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Follow the Ex-Coast Guard Cutter CG-83527
starting from Richmond, CA to Port Ludlow, WA.
 

NOTE:  This page is the original document that was created on the fly when we were coming up the coast. It includes all work parties and the trials and tribulations of the trip during the Summer of 2004. This entire document has been re-written and presented with more complete content. Photos and documents that were received way after the trip have now been included.


Video Clips - The following video is provided for the broadband or dialup viewer using the Windows Media Player. The first section is our departure from Richmond, CA, past Angel Island and out under the Golden Gate Bridge. The second segment is of the Sea Trials from Bodega Bay after the transmission repairs. [There is no audio with this clip]

Broadband


Arrived at Port Townsend, WA.

10/10/04 This concludes the updates to this trip. A new page will be started to log future adventures and show the schedule of her travels around the Puget Sound.

 

9/10/04 - Friday - Departed PA about 08:00 and arrived at Port Townsend about 11:30. We are guests at the Wooden Boat Festival. We will probably push the last hour to Port Ludlow on Monday morning. 

WE MADE IT!   More later.

 

9/09/04 - Thursday - Everyone was up around 06:00 and we enjoyed one of Royals great Coffee & Pancake breakfasts. The trip to Port Angeles should be about 4 hours. We got to the fuel dock about 08:30 and underway about 09:30. The trip was fantastic. The weather was warm with high clouds and the sea state of the Straits was calm with 1-2 foot rollers from the westerly winds. We arrived as guests at the Coast Guard Station Port Angeles about 13:30 and tied up between three 110 footers.

We got word this afternoon that an 80 foot tug that was going to be at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival had cancelled and we were invited to tie up in their place. Now we have to clean up this "scow."  There is a lot of stuff we can unload in Port Townsend and that will help a lot.
 

9/08/04 - Wednesday - We were up at 05:00  and got underway at about 06:30. The Grays Harbor Bar was flat and the seas were about 1ft.  Hurray. At about 11:00 the forecasted showers started and the wind from the south picked up a bit. So were running in 4-6 foot swells and 10-15kts to our backs. The NOAA forecast was right on accurate. We arrived at Neah Bay about 16:00, tired and whipped. Royal and cheered when we made the turn Eastbound. Roxane was there with the van and pre-scoped out the layout. We tied to the end of the A dock and headed for the showers. We then had dinner in town and went back to the boat and died about 21:00.
 
9/07/04 - Tuesday - I rounded up a crew of 3 and we headed for Westport.  For this leg Mike Mallett from Port Ludlow volunteered to make the trip.  We arrived about 15:00 and finished the fuel hose and valve system for pulling the fuel from the barrels instead of the two 100 gallon tanks. The evening weather report still looked favorable for the trip.
9/06/04 - Monday -  We have just been watching the weather forecasts. I looks like the rough weather will break on Wednesday, so we are planning to leave Port Ludlow tomorrow afternoon to get ready for a Wednesday morning departure for Neah Bay.

The following photos were provided by Myron "Tike" Hillman, also in Port Ludlow. He served on the 83527 from 1954 to 1956 (I think) and was the un-official ships photographer. Here is the start of his collection that he is sharing with us. More to come later.

09/02/04 - Thursday -  Scratch that schedule. Weather conditions are the same and should stay with 10-15kts from West and NW with 5-10ft swells. I couldn't face 10 hours of riding the trough to Neah Bay. We finished up some of the projects and headed back to Port Ludlow in the early afternoon.
 
09/01/04 - Wednesday -  We arrived about noon in Westport. Started working on settings things up again for the trip. The wind in the marina was about 20-25kts. It was about 17:30 when we got things running for the test run.  We stuck our nose out beyond the breakwater and really got slapped around. Executed an immediate 180 and headed back in. The engine ran fine. We didnt know how to act with no engine smoke in the engine room.  We tied up for the night and after listening to the weather some more decided to cancel the departure tomorrow and just work on more technical cleanup. Went to the local Pizza place for dinner.
 
08/31/04 - Tuesday - Engine is reassembled and runs fine at the dock.  We opted for the lower end rebuild which consisted of new main bearings, rods, pistons, rings and sleeves.

Our plan is to depart Port Ludlow and arrive in Westport before noon tomorrow and give the boat a 2-3 hour test run in the immediate area and get some other projects out of the way.

