2010 was a very relaxing season #10 aboard Island Spirit with only 500 miles traveled. We decided to stay on the Chesapeake Bay all summer, and not sail up to New England like we have for the past 7 summers.
Chessie gets her christening name and signal flags
The FLEET is LAUNCHED! Since we are staying in our home port this summer and not sailing off to New England or Maine, we decided to launch out “Chesapeake 22” power boat and dock it next to Island Spirit! This will provide endless hours of tubing, harbor cruises, IP yacht photography and maybe even some Stripe Bass Fishing. We bought this boat back in 1999 when the stock market was on a tear, and we made a few quick trades and sure enough, we landed this boat. She has been under a shrink wrap for the past two summers, but this spring, we hired Mr. Miller, of Miller Marine Services to bust her out, service her and get her back in the water for 2010. She is running better than ever, she has a 115 HP Mariner Outboard on an extended arm called a strong arm which makes here seem longer. She cruises easily at 32 Knots and will pull a two man tube as well. We can be in Baltimore or Annapolis faster than by car, but mainly we just play locally. So if you are in the area, sailing by we will come out and take some high quality digital photographs of your Island Packet Yacht. Give us a call or an email....Maybe you will make our Island Packet Sailing Calendar!Here are some photos of “our Fleet”
This is Chessie
It is a "Chesapeake 22", it is our Photo Platform and "fun" boat.
Radeen loves taking Chessie out for a sunset cruise
Next....we launch the TUBE....as soon as Mark & Tanner Man from AZ get here!
It is about time we get this blog back up and running after a long cold winter with 3 blizzards! Now, after 2 months of prep work we are finally launched and in the slip. This year we replaced the entire sewer system with new hoses, new holding tank, and a new PHII head. We also decided to try another "science" project with the bottom paint. Since we use Pettit Trinidad hard bottom paint, we decided to see if it really will NOT work if we do not repaint. The company says it will not work if in the yard over the winter! OK, prove it. So, we painted only one foot down from the waterline on both sides and then as a control side, we sanded the rest of the bottom. But, we only sanded one side leaving the other side untouched. My idea is that the copper is still there and sanding will expose new anti-fouling. The untouched side will be our control side, so we will have all options covered for this study. We only used one quart this year! Worst case, we hire a diver to clean it. We will see.
Our "Science" project, painting 1 foot, and going with old
Working the Teak, note cover left on an extra 4 weeks!
New Plumbing Installed, new Odor Safe Plus, new tank, new PHII
Finally, after 4 weeks of yard work, we are LAUNCHED
Provided here is a summary of all the individual legs we ran on our summer sail 2009 from Rock Hall, MD to Mt. Desert Maine and back. We were gone for 58 days, had a dock for 2 days at the end of the trip in Cape May NJ, but all the other days were on mooring balls or on anchor. The goal this year was to travel via NYC and Long Island Sound anchoring every night and avoiding the overnight passages. Coming home we made the usual ocean run from Block Island, RI to Cape May, NJ, for a 30 hr passage of 203 miles. Other than that, we make simple day hops from harbor to harbor all the way to Maine and Back. The hardest aspect of any trip is...."Leaving the Dock!" Once out there, "If it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there" so that's when you deal with it....| Date | From | To | Miles |
| 6/20/2009 | Rock Hall, MD | C&D Engineers Cove | 35.6 |
| 6/21/2009 | C&D Engineers Cove | Cape May NJ | 65.1 |
| 6/22/2009 | Cape May NJ | Atlantic City NJ | 37.7 |
| 6/23/2009 | Atlantic City NJ | Atlantic Highlands NJ | 82 |
| 6/24/2009 | Atlantic Highlands | Layday | 0 |
| 6/25/2009 | Atlantic Highlands | Port Washington, NY | 35.8 |
| 6/26/2009 | Pt Washington NY | Milford CT | 40.4 |
| 6/27/2009 | Milford CT | Watch Hill RI | 55.4 |
| 6/28/2009 | Watch Hill RI | Layday | 0 |
| 6/29/2009 | Watch Hill RI | Pt Judith / Dutch Hbr RI | 36.2 |
| 6/30/2009 | Dutch Harbor RI | Cuttyhunk RI | 26.1 |
| 7/1/2009 | Cuttyhunk MA | Pocasset MA | 21.6 |
| 7/2/2009 | Pocasset MA | Scituate MA | 52.9 |
| 7/3/2009 | Scituate | Layday | 0 |
| 7/4/2009 | Scituate | Layday | 0 |
| 7/5/2009 | Scituate | Marblehead MA | 20.3 |
| 7/6/2009 | Marblehead MA | Kittery ME | 41.9 |
| 7/7/2009 | Kittery ME | Layday | 0 |
| 7/8/2009 | Kittery ME | Portland ME | 47.5 |
| 7/9/2009 | Portland ME | Layday | 0 |
| 7/10/2009 | Portland ME | Layday | 0 |
| 7/11/2009 | Portland ME | Layday | 0 |
| 7/12/2009 | Portland ME | Layday | 0 |
