We needed to assess our problem in more depth, determine a possible remedy, discuss the lay of the local land and whereabouts of resources nearby with the harbourmaster, who, although he spoke no English at all, had arrived on the wharf above us to welcome us to Ste. Therese de Gaspe and attempted to communicate that we could remain where we had so aptly landed.
The harbourmaster, a wonderfully kind and helpful man resided, we laterfound out, in the upper recesses of the port authority and ice production building located on the wharf directly in front of Bridlewilde’s place of rest. He worked for the Government of Canada manning the ice equipment for fishing vessels and eventually introduced us to a lovely couple from Anse au Beaufils who were regular visitors to the port and were fluent in English and fabulous translators.
Upon further investigation of our broken prop shaft, the captain determined more succinctly that the shaft had broken due to loose motor mounts on the back side of the engine; the break was fairly clean and located 2 inches from the coupling that receives the shaft. And possibly the heavy crashing of the boat as she pounded down onto the sea’s heavy swell in the North Atlantic Ocean over the past few days plied no favours to our loosely mounted engine either. At any rate, we needed a solution and a repair.
It was absolutely evident that we needed a major repair. The captain and I talked over some repair options and we talked to our amazing son Ben, who is a genius when it comes to quickly coming up with great solutions to problems. Ben knew our little diesel motor because he and his buddy Kyle had surprised his dad and I by showing up in Ontario to give us a week’s help doing some prep work to it and the boat prior to our departure from Waupoos Marina. Ben provided input and kept in contact throughout the process with revisions to his ideas, as he came up with them, and together we all devised Plan A, an option that we thought just may work. We would prepare for Plan B if A was not successful and Plan C was a final resort – a plan that could work but would be heavily frowned upon by most so I won’t go into that one! Plan A was to machine a new part the exact size of the distance of the break that would insert into the space. One side of the part was to act something like a washer between the housing on the motor that received the shaft and the cleanly broken shaft itself. The other side of the part would enable the propeller shaft to slide in to it allowing for resume of its rotation ease thereby resolving the problem of the break. There were the adjustments to deal with for this plan, such as the hoisting of the motor to realign it with the propeller shaft and the issue with the motor mounts and how they were going to be addressed but apparently those were just incidentals required for the success of Plan A that the captain knew he could manage himself. The real difficulty to this plan was not the installation and work required to do it. The difficulty was that it was now Friday afternoon, finding a machinist or welder in an area we did not know would be hard, communicating the plan to those that may be able help in another language, transportation to and from those that may help, and maintaining the positive attitude and strength we had mustered to forge forward.
Plan B was the obvious. A new propeller shaft needed to be inserted. But once that shaft was removed we would now have an open wound in our boat with the sea water anxiously awaiting the rush inward to fill her. A haul out for that repair would be required. The nearest place where that could be arranged was at our original destination of Chandler where the marina there had a working agreement with a boatyard in Newport, 5 nm further down the coast that we must contact through the Chandler Marina agreement. So we would arrange for the haul out in Newport, tow Bridlewilde out of the harbour with our dinghy, sail her to Newport and tow her in with the dinghy again, have her hauled out, purchase a propeller shaft, determine whether or not we could do the work ourselves or arrange for the work to be done(some boatyards do not allow individuals to do their own work – it is common practise that if your boat is in their facility for repair then you would use their mechanics to do the work) And, due to our time restraints and work schedules at the boatyard, we would accept the fact that our boat would remain on the hard here in Quebec for the winter and our wonderful voyage to NS on our wonderful little vessel had come to an end for this year and we would make our way home to the valley. If this plan did not work for us we would move on to plan C.
Plan C, as I said, will not be discussed.
Ever the optimist, the captain, although discouraged, approached Plan A with all the same gusto, capability and full force that I have known of him throughout the 40 years of our lives adventure together, as he approaches a challenge. The couple who were translating to the harbourmaster for us was able to report all the detail clearly. Remember, one huge factor in our favour was that we were in a commercial fishing port where there were huge fishing vessels and equipment that were always in need of repair and maintenance so we were confident that there must be a welder/s who did local work. The harbourmaster contacted a local man on our behalf by phone. The welder had a shop just over the hill within walking distance of the port and provided encouragement to us by saying that he would try to help but he would not be available until the following Monday morning. An inconvenience in terms of time but we were going nowhere with plan A without his help so we accepted. The couple who were translating for us came by the boat later to tell us that they had decided they were heading home as they had been camped there for a few days already. They insisted we take their cell and home phone numbers. They instructed us to call them at any time if we needed their help in any way with a drive, translation, phone calls, food, a place to stay, whatever , we were welcome. They were an older retired couple who loved Ste. Therese de Gaspe and I was later to find out why. They explained to me that they too had spent years on a sailboat and once they could manage her no more, reluctantly but decisively, had traded her in for the smaller RV camper they now had and trucked around to their favorite seaside haunts. What more can I say about the people in Quebec that we have encountered but they have gone beyond outstanding.
