Week 3: June 20-June 26

We arrived at Ess-Kay Boatyard in the pouring rain on Thursday morning. We have now been traveling with a leaky seal for two weeks. The mechanics looked at the problem and spoke with the mechanic who attempted the repair in Waterford. They talked about a shut-off valve to control pressure if necessary. The work was done but the test run was scheduled for Friday morning.

We all went out for dinner at the local Mexican restaurant – Mariachi’s. Friday morning, our buddy boats were leaving to go through the Oswego locks to Lake Ontario. Our plan was to follow them once our repairs were done. The restaurant had a good variety of dinners, even to satisfy our non-Mexican food boaters. There were 20 loopers in attendance from three different marinas. A great time was had by all.

On Friday we had our first trial run – boat still leaked so more adjustments were needed. The mechanics could not understand why the problem continued but with some additional tightening of the seal, the boat appeared to be fixed during our second trial run. We scheduled our departure for Saturday.

Saturday morning arrived and we left the marina. By this time, the Oswego locks were closed because of high water and turbulence. Our buddy boats were in various locations along the Oswego. Projected opening of the locks was questionable.

The next lock was only 2 miles and by the time we reached the lock, the leak started again. We went through the lock, frustrated, not knowing what to do. With the Oswego closed, we thought about option #2 and continue through the Erie Canal into Lake Erie and not going to Lake Ontario. Peter really wanted to visit all the Great Lakes but we were concerned by the time we lost and the indefinite opening of Oswego.

The seal continued to leak and Peter called Ess-Kay who first said that it was fixed when we left (all of 1/2 hour) and I looked for other marinas who could handle the repair. Ess-Kay called back asking us to return to another marina on the Seneca River and they would meet us and try to fix the leak. We decided to do this and the leak could not be repaired there so we returned to Ess-Kay. By this time, the westbound locks on the Erie Canal were closed and we were lucky to be returning via Lock 23 eastbound which had remained open.

This time, Ess-Kay spoke with the mechanic who installed our new engine last year. They discussed various options and decided that it would be a good idea to check the prop. A diver was arranged for Sunday morning. The diver found a black plastic bag wrapped around the prop and found that one of the blades was out of balance. In the meantime we needed to scramble to rent a car to take the prop to their prop guy who had his workshop in Canandaugia – 80 miles a way. We needed to do this on Monday morning early – his shop opens at 5:30am and he only works in the shop in the morning. Our plan was to leave the marina right after 4:ooam since he would be able to check the prop and repair if we were early.

Sunday evening, Ess-Kay held a BBQ for the stranded loopers and invited those from Winter Harbor. There were 34 of us in attendance, each bringing a side dish/docktail, etc. while Ess-Kay provided hamburgers, hot dogs, corn and potatoes. It was a good break from thinking about how long we all would be stuck.

We drove to Canandaigua and met Mike at Propeller Works. He explained that he would need an hour to fix the prop so we made use of the time by washing our laundry. As it turned out, two blades on the prop were out-of-balance but it is now fixed and we returned to Ess-Kay. The diver was scheduled for Tuesday morning to install the prop.

On Tuesday, the diver installed the prop and they took another trial run. At cruising speed, the shaft seal still leaked. Frustration level was unbelievable. Ess-Kay once again spoke with PYI the manufacturer of the shaft/seal and they advised to tighten it more than the original instructions. Another trial run was needed and Kodey and I stayed at the marina. They were gone a bit longer than anticipated and when they returned, there were smiles all around – no leaking at cruising speed or beyond! All is fixed, no leaks finally!

While this was excellent news, the locks remained closed. We continued to have more rain which was not helping the situation. On Wednesday there was heavy rain during the night. The weather cleared but with no place to go, Peter took the dink down – started on the second pull – and played around a bit and then washed the dink. While the locks were still closed, we were advised that Lock 23 would let us through so we could travel at wait at Lock 24 with another of our buddy boats who was not doing Oswego. Oswego remained closed. Our plan is to leave on Thursday, beginning of Week Four, to travel to the east side (free wall, no electric) of Lock 24 that still remains closed.

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