Herrington Harbor at Tracy’s Landing, MD
Saturday – Wednesday, June 8 – 12
Our 42-mile trip from Solomons to Tracys Landing was a little rough (Bo was not happy). This part of the Chesapeake is very wide, so the winds kick up some significant wave action. Things settled down later in the day, so part of the crew decided it was nap time. Brian got to enjoy a short battle-of-wills that took place regarding napping arrangements (see photos).
We needed to stop at Herrington Harbor in Tracys Landing MD to have Zimmerman Marine work on our transmission seal. Zimmermans Marine has five locations along the ICW and is a highly regarded marine repair operation. We had their boat yard at Southport NC evaluate the issue with our port transmission seal so their yard at Tracys Landing could purchase the parts and be prepared to do the repair when we arrived. This allowed us to keep moving along while the repair parts were being shipped.
Herrington Harbor is a huge marina in Tracys Landing, MD, with resort-like amenities (pool, restaurant, landscaped grounds, nice bathrooms, etc.). They have four travel lifts at three separate lift wells. It was a half-mile walk from our dock to get to the marina restaurant, though across very nicely landscaped paths and picnic grounds. A portion of the marina is a wetlands area with a self-guided “Eco-Tour” running through the entire marina including numbered stations and information plaques along the way.
We arrived during a busy time of the year with many east coast marine snowbirds moving their boats back north. We ended up on their dock OUTSIDE the wave barrier, so we had a couple rough nights when the winds came from the SE. Bo was not at all happy with this and would make his unhappiness known around 4am as he attempted to scratch his way out of his portable kennel. Sue to the rescue. Bo would settle down rather quickly if he could snuggle up with Sue on the couch. Bo got some good sleep these nights, Sue not so much.
It is hard to determine what made the shaft seal in our port transmission start leaking. Both transmissions were replaced in September in Green Turtle Bay, KY. We know we hit some sort of submerged object after that (likely a submerged log) and needed to have our propellers repaired in Aqua Harbor Marina in MS. That may have been enough to damage the seal.
The mechanic from Zimmerman Marine (Steve) arrived at the boat Monday morning and began looking over what needed to be done. He had been a mechanic for many years on a Navy nuclear submarine before coming to work at Zimmerman Marine, so he had a very methodical plan for doing the repair. He and Brian also agreed that checking the valve timing on the engines would be worthwhile given the number of hours put on them since the last tune up, and he looked over anything else that might need attention. The port transmission seal and resetting the valve timing on both engines was completed by early Tuesday morning. We could not resolve a problem with stopping the starboard engine: it doesn’t always stop when you push the “STOP” button, so you have to open the floor and manually stop the engine. Since this happens about 50%of the time, replacement parts were ordered and will be sent by Zimmerman Marine to a future marina, when we decide to stay in one place long enough for a FedX delivery.
Herrington Harbor also has a West Marine store next door. We ordered a new toilet for the aft head a few days before and were glad to learn that it was delivered to the local store as planned. Brian removed the old toilet and installed the new one on June 11. The crew was “flush with excitement” with the successful installation (Bo - not so much, but he gets excited when others do).
With our repairs complete, it was time to move on up the Chesapeake.