With Plan A established and in progress the work needed to begin. I was to devise some protective measure for the captain’s comfort as he lay his chest down with full body force over the top of the engine so that he would have access to remove the motor mounts and the broken propeller shaft coupling from the motor and hand the proper tools as required. The coupling end would be required by the welder as a template in order to manufacture the washer like piece needed to receive both the male and female ends of the engine and the newly crafted end of the propeller shaft. The captain removed the coupling piece and the rectangular brass fitting, called a key, inserted into it that allows for its tightening into the shaft. He also had to grind off the roughness of the broken end of the existing propeller shaft and create the indent into what was now to be the new end of the propeller shaft into which the brass key would insert to hold the new mechanism we were having machined in place. Next he would have to lift the motor somehow (difficult to do when it is very heavy and you are laying your whole body weight on it as well) to re align the shaft with the motor housing so that it would accept the shaft easily and remain level. Once that was completed then the motor mounts had to be replaced, tightened and wedges applied under them to hold them taught and in position. Behind the coupling of the motor and propeller shaft, further down the length of the propeller shaft, is a piece of equipment called the stuffing box that is essential to the good operation of the shaft. Its purpose is to allow water in to act as a lubricant for the shaft. It has a slow constant drip of water that runs directly to the bilge of the boat and works well. However, once there is disruption to the shaft, the drip increases allowing for far more leakage than should be. This was occurring in our stuffing box as well so that too needed adjustment once the pieces were securely mounted back in place. Truly, there was much work to be done and it was time consuming. And as our luck would have it, the captain’s ratchet would not fit into either the bolt or the nut to remove the motor mounts. There just was not enough room for the nose of the ratchet to fit into the space allotted to the bolts nor underneath the framework of the motor to get at the nut to loosen or tighten them. The tool required was an open ended wrench, a 16 mm open ended wrench to be exact. We had the 15mm and we had the 17 mm open ended wrench on board but the 16 mm open ended wrench was nowhere to be found in any nook nor cranny nor toolbox aboard. We have 2 sets of vice grips on board, but only the small one would slip under the motor framework to grasp the nut to aid in its release. Naturally, as our luck again would have it, the larger vice grip was also too thick to access the top of the bolt. Now, one would think that considering where we were, one of the fishermen from any of the commercial fishing vessels in that harbour would have a 16mm open ended wrench on board their boats but like us that was not the case so we could not even borrow one. The harbourmaster kindly offered the use of his big pipe wrench but it would not suffice either.
The hunt for the 16mm wrench brought about our walk around the community to see if we could find a cab company and/or a hardware store where we could purchase the wrench we needed. More on this to follow.
Another issue that we needed to contend with was the fact that we were not easily and safely secured to a berth in a marina or yacht club. We were tied to a 20 foot wharf wall with a tide rising and falling every 12 hours. In cases like this it is important to have the right equipment aboard so as to protect one’s vessel from damage as it raises and lowers with the tides along the wharf wall. We did have planks and boards tied on to our boat that we used for these particular incidents. The captain had drilled holes into the boards to receive lines that would be tied to them so as to secure them around the outside of the fenders positioned along the side of the vessel next to the wharf wall. It is also prudent to make sure all three of the bow, stern and spring lines are monitored and adjusted regularly to allow for the movement of the boat up and down with the tides to further eliminate damage. We did address these issues and we were confident that our vessel was fine.
Our walk about was quiet. The captain seemed pensive to me but I was lost in my own world too so I did not question it. When we happened upon the fish market located on the hill above the harbour he had returned to himself and we became engrossed in our surroundings. We stopped there to ask for info about the taxi and hardware store and were surprised to find the wrench we needed there. A fellow working behind the counter chatted with me as best we could. He spoke no English and my limited command of the French language does not include the French translation for tools let alone the specific names of wrenches. He surveyed my napkin drawing of an open ended 16mm wrench and came back to us with one he pulled from his tool box. He offered it to us and again we were amazed and so thankful.
