tHE GREAT VOYAGE OF 2009 PART 2

[Antioch]

(What's with the 20K character limit?????????????????)

We were near Kennybunkport, and it was when I noted this in my logs while lying below the Honda engine, which I'd been running at a quarter throttle while under full main and reefable genoa against the wind, quit.  I had been down below trying to rest on my break when it happened.  I came up to see Brian eyeing the speed on the GPS... he told me we were down to 3 knots against the wind without the motor.  I tried to get it going, and eventually gave up.  It didn't work.  Something had gone horribly wrong and I knew nothing about outboards, I was terrified by the prospect of something going wrong, and now something had, I didn't even have a Honda manual.  Telephoning my friend Jay from Paceship.org who had some experience with the motor, I explained to him what had happened.  He listened and told me that at some point the motor had been stored incorrectly, and that a quick fix would be to take the carburetor completely apart and let it sit overnight in a carb kit. Additionally, I was supposed to replace all the fuel lines, the tank, and add an inline fuel filter somewhere along the new fuel line.  To do this I'd need to find a port for a day or two, and Kennybunk was now no longer an option, nor was York Harbour, as I was warned that without a motor it would be too tough due to the extreme currents that exist in New England river harbours.  God I miss California and her man made jetties and calm deep harbours...

Brian remained at the helm, soaked to the bone in his defective foul weather gear, telling me that although he was miserable, he was glad he was there. His hands were like prunes, so saturated was their flesh. So were mine, but I couldn't remain at the helm and stay on the phone trying to figure out what to do.  Portsmouth looked like the best option, still three hours at a current speed to the SW.  I told Brian to steer in that direction.  The tides would be a BIG problem on the Piscataqua, the tidal estuary which runs for miles from the mouth of the Atlantic north up in between Maine and New Hampshire.  Jay had found what looked like a mooring field not too far up in it in New Castle, but he wasn't sure we would make it without a motor for the tidal surge, currents, eddies, and dangerous fudge* up shoals that are everywhere up here in New England.  I use such strong words because I absolutely hate the rocks up here, it's almost as if they were sat down on earth by God to destroy any vessel that even brushes against them gently. They have an almost serrated quality to them, and if hit with enough force would likely burst open an iron ship like a the proverbial hot knife through butter.

My BoatUS membership had lapsed, but I figured that if I renewed it I could sail into the mouth of the harbour and call TowAssist for help... but even as I was about to pay the lady from BoatUS 187 or whatever it was for the unlimited towing, she told me it wouldn't take effect for 24 hours. What the heck.. if I get auto insurance with tow coverage and drive off a car dealer's lot and break down.. they'll tow me the same day... I mean, why is doing this on the water so much bloody trouble? It's greed, that's what it is, greed, like most of the people in the boat business.  It's the same reason one of those sea steps, you know, the kind where it's just one metal step and a couple of chains is 300+ dollars.  So that wasn't going to work.  

Still two hours from the harbour at 1.5 knots with the wind getting very shifty, and I knew we wouldn't make it by nightfall. Returning to the Honda I pulled the choke and tried pulling the flywheel again, it fired up.... And remained running.  I through it in gear and cranked the throttle on high and we were able to motor sail quickly at 7 knots to Jaffrey's Point... then we slowed as the water was flat as glass and we played the "avoid the shoals" game again.  We spotted the mooring field at New Castle just as the Honda died again.  Brian stayed at the tiller and we aimed for a small float.  Standing on the bow with a boat hook, I grabbed onto it, and nearly had my arms pulled out of the sockets, as the heavy East Wind wanted to keep moving... but we were safe, I kept my hold and pulled the boat over to the floating dock, where we tied off.  We were done.. but on somebody's private dock, and I knew we shouldn't be here.  It was around 20:00, and I knew we had to explain to the owners why we were here and hope they were cool about it.

2100... darkness had fallen enveloped us, as Brian and I traversed the long gangway to the large house with the 1632 marker, indicating that it was nearly four hundred years old.  We knocked at the door, but no one came, yet all of the lights were on.  We walked out the little white gate and began down the lane, passing the house on our right. I noticed a woman, a little girl, and a dog watching TV through the open window on the far side of the house.. Upon seeing this, we turned around and returned to the door, giving it a police-style BANG BANG BANG knock on it's heavy wooden surface.  

A thin young woman came to the door and greeted us, asking if we were the ones at the dock. I apologized right out, and explained our problem with the motor, to which she invited us in for a cup of hot coffee and explained that the dock and moorings were managed by a state representative of New Hampshire named David Borden, who lived down the lane in a red house.  She suggested we stay the night on the float and walk to the reps house in the morning.  

We thanked her and returned to the boat, where I promptly checked the tide table and depth sounder: another half hour to go until low tide, about a foot.. but only 2 feet under the boat.... Hopefully the harbour was calm, or we'd be hitting the rocky bottom with our keel!  

28 May 2009

The next morning we rose early to heavy rain, but no matter, there was work to be done. We had to get into Portsmouth and get a carb kit, sparkplug puller, and dry Brian's clothes.  It was just past dawn when we walked up into the village of New Castle and ate breakfast at the little store.  I had a tortilla wrap with eggs and sausage and a diet Coke.  We struck up a conversation with two workmen that were sitting by us, one of them offered to give us a lift into Portsmouth, allowing me to save a half a cab fare.

