Tuesday 10-21-08
We cleared the anchorage at 07:30 following a clear, still and chilly night. The current was fair and we made good speed through Palm Island and into Charleston Harbor. It was beautiful crossing the large bay that makes up Charleston Harbor – to our left we could see historic Fort Sumter and beyond, the entrance to the Atlantic Ocean. To our right was the Charleston peninsula with its historic water front homes right on the point. A container ship was transiting to a loading dock and in the background, looking up the Cooper River, was and aircraft carrier and several surface type war ships – U.S. Navy, I am sure.
The noise that has developed in FLIGHT’s propulsion line is enough of a concern that I called Tolchester Marina and discussed it with Charles, our trusty service guru. Based on what I could describe, he didn’t feel it was likely to be a transmission problem, but suggested I have it checked out when it was convenient. We had planned to cruise 40-50 miles today, but checking the charts and guides, there just didn’t seem to be much in the way of service facilities after Charleston, for quite a long way. Ross Marine was just a few miles south of Charleston along the ICW, on the Stono River, and they have a reputation for being a good yard for serious repair work. We called them and they said they could take a look at our noise situation, so we made that our destination for the day. We arrived at the Ross yard at 10:30 and later in the afternoon Carlos Baker, the service manager came to the boat and I was able to demonstrate the noise, which is something like a “chirp” – it occurs slightly after the shifter is put into neutral, about when the shaft comes to a stop. He listened to a dozen “chirps” and said he would expect it was coming from a too-tight cutlass bearing likely due to a miss-alignment between the shaft and the drive flange of the transmission. This alignment is something that needs to be checked every year or two since a boat’s hull does flex somewhat, over time. He could have a mechanic on the boat first thing tomorrow morning, and if it was a normal alignment job, we could possibly be underway by afternoon. We will hope for the best.

Sunrise in Whiteside Creek -another reflection photo