shaft coupling had parted from the transmission and had opened a gap of about one inch between it an the propeller shaft. It would have only taken a few more turns of the engine and the whole thing would have come apart.
Now came the fun part, putting it back together. Well the boat gods were smiling upon us, because George was able to find all the missing hardware, get all the bolts and nuts in place, force the propeller shaft back into position, and secure everything in less than an hour.
It is good to be lucky!
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