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.  We spent the long Fourth of July weekend in the boatyard.

Friday, July 3

The day before the Fourth of July was a holiday for the boatyard workers.  Consequently, I got a really good parking space right next to the travel lift. 

The outside temperature was in the upper 90’s in the afternoon.  Our boat’s A/C was running almost constantly (to hold the inside temperature under 75 degrees) until late into the evening.

I downloaded a guide for my new-to-me Nikon D-750 camera today and spent most of the day reading it and making camera adjustments.  Some of the adjustments I made were: (1) setting the Picture Control to VIVID with some increased saturation, contrast, and sharpness, (2) increasing the exposure by one full f-stop after testing, (3) increasing the brightness on the LCD display, and (4) adjusting the number and location of focus points.  I am really impressed with this 24 mega-pixel DSLR camera!  (I plan to take some pics around the boatyard tomorrow.)

The downloaded guide for
my new-to-me camera.

Maggie arrived at the boat (back from Tennessee) at 3 PM.  After unpacking her things, we returned the rental car to Enterprise in Annapolis and then went out for a delicious dinner at Italian Market, one of our favorite casual restaurants.  (Face masks were required to enter the restaurant and every other table was blocked from usage to obtain the required 6-feet of social distancing.  All the staff wore face masks and latex gloves.  I’m so glad that Maryland has been so strict on pandemic measures and was one of the few states bending the curve downward before partially reopening.)

Saturday, July 4

When we eventually got moving in the morning (around 9 AM) the outside temperature was only 78 degrees and the sky was partly cloudy.   A 7-knot breeze was coming from the northeast.  It was certainly the most unusual July Fourth we have ever experienced--we haven't even arrived at our summer base (Baltimore) yet!

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I have been hesitant to start any major boat projects because I might not be able to complete them before leaving the boatyard.  Our dingy's outboard is still being serviced--they didn't find anything wrong with the raw water cooling system, even though it failed in the Exumas.  I instructed them to look further.

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I captured the following images around the boatyard today:

A beautiful old wooden sailboat
that was being restored. I
think it was decaying
just as quickly.

A loose collection of heads
from jack stands used
in the boatyard to
support hauled
boats.

Standing riggings on sailboats docked 
along Tenthouse Creek. (Royal 
blue, on the boat in the 
foreground, is the most popular
color of boat canvas.)

Sunday, July 5

A warm southerly breeze rippled the water’s surface as I sat watching Lola during her outdoor time.  The outside temperature was 77 degrees and the sky was partly cloudy.  She couldn’t resist all the birds (lots of barn swallows, a green heron, and a pair of ducks) that came by to protest her presence.  She got off the boat and onto the dock twice—she knows that she’s not supposed to do this!

The scene from our cockpit on
Sunday morning, July 5. The
colorful small sailboats on
the hard were from a
local summer camp.

There seemed to be a weather system to our south as a large bank of dark clouds gathered over the old ice house (which is now the boatyard office and storeroom), although the chance of rain today was only 20%.

In the morning I cleaned the raw water strainer for our A/C (which I do weekly).  As always, I put a bromine tablet in the strainer basket to keep marine growth out of the raw water-side my A/C unit.  It was also time to change the fresh water filter (which I do quarterly)—the old one was pretty dirty (brown).

Our day was easy and relaxing.  We didn't accomplish much but it was Sunday after all.

Incidentally, all the photographs in this blogpost were taken with my new-to-me Nikon D-750.  I reduced the pixels to fit into a blogpost easier.  I absolutely love this camera!  One particular feature I like is the articulated LCD screen which can be used in Live View mode to get shots from very lower points of view.  I also love the detail in the 24 megapixel images (about 5 MB in size).  This camera is a wee bit smaller and lighter than my previous camera (D-700).  

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Please stay tuned for the reinstallation of our boat's transmission and the remainder of our trip home.  Stay healthy and safe!

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