Crashes, Bangs and
Fireworks …. Tues 30th June – Thu 2 July
It’s been a challenging couple of days. On Tuesday afternoon
we took out a group of 5 guests on what was supposed to be a 2-hour cruise. The
weather was perfect and we planned a route that would allow us to wind our way
down through the islands and ledges that fill the upper reaches of Casco Bay.
Most of the ledges and islands have shallow sections to the north and south,
with deeper water to the east and west, reflecting their glacial origins. In
order to clear the southern tip of Long Ledge on the same tack, we chose a
course that took us close to the northern edge of Flag Island. We cleared to
the top of Flag Island, but whilst negotiating the lobster pots in that area and simultaneously trying to serve drinks, we
lost track of the fact that there is a second shallow area to the west and we
managed to hit an underwater rock. It was quite a jolt and when we took stock of
the situation we realized that we had lost the ability to steer the boat from
the wheel. We quickly dropped the sails and took out the emergency tiller. A
quick inspection below showed that we our steering cables had failed and we
realized that the autopilot would still work. So we switched on the engine,
engaged the autopilot and headed back to harbor. Rather than negotiate docking
in this situation we returned directly to our mooring and had the harbor launch
pick up our guests.
Further analysis of our steering gear revealed that we had
snapped the chain that goes over the wheel-cog inside the pedestal. Hard to
believe – this is 5/8 “ chain made of stainless steel (think motorbike drive
chain rather than bicycle). Tuesday night was a worrying and depressing time as
we did not know whether we could get spares or what other damage was done.
On Wednesday morning we had a diver out and he spent ~ 10
minutes under the boat checking things out. He found a ding on the keel, which
is no problem and can be dealt with over the winter, and no sign of a scratch
on the rudder. This was great news, but a bit of a mystery how such a significant
gear failure could have happened without leaving a mark. We are starting to
wonder whether there was an existing weakness in the chain. In our most
optimistic moments we are even thinking that a vibration that we have been
feeling when sailing at higher speeds and trying to address all year may have
been due to this. Whilst the diver was at work we were also able to arrange for
a new chain and steering cables kit to be sent up from Edson in Massachusetts
by overnight FedEx delivery. By 9 am things were looking better and we had a
quieter day – with all of the “Ruth” trips cancelled due to bad weather.
Wednesday evening was great. We had Mike’s former colleague
Michelle and her son Malcolm over for dinner – cooked chicken on the gas grill,
with lemon pasta, zucchini and brownies for dessert.
Thursday was a very busy day. Mike captained a couple of
trips on the “Ruth” and Gloria drove an hour each way to Auburn to pick up the
spare parts from the FedEx center. At about 2.30pm we started work and by
5.30pm we had the new steering chains installed and adjusted and the steering
pedestal re-assembled. This is not a difficult or intellectually challenging
job, but it’s a bit of a work-out trying to get at everything whilst lying in a
locker or squeezed in a narrow opening. We took “Cotinga” out for a quick
sea-trial involving some vigorous motoring and turning as well as a more gentle
sail under genoa alone. Everything seemed to be just fine, so we are back in
business. We won’t know for a while whether the installation of new steering
controls has addressed our vibration problem, but we’ll update as soon as we
know.
One brief aside – whilst rebuilding the pedestal assembly
Gloria inadvertently snapped the electrical cables off the compass light. This
was easy enough to fix – but in penance I was forced to make her watch Apollo
13 (for the 13 time) in the evening. The last laugh was on me – after a fine
dinner and a couple of beers I fell asleep and missed most of the film. During
the film we took a short break to watch the firework display put on by Sebasco
harbor to mark the 4th July. It was quite a spectacle and we had
perfect viewing point!
Mike
Fireworks at Sebasco Harbor resort
Fireworks at Sebasco Harbor resort
Fireworks reflected in the harbor
Fireworks reflected in the harbor
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