Engines, phones, friends and painkillers
24 July 2013 | Back Creek, Annapolis
Tim, Great Wx
Engines, phones, friends and painkillers
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity...
So the short post would be blew up the boat engine Saturday in Annapolis, Broke my cell phone Sunday, got new cell phone Monday, towed to BMC Monday broke Tina's phone during tow Monday, got new phone Tuesday.
Epitaph...The difference between adventure and adversity is attitude.
So those of you that want the longer version. We were planning on meeting some sailing friends in Spa creek on Saturday evening for dinner and drinks then returning to BMC on Sunday. We left our slip around 11 or so Saturday and went for a pump out and added about 45 gal of fuel (first diesel added since 2011) then with a great wind from the south southwest we had sails up and engine off within 100 yards of the fuel dock and Tina sailed us out of the Patapsco. I sailed us close hauled to the bay bridge and around 4 pm with the wind on the Rhumb line from Spa creek to us and (more importantly) happy hour approaching, we packed the sails away and motored toward happy hour. Around 5pm just north of the mouth of the Severn River the engine seized. We dropped the hook, evaluated our options and thought that a mooring ball in back creek would be the best plan for the night. So we called tow US, poured a drink and waited. Around 630 we were safely moored. We considered all of the options and after consulting with family via text messages, we thought the best approach would be more drinks and a swim, a nice dinner then to bed and deal with the problems in the morning.
Sunday morning we took the dinghy for fuel and found our friends from SV Five and Dime at Port Annapolis having lightning damage repaired. The offer was made and accepted to drive us up to BMC have a nice lunch then get Tina's car and check in at West marine for Dinghy lights. This would be when I dropped my cell and broke it.
We were very pleasantly surprised to see the number of friends that were willing to change their plans in order to help us. We are truly thankful.
Returned to the boat to eat, swim, float in the cool inflatable lounges we bought last year and wait until Monday to tackle the engine repair.
Monday morning we visited a number of repair yards and all of them were so busy with work that we did not get the idea that we would be completed soon. We made the decision to have Deckelman's tow us back to BMC so we could be in our home slip and have more time to make better choices.
Tina drove the Audi back with my broke phone to get fixed and to arrange line handlers to get us into the slip. I got the boat ready for towing and had Tina's phone for communication.
During the tow I needed to reset the dinghy on the davits and knelt on Tina's phone and crushed it. Two phone and an engine in one week end.
But the tow went well, Tina had plenty of help ready, we docked up, showered up, had a great Italian meal and a nice Melbak then to bed.
We will be getting the engine changed out in mid-august and then we are back in business.
So...
The best of times?-Spending a great week end in back creek with my bride and finding out how many friends are will to help...Thanks
The worst of times?-Breaking my brides phone.
The age of wisdom?-Not making a $12-$15 boat unit decision to quickly
Age of Foolishness?- too many Pusser's pain killers
The epoch of belief?- That a blown engine in a sail boat is really no big deal.
The epoch of incredulity? A blown engine in any boat IS a big deal.
Epitaph...The difference between adventure and adversity is attitude.
Until next time
Tim