The planned schedule looks like this:

9/1 Wednesday - Engine should be completed Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday Morning. We will get a clearer sense of that on Tuesday. But the plan is to leave Port Ludlow in my Van early on Wednesday morning and get there with time to do 3 or 3 hours of sea trials after the rebuild.  

9/2 Thursday - Assuming success on 9/1 depart very early in the AM for Neah Bay. It will be about 10-11 hrs, depending on how hard we push the new engine. Stay the night at NB. 

9/3 Friday - Depart Neah Bay for Port Angeles. Arrive Port Angeles Coast Guard Station mid afternoon. We are invited guests of theirs at the station. Do some PR and guest appearances with "Peninsula Daily News". Share the boat with Coasties on the base. Stay the night there. 

9/10 Saturday - Around noon or so depart for Port Townsend. Arrive at the new Maritime Heritage Center dock at Port Hudson. Stay there for one or two days and greet the public and unload lots of excessive crap that I have collected (life rafts, transmission and rental safety equipment). 

9/XX Who knows, move down to Port Ludlow when our welcome is worn out at this dock.

 

 
08/24/ to 08/30 - Talked with other 83footer guys and got more photos and stories.
 
8/23/04 Monday - Visited the Coast Guard Museum-Seattle and scrounged up lots of documentation about colors and hardware layout on the 83's. In the afternoon visited the different organizations that will participate in Tacoma Fest, the final waterfront event of the summer. We are now invited to be there. So now I must get the old girl home and put on some "makeup" before we take her out in public.

Tonight I got the photos (Tacoma and Gig Harbor, WA) from Tom McAdams (ex-OinC of 83527) scanned in and here they are:

 

08/22/04 Sunday - Day of rest.
 

08/21/04 Saturday - Chuck Fowler and I looked at the new dock in Port Townsend built by the Marine Heritage Foundation, to see how difficult it might be to tie up there. It is a great arrangement and we may try it a couple of days on the way down.

I received an envelope of photos from Selby Drew BMCS USCG (Ret) and family of our arrival, stay and departure at Ft. Bragg. They are really great.

Entering Noyo River, Ft Bragg CA,  08-05-04
    F/V San Juan in Background (old tuna boat) Coast Guard Dock, 47' in foreground  

F/V Caito Bros (background) San Francisco Caito Fish Co. holds CA Fish and Game License #1.

 

L-R, B. Rogerson F-87 CGAux, M. Perkins BMCS OinC Noyo Station, Capt Pettitt CDR Group Humbolt, R-Adm Kevin Eldridge CDR 11th CGDist., Selby Drew BMCS USCG (Ret.)

   
Leaving Noyo River Putting to Sea
08-06-04
 
   

 

 

08/19/04 Thursday - The following letter was in the mail pile from July 15th.
   
 

15 July 2004

Ref: CG 83527

I relieved Ltjg Frank Ryman on the boat about 1952. I think that that was the first 83 to be under an OinC in the 13th District. At the time there were 83's in Astoria. Pt. Angeles, Pt Townsend and Bellingham also. The Astoria and Pt. Angeles were later moved to Pt. Townsend to serve as harbor entrance patrol. The 527 had to relieve on occasion.

A small list of the 11 man crew;
Ltjg Frank Ryman
Walter J. Annas BMC
Pat Wendland BM]
Wallace Ford BMl
Louis LeFevre GM2
Myron Hillman 1302 (now living Pt. Townsend) Davis CS2
Deptwa EN2
Alban K. Chinn SN
Donald Burkenbine EN I (deceased)

Of course not all of the above were aboard at the same time.

Some of the event's that come to mind.

We patrolled several Gold Cup hydroplane races on Lake Washington while the Slo-mo-shun's were in
power. .

Provided water to the Vashon fire dept. when a waterfront home was ablaze. We had a P-500 pump loaned and later given by USN Tacoma. Sent a 4 inch hose ashore with a wye gate which the fire dept. hooked on two 2112 inch lines. Extinguished a railroad trestle fire at Steilacoom waterway.

Rescued two suicide jumpers, one from Tacoma narrows bridge (later died) and the other from 11th street bridge over City waterway. No medals awarded.

We were required to visit Strait of Juan de Fuca to exercise the 20mm cannon and the ahead thrown ASW weapon on a quarterly bask

Gave safety equipment inspection to between 500 to 750 boats a year and numerous assists.

