June 10

The best laid plans…

Monday began foggy with no wind (which we expected) but we began our journey for Liscombe under steam. We motored on but by the afternoon the winds picked up and the waves began to build. By around 3:00 p.m we had experienced overheating problems and were beating about under full sail among shoals, rocks and lobster pots. 

Taylor's Goose. A good reason to keep your eyes on the chart or GPS

We saw lots of floats in Maine but if you steered around them there was no issue. Here the floats may have up to 50 feet of floating line attached so even if you steer clear of the float you can still catch the line in your prop. Finally, since I began to whine, we motored in towards Ship Harbour found a little cove not too far in and dropped anchor. The only other residents were a bunch of seals that were none too glad to see us. They vacated their rock in the middle of the cove and swam around giving us dirty looks for a while before relocating to the far side of the cove.

Things were beginning to look problematic. We’d lost time in Maine and although we had made some of it up between Yarmouth and Halifax we had not made half the distance planned for today. Also we were having engine trouble again. It took a while for frustrations to subside but the forecast looked like no wind for the 11^th so we did not give up hope. We made dinner and took a look at the engine. Gary took the cover off the water pump. The impeller was fine. Then he pulled the hose from the water intake valve. It was blocked again. Some prodding with a coat hanger cleared it and when we tried it we got the best flow of exhaust water we’d ever seen.

 We’d begun to feel better until the pressure pump cut in and wouldn’t stop. There was no water at the taps. We dug under the vee berth for the pressure pump and were debating the possibility of kinked lines being the issue when the bilge pump kicked in. Checking the bilge showed water trickling down from the area of the engine. There was water coming from under the engine but the engine did not seem to be the source. Finally we emptied one of the quarter berths and opened a hatch to check the water heater. One of the hoses was spewing water at the connection to the heater. It took a couple of tries but, finally, using two clamps and using boiling water to soften the hose first, Gary got it to stop leaking. We put the boat back together but went to bed hoping that the anchor would hold and that tomorrow would be better.

We are running out of time and no matter what happens Gary has to be on the ferry to Newfoundland on the 15^th.

Gary

One of the reasons I love sailboats is that I hate engine problems.  When you have poor winds to sail, and you have engine problems, optimism takes a blow.  At home in the bay, you know you can always make it somewhere.  When you are off a coast that is foreign to you, things look pretty bleak.  We were fortunate in that the engine problem was easily corrected and seems to have finally been eradicated.

The seals were a bonus… I would guess 50 or more came sliding off the rock as we entered the cove that was to be our home for the night.