June 14 – 20
Hi All,
Yes, we did it….the 4 week windlass ordeal is over….yea….HAPPY DANCE/HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND!!!
But, it was not easy…a real pita for sure!!! We arrived back in Sitka on Wednesday, 6/14 after an uneventful but 12 hour door to door travel on Alaska airlines. Wow, both flights were completely full!!! The boat was in good shape!!
If you recall, we broke the windlass in Ushk Bay on May 13, about 40nm north of Sitka. The shaft was locked so we couldn’t even bring up the chain manually and the chain was too heavy to lift at 90′. So we buoyed the chain, came back to Sitka, worked on the windlass using Vetus technical support, solved a few issues but then got stuck. So, we had a marathon 1.5 days to find shipping supplies and a shipper on May 18-19….we used Alaska Cargo and I can’t say enough about their service!!!
The windlass was repaired by Emerald Harbor Marine in Seattle. They would have turned it around in about 10 days but I ended up having a Squamish carcinoma growth removed that turned out to be cancerous. I had it removed w/in days but we delayed the return trip to Sitka until 6/14. So on Thursday, 6/15 we started in earnest to install the windlass. Frist was to get a cab to go to the airport to pick up the windlass from Alaska Cargo. Then back to the marina, go find a cart and walked the 2 boxes weighing 120-lbs to the boat. Then Jordie on Pacific Dawn the fisherman next to us, lifted the 2 boxes onto Mystic. We unpacked, things looked good, went up to the windlass deck and applied the sealant to the deck, then Jordie came back to lift the windlass on the deck and we inserted the 4 bolts. Wow….everything is going so smoothly until Kathy notices we forget to insert the motor cables through the wire run as we placed the windlass on the deck…..oh good grief, what a silly, embarrassing, stupid thing to do…we just stood there in the rain and laughed at our stupidity. So we had to unbolt the 4 bolts we had done, lift the windlass back up, grab the cables and insert into the wire hole as we placed the windlass back down….and of course, sealant is now everywhere….clothes, on the deck, just a mess…ugh!!!
I then go to connect the cables to the solenoid and discover that the 2 red power cables are too short. The Tech in Seattle had replaced the motor terminals and evidently had cut the cables too short….more sailor language ensued….arghhhhhh!! We try to move the solenoid closer to the windlass and the short cables but the battery cable coming from the other direction is also cut just right for the solenoid so we could not gain enough distance….more sailor language….arghhhhhh!! It has now been ~4 hours in the rain and I spend the next 4 hours walking to/from LFS two times, having 2 new cables made and buying some rode to attach to the chain end and lift onto the chainwheel once we are at the anchorage. I had wanted to buy some chain but found out LFS does not carry BBB or HT chain which fits in our chainwheel…really…oweee!! In the meantime Dan on Resolution came by to see how things were going, discovered the mess we were in and offered to help….basically replaced Kathy so she could be out of the cold & rain.
Dan was sensitive to my heart issues so he did all the heavy lifting plus went into the chain locker to reinstall the solenoid that I had removed trying to get it closer to the short motor cables. He also was able to hold the nuts on the windlass deck bolts from the chain locker. It was quite a circus getting all the various tools we needed, especially in the rain, wind and cold…of course, Dan said he was just fine in the chain looker….hmmm. I know all my PT instructors would have been happy as I must have been up/down 100 times that day and fortunately all the joints held up….HAPPY DANCE!! We finally get it all installed and the mess cleaned up by ~6pm…it’s now been a strong 10 hours with no breaks…yikes!!! I was pretty cold and miserable when I got inside!!
I was up at 5am the next morning to complete the install by putting on the chainwheel and clutch cones. We had to leave Sitka by 8am to time Sergius Narrows, 25nm away by 11am. Well…..I discovered that Seattle had not sent the 2nd shaft keyway so I could only install one side…ok, the port side was the critical one so onward. Then I discovered Seattle had not sent any retaining clips. All these items had been sent to them by us so no excuse. But, we still tore up Mystic looking for the parts, but no joy. The tech at Vetus in Maryland (it was too early to call Seattle) said no worries not really needed (in hindsight I think he got confused on the part thinking it was one of the circlips). Anyway, I got the one side installed and we were off by 7:45am.
