So, the diesel mechanic that said he could pull off the rear main seal job decided to back away and not take it on. No one in Newport was willing to do it. At least they got a hold of a place in Oakland for me that will be happy to replace the seal once I get there.
After 13 days, we finally left Newport, OR, yesterday. We left at 4:45AM to catch slack tide on the way across the bar.
The weather just kept getting better until about 2pm when the wind waves started to kick up; 3-4 feet out of the NW. We were contemplating running overnight to Crescent City but the updated forecast came out with a small craft advisory beginning Saturday morning for the area south of Cape Blanco. Though we probably could've made Crescent City before it got too nasty, once again we're not in a race and want to keep this as enjoyable as possible. Also, I don't have an autopilot, and find hand-steering in 3-4 foot following seas to be a giant pain, especially at night without a visual reference (note to self, next upgrade is autopilot!!).
We turned left and entered Coos Bay bar on high slack. We are now at the Charleston Marina and we're looking forward to exploring the area over the next few days.
Strangely, only 3-4 drops of oil came out of the flywheel housing over the first six hours of running. Afterwards, I had about one drop every 3-4 seconds. Dipped the sump when we got alongside and only lost about 1/2 quart over the course of 12 hours running. That's still *not good* but if the leak stays like that or improves, I may just forego the rear main seal job altogether. I can manage that much oil loss quite easily. I'm also catching it in a tupperware container instead of with soak-up pads, so there's far less mess to clean up. Some of that 1/2 quart is also being burnt, so how much am I really gaining by a $3-$4000 rear main seal job? Anyway, I will continue to monitor...
On another note, I installed a WiFi/4G antenna while in Newport. I went with "The Wirie" and I couldn't be happier (
Marine WiFi and RV WiFi and 3G/4G solutions: The Wirie AP+, The Wirie pro, and The Wirie Ex). The installation was easy and made the WiFi in Newport actually usable, whereas the signal was too weak otherwise.
Three other boats that were with us in Newport are also here in Coos Bay. Getting to know other Mexico-bound boaters and traveling alongside them is also making this trip quite fun.
For those of you not aware, we have a Facebook page for the boat where I've been posting pictures and other updates:
https://www.facebook.com/mvhalcyoni