The Tacoma Yacht club asked the District to have us moor there during the marine Daffodil time. As you probably know, the dry exhaust pipes backfire make a cannon sound quiet while starting. The yacht club is sided by a hill and the smelter slag pile. The startled (it was 0600) visitors came out in all stages of dress and undress. Needless to say we were never asked to return.

The radios never seemed to work properly in the Tacoma area so the Tacoma police loaned a police unit which was installed in the sonar room.

Cooperation with the FBI consisted of a night search for McNeil (spelling?) Island escapees with negative results and stopping a freighter to put aboard 2 agents to apprehend a stowaway,

Am sending a photo taken at the Ballard locks with the Relief Lightship and CG Base building in the background, Note the ready ammunition boxes for the ASW hedgehogs, The ':40mm ammo boxes are not visible. Depth charge racks were installed on each side and 2 on each quarter. No depth charges carried.

Somewhere in my junk I have 10" x 12" CG photos of 527 and 2 other 83 's. When located will send them on.

If the memory is OK, on the full power trials we made 12 kts. At 1200 rpm and used 100 gals. of gas per hour.

I was later assigned as OinC of the Pt. Bennett and the Pt. Countess and they were much more luxurious than the open steering of the 527.

Walter J. Annas BMCM USCG (ret)
31 McAlmond St.
Sequim. Wa. 98382
 

 

 

08/18/04 Wednesday - Ah, what a night in your own bed can do for the aches and pains of those "pipe racks." Today I scanned in these newspaper articles that appeared in the Sunday and Wednesday Peninsula Daily News. They are pretty neat.
 
   
         
The following photos came in an email from Ft. Bragg today taken by Bruce Rogerson USCG Auxiliary Flotilla 87 Mendocino.
         
Guest Skipper, Selby Drew, ex-83 footer on the Oregon and Washington Coast. Dan and Rear Admiral Kevin Eldridge(11th CG District) The new and the old. 83527 Departing Ft. Bragg Dan in Engine Room

 

08/17/04 Tuesday - Royal and Dick tried to fly over to Westport from Jefferson County Airport, but the Westport airport was socked in with fog and low clouds, so they flew back. After getting the word that they were back I returned to the boat and ran into relatives of Royal that had come over to see the boat. We called Royal to tell him that they were over and he said he would leave immediately and drive over to help move the boat to another ship that had shore power. I needed reliable power to keep the batteries charged to keep the bilge pumps going. He and Sue arrived about 3 hours later and we moved "her" and got hooked up to shore power. We stopped for dinner and drove back to Port Ludlow. Finally I got a hot shower and a night in my own bed.
 
08/16/04 Monday - I met with Mark from Westport Diesel. Yep, she is toast. In the Starboard engine one of the cylinder liners has shifted upward and several pistons show signs of over temperature. (No lie)  After a conversation with those close to the regular activity of the boat, I decided to go for an "in-frame" overhaul. This may take 5-10 days depending on what things look like once they start digging in.

Since I will leave the boat during this period I have to move her to a dock that has shore power. I have been charging batteries and having house lights using the Coleman generator on deck. During the night the batteries have carried the bilge pumps OK.  I have been using a 1500 watt inverter to provide limited lighting and cellphone charging using one of the batteries, during the evenings.

Today I have a rental car and have found a couple of wireless sites to download this update timely.
 

08/15/04 Sunday - I inflated the Avon and spent about 3 hours with the bucket of sawdust stopping a few leaks. 

In the afternoon Chuck Fowler drove over from Olympia and we discussed future projects and possible time frames. Chuck also knew of someone with a few ideas to try to isolate which cylinder was knocking. I will try those tomorrow.
 

08/14/04 Saturday - We were finally inspected about 10:30 am and headed out for Neah Bay about 11:00.  After being underway for about 30 minutes, we decided that we really did not have enough daylight or fuel to make this leg of the trip safely.  We returned to Westport fuel dock and took on another 300 gallons.

When we started the starboard engine there was a terrible clanking noise in one cylinder.  We left the fuel dock and went back to the original slip to ponder our condition.  We decided to put the trip on hold and send Nancy, Roxane, Royal, and Dick back to Port Ludlow, leaving me with the boat to insure that the bilge pumps stayed operational.
 

08/13/04 Friday - About midnight we were near Grays Harbor, WA. Then it happened. I noticed that one of the battery chargers had died. No lights on it at all. Then the starboard engine started falling off and after a quick filter change it seemed to clear up. Then I turned my back for only a second and it died. Now the batteries were too far down to re-start. I even tried to "penny" four of the six cylinders to get it started, but not a chance. Now we were two miles from the first buoy at Grays Harbor and now we were in a condition of very hard steerage. It became impossible to hold a course. The harder we struggled the more tired we got.