| 7/13/2009 | Portland ME | Boothbay ME | 35 |
| 7/14/2009 | Boothbay ME | Vinalhaven ME | 43.3 |
| 7/15/2009 | Vinalhaven ME | NE Harbor ME, Mt Desert | 35.6 |
| 7/16/2009 | Northeast Harbor ME | Layday | 0 |
| 7/17/2009 | Northeast Harbor ME | Layday | 0 |
| 7/18/2009 | Northeast Harbor ME | Layday | 0 |
| 7/19/2009 | Northeast Harbor ME | Someville ME | 6.5 |
| 7/20/2009 | Somesville ME | Cranberry Islands ME | 8.1 |
| 7/21/2009 | Canberry Isl | Someville ME | 8.1 |
| 7/22/2009 | Somesville ME | Buck Harbor ME | 31.8 |
| 7/23/2009 | Bucks Harbor ME | Camden ME | 18.4 |
| 7/24/2009 | Camden ME | Layday | 0 |
| 7/25/2009 | Camden ME | Pulpit Harbor, Vinalhaven | 8.1 |
| 7/26/2009 | Pulpit Harbor ME | Winter Harbor ME | 15.8 |
| 7/27/2009 | Winter Harbor ME | North Haven Vinalhaven | 4.8 |
| 7/28/2009 | Northhaven ME | Rockland ME | 9.6 |
| 7/29/2009 | Rockland ME | Boothbay ME | 39.5 |
| 7/30/2009 | Boothbay ME | Layday | 0 |
| 7/31/2009 | Boothbay ME | Norm Pierce Rendezvous | 0 |
| 8/1/2009 | Boothbay ME | Norm Pierce Rendezvous | 0 |
| 8/2/2009 | Boothbay ME | Norm Pierce Rendezvous | 0 |
| 8/3/2009 | Boothbay ME | Rockport MA | 83.9 |
| 8/4/2009 | Rockport MA | Cuttyhunk RI | 85.4 |
| 8/5/2009 | Cuttyhunk MA | Block Island RI | 36.3 |
| 8/6/2009 | Block Island RI | Layday | 0 |
| 8/7/2009 | Block Island RI | BLISS Rendezvous | 0 |
| 8/8/2009 | Block Island RI | BLISS Rendezvous | 0 |
| 8/9/2009 | Block Island RI | BLISS Rendezvous | 0 |
| 8/10/2009 | Block Island RI | Layday | 0 |
| 8/11/2009 | Block Island RI | Layday | 0 |
| 8/12/2009 | Block Island RI | Cape May NJ | 203.3 |
| 8/13/2009 | Ocean Pasage | Cape May NJ | 0 |
| 8/14/2009 | Cape May NJ | Layday | 0 |
| 8/15/2009 | Cape May NJ | C&D Engineers Cove | 65.1 |
| 8/16/2009 | C&D Engineers Cove | Rock Hall MD | 35.6 |
| Total NM | 1372.7 | ||
| 33 travel days avg | 41.6 | ||
| 25 laydays | |||
| 58 days total |
It has been the best summer sailing trip ever, with 1,636 miles covered to Acadia Maine and back. The trans output coupler nut held together all the way from Boothbay Maine to Rock Hall, MD. Traveling with buddy boats was fun, and added a new dimension to the cruise. We sincerely enjoyed traveling with a fleet of Island Packet friends as this add so much more to the adventures. We would do this again and we really enjoyed this "fleet" aspect of this summer.
Well, not really the trans, but the “output coupler” that bolts onto the trans, that’s what we dropped! And yes, it dropped off in one of the most remote (so it seemed to us) places in Maine, Winter Harbor on the east side of Vinalhaven. Even though we check our engine nearly every hour when running, I can see no real way I could have caught this mechanical breakdown before it happened. Yes, I did have two very slight indications a few days prior. One clue was a dripping stuffing box that needed tightening and the second was a few drops of transmission fluid, but other than that, all seemed normal in the engine room.
Of course it took from 1600hrs to 2000hrs to separate the 4 drive shaft nuts and bolts as they were nearly frozen onto the threads. I used PB blaster and took it easy backing the nuts and tapping on them and re-treading them being careful NOT to shear one of these bolts holding the drive shaft to the coupler. By 2000hrs I had it all apart, and found the coupler nut in what appeared to be near perfect condition except for a major dent in the outer threads. This dent I assumed happened when the nut fell off and it seemed this dent was preventing me from spinning the nut on in what I thought was the correct direction. I tried to tap the dent out and I tried to open the dent to free the threads, but nothing worked. I did discover that the nut would thread on in what I thought was the opposite way, and that became the only way I could re-assemble this coupler.
So, the plan was set, we would re-assemble this nut, in a reverse direction, hoping that it would get us back to Boothbay where we could take care of a proper repair. At 0600hrs the next morning, we re-assembled the transmissions output coupler and used a pair of 90 degree bent needle nose pliers to tighten it the best we could. Of course I was working in tight conditions and standing on my head, but we were able to tap on the bolts notches and tighten the nut a bit. Our plan was to run in forward only, as reverse would be pulling on the nut and possibly loosen it again. Who needs reverse anyway?! (Note, this is right handed nut, normal threads with a right handed prop. So a quick change from forward into reverse could loosen the nut.)
The output coupler nut, is notched and needs a special tool
Our "special tool" 90 degree needle nose pliers used to tighten
Output Coupler and the nut
Winter Harbor on Vinalhaven Maine, a beautiful place...
