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Departing Crescent City for Coos Bay

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.

Departing Coos Bay, Holding in Newport

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.

 

Scenes from around the CG Station Yaquinta Bay by Selby Drew

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 Jack took some parts home with an idea about how to modify a newer version of the shaft.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.

 

08/11/04 Wednesday - Jack's modified fix worked. We’re back on line with both engines. Royal and I changed all fuel filters and cleaned up the "trashed" engine room.
	Nephew Jayson Withers cleaning the 6-71 engine blower

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 Rein (Port Ludlow) 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.

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