Departure from the Harbor Club was scheduled for right after
0800. We needed to pay out at the office
when it opened. Winds were still running
out of the east at 18-22kts, but we all made the decision to go anyway. Both Renne’ and I had a few misgivings, but
we were going to go with the group to Norman Cay. The winds were supposed to change by the 22nd,
and we all wanted to be in the Exuma Land and Sea Park to be on the mooring
balls as the wind changed.
Carpe Diem left the slip first to head for the fuel
docks. Then Flynnigan’s Wake, then Miss
Piggy. Scimitar and JonNe’ didn’t need
fuel, so we were going to wait just outside the harbor for the others. As usual, Renne’ was at the helm. As she was backing us out, somehow the port
jib sheet (line) dropped off of the boat, probably when we rubbed up against
the piling in the slip. We just didn’t
notice it. As she backed out of the slip,
the bow began to fall off, and had we continued backing up, we would probably
have had NO issues. However, as the bow
began to fall off, Renne’ shifted to forward, as we would normally do, to stay
out of shallower water. We just couldn’t
get the boat around sharply enough and ended
up against the pilings, perpendicular to the slips with the winds
blowing 20kts from our beam, pinning us.
In an effort to get us off, the dinghy, up on the davits, came in
contact with a piling, just as the jib sheet was pulled into the prop. At that point, Renne’ had NO thrust, and the
engine shut down. We had some dock hands
who came over to assist, and a dock line was handed to them.
I went below and pulled my mask and fins out of the
closet. Before entering the water, I had
to cut the rigidly taught jib sheet to allow me to untangle the anticipated
mess in the prop. This is the first time
in 20 years of sailing I have had to do this, and I was NOT looking forward to
it. I donned the dive gear and jumped in
the water with my pocket-knife. Once
in the water, I realized how little underwater practice I have had holding my
breath. It actually took four attempts
to get the line off the prop, and fortunately, the shaft and prop were not
damaged.
With that out of the way, I took the helm, and with the
assistance of the dock hands, we were able to get the boat bow back in the slip
and we were able to back into the anchoring field behind us. We departed Nassau with our tails between our
legs, headed for Norman Cay.
An hour after departing the harbor, and negotiating the mine
field of coral heads marked on the charts, the engine quit. We were surprised, as we only had a few hours
on the new filter. I quickly dropped
below, picked up some tools and a new filter, and removed the lid to the filter
housing. I quickly noticed that was NOT
the issue. I have been using a
squeeze-bulb in the fuel line to manually refill the filter housing after
changing the filter itself. It was
sucked down completely, indicating a clog in the line somewhere. I replaced the lid to the filter housing and
moved to the selector valves. When I
closed the starboard tank feed valve and opened the center tank valve, the
pressure was released and the engine started immediately. So now, we were down to only one of three
fuel tanks, and headed to the Exuma’s with no chance of repairing any of the
valves or really discovering what the issues were. I thought about the issue for an hour, and
just before entering the Yellow Bank (another coral head mine field), I
broached the subject to Renne’ of returning to Nassau to figure this out! I didn’t like the odds of having a fuel issue
with no options of changing to another tank once we were in the outback of the
Exuma’s. So we announced to the Armada
we were turning back, and came about.
Immediately, winds and seas settled down for us as we were now going
with the wind mostly.
Without warning, shortly after the decision to return was
made, an alarm went off. We both raced
to find the source, and I noticed the bilge alarm going off. This only occurs when the bilge pump is on
for longer than 90 seconds, and is designed to inform the crew of a serious
source of water flooding the bilge. I
quickly looked into the engine room at the bilge, and noticed at least 18
inches of water in the bilge. I also
noticed water flooding in from under the floor of the master stateroom. I quickly got under the mattress of our bed,
and opened the top board allowing me to inspect the storage area below
there. When I found the water flowing, I
tasted it and found it to be fresh water rather than seawater. I quickly realized there was a leak somewhere
in the fresh water system, and the pressure pump was running. I went to the circuit panel and secured the
fresh water pump, and the bilge emptied and the alarm ceased.
With that “emergency” averted, I was feeling pretty
overwhelmed at that point. Renne’ and I
spoke at length about what we want to do from here, and frankly, having lived
aboard JonNe’ now for almost 10 years, we have come to the conclusion this will
probably be our last cruise on this boat.
We returned to Nassau Harbor Club Marina without further issue. Immediately upon securing the boat in the
same slip, I went looking for the issue in the fresh water. The rest could wait until tomorrow. Going back under the bed, I found the
accumulator tank that pressurizes the fresh water system had rusted through and
now had two holes in it. It was going to
have to be replaced or we weren’t going to have ANY fresh water. I pulled one of the bikes stored on the deck
off and went in search of a new accumulator tank. I found one at the second store I stopped at,
fortunately! I bought it for $335 (wow!)
and returned to the boat. With the help
of Renne’, we were able to get it replaced in about 15 minutes, and we had
fresh water available once again.
In all, the fuel tank wasn’t the stopper. We could have continued, but for safety’s
sake, and as a retired Naval Aviator, safety always comes first, we made the
decision to abort the day’s trip. The
water was actually the stopper. So we
will focus on the other issues over the next few days, and hope we are ready to
head out soon.
In the meantime, I am having ANOTHER Dark and Stormy. My psychy really needs the support!!
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