Peltier Creek, North Carolina

When a very old, faithful piece of equipment breaks down, there is a sense of betrayal. Of course the equipment might feel betrayed and complain of lack of adequate maintenance, etc. White Pepper's transmission probably was dying over the past few months, getting more difficult to engage and making unusual noises such as a high pitched whine. Finally, it just gave out completely at Oriental, NC. I never was able to get a diagnosis except "got very hot."

Another queasy feeling came after the mechanic announced that the transmission was so old that it was not made anymore and replacement parts were not available except by special order from Japan. It could only be rebuilt and only if spare parts were available from some other old transmission. When you hear something like that it makes you wonder what else is going to give way next, maybe the captain?

Thankfully it all worked out well thanks to the good folks at Sailcraft Marina in Oriental and at Mac Boring Yanmar in Wilmington, NC. While waiting for the work to be completed Jan and I added a coat of bottom paint, compounded and waxed the hull, redid the vanish on the exterior teak, and every possible boat chore we could think of. Sailcraft redid the cutlass bearing.

White Pepper left Oriental after many rounds of thank yous and hand shakes. The transmission performed to perfection as we had to motor 28 miles down the ICW. Jan wanted to skip Morehead City and press on at the current was fair and we had had enough of restaurants and shopping. Five miles further south there is a lovely very narrow and shallow creek, Peltier Creek. We bumped getting in. Bumping was inevitable as today was the first day with new paint on the bottom. Once inside we were rewarded with a 360 degree protection and perfectly flat water. I dropped the anchor in 6 feet of water. Luckily the high tide is for 8 am tomorrow. Peltier Creek is not a typical stop on the milk run south but it worked for us. By the way we are staying inside this week. The weather is perfect but the wind is predicted to be SW (on the nose) all week, so going offshore seems pointless.