The heat and humidity finally got to me in Chesapeake Bay. That and the jellyfish which prohibits me from swimming. So I decided to go to Maine based on the recommendation of someone at a boat yard. I was going to the Bahamas but they have imposed more virus restrictions which make it inconvenient. Besides that we are entering peak hurricane season. Plus, I’ve never been to Maine!
Since last post I finally got my boat to a yard where they hauled it out. To do this, they maneuver the boat over a couple large straps then lift it out the water and rollit over to hard ground. I was still searching for the source of the mysterious squealing noise that occured from time time. I thought it might be a bearing but when the mechanic looked at it, he said the bearing was OK. But he found some loose set screws that secure the bearing sleeve to the hull. This might have been the cause of the noise. The sleeve was rotating within the bearing housing.
Anyway, he fixed that as well as installed some zinc anodes. Anodes are needed because when two dissimilar metals are in contact corrosion can take place. The anodes provide sacrificial electrons to eliminate the corrosion of the propeller and shaft.
Here’s Orion out of the water.
The mechanic William examining the rudder.
Installing the zinc anodes.
After fixing the set screws and attaching the anodes, William gave the hull a pressure wash to get all the gunk off.
Meanwhile, more nice sunsets.
But I had some bad weather too. Hurricane Isaias was bearing down on Virginia so I decided to get a slip in a marina and wait it out. This was in Deltaville, a quaint old town founded in 1642. Here is some video of the hurricane. It doesn’t look that bad, which is exactly the point. In Chesapeake Bay it would have been a lot worse.
After the hurricane I ventured out into the ocean again, hoping to make a long run towards Maine. The forecast was for cloudy skies, 7 mph winds. Well a couple hours out that all changed. 25 mph winds and rain. I had to shut everything down and just drift for a couple hours. I finally drifted toward shore and set my anchor for the night. Darn the forecast.
I stayed a couple days in Chincoteague Bay preparing to head out into the ocean again. But the weather intervened. Fog this time. Not much to do without a radar.
So that’s it for now. I’m just waiting for the fog to lift. Once back in the ocean I will go up the New Jersey coast, bypass New York City and probably head straight for Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Here is my current location just south of Delaware Bay.
