This weekend, Alice and I, plus Winnie the dog (shown below showing contempt for her owners), took off on Cadence for a 3-day cruise to Atlantic Highlands. It was RYC’s annual cruise to one of the best spots in Raritan Bay. As we had not been on the boat for over a month, we were not sure what problems we would find since that boat had been left on the mooring for so long.
We left on Saturday in light air. Sunny but a little too hot. First issue we noticed was that the engine was kicking out black smoke at high revs. We thought it might have been a build up in the exhaust. We motor-sailed slowly the 11 miles to AH as the engine wasn’t giving us a lot of thrust.
The second thing we noticed was that the bilge pump would intermittently push out a gallon or so of water. Obviously this is what bilge pumps are supposed to do but not that often. The third thing was that the water pressure would switch on every 10-15 minutes and whir away for 20-30 seconds. All very mysterious.
As we reached Atlantic Highlands, the wind inevitably picked up to 18kts. We had already dropped our main, furled the headsail and we were struggling to make much headway on the engine alone. In fact, in the strong cross-wind we were barely making 1-2 kts. Moreover, the engine was pushing out a lot of black smoke. I was concerned that we would be blown on to the breakwater, as we rounded it to enter the harbor. We unfurled the headsail which gave us a little too much speed, even reefed.
This is when things got especially interesting. We turned the corner to enter the harbor. I was on the bow, preparing the anchor when Alice yelled out that she could turn the helm. It had locked up. I ran back and struggled with it too. By then we were entering the mooring field which was filled to capacity with rafted-up boats. There were also a dozen yachts anchored in the approaches. We had visions of our yacht bouncing off the anchored fleet like a crazed pin-ball.
We furled-up the headsail and put the engine in neutral but were were blown by the strong wind and still making 2-3 kts. A little fishing boat was in our path. I yelled at them to get out of the way and we missed them by a few feet. Alice managed to get the boat turned somewhat upwind and I ran forward to dump the anchor. This brought us to a partial standstill.
As the helm was locked up, we were beam to the wind and current. Worse still we were in the harbor channel. The anchor started to drag. On another boat’s advice we dropped our kedge anchor, this seemed to slow us. I also let out a lot more scope. This stopped us dragging.
Eventually, we got things under control. After we switched off the engine, the helm unlocked. Problem Number 1 Solved. One of us had accidentally engaged the autohelm. It’s easy to do and we have done it several times. The problem was our rustiness. We should have immediately realized that this was the problem but in the heat of the moment it didn’t occur to us.
I then set to the engine problem. I have Nigel Calder’s outstanding, Marine Diesel Engines, a book I can’t recommend highly enough. In the trouble-shooting section, it suggested that the black smoke could be caused by wrap around the prop or a dirty bottom. This would account for the low thrust too. I donned my mask and snorkel, grabbed a knife and a scraper, put on some sturdy rubber gloves, dived into the murky water of Atlantic Highlands.
Sure enough, the prop and shaft were caked an inch-deep, in barnacles. After 45 minutes of scraping, I cleared off the prop and shaft. When we tested the engine later, it was clear that this solved Problem #2.
I had an especially scary moment under the boat. I was feeling around for the prop when my hand came upon what I thought a gash in the fiber glass. It felt like a flap, 3-4 inches wide was ripping off the bottom. I pulled it clear and for a horrible moment thought somehow I had found a hole below the water line and just made it worse. There was no water entering the boat and no hole to be found. All I can imagine is that I laid my hand on some weird flat mollusk and ripped it off the hull.
By now we were exhausted and jacked it in for the day.
The next day, I found the source of water and bilge pump issue. One of the hoses was leaking at a junction. I could see the water trickling out. It was an easy fix with a bit of teflon tape and some tighter turns on the ring clips. No more intermittent whirring of the water pump or bilge pump activity. Problem #3 solved.
