Baddox
Well-known member
We locked out of the marina yesterday, intending to spend the afternoon sailing. Before traveling more than half a mile down river the boat shuddered and the engine revs dipped. My first thought was that something had blocked a fuel filter, actually that was the second thought, first was better left unprinted.
We turned back to the marina, preferring to change the filters when comfortably berthed instead of rolling next to a bucket at sea.
The boat felt slower but we locked in safely and headed to moor astern in our berth as usual. My wife normally takes the helm to berth but this time I did for a change. All went well, down the fairway and swinging the bows across the wind ready to go astern as we approached the boats opposite. Drop the engine into astern and wait to come to a halt before moving serenely back into the berth, was the plan, but nothing happened.
Opening the throttle further, OK it’s a diesel engine but you know what’s going on, brought the revs up only a little. Still no effect on speed and we're now sideways across a narrow fairway.
I tried forwards gear to help the wind swing the bows down the fairway. As the engine wasn’t having any effect on progress it waited until the wind took control and stalled with an insouciant little puff of black exhaust.
No time to get some sail out and anyway they would have hastened out contact with the moored boats before we started to make way.
Now we were drifting excitingly towards the down-wind boats, wind on the quarter and an audience getting ever closer as they put down cups of tea in our unplanned targets’ cockpits.
“Sorry we seem to have engine problems and aren’t really incompetent.”
I asked without haste or need for our crew to get some roving fenders. They were onto it.
Out of gear and I could restart the engine. Targets, 2 metres and quickly closing.
Back into astern and the boat gave a huge vibrating shudder, perhaps it was feeling nervous. I was.
We fortunately crept backwards, parallel to targets 1 and 2 but now heading straight for T3. Gaining scarcely enough speed into the wind to recover steerage by waiting to the last second before jinking around T3 cleared us into yards of open water with relief.
Engine power held for an interminably slow reverse into the wind and out of the fairway before a 90 degree turn across the wind left us to ferry glide onto a free hammer-head pontoon where lines were swiftly secured. We may not be the fastest family afloat and have our differences but in those moments a seamless crew was cemented.
After a restorative cuppa, investigation with a waterproof camera showed a sheet of polythene wrapped around the sail drive.
We turned back to the marina, preferring to change the filters when comfortably berthed instead of rolling next to a bucket at sea.
The boat felt slower but we locked in safely and headed to moor astern in our berth as usual. My wife normally takes the helm to berth but this time I did for a change. All went well, down the fairway and swinging the bows across the wind ready to go astern as we approached the boats opposite. Drop the engine into astern and wait to come to a halt before moving serenely back into the berth, was the plan, but nothing happened.
Opening the throttle further, OK it’s a diesel engine but you know what’s going on, brought the revs up only a little. Still no effect on speed and we're now sideways across a narrow fairway.
I tried forwards gear to help the wind swing the bows down the fairway. As the engine wasn’t having any effect on progress it waited until the wind took control and stalled with an insouciant little puff of black exhaust.
No time to get some sail out and anyway they would have hastened out contact with the moored boats before we started to make way.
Now we were drifting excitingly towards the down-wind boats, wind on the quarter and an audience getting ever closer as they put down cups of tea in our unplanned targets’ cockpits.
“Sorry we seem to have engine problems and aren’t really incompetent.”
I asked without haste or need for our crew to get some roving fenders. They were onto it.
Out of gear and I could restart the engine. Targets, 2 metres and quickly closing.
Back into astern and the boat gave a huge vibrating shudder, perhaps it was feeling nervous. I was.
We fortunately crept backwards, parallel to targets 1 and 2 but now heading straight for T3. Gaining scarcely enough speed into the wind to recover steerage by waiting to the last second before jinking around T3 cleared us into yards of open water with relief.
Engine power held for an interminably slow reverse into the wind and out of the fairway before a 90 degree turn across the wind left us to ferry glide onto a free hammer-head pontoon where lines were swiftly secured. We may not be the fastest family afloat and have our differences but in those moments a seamless crew was cemented.
After a restorative cuppa, investigation with a waterproof camera showed a sheet of polythene wrapped around the sail drive.
