Portsmouth to Willoughby

So now we had the boat ready to go to her marina slot over at Willoughby Harbor Marina. It was blowing up to 20 knots from the North, with no relief in sight, when we decided we needed to move the boat before the folks at Ocean Marine started to want some rent from us...

So with Hugo (Brigite's brother) and Val (his girlfriend) as crew we set off. We did not know how the boat would handle the strong winds, so we were somewhat apprehensive to say the least. I knew our rig was a tad soft, so I snugged it up a few turns, and we put up the #3 with 2 reefs in the main.

It was a great sail! The boat loved the breeze, and tracked along as if on rails. Brigite & I were very pleased! The tide turned against us as we went up Hampton Flats and we were not making great time, but that was fine as we were enjoying the sail, and testing out our new boat in these conditions.

As we approached the marina - after succesfully navigating the entrance to the channel with our new information and the awesome GPS that we bought from our friend John H. - the engine would not start.

A clunk noise but no crank. Frustrating, but the wind was suitable to sail to our dock spot. We sailed in and were overall happy with another successful journey under our belt.

Starter Motor Refurbishment

Dan and Willie at Auto Electric service took good care of me, and got my starter motor refurbished with a new solenoid same day!

I put it back in the boat on Tuesday 9/1/09, and it was an improvement, but not the full solution. To fix it fully I am going to have to add a 30 Amp relay to ensure the starter motor gets the juice in needs from the battery.

Back in the Water

Having had the boat in the yard at Ocean Marine for a week, it was time to get her back in the water.

Silver Fox had a lovely new paint job, a new anode, a gorgeous new Martec prop and was looking good!

She was put in, but the engine would not start, not even crank, not a click nuthin! So we had to sail her out of the crane and around to the Ocean Marine marina - again!

That was fine, I thought it was the battery again, but was suspicious that something else was about to surface.

On Saturday 8/29/09 I went to the boat to research the starting problem, and was coming up blank. With Brigite on the Internet at home doing research for me, we decided to pull out the starter motor and get it refurbished. It comes out pretty easy, and I was happy to have a good plan in place - that would help me sleep at night!

Silver Fox would spend the weekend at the Ocean Marina marina.

Vibration Issue

The vibration I had was pretty chronic. It would shudder and shake the boat as soon as the engine was put into forward gear. But if you could ride it out, after around 10-15 seconds it would smooth out to only a fraction of what it was before, as by then, the prop had opened fully.

I should mention the folding prop was NOT geared - so the blades opened and closed independently of each other.

The vibration had been there for years according to the PO, who had been conditioned to accept it.

It was too violent for me to put up with, and I figured it would eventually cause more serious problems (engine mounts, strut, cutlass bearing, etc), so I had to address it.

Our 35 yr old prop was clean, and nothing there caused it not to open correctly. The prop did have a couple of dings on the blades, but unlikely to be the cause of the problem. In talking to Gary over at Martec, he told me about the stops, etc and that they could most likely refurbish it. So I sent the prop off to sunny California for a makeover.

When he tested the prop, Gary said it had excessive electrolysis within - which is not visible on the surface, and the prop looked in good condition on the outside. This electrolysis meant the welds to repair the stops, etc, would not "stick". Thus, it was advisable to replace the prop.

I was adamant that I wanted a 2 blade folding prop, as we mostly sail, and can do quite long trips, and I did not like the thought of dragging a fixed blade prop under the boat. We chose Martec as they seemed to have a very good reputation, and are respected by their peers.

So we picked the Martec Mark III Eliptical 2-blade folding prop (not geared).
It is an 11" blade, and I would think the A-4 could handle bigger blades (just my opinion, I'm no expert), but we do not have clearance for anything larger.



We are delighted with the prop. It has great torque in forward, very good cruising speed at lower rpm's, goes in reverse acceptably, and most important to us; it opens and closes perfectly every time!!

I don't remember exactly, but we put down something like $600 on the prop (whereas a fixed prop would only be half that price), so it was not inexpensive, but it was worth it to us.

