Queen Charlotte Sound

Dawnbreaker
Lars Alfredson
Tue 20 Jun 2017 16:42

POS 51:40.498N 130:45.427W

June 19th AM

Queen Charlotte Sound

After a nice sail overnight the wind dies on us and we sit flat in the water sailing around 2knt.  Time for the reliable Ta mar engine to kick in.  Ten minutes into the motoring the engine starts to overheat and make some strange noise. Voila we out of engine power due to overheating and this causes smoke to fill the engine room.

No wind far from the nearest harbour we radio the Canadian Coast Guard for directions to the closest harbour with a mechanic on the remote Queen Charlotte Islands. The closet point would be Queen Charlotte City some 120nm away.  

At our current speed the navigation program shows 4 days to reach destination.  Still without cell phone coverage we head north through the Charlottes Strait.  

Amazingly Conny slept through the whole ordeal.  

We set sails and course while Lars goes in to search for the culprit.  So far impeller, waterpump and thermostat are in working order.  Some issue at the saltwater circuit is the trouble we could not identify. 

In the afternoon the wind picks up from a SW direction with 15 to 20 kts and we sail north at a good 8kts speed.  We decide to head for Prince Rupert on mainland as there are better service and parts availability.  We for sure need a new waterlock, damaged by the exhaust gases without the cooling of the salt water circulation.  

Our ETA is Tuesday AM. We might require a tow into the Harbour if winds persist and the dinghy can't manage the maneuvers.  

We also are required for checkin with the Coast Guard at every four hours. 

All is well onboard and we enjoying the sunset after a few cloudy and rainy days. 


Thomas

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