Alas, we've had our first major setback of the season. It seems that we have one thing break each year when we set out on a cruise, and this year we thought was lucky #3 for us as s/v Maja is in the best shape she's ever been, and we'd put a lot of miles under her hull on the ocean, gulf stream, ICW which tested both sails and motor. No problems. No worries. Lucky year #3.
Alas, on Tuesday, we left Lynyard Cay via Little Harbor inlet (LH is southernmost harbor to exit the Sea of Abaco into the Atlantic) to make the last big crossing (50mi) over deep ocean to Royal Island on Eleuthera. That meant that we'd reach our final destination on Wednesday -- Rock Sound, Eleuthera -- where we'd pick James up on the 24th (he changed his first ticket from Georgetown to Rock Sound to ensure that we'd have time to get there). It was a gloriously beautiful day. Seas down. Wind 15-20knots. Blue skies. Only a few white puffly clouds. All 4 sails up. It would be the first time we've been able to cross this stretch of water under sail. There were 5 boats about 5 miles behind us making the same journey, so we'd get to be the head of the pack for awhile!!
Alas, we were out on the ocean for 2.5 hrs, all sails set, everything secure down below, just beginning to relax, when a high-pitched alarm sounded. WTF. The water temp was over 200deg (normal 180/185 range). Shut the engine down. Sail along. WTF. Dan looks at Mr. W. fully expecting to see a blown hose, or water, or something. But nothing. He found a spare thermostat and changed that. Sail along. Wait for engine to cool down. WTF. Restart engine (whew!), temp holds, continue along. Throttle up, temp holds. Begin to relax and rejoice in having spare parts on board.
Alas, the alarm sounds again as the temp pings over 200deg. Shut it down. Sail along. WTF. We had a 10-hr day ahead of us. We wouldn't need the engine until we entered the anchorage at Royal Island. But on Wednesday, we have a strong cut to navigate into the Eleuthera Sound, and the wind direction was not predicted to be favorable, so we'd have to rely on Mr. Westerbeke to power thru some strong currents. Plus, Royal Island has absolutely no services, and we're even not sure we'd have cell service there.
Alas, we turned around and headed back to Lynyard Cay where we could anchor and check out a few other things. And if necessary, return to Marsh Harbor where we could find a mechanic.
:(
The best part of the day was the great sail we had back to Lynyard Cay! We actually travelled several miles up the Sea of Abaco and used the North Bar Channel inlet to enter the anchorage. We were nervous as hell navigating the channel under sail, turning the engine on at the very end to ensure we'd have sufficient power to clear the channel. Keeping the engine at 1200 rpms also kept the temp down. As usual, Captain Dan did a marvelous job of getting us thru under sail. (even though your mind knows that the channel is deep and the only risks are the reefs on both sides -- which are quite evident because you can see the breaking waves off the reefs on both sides of the boat!).
By 1pm we were back at the same anchorage we had left at 6:30am. We spent an hour reading the engine manual and other reference material that Dan had. And then we spent 5 hours taking every part of the cooling system that we could access, inspecting, cleaning, replacing gaskets, etc. Nothing. Absolutely nothing of any merit was found. By 7pm, everything was back together, and Dan had been able to wash off most of the grease and sweat he was covered with, having to work in such small, cramped spaces. Since we really hadn't found any obstruction/blockage in the cooling system, we couldn't be sure that all Dan's work and my prayers had made a difference.
Thank goodness for cell phones. After talking with Ed (s/v Passages) and Chris (s/v Synergy), it seemed evident that Dan had done everything possible except replace the fresh water/coolant pump. It's the one spare we don't carry b/c it's expensive, and they so seldom fail. So by 8:00 am on Wednesday, we decided to take Chris' advice and have a new pump shipped to James and have a father/son moment installing it on Christmas! I'm still marveled that we can order a part, ask for overnite air delivery, and sure as shit, that part arrives the next day. Nice to solve one problem you can solve by throwing money at it!
We decided to test the system by heading back to Marsh Harbor. Plan change #3 for James meant he would now have to fly into Marsh Harbor, bringing our new pump (he vows to only fly with one backpack, even if it means bringing only one swimsuit!). BUT, he cannot get a flight from Nassau to MH until 12/26, so that mean he has to stay 2 nights in Nassau by himself (and one of them is Christmas Day!).
Big storm is moving into the Abacos on Friday/Saturday, so we have to move to a more protected spot. We nurse the engine (12-1400 rpms) for half the 20-mile trip back to MH. The temps holds at 180 and then climbs to 185 and holds. and holds. and holds. We tested the system up to 2400 rpms and could finally see signs that the temp was moving towards 190 and shut the engine down again. Common theory is that the pump impellor is defective at a spot that only gets stressed at higher rpms.
So, we're disappointed, but boosting our morale by pulling into a slip at the beautiful Hopetown Marina (hence the reason no one in the mid-west can truly feel any sympathy for us! Esp b/c Dan is taking his first day off in 2 weeks to simply relax by the pool!). http://www.hopetownmarina.com/
It's $30/day with our discount, so we'll stay here for 4 days, thru the blow. Then, we'll move over to Marsh Harbor to wait for James.
Plan change #4 for James: I found another flight out of Nassau into Marsh Harbot on the 24th, so by switching to Air Abaco, he'll make it here in time after all. Great news.
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