In the Yard

On Thursday Aug 20th 2009 Bridge & I brought the boat to Ocean Marine in Portsmouth to have them research the bottom vibration issue, and repaint the bottom with Trinidad Pro anti-fouling.

Unfortunatly, we ran her into the mud at the entrance to Willoughby harbor. We were in the middle of the marked channel, but the 2 green marks are not well positioned. Another sailboat on the way out told us we needed to stick very close to red to be clear - and that is what we have done ever since... Despite that, we had a nice sail over with a good breeze.

As we approached their marina, we went to start the engine, but no dice. We sailed into a dock spot and plugged in the shore power as the batteries were low, and thought to be the problem. Eventually we got her started and left her for the yard to pick up the following morning.

We worked on the boat over the weekend, polishing the top-sides, working on the nav lights, oiling the hanks, etc, etc. I also filled the crack around the keel, where the lead meets the fiberglass with some Marine Tex, after we had a surveyer look at the boat and tell us the crack was only cosmetic (phew!).

Arriving at Willoughby...

Sunday night and we were arriving in Norfolk with our new boat, it was dark, and we had never been into Willoughby before...

We found a red flashing nav aid we were looking for, but after that we were having a hard time picking up the day markers, seeing as it was now pitch black, n-all...

We started to rely on our eyes, and were lost, but still finding nav aids ahead to aim for. I saw some masts that must be our marina, so we puttered over to there, but it was not easy to get in, and not lit at all. After a couple of very slow approaches we nosed our way in, and found it was a marina - Whew, the relief was incredible!

So we found a spot on the outside of a finger pier and tied up for the night. Pleased to have made a safe passage.

We were awoken Monday morning on the boat to the sound of: "left, left, left, left-right-left", and marching chants "people always ask us, people always ask us, who we are, who we are...", etc. Ok, strange I thought, but this is Norfolk and we have not been to this marina before...

Then there was a trumpet piece to announce the sunrise, and when I was having a morning pee from the foredeck the national anthem started playing over a speaker system - the cars on land all pulled over and stopped - I was mid-pee and decided to continue... But realized things are not at all kosher... "Bridge - start the engine, we need to leave - PRONTO!!!"

Turns out we accidentally motored into the military base, and had tied up to one of the Marines docks!!! Needless to say, we left as quickly - and inconspicuously - as possible - hoping not to get chased down by a boat full of Marine trainees. We searched for & found the correct marina which was about a mile north!!! Phew, that was a close call.

With this, we decided we need a good GPS - STAT!!!

Now she is ours...

We paid the money via BOA Direct Deposit, and Silver Fox was now ours, with an escape clause just in case we came accross anything that was seriously wrong before moving the boat.

We went back up to Reedville on Saturday the 15th, and picked up an exhaust hose on the way. We cleaned and cleaned all day, and checked on everything before sailing down to Norfolk at first light Sunday morning. Saturday night we ate and slept on board at the Jennings Marina Dock, and thanks to Charlie from there for his support.

On Sunday, we didn't have much of any wind, but didn't want to run the engine too much because of the serious vibration issue, so we sailed and let the tide help us journey South. We had the chute up and were enjoying the sail. Around Stingray Point at lunchtime it was getting too light and we were not making good time, so we motor-sailed from then on.

For navigation we only had my little handheld GPS and a paper chart, and doing fine, as we passed fort wool on our way to Willoughby Harbor Marina as darkness descended...

Silver Fox - the introductions...

We purchased Silver Fox from Boat Angel Ministries via e-Bay. The e-Bay auction ended on Wednesday August 12th 2009, and we officially purchased the boat the following day.

She was lying in Reedville, VA when we bought her at Jennings Boat Yard.



We went to see her on Thurs and she looked pretty good! The batteries were flat and it took a few hours to get the engine started, but we were falling for her, and couldn't turn away!

We got things inventoried, got the engine started, and everything was going ok. We decided to come back at the weekend and sail her back to Norfolk, and work on the engine vibration iss ue there.