Dan and Nancy's Travels: Breakdown on way to Palm Coast

Sunday, Nov 13

St. Augustine is a great inlet to the ocean, and today would be a lovely day for an offshore sail, but we are taking the ICW because the dinghy motor is just attached to the rail with one clamp. We were ready to leave in time for the 10:00 am bridge opening and then promptly stopped for diesel and gas at the fuel dock. 30 min later we were on our way down the ICW under beautiful blue skies, warm sunshine and both of us wearing shorts again!

Never get tired of bridge openings ...

Bridge of Lions -- She's a beaut!

It is an easy run today down the ICW to Palm Coast Marina (15 miles) where we decided to stop for the night because we had the best pizza of our lives there when we stopped back in June! Kinda a splurge but since we aren’t in a big hurry to get to Vero Beach (our next prolonged stopover) we opted for pizza!

10 miles from our goal, we were enjoying the lovely day in the cockpit when we both heard the funniest sound. Not really a sound, more of a feeling. Kinda of like we're moving, but the engine dropped out of gear. And sure enough, we had no transmission. After the requisite ‘oh no … shit … damn … f*ck…” ..... we got our wits about us and dropped anchor just as we drifted out of the channel into 10 feet of water. Not a bad spot to be stranded, except that we are 50feet from shore … way too close for comfort.

Capt Dan’s skills with transmission work end with the engine manual, which just affirmed that we have to find an expert. But where to find an expert?

Thank goodness for Tow Boat US! Esp. the unlimited coverage! It took about an hour for them to arrive, and then another couple of hours to tow us into Palm Coast Marina … but at least we already had a reservation there for the night! And the weather sure is pleasant … so all you can do is be patient in times like this, and appreciate that things could be sooooo much worse! Nothing on fire. Nobody hurt. Not raining. No wind. Not aground.

These tow boat captains do amazing work! Making it look way too easy, this little tow hooked a long bridle to us and away we went at 7 knots (with the current) down the ICW. As we reached the inlet into the Palm Coast marina, our pulse really got racing as we had to change the tow lines to make make the turn. As we drifted in the waterway, the Tow Captain retied the lines so that he was alongside our boat (all the while our depth sounder is beeping away as we get into 6-7ft of water!). We'd finish the tow with him basically being our power with Dan steering into the marina.

I asked the Captain how nervous he was ... and he replied "very".

The inlet to the marina is not very wide, nor very deep, and we were plowing into an ebb tide. To make matters more complicated, we had to make a U-turn at the last minute in order to bring Maja into the end of the dock, a mere 3 feet from the huge boat in front of us, and 100 yards from a low bridge (which would definitely take down our mast if the tow boat cannot get us turned in time). Because of the strong current, the last words from the tow Captain were: "I hope we have enough power to get her turned" .... referring to our 22,000 lb baby!

Kudos to both captains and the 6 people lining the dock to catch our lines. And trust me, we threw everything we had at them because we were a good 15 feet from the dock after we made our U turn. There was a terrifying point where we were in limbo as Maja floated away from the dock and dangerously close to the huge boat off our bow (2 feet from anchors locking!) ... and the best sound of the day was one of the men on shore shouting, "I've got the boat line" that he was able to snag from the water with a boat hook. Whew! Nothing beats that feeling that solid connection with land! After a bit of wrestling to pull Maja onto the dock, we were tied up and secure for the night.

Our bow ... and our neighbors' bow

Two anchors came two feet from meeting!

Ahhhhhhhhhh

More good news came with hearing that there was a mechanic on hand at the marina who came down right away. He does not think the problem is the transmission, but rather the "flex plate" that sits between the fly wheel and the transmission. And, he said that the repair is easy enough for Dan to do himself! So, Dan will give it a try tomorrow, and since the mechanic lives in the marina, he's just a phone call away if Dan needs help.

Dan at work ... No good place for an engine on a sailboat!

Our emergency dockage put us right on the fuel dock, so we cannot stay here longer than one day without being a major obstacle to the marina. So if this is not an easy fix, we'll have to have the tow boat captain come back and push us someplace else .... so fingers are seriously crossed!