Transmission Transition on Tenthouse Creek

—Blogpost written by Bob

Our layover in Galesville was caused by problems with our v-drive transmission--there was a very long delay in shifting into forward and there was significant leakage of transmission fluid from the seal nearest the engine.  This layover began on Sunday, June 14 in Hartge's Yacht Yard on Tenthouse Creek.  Our transmission was eventually pulled from the boat on June 23, nine days later, during a short haul.  The transmission rebuild is now expected to be completed on Thursday, July 2, but reinstallation is not expected to occur until Monday, July 6 because of the July 4th holiday.

Tuesday, June 30

I drove to our marina in Baltimore in the morning to pick up some more packages that arrived: our spare propane sensor, the replacement HELLA-brand fan, Maggie’s new fit-flops, and two pairs of new gym shorts I purchased.

I dropped by the main Verizon store in Annapolis on my way back from Baltimore because my relatively new iPhone has not worked up to my expectations (in terms of the hot spot effectiveness).  The Verizon store in Annapolis was available by appointment only and the next available appointment was on Monday, July 6 because of the severe COVID-19 restrictions in place.  However, the Verizon guy at the door told me he thought my problem was probably a “weak SIM card” and that the Verizon store in Edgewater was accepting walk-ins and could change my SIM card.  So, I stopped at the Edgewater store.  At this store, I had to sign in to their system and then wait in my car for a text message to enter the store.  (While at this store I had 4 bars of coverage.)

The Verizon customer service guy in Edgewater never heard of a "weak SIM card" but gladly took my $10 and changed out the SIM card.  He also reset my account. 

On an iPhone like mine, the 
SIM card is accessed using
a very small drawer on 
the right side,

When I got back to the boat in Galesville I had only 2 bars coverage just like I did previously.  However, the difficulty I previously had using my hot spot was gone!  Changing the SIM card solved my problem!  (Days later my problem with my hot spot reoccurred.)  During the evening, I got caught up on some YouTube videos I subscribe to and enjoyed my new found reliable internet connection.

Wednesday, July 1

The morning started out with an overcast sky.  The temperature was moderate, not nearly as hot as it had been.  In the afternoon, a brief thunderstorm rumbled through the boatyard.

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I got caught up on the news in the morning, finally having a good solid internet connection with my new SIM card.  The news was not good with two more crises spinning out of control: the COVID-19 pandemic surges in 19 states and the Russian bounty on the deaths of U.S. service members in Afghanistan.

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I decided to replace the interior ventilation fan in the navigation station in the morning (or what remained of the morning).

The old ventilation fan in
the navigation station.

The old fan was a white HELLA-brand single-speed fan that I think is no longer manufactured--it was weak and noisy and the fan blade kept coming loose.  I replaced it with a white 2-speed HELLA-brand Turbo fan which is quieter and moves a lot more air.

The new HELLA-brand 2-speed
Turbo fan moves a lot more air.

I think I had more summer projects on my list than I could complete in what was left of the summer.  I had 41 projects remaining on my "to do" list--it was time to prioritize and re-organize.  I went through the entire list of projects and moved eleven of them to the fall, not just to postpone them but to take advantage of cooler weather.  (An example of a project moved to the fall is the refinishing of our teak toe rail--it is much easier to do in the fall's cooler weather.)  I completely eliminated another project and got my list of summer projects down to 29.  The list still seems somewhat daunting, particularly as slow as I've been working.

The second thunderstorm of the
day rumbled through the
boatyard at 5 PM.

Thursday, July 2

Today was a beautiful day, sunny but not too hot.  

s/v Rainy Days has been in this position
for several weeks now.

Just before lunch, I talked to Luke, the boatyard manager, about whether a DriveSaver would be an advantage for our boat (since we have had a lot of drive train issues over the past five years).  He told me he would talk to his mechanics about it and get back to me soon.  After reading more about them online, the drive saver is intended to break before a shaft or transmission but it IS one more thing to break.

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I just discovered why my iPhone isn't been ringing for the past several days--Silent Mode was turned on by accident somehow.

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During the day I did a lot of reading--I'm currently reading John Bolton's book, In the Room Where it Happened.  Sure the book is an affirmation of Trump's arrogance and stupidity with his asking if Finland is part of Russia and questioning an official in Great Britain about them being a nuclear power.  However, the book doesn't reflect well on John Bolton either--he is not stupid, just still living in the 80's in his glory days in the Bush White House with all the other chicken hawks.  In fact, he was an enabler of Trump some of his riskier moves, like pulling out of the climate change accord and the INF treaty.  Consequently I can't recommend this book unless you are a die hard conservative.

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Please stay healthy by wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing--we'll get through this pandemic together...

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