St. Augustine 3.0
Well, once again, we are back at the marina in St. Augustine for further repairs. There is an old joke among boaters: "B O A T = Bring On Another Thousand". Right now ~~ not too funny! But accurate. We left here with the engine and transmission humming along, the generator running, keeping our refrigeration working (translation: the beer cold). John was so happy~~thinking he didn't have to worry about anything in the engine room for awhile and could go on to other projects (we have enough other projects to keep him busy for years). We were headed eventually to Brunswick, Georgia, where we have rented a slip for the summer. We needed to just get north of the Florida state line for insurance purposes, and found a slip in Brunswick that would not break the bank. We had heard that Brunswick was a very nice little town, and is near St. Simon's Island and Jekyll Island. We are still looking forward to being there.
We left St. Augustine on Saturday, July 5, after an evening of spectacular fireworks in the St. Augustine harbor. They had finished our work on the boat (the first time) on July 3 and we decided to stay for the fireworks. We left the marina and anchored in 14 feet of water on the Anastasia Island side of the river just north of the Bridge of the Lions and near where the fireworks barge was moored. We had a ring-side seat. When we first anchored, we were completely alone, all the other boats having anchored on the city side, the traditional anchorage. However, as evening approached, so did a flotilla of spectator boats. Close quarter anchoring in a 4 knot current presents challenges, even for the sober. So, we quickly moved from 'relaxed waiting mode' to 'alert watching mode' as boat after boat dropped and dragged their anchors all around. I could imagine fish dodging anchors like incoming artillery shells. Boats that anchored 30 feet in front of us ended up 30 feet behind. We quietly deployed our fenders and had brief conversations with other boaters as they slowly drifted pass.
Finally, everyone was set and as dusk fell fireworks opened up all around. We counted eleven places where they were setting off fireworks. Then, at 9:30, they did the big show and we were right underneath them. It was like being in a theatre with 3-D glasses on. Just great!
The next morning we headed out the inlet and in calm winds, motored north toward the St. Marys Inlet in Georgia. Late in the morning, we spotted something floating in the water and moved closer to investigate. It turned out to be a bunch of mylar party balloons. John fished them out with the boat hook only to see another bunch soon after which we also retrieved. These balloons reek havoc on fish and turtles who ingest them (after they deflate, I hope) and end up dying as a result.
Having done our good deed, of course, we were soon punished. Sometimes I think that we all act within a kind of moral climate with good and evil weather gradients and patterns. When good is done it creates something like a low pressure area of goodness that causes the winds of Fate to blow bad from an adjoining high pressure area of badness to achieve some form of balance. You have to do little good deeds as you go along or the good and evil pressure variant will get so great that you have the equivalent of a moral hurricane. On the other hand, it may be that I've been out in the sun too much.
Anyway, as we began heading up the St. Mary's River to our planned anchorage, the wind picked up to over 20 knots. Then we started hearing ominous noises from the transmission. Before John could investigate, however, our depth meter sounded the shallow water alarm! We were well within the channel but the depth quickly went from 8' under the keel to 5 to 3 to 2 to "I think we're stuck!" The wind now gusting to 25 began blowing us closer to shore and the shallow water as John tried to back us out. No luck. The transmission was slipping and we had no reverse. About then, a pretty little canal boat that had been following us (probably thinking that we knew what we were doing) approached between us and the shore. He ignored John's attempts to get his attention to both our plight and his impending grounding. The captain of the canal boat motored right past without a glance at us and promptly ran aground! That's when John noticed the steam coming out of our engine room! A quick check of the temperature gauge showed that we weren't overheating, but even I realized that this wasn't a good thing. John bolted to the engine room to find jets of water shooting out of the hose to the engine raw water pump. The steam was from water hitting the hot engine. We shut the engine down. The water leak was from a hose clamp that had been installed by the boat yard when they had replaced the raw water pump the day before. John attempted to tighten it. A quarter turn of the screw found the clamp resting in John's hand. It had broken completely off! While John installed a new clamp and added transmission fluid (the forward seal was leaking as badly as ever), Live Now was being pushed further into shallower water. Within 10 minutes, however, the engine is running and we have both forward and reverse. Still, we're stuck and the tide is about to ebb. John then raised the fores'l, the boat heeled (reducing the draft), twisted to port and ever so slowly began to move. Twenty minutes later we're anchored opposite the town of St. Mary's.