So we threw in the towel and called Coast Guard Grays Harbor and requested assistance getting in. They dispatched a 47 footer and a great crew. First they threw across a line with a VHF handitalky and a flashlight. That eliminated any incompatibility in the communications. They then passed the towing line and off we went towards the harbor. Then they shifted to a side tie and snuggled us up to the dock,

Then the fun began. Inspection time. They ripped through the boat looking at everything. We passed all things except the "safety of the engine room." That was a true statement. While we were "dead in the water" slopping around in  the trough, the oily bilge water slopped up over the top of the floorboards and it looked terrible. BM1 Marshall indicated that our trip was terminated until it was cleaned up.

At 4:30am we finally got to bed. Then back up at 8:30 to get started. We did a general boat cleanup, a trip to Wal-Mart for oil and batteries, Sears for battery chargers and then got busy in the engine room cleaning things up.

About 7pm we called the "OOD" [Officer of the Day] at Coast Guard Grays Harbor to request the inspection. Its now 10:15 and we have not received a reply call. Off to a shower, pizza dinner and on to bed. An early start now looks doubtful.
 

08/12/04 Thursday - We were out of the jetty at Newport, OR about 8:30, after a delay at the fuel dock. Northward bound. Everything was working as hoped.  The weather was 2-4' swells from the North. As we passed the Columbia River things were still working fine and we decided to press on, even though darkness was approaching. Then came Friday morning.
 
08/11/04 Wednesday - Jack's modified fix worked. Were back on line with both engines. Royal and I changed all fuel filters and cleaned up the "trashed" engine room.

There has been a small but consistent leak near the starboard rudder. That caused the aft bilge pump to go off every 15 minutes, or so. I decided to try a "fix" that I had seen work before. I put the AVON in the water and with a pole and plastic bucket I distributed "sawdust" from the bucket in the area of the leak. As before it cleared up the leak. It seems that the flow of water into the hull will pull sawdust in with it, up to the point that the flow stops. I was amazed again.

Roxane and Dick drove to West Marine in Portland to get a new radar. I got the other defective radars removed from the mast and installed the new equipment. This will give us more security when running in the fog or darkness.

The weather was windy all day today, and is slated to stay that way the next few days. I guess we will stick our nose out tomorrow morning and see how things look.
 

08/10/04 Tuesday - My brother, Jack Withers drove over from Salem, OR with his tools and 671  repair manuals and jumped into the repair. After removing the blower it was confirmed that the "quill shaft" had stripped out its splines, so it couldn't drive the blower.  There were no shafts available anywhere. Jack took some parts home with an idea about how to modify a newer version of the shaft. We will now have to stay another day to get it completed.

We did meet with Tom McAdams, BMCM, USCG, Ret. the "final CO" of the 83527. He left the boat when it was decommissioned. I had a chance to ask a lot of questions about "how things used to be." We also enjoyed sharing the boat and its history with many fellows from the CG base.
 

08/09/04 Monday - We headed out for Newport, Oregon. It wasn't a great trip. After the first hour we lost the port engine. After an hour of fiddling and phone calls we decided that the "blower" wasn't spinning. After removing the "air box" I could see that the  blower wasn't turning. We just decided to keep running. We ran an average of 9kts on the one engine. The port engine has never given us problems and she got us to Newport.

We were invited to dock and stay at the Coast Guard Station upon arrival.
 

08/08/04 Sunday - We got underway for Coos Bay, Oregon.  It was a great trip. Everything worked fine. We got the engines PM'ed and ready with new fuel filters.
 
08/07/04 Saturday - We arrived at about 6 am off the jetty at Crescent City. It was quite foggy and we could not find the first buoy, but the GPS said we were there. At about 6:15 am the sunshine welcomed us and so we finally found it. After tying up for some sleep we were awakened by a local knocking on the bridge. He wanted us to relocate the boat. So we worked on getting things cleaned up, relocated the boat, had dinner at a local restaurant and hit the rack.
 
