 |
|
|
|
Sea Tales
|
|
| Filling A
Cavity During routine checks on a delivery from Cabo San Lucas to Marina Del Rey aboard a Mason '54, there it was - water in the bilge! Lots of water in the bilge. The cause - a leak in the intake manifold of the engine. The cure - we took dental filling amalgam from the medical kit and filled the cavity (hole). It worked great and got us home. |
|
| A Bump in
the Night It was about 3 a.m., very dark, and I was sailing a Peterson 44 solo from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii to Sausalito. I was about a thousand miles out, asleep with one ear open listening for the radar detector alarm. It was still - nothing was out there that was close. Suddenly the 44 foot Peterson came up out of the water and back down again and took green water - a lot of green water into the cockpit. I wasn't asleep anymore, I was very very awake. Clambering out into the cockpit I couldn't see anything. Obviously something happened. I checked everywhere for damage - couldn't find any. Thank goodness. When the boat was hauled in California, sure enough, the bottom was scarred. I never figured out what I ran over. My guess is either a whale or a sub. |
|
| The Shortest
Trip My part-time employer wanted to take the yacht out for 4th of July. Fine. I got down to the boat about 10 a.m. checked out the usual things: oil, valves, fuel, etc. Started the engines. Everything looked and sounded good. Sounded the blasts on the horn, put her in reverse and backed out of the slip. Life is good! After clearing the slip, I put her in forward and turned the wheel to get underway. Wrong! She is going the wrong way. Left turns of the wheel make us go right - right turns left. Not good! I casually asked the owner, "Have you had any work done on the boat?" "Yeah, I had the steering worked on," he responded. Well, to make a short trip a short story, the steering piston hydraulic lines were crossed when they were reinstalled, and I had to bring the boat in on engines only. Luckily, it had two engines and a bow thruster. Not a good day for me or the owner!
|