We get to Ushk Bay by 1pm and YES, our buoys were still there half submerged telling us the chain was still attached. So, now another whopper of a problem. How to bring up a too heavy to lift chain and bring up vertically 8′ then another 8′ to the chainwheel. Well, Dan and Marsha had been discussing this challenge the night before and called us with the idea to lift the buoys with the boom winch. My first thought was to try to lift by hand from the dinghy the chained buoys enough to tie some rode to the 1′ of free chain we had left but the buoys were too big plus half submerged so I could not get my hand on the chain. We tried a boat hook but yeah right, it was bent w/in seconds as the chain is just too heavy to lift manually. So we maneuvered the boat so that we could lasso the buoys over the boom winch which was a trick as it was blowing 10-20kts, raining and there was a strong ebb tide current. Needless to say it took me several tries but we eventually got it….lasso buoy, lift buoy as high as possible, untie buoy and retie at water line….took us 3 repeats to make 20′ of chain.
So now we have a buoy tied to 20′ of chain as well as 90′ of chain going straight down to the seabed. Again with the buoy half submerged I still could not get my hand onto the 20′ chain to pull up. So we had to use the boom winch again….lasso buoy with a rope, attach rope to boom winch shackle, lift up and grab onto the 20′ chain, then move the boat backwards while holding chain and walking forward, getting the chain through the chain rollers and onto the chainwheel….ODG, I was straining as hard as I can remember while giving directions to Kathy to thrust and reverse Mystic….it took us several tries tying off the chain to hawse holes along the way but we eventually got it…yeppa, high fives all around. It had only taken us 5 hours to do all that….ugh!!!!
Now time to turn on windlass and bring up the chain and anchor….the excitement/anticipation was unbearable….but Mr Au Contraire said no way….the chainwheel moved about 2 revolutions and then stopped turning while the shaft continued to turn….WTH….by this time it was almost 7pm and I had been working since 5am….more sailor language was shouted and Kathy said time to come in for the night and eat something. I did and calmed a bit hoping my subconscious would continue to problem solve and yeppa, at 3am the light bulb goes off. That retaining clip that Seattle forgot to send and Vetus said not needed….well, BS, its purpose IS to hold the inner clutch cone so that when you tighten the outer clutch nut you have a back stop to actually tighten the clutch against the chainwheel.
OK, up again at 5am tearing up Mystic looking for the dang retainer clip but again no joy. So, time to make one….well, we made 3 attempts using various items including an O-ring but no joy. Then I tried seizing wire which took me a while to form the wire into the retaining clip shaft groove. Then the big test and voila, it worked. So by 8am we had the chain and anchor onboard….ODG, HAPPY DANCING, HIGH FIVES, OH WHAT A RELIEF!!!! And, the chain and anchor looked in reasonable shape, certainly usable!!!!
We came back to Sitka late that Saturday, rested pretty much on Sunday, talked to the kids on F-day and went to Ludwig’s for dinner. Slept hard both Saturday and Sunday nights….heart started to calm as well!!
Kathy also got some good news on her health issues. Seems most of it is caused by high blood pressure which she is now working to control. There is a lot more to it and some follow-up so if you want the details just email us and we will be glad to share.
The Plan: Return to CA on Tuesday, 6/20….I have 3 doc appointments/tests on Wednesday and 3 more the following week and hopefully the docs will figure out the heart issue and a plan to remedy. I can’t live with the heart racing just from any physical activity. But I need/want to get this resolved as neither of us want to be cruising with heart issues. We are not sure what the next few months will be like for us but for now we are just taking it one day at a time!!
Hope all is well!!
Cheers,
John
Mystic Moon
The big windlass box and the parts box above
Windlass, anchor and chain finally installed. Note no chainwheel on starboard side of windlass
