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On The Road Again--To Terror

Oct 17, 2024

4 min read

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On Tuesday, Cummins came with a new logic board for the generator and, after testing for other faults and finding none, replaced ours which had a burned spot the size of the end of your thumb (bigger than Trump's thumb).



With a new logic board for the generator and it purring (apologies to the bosun) happily away, we departed Port Charles Harbor yesterday before sunrise only to find that our power steering wasn't working. U-Turn. I found that the power steering fluid reservoir was empty and the Port Charles Harbor mechanics found that the power steering circuit breaker was tripped--maybe bumped by the generator repair guy. Both taken care of and with full tanks of diesel and water, off we went again.


Through two locks and most of the way through Saint Louis (think heavy tug and barge traffic, industrial piers and other facilities, countless bridges. heavy current) all was good. After nearly a week at the dock, we were thrilled to be underway again. And, you can't beat the view of the Arch from the middle of the Mississippi.





And then, terror struck. In 3+ knots of current, swirling eddies, a tug pushing barges on the outside of a bend, and the Jackson Barracks bridge looming just down stream, our steering failed altogether. I couldn't believe it. I opened the lazarette, had Jackie turn the wheel all the way in both directions, and no movement of the rudder post whatsoever. Time to improvise. Using the bow and stern thrusters (challenging because the rudder was hard over in one direction) forward and reverse, I got us more or less to the edge of the channel. The Admiral removed the line securing the anchor and, in that full 3 knots of current, we paid out 150 feet of chain and a few more feet of line. If we never use our very expensive, 60 pound Ultra anchor again, it is worth every penny. It set and held the first time.


Pan, pan, pan. The first and hopefully only time we will ever call the United States Coast Guard for help. We explained the situation and their first and somewhat unsettling question--do you have life preservers? Yes we do and we even had them on. The Coast Guard was extremely professional--moved us from VHF 16 to their land line--and after taking down a lot of information, connected us to Boat US' Tow Boat US service. Turned out my "unlimited anywhere" towing wasn't much good in the marina desert south of St. Louis. To be fair, we are in a stretch of the trip where it is almost 300 miles. between full service marinas.


The Admiral got on the phone with Port Charles Harbor--not only the folks who had worked on our steering that morning but also the Tow Boat US franchisee for their area. They were very concerned, listened, asked questions, and then FaceTimed with us to try to "see the problem". And, amazingly enough, the helm seemed to be working again. We couldn't believe it. I started the engine, back to the lazarette, Jackie turned the helm. Yep. Working. I tried steering up the anchor line. Yep, working. The folks at Port Charles called Hoppie's, a barge tie stop 10 miles downstream that we had been unable to make a reservation at. Sorry. No room at the inn even in a sort of emergency. Then they tried to talk us into making our way back up to them--through St. Louis, through two locks, with all the barge traffic. No thank you. Not for us with steering that might fail again in the midst of that jungle of bridges, barges, piers and current.


Enter the Admiral. She called Hoppie's, could we raft up with someone? "No. Well, maybe but only if they agree." She talked them into giving her the phone numbers for several boats there, and then got on the phone with what turned out to be a wonderful couple from Vancouver, BC. They're immediate reaction--"Of course you can raft up with us." Nancy and Steve, thank you!


We gingerly made our way downstream. Steering worked fine. And, here we are--tied up next to our new Canadian friends:



The Coast Guard checked on us every half hour until we were secure. Thanks to them as well for their concern and reassurance.


So, what happened. We don't know and we may never know. But, the best theory is that water leaking through our shore water connection which had dripped on the auto pilot unit in the lazarette may have caused an auto pilot hiccup of some kind. In an abundance of caution, we are paying for a service call for the Port Charles guys to come down and check the steering out this morning. A thousand bucks to reduce the possibility of another steering failure at a critical juncture seems more than worth it. We may disconnect the autopilot. We may stop using the shore water connection until we can get it replaced. Maybe both.


Stay tuned!


Oct 17, 2024

4 min read

3

55

3

Comments (3)

Guest
Oct 22, 2024

That Guest is Bob Gipe

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Guest
Oct 22, 2024

Yikes! I'm trolling backwards through your blogs since we emailed a couple days ago, Chuck, and am just reading about steering problems...and current...and tugs...plus no BoatUS...and no immediate marina. This has the making of a great adventure story, if were not happening in person. On a separate note: if you have the band width, a great novel to read while cruising the great rivers is James by Percival Everett...a new twist on Huckleberry Finn.

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Martha Hewett
Martha Hewett
Oct 18, 2024

Not sure it's even proper to click the heart button on a blog post like this one. Jeepers! Heart-stopping story. Glad it turned out well (per the next post), but you guys must've been frantic. Maybe in retrospect it'll fall under "getting your money's worth out of the adventure." Let's hope!

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