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| Thomas Point Shoal Light. |
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| Isn't the tiller arm supposed to be attached to the rudder post? |
Everything is fine, until it isn't. Some 22 miles short of the Loop's finish line, Nellie's steering fails completely. The two bolts holding the tiller arm to the rudder post broke. It's a strange feeling to turn the wheel and have nothing happen. But, as Captain Ron says, "If it's going to happen, it's going to happen out there." "There" for us was just off Knapps Narrows. Down went the anchor and we went into "fix it" mode.
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| Working in small spaces. |
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| A kludged hose clamp repair. |
There are three ways to steer Nellie: hydraulicly, electrically and with the emergency tiller. The bolts' failure killed the first two methods. The third is an admission of defeat. Besides, we didn't come this far to merely limp over the finish line. An hour later Nellie was fixed, the hook was up, and we were steaming towards the finish line. It's amazing what you can do with a few hose clamps.
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| What started out as a beautiful day quickly degenerated. Nellie unsuccessfully dodged two thunderstorms. |
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| A rainbow marks the end of Nellie's Loop. |
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| Annapolis to Church Creek, MD |
The line is crossed, the Loop is closed. So, here we'll rest for a bit.
44 miles today, 1,733 miles into 2019, 9,953 miles from Naples, and 12,040 miles to complete the Great Loop. DBH