But the captain still had that issue of raising the engine to deal with. We had talked earlier about how difficult a task that was going to be. However, upon returning to the boat, and unannounced to me, it was clearly visible that the captain’s quiet deep thought during our walk had brought about another plan for that as well. I watched as he opened the engine cockpit hatch and leaned in around the motor where he attached heavy lines around it. He pulled the lines back up through the hatch and wound either bitter end of each line around the sail winches, one to the port winch and one to the starboard winch. He hauled on the lines and with the help of the winches the engine elevated.
Things were happening in Ste. Therese de Gaspe. We watched fishing vessels glide in and around the harbour breakwater as smoothly as though they were one of the many seabirds soaring above us; we watched halibut being hoisted and offloaded from holds, we watched as the ice making equipment spewed ice into holds from their long tentacle like hoses; we watched as fishing boats took on supplies and bait, sometimes over 2000 pounds of bait, as the fishermen readied their trawlers for a week or 10 day fishing trip out into the North Atlantic Ocean; we watched as catches were lowered onto scales and weighed as they were offloaded from holds; we watched as women and children clasp their loved ones before they boarded boats pulling away from the wharf; we watched as mackerel was packed into containers and shipped up the hill to the local fish plant and market; we watched as boats moved about the harbour as they jockeyed positioned for off or on loading; we watched as hooks and nets were hung and neatly placed in line, often 5000 or more hooks hand strung, perched on their lines ready to be baited during the next trip out. I have visited fishing ports before. I have watched TV programs and movies about fishing ports. I have read stories of fishing ports and their activities. And all the while, I have found fishing ports to be interesting places. But I had now lived in a fishing port and this etching experience has given me a new and fresh and real appreciation for life in the same.
As raw and untamed as the sea may be, it is very much alive and living. It like all living things struggles to remain that way; life is born in it, it takes life and buries it in its depths, it produces life for the living and it provides pleasure for those willing to behold its beauty. I sat on the heavy rocky breakwater about Ste. Therese de Gaspe in solitude contemplating my fortune- thinking about our misfortune of the broken propeller shaft (Was that really a misfortune? Had that not taken place would we have sailed right by this special little haven without a second glance toward it on our way to Chandler for fuel? Would I ever have had these experiences impressed into my brain?) -----Lost in thought, still thinking about my fortune to be settled there in the sun, gazing out to sea, listening to the waves slap against the boulders below me, my eyes were drawn to the furrowed crevices the sea had dug into the hard unforgiving rock about me. I was awakened by the beauty of a patch of mosses and flowering sea grasses seemingly commanding me to attention, as they too struggled to live out there on the hard cold stone of the breakwater. How precious those truly simple moments in our lives are! I knew I needed to tell the captain.
Monday morning came along with the drizzle of rain. The harbourmaster drove Keith to take the coupling to the welder. The welder could not do the work but suggested a fabrication/machine shop further down the road. The harbourmaster drove Keith there. The harbourmaster translated all the necessary information to the machinist and the boys left the template part there for pickup with the new piece later in the day. The machinist would call the harbourmaster with details. There was no call on Monday. But on the way home from the shop Keith asked the harbourmaster if he would mind stopping at the gas station. The harbourmaster would not take anything from us for his help. In the cool of the evening before, Keith noticed him as he sat out on his step having a smoke and a beer and went to chat with him. The two of them had different mother tongues but Keith told me that they were able to get past that. The captain said that he knew they each had a mutual respect for each other and he could tell that the harbourmaster liked him as much as he liked the harbourmaster and that in another life they would be good friends. That was when the captain noticed the type of beer and smokes the harbourmaster enjoyed and that’s why he wanted to stop at the gas station -- to purchase beer and cigarettes for the harbourmaster. Tuesday morning the part was ready. The harbourmaster drove Keith to get it. When the captain attempted to install it, it did not fit and required a small modification. The harbourmaster was busy with ice and boats and cleaning up his place. His wife coming for the day and he threw Keith the keys to his truck. Keith was back to the machinist by 10 am and the modification was completed by noon. By 1pm the captain had the part installed, the stuffing box retooled, the propeller shaft inserted and the engine turned over. And Plan A worked.
By 2 pm, the harbourmaster and his wife were heaving off Bridlewilde’s lines and we were heading out of the St. Therese de Gaspe harbour waving goodbye with happy hearts and on our way to Chandler.
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