The Blur....

......That Was The The Month of February

A word to the wise:  Never get bad news about your boat on a Friday.  

This allows 48 hours for predictions of doom and gloom to bombard you over and over while you sit helplessly waiting for any potential source of assistance, guidance, hope, or even just plain FACTS to reopen for business on Monday.   

Sheesh!

If we had quarter for every time we were told between Friday night and Monday morning that it was going to take MONTHS to just locate (forget install) a replacement transmission for Irish Lass, it would have paid for the required parts.

Sheesh!

Following a weekend of WAY too much doom and WAY to much helpful "advice", Monday morning we buckled down and attacked our problems head on.  Commadore Kathleen opened discussions with Faro Blanco about our situation, seeking some additional days of dockage.    The marina manager, while sympathetic, continued to plead over-crowding. (One couple we met there, John and Bonnie on Stow Away IV, even offered to vacate their slip and go anchor down the keys for a week to help make space for us.)

Wade verified our spec's and crankled up the laptop and phone to look for a transmission, leveraging every contact, forum, hint, and rumour he could find.  Following lead after  lead met with disappointment, as the right combination of model, gear ratio, and shift mechanism proved elusive. 

BUT!

All dire predictions aside, by noon we had both an additional week of time at Faro Blanco (courtesy of  Commadoe Kathleen's pursuasive charm and a no-show reservation) AND a brand new transmission to our specification in Somerset, NJ.  (courtesy of Adam at Mack Booring and Parts, Inc).    We bought the latter almost without asking the price (it was expensive) and had it shipped to Marathon Boat Yard, conveniently located right across the road from Faro Blanco.  Naysayers, negaters, and doom merchants  BE GONE!

On Feb 4th, we cautiously moved Irish Lass around (on the port engine only) to the Atlantic side of Marathon to a side-tie slot in the basin at Marathon Boat Yard, assisted by Looper captains Dallas from After Hours and Joe from La Vida.  John and Bonnie from Stow Away IV  escorted us in their center  console RIB in case we needed any tug services.   (Loopers helping Loopers.  Boaters helping Boaters.  Amen!)  With Irish Lass secured and the Key West mechanics engaged, we grabbed a rental car and retreated to the shore-side accomodation to once again become C.L.O.D.'s (Cruisers Living On Dirt.)  

Quickly we found, however, that there were consequences to hiring our mechanics from Key West, Volvo affiliation notwithstanding.  First, it became immediately apparent that this was their first assignment to remove a transmission from a Cruiser 455.  Clearly, they were devising their methods as they went along and had underestimated the task. In their defense, we found very few others who had ever attempted it or even thought it possible without first removing  the 1,900 lb engine, including the folks at Cruisers Yachts themselves.  Wade was able to locate a Volvo shop in North Carolina who offered some tips, which he passed on to our mechanics.  

The long arm of the Boat Yard

Open Wide!

On deck and ready to hoist!

Thar She Blows!

Second, all of their tech's were dispatched from their Key West shop.  In their post-pandemic, Semi-tropical work ethic world, this means they would arrive at Irish Lass at 10-10:30 and depart for home at 4-4:30.   So instead of 8 hour days and maybe a little (OMG!) overtime, our work progressed in 5-6 hour efforts. 

Third, as time passed, we became a lessor priority to their "regular" customers.  So not only were the work days shorter, they became less frequent as techs were diverted to other assignments.  Again in their defense, this was not the first time we had experienced this in seeking repairs to Irish Lass while Looping.  As a transient boater, we sometimes found ourselves relegated to transaction status with providers in favor of repeat relationship customers.  The experiences ranged fromm benign neglect to outright shoddy or incorrect work.   And three weeks and 300 miles further along the Loop, your recourse evaporates unless you are willing the further interrupt your journey in seeking redress.  (Heavy Sigh)

We made sure we were at the boat every day to monitor progress, but tried not to interfere with the actual work.  The level of disassembly on the starboard engine was substantial.  Removal of the heat exchanger, intercooler, turbocharger, intake manifold, and exhaust system were required in order to extract the transmission from its hidey hole aft of the engine.  This is turn required replacing all the seals, gaskets, groments, and O-rings required to reinstall these components (Which further  reinforced our choice of an authorized Volvo shop to do the work.) 

Suffice to say the work progressed MUCH more slowly than we hoped.  And we developed a love-hate relationship with our mechanics.  But both they and we perserviered.  We filled our time by acting as unofficial harbor hosts for Loopers arriving in Marathon, offering rides to grocery stores, trips to nearby attractions and , in one case, a ride to Miami so a fellow Looper could purchase a new car.  Our exploration of local sites and shopping also continued.  We eventually moved from the Hampton Inn to an AirBNB home in Key Colony Beach, a bedroom suburb of Marathon, where we enjoyed broadband streaming a full size kitchen, and pleasant neighborhood walks with fur-Admiral Maggie.  

Future shoe shopping? 

Manatee visitor at Key Colony Beach

Odd looking squrriels in the Keys.....

After three weeks of work (and delays) it FINA::Y came time to wrap up the project.  Everything was pretty much re-installed .  And with the assistance of the guys at the local NAPA store, we finally had the fittings to connect the set of locally-made oil hoses to our new transmission and oil cooler. The initial startup dockside went well and the new transmission shifted normally, both forward and reverse.   But a short seatrial revealed that the oil pressure in the new transmission was now WAY TOO HIGH, imperiling its internal seals.

WHAT!?  

HUH!?

It turns out the the locally-sourced replacement hoses that we work so hard to adapt were the wrong diameter (too small), causing oil to back up between the oil pump and cooler, spiking the pressure gauge and likely starving the downstream components for lubrication.   After reinstalling the original larger diameter hoses, pressures returned to normal.   So, after all this drama and all this time and all this work, we ended up going forward with the original hoses.  Which showed no sign of leaking.  Go figure............

Anyway..........

After two days of cleaning up after the mechanics and reprovisioning, WE FINALLY GOT BACK ON THE WATER ON FEBURARY 26TH, departing Marathon and navigating the Hawk Channel east by north to Key Largo. 

YAY!   

The weather was perfect, the seas were calm and the water was deep (in FL this means < 10 ft).  After negotiating the Largo canal and the infamous "Crash Corner", we settled into a slip at Marina del Mar.  Nothing leaked. Nothing broke. The boat ran perfectly. And we were SO releaved. 

Our plan for the next day was to make our way through Biscayne Bay, enter the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway at Miami,  and make our way to Ft Lauderdale.   We anticipated a long day of over 70 miles involving several bridges and no-wake zones, so we got an early start.  The weather was gorgeous and we were excited to see the beautiful homes and skyline of Florida's most populous region.  

And then.....

Just off the north end of Key Biscayne.....

On a warm sun-shiny day....

Who would have guessed....?

ICE! 

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