At least we thought we would have cold food, since the boat yard had repaired that just before we left ~ but, alas, apparently our good deed had not been sufficiently punished and the generator quit working. In case you think these things are just the province of older boats like ours (she is an '81), I will tell you that we have met people with boats old and new, and it is always the same story. May as well have an older boat, it's all the same. Like old people comparing medical ailments and bowel movements, cruisers talk endlessly about boat repairs (Sometimes little things like, "I'm just not getting the flow I need out of my bilge pump." Or, "Tell me about it. I don't know what to do about this stuck seacock." To more serious "Have you ever had to deal with a delamination issue?").
There is nothing in the the way of support services in St. Mary's, Georgia. Very cute little town with a couple of restaurants and some beautiful streets with well-kept houses, but no store, no gas station, no ATM and no repair facility. You can get ice and beer. A call to the Camachee Cove Boat Yard in St. Augustine confirmed that they would stand behind their work (It might have more appropriate if they would 'swim alongside' instead of 'stand behind' their work!). They offered to send a man up to St. Marys. However, there wouldn't be much he could do. The transmission would have to be pulled again. That meant returning the boat to St. Augustine. To do that we needed transmission fluid. With no supply store in town, we walked 4-mile round trips to the gas station outside of town to carry as much transmission fluid as we could for the return trip to St. Augustine. I'll tell you, I have never sweat so much in my life. Hopefully, this is a weight-loss regime that will bear results.
We spent the rest of the weekend in the St. Mary's area, and since it was on the way back to St. Augustine, we motored over to Cumberland Island for Sunday afternoon. If you haven't been there, what a beautiful place. Cumberland Island is a National Seashore and Park, one of the few remaining undeveloped outer bank islands. It had once been the home of Thomas Carnegie, brother of Andrew. The Carnegies built Dungeness Mansion on the site where General Nathaniel Greene had once lived. As you may know, General Greene commanded the southern army under George Washington during the American War for Independence. In gratitude for his service, the state of Georgia gave land on Cumberland Island to General Greene. Nathaniel Greene was from Rhode Island, and we know a descendant of Nathaniel's brother and have been to his old house, sat in Nathaniel's chair, held George Washington's sword and his rifle that he used to train recruits, etc. (but that's another story). Nathaniel Greene had used his own money during the Revolution to feed and supply his troops with the idea that he would be reimbursed. Never happened. He forgot to get receipts or something. That left him bankrupt. If it hadn't been for the appreciation shown him by the state of Georgia, he wouldn't have had anything. As it was, he died broke, two years after receiving his land grant. His wife, Catherine, bravely carried on, but her second husband also died, leaving her destitute, and then the house burned down. No justice! See what I mean about the good/bad pressure varient? Long after that, the Carnegie family bought most of the island and created several amazing mansions for their extended family, one of which stood on the ashes of the Green estate. This also burned, not quite to the ground. By the 1970s, with most of the seacoast and islands being developed, those living on Cumberland, including the Carnegies, donated their holdings to create the National Seashore and National Park. It is well worth the time to visit. We saw wild horses, turkey, armadillo, and deer who just weren't afraid of us.
The next morning, we began our trip down the Intracoastal Waterway back to St. Augustine for further repairs. There was no wind, so we had to motor (adding that trusty transmission fluid every couple of hours). They took us back in at the boatyard the following morning and we began the whole process all over again. This time, we sent the transmission up to Jacksonville to have it checked out, so we are sure we are doing everything necessary. As it turns out, the bearings are shot and have to be replaced. The worn bearing allowed the shaft to move, breaking the seal and leaking. Now, why didn't we learn this the first time?
We left St. Augustine on Saturday, July 5, after an evening of spectacular fireworks in the St. Augustine harbor. They had finished our work on the boat (the first time) on July 3 and we decided to stay for the fireworks. We left the marina and anchored in 14 feet of water on the Anastasia Island side of the river just north of the Bridge of the Lions and near where the fireworks barge was moored. We had a ring-side seat. When we first anchored, we were completely alone, all the other boats having anchored on the city side, the traditional anchorage. However, as evening approached, so did a flotilla of spectator boats. Close quarter anchoring in a 4 knot current presents challenges, even for the sober. So, we quickly moved from 'relaxed waiting mode' to 'alert watching mode' as boat after boat dropped and dragged their anchors all around. I could imagine fish dodging anchors like incoming artillery shells. Boats that anchored 30 feet in front of us ended up 30 feet behind. We quietly deployed our fenders and had brief conversations with other boaters as they slowly drifted pass.
