ICW to Hampton..

We typically enter the ICW at Beaufort NC and exit at Norfolk VA preferring to be on “the outside” for most of our sailing north. This year was no different. We did our provisioning at Chesapeake VA from one of our favorite free docks, propane, diesel, groceries, laundry, and more. Following that we moved to Hampton VA by Fort Monroe and the Phoebus neighborhood.

It’s a great spot with good holding and with a dinghy dock and nearby grocery store, it’s a good spot to wait out a weather window to go on the outside either up to the Delaware or as we were intending to do head all the way up to New York Harbor and get a spot in Atlantic Highlands NJ.

Heading out and Overheating

The plan was simple, head out, turn north, and spend 48 hours on a blissful sail on a beam reach. So early in the morning, we headed out and after about an hour we noticed the engine was overheating. Luckily we were motor sailing so we just turned off the engine and started to troubleshoot. The first thing we checked was the raw water intake, and yup it was full of stuff. So we cleaned that out, filled up the engine with more coolant, and tried again.

Same problem. The engine was overheating.

More troubleshooting and that’s when we discovered that the mounting bracket for the alternator had snapped. She was 35 years old so I suppose it was to be expected. It’s a known weak point.

“Sea Tow Sea Tow this is Sailing Vessel Reliant“

We decided that it would be best to turn back and get the engine repaired. So we called SeaTow. Now you may be thinking that we have a sailboat and we’ve anchored under sail before but Norfolk VA isn’t your typical harbor, it has massive traffic and we thought it would be best to get a tow and not risk being caught in the channel and getting squished by a warship.

We’ve discovered that there is certainly a benefit to having BOTH a SeaTow and a BoatTow membership. This tow alone would have cost the same as both memberships for the year.

So our lovely savior towed us out of the channel and back to the anchorage and helped us set the anchor.

Looking for Help in Town.

We pulled the part off and made our way to town, thinking naively that the part would be found in an automotive parts store we made the jog down to the nearest one. Nope. The part was just too different. So then I thought about a standard auto repair shop. And off we went again.

We found our way to an auto shop and the mechanic agreed to weld the part first thing in the morning.

And by noon the next morning, we were on our way.

SAVED

The bracket looked beautiful, so much so that Liam an I celebrated with a breakfast out on the town.

And it BROKE AGAIN ! ! !

Sadly the part lasted about 4 hours. I noticed a voltage drop just when we were an out 5 miles offshore. So as a temporary fix we mounted it just tight enough to turn the coolant pump which left our alternator not working. But that was fine because the plan was to sail for the trip north and only use the engine to do our final approach.

Not knowing how long we’d be disabled I reserved us a mooring in Atlantic Highlands NJ (expensive I’d rather have anchored) and ordered the replacement part.

I’m really going to enjoy having an electric engine.