As soon as I finished writing my last blog post (the one about how the wind strength and direction was great and I was making fantastic progress), everything changed.
The wind shifted dead astern and fell to less than 10 kts. If I were racing, Id harden up my course to a broad reach to hit my optimal downwind speed. In those conditions, thats something like 4.5-5.0 kts made goodtoo slow!
But Im not racing, so I can take advantage of Resolutes engine. Which brings me to the end of the propeller story… Many of you have asked about how the prop issue from my delivery to Antigua was ultimately resolved. Ive forgotten exactly where I left off, so please forgive any overlap.
Upon being towed into Falmouth Harbor, my principal focus was tracking down the replacement prop. As luck would have it, it didnt make it to me (with lots of storiesits not on the island. Its on the island, but waiting in customs. Its on the island but customs has no record of it. Its cleared customs, but our shipping agent couldnt pick it up. So I left Antigua before the boat was hauled for a close look and the new prop installed.
Resolute was hauled a few days later and the prop replaced. As far as I can tell, it looks like a clean removal of the old oneno traumaso the installation bolt, lock washer and nut all unscrewed. I now have some photos of the new installation, complete with torque wrench tensions.
You may recall that the last time the old prop was installed was at Lyman-Morse in Maine (in 2015). Given the circumstances, Lyman-Morse offered to pick up all of the costs of the replacement: the prop, shipping, haul-out and installation, towing, etc. Recognizing that lots of things can go wrong on a boat with essentially no one to blame, I consider this a fully satisfying resolution to the issue, and I thank Lyman-Morse for stepping up as much as they did. They have provided outstanding service in diagnosing a variety of issues at sea, and I will continue to have virtually all of my maintenance and repair work done in Camden.
Back to the present…
Its a good thing the props working this timeI have now been motoring for 12 hours in winds from 2-5 kts. Hard to average better than 6 kts boat speed under sail in these glassy conditions!
The wind should pick up in a few hours, so I hope to be sailing again soon. This light patch is the only one currently forecast for my trip, but I always want to have fuel in reserve for contingencies (like doldrums heading into the Gulf of Maine). As long as I dont need to motor for another 24 hours before Bermuda, I wont stop. If I do need to motor a lot, I might make a quick pit stop in Bermuda for fuel. Well see!
Love it- Keep the reports coming!