First the man, whose name was Kevin and worked as a carpenter, drove us to the auto parts store where I got a carb kit, which is basically a paint can with a basket inside and a powerful, horribly toxic venim which cleans a carburetor body and melts away any petroleum based thins like gelled fuel or plastic parts which you might have forgotten to remove.  Next we visited West Marine and I purchased a new fuel line, filter, gas tank, but they didn't have the Honda connector, so that would be the only part of the fuel system we'd have to re-use.  Lastly, Kevin drove us into Portsmouth to a laundrymat so Brian could dry his wet clothes.

I took the opportunity to stop by the post office and send a cheque to my ungrateful roommate in Tennessee.  Then returned to the laundry mat, after which Brian and I walked over to a pub called the Rusty Nail, where I had the best tuna steak Caesar salad I've ever had, while Brian had a burger and a pint of beer.

We returned to the boat and sat inside, checking our e-mail while the rain drummed down on the decks above...

Later on, I walked over to David Borden's house and talked to him about our situation, expecting to have to pay a great bill... brought my wallet with me.  Borden is a Democrat Rep for Rockingham in the State House.  According to his neighbours, he is very much an environmentalist, chastising his neighbours for using gas mowers on their lawns, insisting they use an old fashion push mower.  Remember this last sentence...
Mr. Borden, however, did not ask me for a penny for the dock space or for a mooring, letting me know I was welcome to stay and make repairs, and suggested a mooring for us to tie onto when we got the motor going.  He was very, very accommodating, and this really helped bring my stress level down a few notches.

29 May 2009

Rain.. well, regardless of what the weather was doing, I had to get to the carburetor.  I suited up in my foul weather gear, climed in the zodiac with my tool bag, and tied the dinghy to the stern, where I began the task of removing the carburetor.  The task didn't take as long as I expected, and in fact the Zodiac is such a remarkable little craft, being so stable and an excellent work platform, it was no time at all before I was back in the cockpit taking apart the carb, making mental notes on how to put it back together, as I had no manual.
After completely disassembling the carburetor, I sat its main body, the bowl, and the little metal marts that had no plastic on them in the basket, and close the lid over the gunk remover.  This would sit until the following day...


Rather than wait around for the never ending rain to stop, Brian and I hiked over to Fort Constitution, a formerly British Army stronghold on the Piscataqua, which was an initial pre-Revolutionary War victory for American Patriots vying for their independence.  It sits on a U.S. Coast Guard Station, and when we reached the gate, although it said it was OPEN, the gate was locked.  We started walking back to the boat when a Chevy Impala with G plates drove by, I flagged them down after they waved at me, and asked them about it. They called ahead and the Coast Guard came down and unlocked the gate for us.

I found this reference online.
"Defenses were first established on the site in 1631, and Fort Constitution was originally named Fort William and Mary, after the king and queen of England.
In December 1774 Paul Revere rode to Portsmouth from Boston to warn the colonists of British plans to reinforce the fort, to protect its store of powder. The colonists however surrounded the fort and seized light cannon and 97 barrels of gun powder. Many consider the attack to be the first overt act of the Revolution, and it's thought that some of the supplies were used in the Battle of Bunker Hill. "
Mostly overgrown with grass and debris, the Fort is still interesting, boasting huge gun ramparts facing the Piscataqua, and little stone passageways underground.

30 May 2009.  I awoke to hear rain pounding on the decks... this wasn't good, as I had work to do on the carburetor.  An hour later, however, sunshine kissed the decks of the Bligh, and I was able to retrieve the carb from the gunk remover and reassemble her.  Re-installing the unit, however, was not as easy, and I ended up dropping my 10mm socket, adapter, and extender into the harbour when I was nearly finished tightening the intake manifold to it's exterior.  

We fired it up and it started, however, turning the throttle control did nothing. It had been sticky before, but it had worked, now it just idled. I manually pushed the throttle open and it roared to life.  It took Brian's tinkering and rerouting some things to finish the job.. he didn't like the way it was setup and changed it slightly to make the throttle very sensitive and responsive.

I was very proud of myself for the carburetor work, I felt like a real mechanic.  It was truly the most complicated thing I'd ever done to a machine, and I really learned a lot, the most important thing being not to be afraid of the motors or their parts.

1400.  We sailed in the mouth of the harbour all afternoon, before I turned the bow up river, under two draw bridges which had to open for us, and two more bridges, before tying up on a mooring in Newington for the Summer.  There is a lot of work to do on the vessel, and what better place to keep her where I can get parts tax free?  Brian had to get back to work, which is the main reason I had to terminate the voyage here, I could have taken off until August, but can't single-hand the boat without a reliable auto pilot, and I just couldn't afford a new one.

We stayed on the boat in Newington in the Great Bay for a few days, sailing the boat and enjoying the life... I felt bad leaving her there, but I know it was the right thing to do.  She'll be better off where I can work on her and sail her all Summer long, and I know that I'll one day have her in a place where she truly deserves, where the weather is fair all year round, and where she is  no longer neglected.
:)

[Zen]

Nice, Congrats!

[Oldrig]

Robin,
Thanks for the postings. I enjoy your narrative--and your YouTube tour of S/V Bligh.
--Joe
PS. Let me know when you plan to transit the Cape Cod Canal and Buzzards Bay. Perhaps we can get together. (Adriftatsea is there, too.)

[AdriftAtSea]

Yes, do keep us posted. :)

[Antioch]

Robin,
Thanks for the postings. I enjoy your narrative--and your YouTube tour of S/V Bligh.
--Joe
PS. Let me know when you plan to transit the Cape Cod Canal and Buzzards Bay. Perhaps we can get together. (Adriftatsea is there, too.)

i certainly will. BTw.. we need to liven this place up.