Changed locations…no news

Sorry no pictures this time. I will try to make up for it soon.

This morning, based on the recommendation of a diesel mechanic who we met at Port Kindale, we moved less than 5 miles away to Olverson’s Lodge Creek Marina and boy was it an excellent move. First, where we were was isolated and there were no other boaters about. There were plenty of boats but no people. Second, there was a good deal of river tidal current coming in this morning that kept us gently rocking because we were on the outside and exposed to it.

Olverson’s on the other hand has several courtesy vehicles, is full of friendly people and is within 23 miles of a Walmart and cheaper. A combination that can’t be beat.

As soon as we settled in it was off to the Walmart over in Tappahanock, VA. There we not only stocked up on groceries and other needs but I went ahead and purchased 7 gallons of oil as it will be time to change it before we reach Canada and I may not have another chance to get it this easy.

Yesterday I had discovered that the port transmission was spewing out fluid by the pint in the bilge. It was leaking around the new O-ring seal I had installed when I changed the fluid in Yorktown. I had noticed it did not seat easily when I put it in the first time, so I replaced it with an old one that I had saved. On a boat never throw anything out that has any useful life.

But today even after a short run more fluid was leaking so I knew there had to be something I was missing and there was. Upon closer examination the cap that appeared to be one solid piece was actually a two piece assembly and needed adjustment to ease tension on the O-ring. It was the devil to take those two pieces apart as I do not believe it had been done in the life of this boat and they seemed frozen together. A bit of friendly persuasion was in order to convince them to come apart but soon all was fixed and back in place hopefully to never leak again. I will keep an eye on it. The cleanup of the leaked red fluid took some time but the engine room is shipshape once more.

We visited “liars’ corner” this evening. Back at LGYC we have “Gossip Hall” and here it is much the same. Around 1730 boaters gather and sit around to share tales and solve the world’s problems. Jan prepared some snacks to share and we joined them. Soon it was as if we had been here for months.

Later six of us decided to try dinner at a local restaurant that is known for it’s prime rib. It is enough to share a meal so each couple got one plate and cut it up. Ours was excellent and a good time was had by all. We did not return until 2215, a late night for us, but we have no plans to leave for several days so we can rest up tomorrow.

It will be a work day starting in the morning as we catch up on a number of things that you tend to put off. Plus we must do some long range planning to deal with the visit of Alex and the trip to DC and NYC and ultimately the journey into Canada. It will be a fairly tight schedule beginning in about 12 days. Until then we are just killing time.