08/06/04 Friday - We spent half the day at Fort Bragg, California where we were invited by the Coast Guard to stay at their facilities.  Had a good time sharing the boat and stories with both the coasties as well as several 83 footers that appeared. We were asked if we could stay a few more hours as the Admiral of the 11th Coast Guard District would be visiting and they thought he would enjoy the history. So we did. We got out of Ft Bragg about 13:30 and got underway northbound.

We decided to go as far as the seas would allow because there are many locations with rough water. We decided to keep going as long as the water was calm. And it was all the way to Crescent City.

The trip was not trouble free. I lost track of how many times I started and stopped to change the fuel filter. There were 4 hours of rainy weather and lots of stress with fog.  But most memorable was the hour of moonlight and millions of stars. I love the trailing prop wash.
 

08/05/04 Thursday - The crew was up and ready at 5:30. We had the celebrated pancake breakfast. Engines were started at 6:15 and we were underway at 6:30. It was slightly windy in the harbor and pretty windy outside. The first 3 hours we took a "whoppin".  We reduced the speed to about 6mph and we were still getting smashed. Finally the winds subsided and we kicked the speed up to about 12mph. Once we passed Point Arena the seas calmed way down and the rest of the cruise was easy. We arrived at Ft. Bragg about 4:45  and snaked our way in the narrow harbor. Jim was at the wheel and Dan and Don were on the lines. Jim did a great job of kissing her against the Coast Guard Station dock where we stayed as invited guests. Quite a few of the "coasties" went on tours through the ship and had fun in the engine room pondering how it used to be.

We were met by Selby Drew, a local "83 Footer Sailor" and the group went out to dinner.

Tomorrow we will delay our departure to show "her" to the visiting Admiral and any staff that want the tour. Then we will depart with Selby for the next leg, yet undefined.

For now, its time to hit the rack. We are beat from just hanging on.
 

08/04/04 Wednesday - I drove  back to Richmond and did some parts shopping and picked up Jim and Don and returned the rental car. That took care of one day. We are ready to get underway first thing in the morning. At last! The wind is really howling tonight. I hope it gives it up before morning, or we don't leave. Off to bed.
 
08/03/04 Tuesday - Last night after the page was updated things came together.  I will make a "West Marine" run to Richmond tomorrow morning and pick up two guys that will go on the Fort Bragg leg, then work their way back to Richmond on their own. Then from Fort Bragg, Selby Drew, a former 83 Footer will go with us to Newport, then we will figure out how to get him back to Ft Bragg. From Newport we have a couple of possibilities for "crew" the rest of the way. That part is jelling right now.

Today was spent getting things secure for the trip. I worked on the main generator to see if I could see a simple problem (no schematic) with the voltage adjustment circuit. It should adjust down to 220vac, but runs at 300. That makes the light bulbs burn real bright! We will continue to use the Honda powered generator lashed to the deck as primary power while underway.

We made the rounds to NAPA, Ace Hardware and Safeway this afternoon getting "stuff" for the trip.
 

08/02/04 Monday - Here we are all cleaned up and cant leave. We are scrounging the phone book for at least one more person to help us get underway. The clock is ticking away for our hard deadline of Port Townsend by August 14th. That is the day of the "83 Footer Sailors" Annual Reunion.

This afternoon the sun came out for the first time in 3 weeks. I got a few shots of the boat in the sun. She looks like a band of gypsies live aboard.


Tonight was another "heart healthy" dinner.

Maybe we will find that missing volunteer tomorrow.
 

08/01/04 Sunday - Success! We got the "trashed" engine room cleaned up and about 1pm left the dock for the test run. We drafted Juan, from our neighbor boat for helmsman, plus he knew the entry and exit procedures from the harbor. We ran her up to 14mph (on gps) at full throttle, but generally loafed around at 11mph at 1100rpm. There was no wind and therefore an uneventful  landing at the dock. I took some good video footage that I will try to get working to stream from this site.

Since the schedule is so delayed I don't have anyone absolutely committed to leave with us, so until then we will have to set. I should hear from a guy tomorrow morning that "says" he is in for the whole trip. That would have us leaving on Wednesday morning though.
 

07/31/04 Saturday - Richard arrived about 11 with the parts and we started re-assembling the transmission. At 7 pm we were completed and had been running it without a load for about 1/2 hour.

Off to the showers, but it was too late for any of the local restaurants to be open, so we celebrated with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We're beat. Early to bed.

Hopefully the wind will die down tonight and we can get in a test run tomorrow. Unfortunately we don't have a 3rd crewman for a Monday departure.
 

