Started: Hampton City River 37°01.38′N 076°20.45′W

Docked: Portsmouth North Landing 36°50.30′N 076°17.77′W

Log: 11.5 nm. Time 3 hr. Engine Hours 3.

We're never really done. We thought we had things ship-shape.

Yesterday, we changed the oil and the cooling water. We dropped off about four gallons of used antifreeze, just under two gallons of used oil and two gallons of bilge water than had antifreeze and oil in it.

Today, we finally got out of Hampton with our brand-new (seeming) engine. We're making progress southward.

We were warned out of the Elizabeth River channel by the Coasties because a submarine (!) was entering Naval Base Norfolk, and we needed to stay clear of the channel.

It's right hard to get a picture of a submarine without turning around, going back, and running afoul of security. So we settled for pictures of the naval station. Even those were so far away that it's hard to see the scale of the operation.

Mr. Lehman is still drip-free.

The Tidesmarine Sure Seal dripless shaft? Not so much.

It was dripping (slowly) in the summer when we moved from Annapolis to Deltaville.

It dripped on the run from Deltaville to Hampton.

But. We can't call the drip "slow" anymore. The pace has picked up. It's dribbling, not dripping.

It looks like we might need a new shaft or an engine alignment. Or both.

One possibility is to open the hose clamps on the seal and push it a hair back or a hair forward to find a less-chafed portion of the shaft. Currently, there's a tiny residue of some kind on the shaft. Maybe some lubricant? If so, maybe cleaning that off the shaft might help the seal seat properly.

But doing that in the water means… well… water comes in. I'm not completely comfortable messing with it. Engine? Yes. Prop Shaft? Not yet.

But we've made some progress southward. We're tied up at the Norfolk Ferry Northside stop in Portsmouth.

We think we'll chug on down to Atlantic Yacht Basin and hang around Great Bridge while we see what they can do. It shouldn't be too horrible.

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