We returned to RYC today in 18kts, with two reefs in the main and a full genoa, poled out, surfing the waves at 7.5 kts. All in all a great weekend back on the boat but three reminders that there is so much to learn and so much to fix on a boat.
Dammit Adam, must you go on like this about boat problems?
Now we’re bound to hear from some Laser sailor about how Lasers have no hoses, no bilge pumps, no props, no shafts, and above all else, no engines.
And about how their bottoms are upside down facing the sky so often that they never accumulate barnacles.
Nice work on sorting things out though.
They say Atlantic Highlands is a very nice place for doing boat maintenance.
Dammit O Docker.
Why can’t you be content with being the owner of the best sailing blog on the planet written by someone who never sails and never blogs?
As well as that you have to read my mind and post my witty, erudite comments before I have a chance to do it myself?
Have you no shame?
Autohelm…..now let’s see. Where have I read a post about autohelm before?
Barnacles are brutal, especially after having not been down for a month. Luckily for us, being so far up Forked River, it’s virtually fresh water at the State Marina.
We were out for a couple hours today also. Blustery, at about 18 kts. as well, and nobody around. Quite pleasant.
Dammit guys
Don’t you know I lie awake at night about ways I can get Tillerman to post about why he’s glad he sails a laser.
Am I really that predictable?
I was actually thinking that this post proved the truth of several items on my list of 23 Reasons Why Putting an Engine in a Saiboat is the Worst Innovation Ever.
http://propercourse.blogspot.com/2010/02/23-reasons-why-putting-engine-in.html
Yup! But that’s half your charm.
But it is true. Every time I read one of these scary stories about stuff going wrong with engines or autohelms or bilge pumps or any of the myriad of other systems on your kind of boat, I give thanks that I sail a simple little boat.
I guess it’s just different strokes for different folks. Some folks like doing boat maintenance in exotic locations like Atlantic Highlands and some don’t.
I do admire people like you who know how to fix these sort of things. I just don’t have the yen to spend my time doing it myself.
On a less predictable note, a bunch of friends and I did sail our Lasers a few years ago from the Leonardo State Marina (which is just a little way along the coast from where you were) out to the Romer Shoal Lighthouse and back.
I don’t think I ever wrote about it on the blog. May have been before I started writing it.
No one likes doing boat maintenance. Some geeky mechanical types may develop a fascination with it, but only the perverse actually like it.
I think most people start out on dinghies and daysailers. But some are drawn to more complex boats reluctantly because they like the idea of staying out on the water and voyaging farther than a smaller boat comfortably allows.
That certainly was the case with me. After a few hours of nice, relaxing sailing our open 15-footer, we had to start heading back to the dock. Then there was the retrieving, derigging, securing the boat on a trailer, trailering back to the storage yard, unhitching, covering, and storing the boat, and finally the drive back home – all of which pretty much undid any relaxing we’d done on the water.
My dream was to just stay out on the water, share a glass of wine with my wife as the sun went down, and to wake up the next morning to a sunrise in a quiet anchorage.
I think it’s that dream that has led most of us to put up with the endless litany of balky engines, autopilots, varnishing, boatyard tyranny, and things that go drip in the night.
I think you pretty much summed up how I feel about it. I love dinghy sailing and enjoy racing but my real passion is the experience of sailing a larger vessel out to sea for days on end.
There is little that compares to arriving in a cool place on your own hull.
When it comes to maintenance, I would be happier if nothing ever broke, needed replacing, etc. I am not mechanically-minded and fixing complicated stuff intimates me but I get a perverse sense of accomplishment by fixing stuff.
On a separate note. Tillerman, sailing from Leonardo to Romer on a laser is damed impressive
To avoid this event from occurring, auto mechanics should be sure to be caution when working with stray voltage.
Wow, what an adventure ! That was not exactly what you can call a relaxing cruise. Luckily, problems have been fixed. Fiberglass is a great maleable and resistant material.
Sounds like quite an adventure! It’s a real treat to be out on the open ocean and enjoy a cigar with my good friends.