Aug 5-14- Celerity, Abbie and I are literally stuck in Swan Creek thanks to Mr. Maxwell going on strike. I initially stopped by a nearby yard at Haven Harbor and spoke with the Service Manager, Bill Neff....after I described the problem, adding that I wondered if corrosion inside the motor/windlass could be the problem (that had been a previous problem in the fall), Mr. Neff wanted to sell me a new windlass (or maybe a new motor)....that was his solution! He did not want to send someone out to look at the windlass and do any troubleshooting. However, I told him neither was in my budget and persuaded him to send someone to look at it (I was desperate!). He very reluctantly agreed but said he could not guarantee it would be repaired or, if repaired, that it would continue to work! Was only concerned about how I might bad mouth (his words) Haven Harbor if repair was only temporary after I had possibly spent several hundred dollars! He finally agreed to send someone next day.....

After several telephone consults that afternoon/evening with boating friends and thinking about Haven Harbor's reluctance, I called him next morning and cancelled my work request. A good decision in many ways! Best guess/advice from my consults was that the motor needed to go to a shop for rebuilding (replace brushes and other pieces and parts that wear out in motors, like starter in your car). Frank found a place that could work on a DC motor, Best Battery in Baltimore (thanks Frank for finding it since I am/was wfi-less!!!) but I had to get the offending beast to them.

Being a boat, nothing is easy...always in a dark locker usually requiring you to stand on your head, contort like a gymnast, making a choice to either see the thing or feel the thing...not both! In this case, it was all of above. The windlass and motor are bolted to the deck aft (behind) the opening part of the locker, with part of windlass and all of the motor underneath the deck. I had to lay across the hawse pipe (cover with opening that chain feeds down into the locker below) and on top of the chain snaking across locker opening (my anchor was attached to the end on bottom of creek) while hugging the locker lid, and squeezing my face down the locker edge to look aft at the motor. I had to feel the tops of the bolts (2) and nuts (3) to line up the wrench....which kept falling off (I am tool challenged in best of circumstances). Barely enough clearance to move wrench or socket a couple of inches, skinning my knuckles on the floor of the locker.....took forever to unfasten nuts on three huge power cables and two big bolts holding motor to windlass and the motor dropped about 3 inches to the floor. It was very heavy.....I heaved the offending thing onto the deck and then lowered it into the dinghy to take it to shore to a rental car and Baltimore.

The nearest rental car agency is in Chestertown, MD, about 20 miles to the south. Am very thankful that Enterprise will pick you up! Took it to Best Battery in Baltimore to be rebuilt. Rock Hall is on MD Eastern Shore about 2 hours from Baltimore which of course is on the Western shore! Only way to get across by car is to head south to the Bay Bridge near Annapolis then head north again to Baltimore. Frank was able to pick up the rebuilt motor and bring it to Rock Hall, saving me a second trip into to Baltimore. However, nothing is simple when a boat is involved!

Very long (sad) story short, re-installation/re-alignment of motor with windlass was a problem and resulted in the motor not running...thought maybe was something not right that Best had done during rebuild... so I uninstalled it....rented another car....back to Baltimore. They discovered that the motor was broken (yes, broken) during the attempt at re-installation (by non-professional) and Best did not have needed parts....referred me to Fawcetts in Annapolis since they carry Maxwell parts. Unfortunately they did not have what I (the blasted motor) needed! I was lost and unsure as to what was next step.... Maybe a new motor? If not that, then what? Fawcetts was not very helpful...

But I was in right place at right time....customer at counter suggested a local DC motor service place, Mamocks. What did I have to lose? Tom at Mamocks was very understanding...examined motor and went in the back of shop.....after few minutes he came back carrying a twin to my motor! Something had happened to this motor that caused it to overheat and fry.........but the parts I needed were probably ok.......he would take it and my motor apart to be sure. Called next day to tell me that he could fix my motor for couple of hundred dollars of labor....Hooray!!!!

I had kept the rental car an extra day so back across the Bay Bridge to Annapolis to pick it up. No more self-installation (good lesson learned!)....Frank recommended Gratitude marina on Swan Creek so I stopped by with the car and spoke with the General Manger, John Helwege. He was very understanding and said he would come out in their powerboat next day to manually lift my anchor and bring Celerity into marina to install the motor.....

Aug 15- John did come and got the 66lb Bruce anchor up (with just his upper body strength...I was impressed!) and helped put Celerity into a slip.....the motor was reinstalled in about 30 minutes (that's a professional doing the job!!!) and Mr. Maxwell was back on duty! My experience with Gratitude, John and his mechanic was very positive...very professional place. John did not charge me for his time of coming out to lift my anchor and get me into a slip! I was only charged for the actual time taken to install the motor. Amazing! I would recommend Gratitude to anyone needing boat work and will return if I am in the area needing repairs........

By now, it was late in the afternoon so Celerity returned to the Swan Creek anchorage......Mr. Maxwell did his job of putting Mr. Bruce on the bottom.

Aug 16- Seems I have pulled muscles in my back....probably from the ordeal with the windlass motor...so will stay at Swan Creek through the weekend to recover. And am glad I did....on Fri, John and Karen Kraft, The Chance, come motoring into the anchorage! What a wonderful unexpected surprise! You may remember that I met them in Chesapeake City, had dinners and a great time......did not expect to see them again this year....but there they were!

Another great dinner ashore with them at The Bay Wolf restaurant in Rock Hall....dirty vodka martini, white wine and delicious Veal Marsala with great conversation and laughter. Another memorable evening....and I remembered it very well next day....and re-learned I can't mix a martini and white wine without repercussions! Aspirin to the rescue (of course, for my back......).

On Sat morn, the Krafts invited me to join them on Sat morn in a dinghy ride to explore further up Swan Creek (where we can't go with sailboats due to shallow water). Lovely creek and we hoped to see Bald Eagles since they are frequently seen in the tall trees lining the upper creek. It is always fun to do these exploratory trips...never know what you might see. It was very peaceful and serene as we motored along, talking, telling stories (they have plenty!), and scanning tree tops for eagles.....perfect weather. Sunny with a slight breeze but cool like fall and not the heat and humidity of August! Another treat for us! But today we are not fortunate...no eagles to be seen. We go as far as we can until we bump bottom....the water is now too shallow for even an outboard motor. We head back down the creek.....it has been another wonderful visit with John and Karen. They drop me off and return to The Chance to up anchor and sail out of the Creek to return home just south of Baltimore....they will be back at work on Mon! I will plan to leave here on Mon, weather permitting........with Mr. Maxwell back on duty, Celerity will not be stuck in Swan Creek!