August 5, 2019 – Around the Great Loop on the Answer

Week 8: Port Huron to Harbor Beach..and back

Thursday morning we left early as planned. Our travel up the St. Clair River was uneventful. Weather was good and the ride was pleasant. Kodey appreciated the trip to catch up on his napping. When we approached the bridge – in a permanent up position – we saw that the entire transient dock at Port Huron Yacht Club was empty. Our plan worked and we secured our lines and tied up close so that there would be space for others who arrived throughout the day.

Port Huron is a busy place. Lots of boats and lots of sail boats returning from the Port Huron to Mackinac Island race. The river is narrow at the opening and we experienced much rocking. It appears that people do not understand the meaning of NO WAKE. Our plan was to only spend one night in town and then head up to Lake Huron, second of our Great Lakes.

We read, and were advised about the strong current entering Lake Huron and the need to hug the Canadian side of the channel. All this is true! We are a slow boat, especially with our mechanical problems but fighting the current to enter the lake, our speed actually dropped to 1.8 knots. We were happy to get out of the funnel and enter the lake. Lake Erie looked large but it doesn’t compare the vastness of Lake Huron.

Destination was not much of question this time. We had thought about Port Salinac but it turned out that this was their Festival weekend and that meant no slip availability. Lexington looked like a cute town but it was only 20 miles away and we wanted to travel further. That meant we would have a longer day but would arrive at Harbor Beach in the afternoon. Water was good so it was no problem. Harbor Beach is undergoing renovations so the marina had some very nice new slips but they didn’t have power or water. We opted for the older slips with the rickety, narrow fingers since power and water is nice to have. In addition to the rickety fingers, the main dock to land had wide spaces between most of the boards. This created a difficult walk for Kodey since his paws were the perfect size to get caught between two boards. Walking down the dock, gingerly, took more time than usual. To offset these inconveniences, the staff were friendly and there was a courtesy car to get us into town.

Since we were headed to Jerry’s Marina in East Tawas on July 31st, we wanted to make sure that they were prepared to accept our packages – the part from PYI and two additional packages from Target and Amazon that I had ordered. Called on Thursday and left a message – no return phone call. Peter called again on Friday and wanted to speak with the mechanic who had left a message. He was unable to speak with him but was advised by their staff that they were too busy to look at our boat and that their policy is to not make appointments but to look at the boat two weeks after you arrive at the marina. Major issue – why did they create a work order two weeks earlier and tell us the 31st but not that we would need to wait an additional two weeks to actually have any work done?

Harbor Beach is a place to stay and does not have any mechanical services. However, there is a local mechanic who works on many boats there and Peter spoke to him on Saturday. He came to the marina, reviewed the issues we were having, the other “repairs” we had and diagnosed that the shaft was bent. He tested the shaft and said it was bent and would need to reconditioned. Of course, that meant that the boat needed to be hauled – he thought a friend of his had a trailer that could pull the boat but the boat was too heavy. He advised that if we continued to travel looking for a mechanic, we risked losing our prop.

By Sunday, we were struggling to locate a marina in the area that could manage the haul out and do the work or allow the mechanic from Harbor Beach to do the work if they were too busy. Peter finally spoke with the service manager at Port Salinac Marina and he advised that they would be able to help. Since we were concerned about losing the prop, we agreed that a tow would make sense. The weather was projected to be windy on Monday so we would probably not be towed until Tuesday. While they had the equipment and mechanics to help us, it meant going 27 miles back south. Not what we wanted to do but we want the boat fixed permanently this time. We cannot continue to travel and risk having additional problems.

Our buddy boat, Bahama Voyager, left Harbor Beach on Sunday for Port Austin. They graciously stated that they would pick up our packages at Jerry’s Marina since they would not be doing the work. After a stop in Port Austin, they planned to stay at the state marina in East Tawas for a day or two and would be close by. Loopers are great!

On Monday, we received the tracking number from PYI once we confirmed that the package had not arrived. It was too late to redirect the package but we were able to have them hold it at the UPS facility and we hoped that we would be able to resend it once they got it.

Monday was too windy so it was arranged that we would be towed on Tuesday when the wind was better. With all this going on, there was another festival in Port Sanilac the following weekend – the 6th annual Blues Festival on Friday and Saturday, and that meant no slips if we needed to stay beyond Friday morning. The plan was to be towed and then hauled. We were told we could not stay on the boat and there are limited places nearby with rooms – none are marked pet-friendly. I called the motel closest to the marina and told them our situation. They were very nice and agreed to take a chance on our “low-maintenance, non-shedding” dog. The only thing was that if the boat was not fixed, we would still have to leave on Friday morning as all rooms had been booked since last year for the festival. He advised that this would be the same at all the local places. Not the best option, but it bought us a few days. All this juggling proved unnecessary since they decided not to haul us until they looked at the leaking and made some adjustments. After they made adjustments, there was a trial run and while there was no leaking, there were a few other things that need to be looked at – the bent shaft, etc. and that would be done on Wednesday. He suggested we stay in the state marina next door and they will work on finding a slip for us until the boat was operable. The gracious motel owner understood and allowed us to cancel our reservation without any payment even though it was close to 5 pm – the differences you see in small towns.

Wednesday arrived and the mechanic ran a number of tests on the boat. The final diagnosis was that the leaky shaft seal was never the main problem but it was the bent shaft and that meant hauling the boat so that the shaft could be reconditioned. Since pieces of the engine had been deconstructed, their barge towed us to their travel lift to be hauled. Once hauled, they needed to work on removing the shaft so that it could be given to the company they use for reconditioning. Removing the shaft proved not an easy task. They needed to work on the stainless steel rudder and enlarge the hole to remove the shaft. As I am a novice, I inquired why it was so difficult to remove and if so, how could the installer get the shaft in the boat in the first place. An unanswered question.

Finally, they were able to remove the shaft, prop and coupler just in time to give it to the company van for pickup. This reconditioning will probably take a week so we will be staying in Port Sanilac awaiting repairs. They were able to find a slip for us and put an old shaft into the boat so we would stay afloat. Staying on your own boat, even when it is not moving, definitely beats staying in a motel. Really didn’t want to move clothes, eat all meals out, and worry about Kodey. The weekend would have been problematic anyway since there were no rooms available in town. I guess I should also mention that there is no place to rent a car here.

Our parts were taken to the shop in Algonac with a return next Wednesday. We are staying on the boat and will need to find some things in this small town to occupy our time. At least we will be entertained Friday and Saturday as the Blues Festival is in the park next door so we just need to stay on the boat and we will be able to hear everything.