Day 173, Year 1: The Transmission Blues
Date: Saturday, April 8, 2006
Weather: Another Beautiful Day in Paradise
Location: Academy Bay, Puerto Ayoro, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
Today was spent just trying to figure out exactly what to do about the transmission problem. At present, we cannot start the engine to charge our batteries. When we start the engine it sounds like a lot of bolts being mixed in a metal bowl-not good. We have contacted our agent here, Johnny Romero, and asked him to help us find a transmission mechanic. No one is available today, but he will find someone by tomorrow. Evidently they work here on Sundays. In the meantime, Patrick and Margaret on Aqua Magic have loaned us their gasoline Honda generator. It is not powerful, but it will keep the freezer going until we can figure something else out. In the meantime, we are limiting our use of power. I am writing logs, but I cannot send them until we have the power situation under control.
Here is what Mark has discovered about the transmission. Between the transmission and engine there is a coupling. Apparently when we were caught in the fishing net off the coast of Columbia, the force of stopping the propeller so quickly moved the prop shaft back slightly which put force on the mounting plate which holds the transmission to the engine. The mounting plate is cracked and a couple of bolts that held it to the motor are sheared. We didn’t notice any of this at the time, but with continual use, two more bolts have come loose and at that point-yesterday-the transmission was partially disengaged from the coupling and the odd angle at which the prop shaft from the transmission was entering the coupling caused the coupling to shatter. It appears that the noise we are hearing is the parts of that coupling rattling about inside the housing. What all of this means we are not sure, but once we get a mechanic onboard to help us remove the transmission and back it away from the engine so the broken parts can be removed. Our hope is that this will happen tomorrow.
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| 060408 Day 173 Galapagos Santa Cruz–Anchor Up and Sushi Dinner |
