The weekend of January 29-30, 2011 marked our first sail without Whiskers the Sailor Cat...it was a bitter-sweet experience. We miss her! Coffin Island was as beautiful as ever with turquoise seas and the tranquility that we have become so accustomed to. Well...it was like that on Saturday, but by Sunday things changed a little bit in terms of tranquility. But let's start at the beginning. We had a nice sail out from Salinas to Coffin Island on Saturday. I had prepared a zucchini quiche during the week and made sandwiches ahead of time...this way we were able to relax without having to cook too much. Rick and I were both recuperating from a bad cold and wanted to take it especially easy. I must admit that this time neither of us jumped in the beautiful water at Coffin Island...Yes, you are reading correctly...neither of us went in the water! At this time of year the water here in the Caribbean is a touch cool for us (I can hear everybody up north laughing right now...), and we were fighting a cold and a cough! (Alright, everybody stop laughing now.)
Anyways, we had a wonderfully relaxing time and were lucky again to watch yet another beautiful sunset!
When motoring out of Salinas harbor bay on Saturday morning our engine seemed to run a tad hot, but we did not have to run it for long, as it was perfect sailing weather :o) On Sunday we left Coffin Island around 1130 and sailed, sailed, sailed all the way back to Salinas...the wind started off perfectly, increased considerably, and by the time we reached Salinas it was blowing quite a bit with white caps (when the sea takes a froth-like appearance) covering most of the surface of the sea. It was a roly-poly kind of experience.
 |
| Salinas harbor...so near and yet so far! |
At around 1730 with the harbor in full view and gusts picking up we dropped both sails and turned on the engine. The temperature gauge showed a dramatic increase in temperature even at low speed! There was no water being pumped through the exhaust system either! What to do? Being unable to sail into the channel that leads to the harbor (the wind was nose-on) we turned off the engine and dropped anchor right outside the bay area. It was time to investigate the problem further. Since I am quite useless when it comes to engine problems I manned the helm (steering wheel), sent a silent prayer, and put my confidence into the captain's ability to fix whatever was wrong...I mean, that's what a co-captain is for...right?
 |
| The captain investigating the problem! |
My confidence was rewarded...the captain found the problem and figured out a way to bring us back to the dock (hopefully). Way to go! But how and what happened? I will explain it in my simple layman/woman terms: The overheating was caused by not enough seawater being sucked into the engine to cool it...the captain (God bless him) determined that the thru-hull valve at the intake must be partially blocked...this can occur when little crustaceans (small calcified sea creatures) manifest themselves on the hull. They grow all over the hull, which is normal and the reason for having to clean the hull at regular intervals and/or hauling out and slapping bottom paint on it every year or couple of years or so. Orion's captain usually cleans the hull at Coffin Island from time to time (which entails scraping with a scraper)...but remember, we didn't go into the water this trip...and this time the co-captain takes all the blame, because she adamantly insisted that the captain's cough warranted a "time-out" (no regrets about that though)! And in any case "hurray for the captain" :o) Rick figured that when he left off the top of the raw water filter and we ran the engine at idle speed (yes, idle speed) we most probably would be able to get back to the dock without overheating and damaging the engine. Wow!
 |
| Sunset as seen from Orion anchored outside Salinas Bay |
As if on Q the sun was sinking into the sea, embracing our hearts with "that sunken feeling"...just kidding! The beautiful sunset put a golden hue all over and to our delight the sea had calmed down completely, making the last part of our trip a lot more do-able. We pulled the anchor and started on our journey...Rick stayed in the engine room to monitor pump and filter...I put the gear in idle and off we went ever so slowly. From time to time, under instruction from the captain, I ran the bilge pump to make sure that everything stayed high and dry. We actually made it without further problems! Never doubt the captain :o) It took us over an hour to get to our dock (it usually takes us about 10 minutes), it was pitch dark, which made maneuvering around the boats at anchor a little different than usual...but we made it alright, fastened the dock lines and turned off the engine. Exhausted and full of adrenaline at the same time we threw high fives and embraced each other :o) We can be proud of ourselves...we dealt with the problem rationally, didn't panic, and gained a lot of confidence in the process. Best of all...we still love each other :o) A few days later our friend Boyd cleaned the thru-hulls on Orion (we are very grateful to him) and voila...Orion's engine is working like a champ again :o) Congratulations to the captain, who correctly diagnosed the problem and thank you Orion for being so forgiving!
