SV Sereine

10/31/20 Morehead City

So Morehead City, Charlies favorite place to escape. We are at Morehead City Yacht Basin Marina(MCYB) until November 10. We will use the time to get Sereine back into fighting shape, deal with our PTSD, survive the election, and prepare for what lays ahead.

It took a few day for the floors to stop tilting. I can't count the number of times we tripped because the ground wasn't where we thought it should be. Compared to the passage, we greatly appreciate the contrast, and "it's getting better every day".

And now for the boat. Did some hunting for a good boatyard to address the cracked bell housing. One person texted me back that I was too depressing after I asked to discuss a plan of attack BEFORE he got started. I had a few more failures, but eventually I called Shephard Point Boatyard(SPB). Russel is a real down-to-earth guy who was very positive and did not find me depressing. It took another week and a half before his mechanic would be back from NY, but Russel did point me to Transatlantic Deisel in VA. I called, and for a mere $950 had a used bell housing shipped. I couldn't be happier.

In the meantime, we started working our way through the myriad other smaller projects. Th main is a lost cause. We said a few words and wrapped it in the sail cover. We will shop for a replacement. I found the cause for the Roller furler binding, and a handful of bolts later all is well. The mizzen is also under a sail cover, and we will see about remedying the tear at a later point. We will be motoring along the ICW from here to mid-coast Florida, which alloo0s us to forego the main and mizzen for awhile We did 7 knots in a 15 knot wind with just the genoa, so we have some options even if we go coastal.

A few days ago we did move the boat to SPB using TowBoatUS yet again. Not impressed wih the tow captain who, while another captain was nearby, came into the slip way too fast with Sereine's bow very close to the end of the dock just so he could kick it into reverse and jerk Sereine's bow into alignment. I was move by his performance to utter a loud, "WTF!". We parted without any other words, and the focus quickly shifted to the gang on the dock, i.e Russel, Sean and Peter, with Sean being the mechanic.

Once secured, the introductions quickly zeroed in on Sean coming from Shrewsbury, MA. OMG, Marilyn and he went through everything and everyone they knew. It became readily apparent that Sean was extremely knowledgeable, conscientious and practical. I felt like I knew him, except he did not have a rowing shell. We mapped out a plan of attack (I love it when a plan comes together).

Withn a couple of days, the engine and transmission was hoisted out and carted to the workshop. Between the discovery of additional items to address root cause of the bell housing failure and the weather, our stay extended a few more days.The bell housing arrived, and Sean proceeded to systematically disassemble and evaluate.

While we enjoyed our fly-free slip, we secured Sereine with no less than 13 lines in preparation for the passing of Zeta well to our west. The winds were 20 to 35 knots for about 24 hours. As they were coming from the SW, they were fetching across a lot a water which brought a lot of chop to us. Rock and Roll is here to stay! When the winds abated somewhat we chose to dine at the local Italian restaurant, Casa San Carlo. I left Charles tied in the cockpit. When we got back he was gone, the collar on the end of the lead. DEJA VUE! We searched the immediate 10 blocks to no avail. Marilyn was picked up by a local who knew we were at this boatyard. He had the slip at the end of our dock at MCYB marina. His wife spotted Charlie standing on the finger dock of our slip there. The third member of our crew had crossed town to where he thought we went. He has a map of town in his head. We brought him back to the boat, and are getting a harness as soon as we can.

Here is a synopsis of the repairs:

1.The new bell housing would do fine, but instead of mounting the rear engine mounts to the bell housing. he would fabricate a bracket to allow mounting to the transmission thereby reducing a significant source of stress on the bell housing.

2. The shift of the transmission aft when using reverse wore the splines in the damper, so a replacement damper was located.

3. The adapter plate between the engine and the bell housing was found to have some warping where the starter mounts. A replacement could not be sourced. so Sean will attempt to reduce using the shop press, being careful because it is thin cast iron. It is a concern that bolting the bell housing to the slightly warped adapter would impart tension to the bell housing.

4. The old engine mounts are to be replaced with some real real nice adjustable ones that are more heavy duty. You can't put a price on dependability.

5. Both shaft and transmission flanges will be replaced.

6. We discussed the overall engine and multiple battery wiring. The two master switches will be replaced with a single switch, albeit capable of handling both house and starting banks. The diode isolator will be replaced with an Automatic Charging Relay (ACR) by Blue Sea. This will reduce the spaghetti situation that complicated troubleshooting, and really the only reason I sail is to have the opportunity to troubleshoot critical system in life and death situations. Marilyn is now sporting a "Mutiny is what America is having for dinner tonight" T-shirt. Sooo subtle...

We expect to be heading back to our slip at MCYB by Tuesday (11/3/20) morning. Motoring and happy. This will complete the transition from the "we are all going to die" passage to "this is why we came" cruising. We are renting a car to allow us to more conveniently re-provision, get materials for projects in a more timely manner, and see some of the local sites. If everything comes together, we may leave earlier than 11/10. Today is expected in the low 60's while tonight will drop to 47. The crew is demanding warmer weather.