When I got the old boat motor back, the lower was still detached. It was also seized up. I was trying to reattach it to store everything away, but I needed to spin the shaft to line up the teeth. Out of curiosity, I started to disassemble the lower. As I worked at the shaft, this junk started pouring out the gear oil drain... It had the consistency of dirt with some salt crystals mixed in. I didn't have a magnet to check if it was ferrous, but I assume this is what was left of my gears.
Mechanic took a look at the outboard. Much to both our surprise, there was no trace of gear lube in the lower unit (and I'd believe it from the noises it was making). However, there was also no signs of water intrusion. We're both baffled. Parts alone would be $1500. Time to look for a new motor...
Sorry 😔 the spinnaker!
(April, responding to my text about the motor issues)
After going about 6 miles, as we entered the Puget Sound proper, the grinding noise came back. The wind was starting to pick up, so we shut off the motor and put up the sails. However, the tide was still on its way out and the current was slowly dragging us back north.
In hindsight, we should have anchored in Oak Bay, just on the other side of the cut. The tide was coming in the night before, which would have given us a favorable current. Instead, we faced a 3-4 kt opposing current when we left Tuesday morning.
Anchored near Port Hadlock
As we approached Port Townsend, the motor started making a new noise from time to time, which could be described as a grinding sound.... We had originally planned to head to Port Ludlow, but decided to anchor at the south end of Port Townsend Bay, near the canal, and give the motor a break.
Incredibly calm in the Strait of Juan de Fuca
No one could look at the motor for at least a week, but one of the mechanics we spoke with suggested adjusting the gear linkage. The motor was going in and out of gear fine that morning, but we gave it a small adjustment anyway and started back towards Seattle around 11:00.
We decided it would be best to see if someone could look at the motor before we headed back towards Seattle. It was Sunday and all the shops were closed, but we decided to head to Anacortes so we could call first thing in the morning. The motor went right into gear and we didn't risk touching it again until we were pulling into our slip.
