4/6/22
Our destination was Jackson Creek in the Plankatank River, a secluded cove in the Chesapeake, on the south side of Deltaville, Virginia. We exited busy Norfolk harbor between the tugs, ferries and large vessels simply identified as Warships.
The entrance to Chesapeake Bay had the same array of cargo ships we saw on the way south (hopefully not the same ones) and we enjoyed a ride on glassy seas for the 55 mile trek. Entering the creek, we dropped the engine speed to idle, while we positioned for anchoring.
While maneuvering for a spot, the ”hot engine” alarm went off and we immediately shut the engine off and dropped anchor, in a less than ideal location. An engine room inspection showed no obvious problems except a warm engine. We let the engine cool down, then idled to a better anchorage and settled in to diagnose the hot engine problem.
On Tuesday, the fog rolled in and we had a call from some friends in Norfolk that 2 loopers had headed out and encountered 5 foot seas before returning to port. So we were going to have to spend an extra day here (due to weather) and spent this time in phone and text discussions with more knowledgable machanics.
We also noticed an unusual drop in oil pressure when the engine overheated so we contacted Zimmermans Marina in Deltaville ( 7 miles away) and arranged to have a mechanic meet us on Wednesday morning, to change the oil and investigate the overheating. We had planned to change the oil in Annapolis since the manual recommends changing at 300 hours and we had logged 230.
Idling out of the Plankatank River, the engine alarm went off again (at a very conservative 200F) so we shut it down, drifted and called Towboat Us (the Boat US towing service). We have unlimited towing insurance with this group and they said that their operation on Gwynn Island could have a boat to us in 25 minutes, for the tow into Deltaville harbor. 45 minutes later, they called and said their tow boat was disabled and they had dispatched another boat from Reedville Virginia that should meet us in 30 minutes. 45 minutes later we called them and were told that the captain was experiencing rough seas and was delayed. This was total BS as we were bobbing in seas of 1 foot or less. A half hour later the towboat captain called and said he had lost an engine and would pass us on the way to Gwynn Island to get a third boat. However there was no one on Gwynn Island to bring the third boat to us.
At this point we realized the Towboat US was just stringing us along so we called our other towing insurance company, Sea Tow, who said that they also had a boat at Gwynn Island and could be there in 25 minutes. So we cancelled Boat US and contracted with Sea Tow.
The captain of the Sea Tow boat showed up on time, handled us in a professional and courteous manner and an hour later we tied up at Doziers Regatta Point Marina, where the mechanic from Zimmermans would meet us at 7 the next morning. Lessons learned – towing insurance is relatively cheap, national tow companies rely on local contractors who may not be capable operators and having a back up is well worth the added expense!
In Deltaville, we tied up near Wayne & Julie (Netop-Touisset RI), borrowed a pyrometer, and it became obvious that the problem was the water pump. (which we had replaced by Sun Power at Harbor Towne Marina in Dania Florida – 163 engine hours ago). Hmmmm.
On Wednesday, Dan from Zimmermans showed up on time, changed the oil & filter and disassembled the water pump and went back to his shop to order a new one.
Zimmermans Marine tracked down a new pump and it is being air freighted for arrival Friday or Monday. Hopefully, we can continue on Tuesday. In the meantime, we have rented a car and will visit the historic sights of Virginia (Williamsburg, Jamestown, Richmond etc.) this weekend. Although the weather predictions of high winds, rains and thunder for a few days or more….will have some impact!
And so it goes.