07/30/04 Friday - The bearings did not arrive as promised. There was some story about FEDEX loosing the shipment. The tracking number did show that they were near by.  About 4pm they appeared and Richard from MRS did pick them up and got the shaft ready to bring out tomorrow.

We worked on more caulking and canvas cover projects today.
 

07/29/04 Thursday - The bearings for the transmission had to be ordered, so today was filled with more "fixit" projects. Since every night has been foggy and heavy with dew, we chased down little leaks in the deck and pilot house. We also cleaned up the dock where it looked like a "crashbox" junkyard.
The bearings should arrive at the "parts place" at 9am, so maybe by days end we will have it re installed for a Saturday test run.
 
07/28/04 Wednesday - Ratz . . . We got the port transmission off and inspected the front bearing. Wasted! Yes, no grease, but the shafts don't seem to be damaged. We disassembled it down to the basics and drove the assemblies to MRS in Santa Rosa. Richard will attack it first thing in the morning. Hopefully we can find the two replacement bearings first thing. Then we can have it back to the boat for re-assembly.
patented dual comealong coupler splitter wasted pilot bearing end of transmission yarding the assembly
down to the dock cart.
07/27/04 Tuesday - Hurray, she's back together. We got the kinks worked out and the transmission reassembled and bolted up to the engine.  We will run test it on Thursday. Tomorrow we will pull off the port transmission and turn it 90 degrees on the chain hoist. Then we will pull the front cover to look at the forward bearings to see if they are getting grease. If they are, then back together she goes and we are done. That will take about 5 hours to do.
Tonight 3 Coasties from the Bodega Bay station stopped by in their RIB to take a tour of the boat. They were amazed at the "conditions" that their "forefathers" put up with compared to the boats of today that they were familiar with. We were invited to call the station and see if anyone was available to crew with us on the test run.

We wrapped up the day with a big slab of salmon provided by the guys across the dock from us. Royal dug out the "George Foreman" and "grilled" it up for us. That was chased with chocolate pudding.

I got a phone call and an invitation to stop at Coast Guard Port Angeles on the way down the Straits on the home leg.
 

07/26/04 Monday - I called the mechanic this morning at 7am and left a message about our non-progress. He called back about 8 and indicated that he was going to be leaving Lake Tahoe about noon and would make it by in the afternoon. That never happened. I got a call about 6pm indicating that he would be there at 9am Tuesday.

We spent the day on little cleanup tasks that were needed. Such as caulking and painting. I mounted the new VHF radio and antenna, cleaned up some of the AC cords we had strung around for lighting and relocated all of the stuff that was moved for the mid-ship painting. Royal got the flying bridge "canvas" tied down with screweyes that were added. Since the "quarterdeck" is so nicely painted we cut some cheapo carpet strips and laid them on the deck for greasy shoes to walk on in hopes that it will stay clean for awhile.

 

07/25/04 Sunday - We decided that we wouldn't get greasy today. Royal finished hooking up the forward head and got that cleaned up for use. No more 5 gallon bucket.
 
Today is paint the balance of the deck day. It took about 2 hours to vacuum, blow, wash down, scrub and blow. any water away that was pooling. Dan cut in around the edges and Royal rolled on everywhere else, except for a pathway to the ladder. We put our shower kits and clean clothes on the dock, then painted ourselves off the boat.

After we got cleaned up we went to Petaluma, actually Penngrove, and went to the Pengrove Power and Implement Museum. They have the other Sterling Viking engine from the 83527. Although I was hoping it was operational, it is just setting waiting for some TLC.

         
       

On the way home we stopped at Safeway and got some more food, cleaning supplies, water and pancake mix. At Home Depot we got some cheapo carpet to make runners between hatches to keep the newly painted deck "grease free" from dirty shoes coming out of  the engine room.

This bumper sticker about sums up the state of mind in Bodega Bay.

07/24/04 Saturday -  Our first project was to install the new fuel pump on the port engine. That seemed to solve the "surging" or fuel starvation problem. Then we tackled the reassembly of the transmission clutch. Although it was very time consuming, it was easy to do. Unfortunately there appears to be something we cant identify wrong because we can't get it to shift into "forward." I'm guessing that something is binding or not properly assembled on the main shaft. Later in the afternoon we got a call from a friend from Richmond who suggested that he and another truck transmission mechanic would come up and look at it with us. After a couple of hours of fussing with it he agreed that something must be assembled wrong on the main shaft. So goes another day.
 
