Our plans have changed, as usual. Once we made it to Maine we were going to work our way up to Harpswell, put the boat on a friends mooring and spend the next couple of months in South Dakota working on our remote cabin. Due to the problem with the transmission we have hauled out at Portsmouth NH and will leave the boat on the hard for the next couple of months.
The transmission is water cooled and the cooler has failed letting water into the transmission. Fortunately the transmission continued to work enabling us to get to Kittery then motor up the river to the marina to be hauled out. We were able to find a well recommended mechanic to do the transmission overhaul. We anchored off of the Kittery Town Dock for the weekend and on Monday we borrowed a car and visited and called marinas looking for someone that could haul us out in a timely manner. We chose Great Bay Marina as they could haul us out the quickest. We needed to time the tides so on Tuesday we pulled anchor and headed up the river. There were two bridges to be concerned about, the first was a drawbridge that opened on the hour and the half hour. We rushed to get there for the three o'clock opening and continued up the river fighting a current. We needed to be at the last bridge at low tide. The bridge has a vertical clearance of 46 feet. Our mast is 50 feet off the water. The marina assured us that at low tide the clearance is 53 feet. We arrived just as the tide was turning and started for the bridge. As we got closer it looked like we were going to hit it. Looking up at the mast when going under something almost always looks like you are going to hit it no matter the amount of clearance. We were so sure that we were going to hit that we did a quick reverse and motored around while calling the marina to verify the height. Being assured that it was more than 50 feet we tried again and made it. It was the most terrifying feeling that at any moment there would be a crash. It took some time after for the nerves to calm down. We picked up a mooring and spent the night planning to be hauled out the next morning. We were glad to be on a strong mooring because the current rips through on every tide change.
In the morning we dinghied in and made the final arrangements to be hauled. We were scheduled for slack tide when we would have the least amount of current and at 11:00 we dropped the mooring and motored into the lift only to find that we would have to back in to be lifted. Backing out, making a u-turn and backing into a narrow spot is not my favorite maneuver. This time with no current or wind it looked like I had been doing this on a regular basis, if they only knew the truth. Once out of the water I was amazed at the condition of the bottom. There was no growth, no barnacles and a quick power wash made it look freshly painted. I strongly recommend Sherwin Williams bottom paint. After taking a lunch break they moved us to the yard and got us set up convenient to water and electricity.
Once we were settled in I went to work on pulling the transmission. With only a couple of problems it was free of the engine but needed to be lifted out and lowered to the ground. Fortunately we are a sailboat and have block and tackle and plenty of rope onboard. Once lifted into the cockpit we lowered it to the ground using one of our halyards used to raise sails. One big project completed.
This morning we needed to pick up our rental car and our friend Adina offered to give us her car or to take us. Once back to the marina with the car we loaded the transmission and delivered it to the mechanic. I explained that we would not be back to pick it up until late August so there was no rush. Once back at the marina we started loading the car. We have a full size SUV and it will be packed full.
Over the next few days we will be driving back to Spearfish SD to spend time with Cori's Mother and siblings and work on the cabin. This years big project will be to finish the solar electric system to make us self-reliant. Last year we were using a portable generator to keep the batteries topped up. I also expect that there will be time to relax and have some fun.
That's what has been happening and what we expect to happen, only time will tell.
I won't be posting any updates until we are back on the boat, late August or early September when we plan to visit some of our favorite places in Maine before being chased south by the cold.
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