Finally, everyone was set and as dusk fell fireworks opened up all around. We counted eleven places where they were setting off fireworks. Then, at 9:30, they did the big show and we were right underneath them. It was like being in a theatre with 3-D glasses on. Just great!
The next morning we headed out the inlet and in calm winds, motored north toward the St. Marys Inlet in Georgia. Late in the morning, we spotted something floating in the water and moved closer to investigate. It turned out to be a bunch of mylar party balloons. John fished them out with the boat hook only to see another bunch soon after which we also retrieved. These balloons reek havoc on fish and turtles who ingest them (after they deflate, I hope) and end up dying as a result.
Having done our good deed, of course, we were soon punished. Sometimes I think that we all act within a kind of moral climate with good and evil weather gradients and patterns. When good is done it creates something like a low pressure area of goodness that causes the winds of Fate to blow bad from an adjoining high pressure area of badness to achieve some form of balance. You have to do little good deeds as you go along or the good and evil pressure variant will get so great that you have the equivalent of a moral hurricane. On the other hand, it may be that I've been out in the sun too much.
Anyway, as we began heading up the St. Mary's River to our planned anchorage, the wind picked up to over 20 knots. Then we started hearing ominous noises from the transmission. Before John could investigate, however, our depth meter sounded the shallow water alarm! We were well within the channel but the depth quickly went from 8' under the keel to 5 to 3 to 2 to "I think we're stuck!" The wind now gusting to 25 began blowing us closer to shore and the shallow water as John tried to back us out. No luck. The transmission was slipping and we had no reverse. About then, a pretty little canal boat that had been following us (probably thinking that we knew what we were doing) approached between us and the shore. He ignored John's attempts to get his attention to both our plight and his impending grounding. The captain of the canal boat motored right past without a glance at us and promptly ran aground! That's when John noticed the steam coming out of our engine room! A quick check of the temperature gauge showed that we weren't overheating, but even I realized that this wasn't a good thing. John bolted to the engine room to find jets of water shooting out of the hose to the engine raw water pump. The steam was from water hitting the hot engine. We shut the engine down. The water leak was from a hose clamp that had been installed by the boat yard when they had replaced the raw water pump the day before. John attempted to tighten it. A quarter turn of the screw found the clamp resting in John's hand. It had broken completely off! While John installed a new clamp and added transmission fluid (the forward seal was leaking as badly as ever), Live Now was being pushed further into shallower water. Within 10 minutes, however, the engine is running and we have both forward and reverse. Still, we're stuck and the tide is about to ebb. John then raised the fores'l, the boat heeled (reducing the draft), twisted to port and ever so slowly began to move. Twenty minutes later we're anchored opposite the town of St. Mary's.
At least we thought we would have cold food, since the boat yard had repaired that just before we left ~ but, alas, apparently our good deed had not been sufficiently punished and the generator quit working. In case you think these things are just the province of older boats like ours (she is an '81), I will tell you that we have met people with boats old and new, and it is always the same story. May as well have an older boat, it's all the same. Like old people comparing medical ailments and bowel movements, cruisers talk endlessly about boat repairs (Sometimes little things like, "I'm just not getting the flow I need out of my bilge pump." Or, "Tell me about it. I don't know what to do about this stuck seacock." To more serious "Have you ever had to deal with a delamination issue?").
There is nothing in the the way of support services in St. Mary's, Georgia. Very cute little town with a couple of restaurants and some beautiful streets with well-kept houses, but no store, no gas station, no ATM and no repair facility. You can get ice and beer. A call to the Camachee Cove Boat Yard in St. Augustine confirmed that they would stand behind their work (It might have more appropriate if they would 'swim alongside' instead of 'stand behind' their work!). They offered to send a man up to St. Marys. However, there wouldn't be much he could do. The transmission would have to be pulled again. That meant returning the boat to St. Augustine. To do that we needed transmission fluid. With no supply store in town, we walked 4-mile round trips to the gas station outside of town to carry as much transmission fluid as we could for the return trip to St. Augustine. I'll tell you, I have never sweat so much in my life. Hopefully, this is a weight-loss regime that will bear results.