07/23/04 Friday - This morning about 9am Ron from MRS arrived with what he thought was the parts for a quick re-assembly. After a few questions like, "where are the clutch plates" and where is the "bla,bla,bla". Well he was the victim of "boss hurrying out of town." So we started assembling the main shafts and I headed for their shop to get the "missing" stuff and a new fuel pump for the port engine about noon. Plus I needed to get some oil for the transmission and some pipe fittings and "stuff" from the hardware store.  So I arrived back about 5pm and things were waiting for the parts I returned with. Royal and I will finish the assembly tomorrow and get it back on line. The fuel pump should solve the fuel starvation on the port engine.

Its a big Friday night in Bodega Bay tonight. We are taking our every 3 day  showers and doing the laundry at the marina facility. We will probably migrate out to the Sandpiper for dinner later since were cleaned up.
 

07/22/04 Thursday - Today was supposed to be the day to receive the transmission parts and get it assembled. Now we are told it will be first thing tomorrow morning.

Royal finished the flying bridge windscreen top cover canvas instead. Also the piping for the forward head was built up. We need one more pipe fitting to finish. We will get that tomorrow. Since the sun came out for awhile Dan completed the "white washing" of the starboard side. She looks pretty "fresh" now.

We decided to take a look at the port engine "fuel starvation" symptom we noticed when coming in the bay. Closer inspection showed the fuel pump was leaking. We bypassed the "new" Racor filter setup and determined that the starvation was external to that. The engine will run OK at 1000rpm if you are supplementing the fuel pressure with the bulkhead mounted pump. I placed a call to Bay City Diesel for advice.
 

07/21/04 Wednesday -  Foggy as usual this morning. We have hot coffee and the "Big Bands of the 40's-and 50's" CD playing (Sentimental Journey right now) this morning. "Live and direct from the decks of the 83527."  "Sing it  Peggy Lee."
 
This morning we got a call from Captain Jim Nolan from the USS Red Oak Victory, a WWII Victory Ship down in Richmond. He is an participant in that restoration. He brought three 25 man life rafts to carry back. We got them hand carted down the dock and "block and tackled" on board.
 
We then "block and tackled" out the bad transmission sub assemblies and got them to the van. We then delivered them to MRS for assembly with the transmission from yesterday. From the blueing on the shaft you can see how
hot things got in there. This has inspired some conversation about pulling the other transmission from the engine to at least know what the front bearings look like. Since we have the A-frame in place we could easily move it and only loose a half day looking. Were still pondering that one.
 
I guess we will take showers tonight and go into Bodega Bay for a real dinner instead of the normal baloney sandwiches.
 

07/20/04 Tuesday -  Breakfast for the crew.  Started out on the phone trying to sort through the parts sources.
 

We were referred to  Bay Diesel who could get new parts in quickly. Unfortunately it turned out that their supplier couldn't ship after 1:30pm from LA. That complicates our situation because Richard at MRS must be completed by Thursday evening (more vacations).

Decided to meet a guy at 3pm in Vallejo who claimed he had a good used complete transmission. We met the  "un-named source" at the "designated location" and after pulling off the top cover and endplate discovered that other than being ugly it was in very good shape.

So here we set with a Chevrolet Cavalier rental car and a 600# (at least) transmission. Fortunately Avis had a lot in Vallejo to dump the Cavalier and we picked up a Mazda mini-van at Hertz. Rushing back to the used equipment lot we found them ready with the transmission on a pallet on the fork lift ready to stuff in the back of the (undercapacity) minivan. With some nudging and protective cardboard (and cash changing hands) we were off for Santa Rosa hoping that we could get Richard at MRS to be there at 7:30pm to unload it at his shop so we didn't have to drive over the mountains to Bodaga Bay and then Back in the morning. He was there and we agreed that it would probably work as a parts dog for the repair.

07/19/04 Monday - Chaining up to start lifting this morning. Successfully removed the transmission by mid afternoon. Thanks to warboats fan Greg Brazil (Berkeley, CA) who has been carrying his manual around for days now on our behalf. The "replaceable" clutch plate and the end bearing were wasted. The bearing has never seen any grease, mostly because there wasn't a fitting to grease it. Richard (Mobile Repair) will be here at 8:am Tuesday to start disassembly and parts determination.  Back to more mundane projects. Its too damp and foggy to paint. Royal is working on the canvas for the flying bridge. (Other photos added below, too.)

