IIf you believe lightening does not strike twice in the same place let me tell you a story. Over the years I have owned five different sailboats, starting in the early 70’s. Three of them have suffered damage from lightning strikes, twice in Florida and once in Mystic, CT. Admittedly they were different boats and each time it occurred in different locations so an argument could be made that there is some truth to the superstition, or old wives tale, or whatever it is about lightning strikes. There is more to the story.

This particular boat, Cailin Lomhara, has been owned by me longer than any other boat, and has been sailed a lot of sea miles. A few years ago, on a dark night at sea off the coast of Georgia we were motor sailing and suddenly there was a clunk, and while the engine remained running and in gear, the clunking got worse and the boat slowly came to a stop. It seems the transmission had experienced a catastrophic failure. The sail to the Savannah river was uneventful, the tow from the turning basin at the mouth of the river all the way to Thunderbolt GA was exciting. The boatyard was pretty decrepit but they did good work and in about ten days we were on our way with a new transmission and a lighter bank balance. I think that was about 2007. Three years later the boat was due for a new engine, which was installed beautifully and has run like a charm for the past 2800 or so hours.

Note that I said the engine has run like a charm, which should be a clue as to the fact that the transmission has not run like a charm, perhaps more like cheap costume jewelry. Should not be says me, but here is the story. In early fall of 2015 we were all set to leave Grenada and head to the ABC islands. We were anchored at a little island just north of Grenada and used the engine to maneuver the boat while lifting the anchor. Just as the anchor came on deck, the transmission stopped working. The lever would shift, but the shaft would not turn. In no time, it started that clunking noise, so as quickly as we could the anchor went back down and I went for a look at what the problem might be. Several hours later after having run out of suggestions from the troubleshooting book it seemed professional help was in order. The closest possibility was Martinique, thus a couple of days later we sailed there, engineless. More weeks than I care to remember were spent at La Marin mostly waiting for parts to be shipped from Europe. Finally, it was done, the bank account tapped, and away we went. One significant fact is important, the transmission had about 1800 hours use when it failed, it was the damper plate that failed and the transmission is manufactured by ZF, a well-known manufacturer of high quality transmissions for everything from small boats to huge trucks.

Fast forward to August 2017. We are getting the anchor up in Moorea, heading for Huahanie when the dreaded clunking noise comes back. Boat slows to a stop and starts drifting backward, so we quickly revert to anchoring again. Not having learned much in the last couple of years, out comes the troubleshooting manual and the tool bag in a foolish attempt to see if it is something simple to fix. Not to be, so late the next afternoon we set sail for Raiatea, engineless and a bit more difficult to enter as the islands are surrounded by reefs. We arrive the next morning and a good Samaritan comes outside the reef in his dingy to offer some assistance in sailing through the pass. He was very helpful, noting the precise points where we would need to tack and the wind of course picked up to 20+ kts as we were sailing through making for an exciting ride. Made it and dropped anchor about 0.25 miles from the only two boatyards with the capability to effect repairs. Yesterday arrangements were made with the yard whose mechanic was not on vacation and this morning, with the help of four friends and two additional dinghies we hip towed and pushed the boat into the boatyard and a marina slip.

The job of removing the transmission has already begun. The time involved will mostly be dependent on what parts we need and where they come from. We may know what is broken later today or tomorrow, then we will know how formidable a project we face.

Lightning may not strike in exactly the same place more than once, and the exact same transmission part may not fail three times but it sure feels like it does. More later