Thruster Repair

 January 11, 2025   En Route to Apalachacola

On Wednesday, our second day of moving, we covered 70 miles from Hurlburt AFB to Panama City.    We got a great start despite the brisk morning (34F), undeway by 7 am.   Coffee and yogurt breakfast while underway.  Crossing Choctawhatchee Bay on auto pilot we saw a number of F-22's out of Elgin AFB.   

The connection between Choctawhatchee Bay and West Bay near Panama City is a dug canal.  Beautiful rock cuts (well 1- 3 million year old sand is as close to 'rock' as you get in this part of Florida) exposed along the edges.  

Liz commented that this was sure to be 'eagle country', and sure enough we saw two eagles watching from the trees.   

During the heat of the day (low 50's) I piloted the boat from the fly bridge.   What a great vantage point to see the canal.  The new chart plotter makes driving the boat from the fly bridge a joy!

We had thought about anchoring in West Bay but we couldn't find a spot that gave us much protection from the north wind - and we knew it was going to be another cold night.  We called and were lucky enough to get a slip at St Andrews Marina - a City run marina.   They were hit hard by Hurricane Michael in 2018 loosing 3/4 of thier slips and when they reopened the city made the commitment to provide first for local charter captains, to keep the local economy going - over transients like us.   But Dana was nice enough to offer us a slip that was normally occupied by a party boat that boat was temporarily out of the water being serviced.  

As we approached the landing and Liz and were getting ready for the burst of activity associated with docking - I discovered that I had no bow thruster!   Thrusters are those side facing mini propellers that help push the boat sideways when manuvering into a dock or slip.   Navigator has both bow and stern thrusters that help immensely in tight quarters, especially with a cross breeze or current.   

We were able to land without the bow thruster, but it was disconcerting to realize we had a problem.   But luckily we discovered the problem while in a city with lots of resources.   The next morning I asked Dana about divers who could inspect the damage - and perhaps repair it. Turns out Dana's roomate, Fleet Wood, is a diver!   

Fleet Wood was able to get free from his day time job early (Jimmy Carter's funeral) and by 2:30 he was in the water.   His inspection showed no debris or damage to the otherwise intact propeller. He also was able to report that when I turned the thruster on - the shaft was not spinning.   Clearly the problem was upstream of the propeller and shaft.  

What a great guy.   Sat and chatted with Fleet while he warmed up (water temp barely 60, air temp barely 45).   A boat Captain who has a contract with the Navy to drive dive boats for them.   And in the summer he also drives dive boats for charters.   He loves to dive, loves fish, manatees, eagles - loves being outdoors in Florida.   

After his trouble shooting I called Marco, the previous ownere of Navigator.   He related to me how he took the thruster motor off the lower unit and fixed it once before (8-12-22 to be exact).   Sent me pictures and told me I could at least take it apart and see if there was sometnhing easy to fix.   

So on Friday I did.  First I had to move our matress and take apart the frame that supports the bow V-berth, under which the thruster motor was located.  With Marco's guidance I was able to remove the motor - and discovered that the coupler to the thrusters lower unit had detached itself.   Clearly this would account for the symptons we experienced.  After accounting for the tools and supplies I had vs. what I needed, Liz and I set off to the auto parts store primarily for "Lock Tight" and a pair of vice grips.   

Returning to the boat we realized we made it back just in time as the forecast front was arriving.   First high winds with gusts to 36 knots required us to resecure the boat.   Then the rain.   But after tending to the boat, I was able to get the coupler reattached in short order - and a test revealed:  Thruster AOK!

I earned a glass of bourbon....      

Saturday morning the 11th, we were up a bit late after a busy Friday.   I had been watching a potential weather window for the evening of the 12th but with the thruster issues had kind of lost sight of that.   But a quick check revealed that the window might still be there!   No guarantees but to take advantage of a window the evening of the 12th, we need to be in Apalachacola tonight!   

Thankfully we have had enough experience with Navigator that we were able to make a quick decision to move.   It is 60 miles to Apalachacola - so we needed to get moving.