       
       
07/18/04 Sunday - 0900 met with Richard Porterfield from Mobile Repair Service (Santa Rosa) and put together the plan on the transmission. His plan was simple. You guys get it out, I'll come back and work on it on Monday afternoon. We went to Santa Rosa Home Depot (again) and Harbor Freight Tools and loaded up on lumber and chain hoist and chains. In the afternoon and evening we built the hoisting frame.

 

07/17/04 Saturday - Since it was obvious that we were to be here for awhile, Roxane and Sue will drive back to Seattle with the Suburban starting this morning. They left about 10am.
 

Met with George Burton (Dan's high school and Navy buddy) from Willits, CA and got ham radio working  and misc small projects out of the way. George dropped us off at the Santa Rosa Airport and got a rental car and drove back to Bodega Bay (via Home Depot). Dan is feeling almost normal again.

 

07/16/04 Friday - Lay in port at Spud Point Marina. Spent day calling around for assistance. Most people gone over the weekend. Two good prospects gone all next week on vacation.  
Roxane took Wink Weber to the Santa Rosa Airport to get a rental car. He was going to drive to Oakland and fly back to Portland to meet his Monday morning commitments.

 

07/15/04 Thursday - Departed Richmond, Sugar Dock about 6am. Crossed under the Golden Gate about 7:10 and followed the fishing fleet out. The waters were calm and great.  After rounding Pt. Reyes we started riding the trough and it was a different story.  The old round bottom girl really rolled. There went lunch over the side.

Later I noticed the stuffing box was overheating so we slowed down and tried to cycle the transmission from reverse to forward to get some cooling water circulating. Unfortunately this resulted in locking the port transmission and killing the engine. After considerable fiddling around we decided to continue on one engine into Bodega Bay and evaluate our condition. As we entered the bay the Starboard engine started to act fuel starved. It would only run at high RPM if the manual fuel pump was pumped. 

Once we arrived at the entrance to Bodega Bay we idled in on one engine to the "B" dock at Spud Point Marina. Unfortunately the wind started blowing very wildly and now we were all crossed up in the channel without enough power to hold a position.
The harbor master at Spud Point Marina advised that we request assistance from the Coast Guard Station at Bodega Bay. Within 10 minutes from the request the 47footer crew was on scene and they immediately had us tied to their port side and were in control of the "out of control."
They did a fantastic job of securing the 83 footer to their boat and with the control and power they had available, the stuffed her right up next to the "b" dock and we had her tied down even with the wind to our side. The CG boys were chuckling that they had rescued a Coast Guard boat. We gabbed for awhile and did the paperwork.

We finally had dinner across the street from the Marina at a salmon feed place.

We were in bed by 9pm and I crashed until 8am. We were whipped after that day.

07/14/04 Wednesday  - We got more things cleaned up and ready for getting fuel and a test run.  We moved across from the marina to Channel Marina and put on 500 gallons of diesel. That took about 3 hours. Then we went out for a 3 hour sea trial. Upon return the winds were calm and the tie up was easy.
We had dinner and to bed early for a 6am departure.

 

07/13/04 Tuesday - Continued preparation.
07/12/04 Monday - Continued preparation. Painting and installed the oily water filter.  
07/11/04  - Sunday Continued on preparation. Royal working on windshield. Dan on electrical and Wink on rigging and berthing.
07/10/04 Wink Weber, President of the 83 Footer Association arrived at Oakland. Dan picked him up at the airport.
Continued working on the list. Royal started a windshield structure. Started stowing equipment received when Roxane and Sue (Journey) arrived with the Suburban and trailer.
07/09/04 Continued on the list. Called in David Perez, Bay City Diesel, to look over state of the engines. He recommended a list of improvements. We agreed and he started some pipe and injector replacements.
 
07/08/04   Started attacking the list of projects. Went to Home Depot and purchased hardware, plywood and etc. Started replacing plywood decks in the aft two compartments for ease of movement and clean storage of "stuff."

   

07/07/04    Dan Withers and Royal Journey flew to Oakland, CA and rented a vehicle. This will give us 5 more days to get prepared for departure.

07/06/04     Dan and Royal packed the Suburban and trailer with generator, life rafts, survival suits and every other conceivable gadget that anyone we knew had laying around that might make the trip more fun and safe. Roxane Withers and Sue Journey will leave Friday morning for Richmond with the Suburban and trailer.


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