We spent the rest of the weekend in the St. Mary's area, and since it was on the way back to St. Augustine, we motored over to Cumberland Island for Sunday afternoon. If you haven't been there, what a beautiful place. Cumberland Island is a National Seashore and Park, one of the few remaining undeveloped outer bank islands. It had once been the home of Thomas Carnegie, brother of Andrew. The Carnegies built Dungeness Mansion on the site where General Nathaniel Greene had once lived. As you may know, General Greene commanded the southern army under George Washington during the American War for Independence. In gratitude for his service, the state of Georgia gave land on Cumberland Island to General Greene. Nathaniel Greene was from Rhode Island, and we know a descendant of Nathaniel's brother and have been to his old house, sat in Nathaniel's chair, held George Washington's sword and his rifle that he used to train recruits, etc. (but that's another story). Nathaniel Greene had used his own money during the Revolution to feed and supply his troops with the idea that he would be reimbursed. Never happened. He forgot to get receipts or something. That left him bankrupt. If it hadn't been for the appreciation shown him by the state of Georgia, he wouldn't have had anything. As it was, he died broke, two years after receiving his land grant. His wife, Catherine, bravely carried on, but her second husband also died, leaving her destitute, and then the house burned down. No justice! See what I mean about the good/bad pressure varient? Long after that, the Carnegie family bought most of the island and created several amazing mansions for their extended family, one of which stood on the ashes of the Green estate. This also burned, not quite to the ground. By the 1970s, with most of the seacoast and islands being developed, those living on Cumberland, including the Carnegies, donated their holdings to create the National Seashore and National Park. It is well worth the time to visit. We saw wild horses, turkey, armadillo, and deer who just weren't afraid of us.
The next morning, we began our trip down the Intracoastal Waterway back to St. Augustine for further repairs. There was no wind, so we had to motor (adding that trusty transmission fluid every couple of hours). They took us back in at the boatyard the following morning and we began the whole process all over again. This time, we sent the transmission up to Jacksonville to have it checked out, so we are sure we are doing everything necessary. As it turns out, the bearings are shot and have to be replaced. The worn bearing allowed the shaft to move, breaking the seal and leaking. Now, why didn't we learn this the first time?
Manatee Camachee Cove Marina, St. Augustine
Several manatee frequented the marina where we stayed. Note the white scars from close encounters with boat props.
St. Augustine...Once Again
We have been in a boatyard in St. Augustine, now, for about a week, having the transmission worked on. They are just about done. The forward seal leaks allowing fluid into the bell housing. To replace it, the transmission has to be removed and the engine blocked up somehow. Very labor intensive (read expensive). Also, they don't make this transmission anymore so if it fails somewhere down the line or if we damaged it by running low on fluid, it may have to be trashed. A new transmission would require a modification to the shaft and other changes running the cost up to make a new engine seem a viable option. So, what to do? We decided to just replace the seal. There's been no indication that the transmission has been damaged and the engine has been very dependable. It doesn't use oil and has only 3700 hours on it (maybe 20,000 miles). The Boat Yard here at Cammache Island Marine, has impressed us with its competence and we're able to make use of the resort facilities at no cost until the work is completed.
As a result, we have been running errands, taking walks, checking out a museum, eating out, reading, doing maintenance, watching some tv (mostly the Wimbledon championships), and enjoying this great town. The marina has a couple of courtesy cars, so we can go shopping without having to just buy what we can carry. They also have a very nice lounge and a laundry. The best part about the marina, however, is the manatee which comes around periodically. When I first saw it, it took a minute to figure out what it was. So big! So slow! It was meandering along the dock I was walking on, and stopped to munch on some plant life there. When I reached down to pet it, I saw several scars from boat props along its back. I guess they have a hard time getting out of the way. There are also schools of mullet that jump clear of the water night and day. One of the yard workers assured us that they are jumping because they’re happy.
We plan to leave here just before the 4th of July weekend and head for a slip we have rented in Brunswick, Georgia, for the summer. We will hang out there, do some more work on the boat, and head up to Ohio to visit.
As a result, we have been running errands, taking walks, checking out a museum, eating out, reading, doing maintenance, watching some tv (mostly the Wimbledon championships), and enjoying this great town. The marina has a couple of courtesy cars, so we can go shopping without having to just buy what we can carry. They also have a very nice lounge and a laundry. The best part about the marina, however, is the manatee which comes around periodically. When I first saw it, it took a minute to figure out what it was. So big! So slow! It was meandering along the dock I was walking on, and stopped to munch on some plant life there. When I reached down to pet it, I saw several scars from boat props along its back. I guess they have a hard time getting out of the way. There are also schools of mullet that jump clear of the water night and day. One of the yard workers assured us that they are jumping because they’re happy.
We plan to leave here just before the 4th of July weekend and head for a slip we have rented in Brunswick, Georgia, for the summer. We will hang out there, do some more work on the boat, and head up to Ohio to visit.
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