Coast of Death - Costa da Morte

Sham Insha'Allah
Graham Vickers
Sun 31 May 2009 11:37
Last night Frosty and I had a brief look at the motor and are both convinced that there is a definate fuel blockage near the tank.
 
The old-boy engineer that visited yesterday said that often, when the tank is installed, swarf from the PVC tank can become trapped in the pipes and as we had a rough ride this may have caused our problem. Thinking about it though my engine seemed to cut out going into Plymouth, the alrm came on but the revs were still there when I reduced speed.
 
Even a full engine service prior to the passage would not have prevented this.
 
On further inspection it was noted that all the welds in the ships wheel had snapped but thankfully the autohelm ring had held it in position until our arrival.
 
The rigging is excellent and the sails are good and the boat was dry so once the engine is repaired she will be ready for the next adventure.
 
She is to be taken to a near-by marina to be repaired monday or tuesday.
 
Crew
 
The crew soon got into the local way of life, what with the local cerveza from iced glasses, fine riojas and ham to die for both evenings were spent drinking and eating from 5pm until 2am. However, the second night the crew decided to stay out until 5.30am and one of them paid the price for it.
 
Cape Finisterre
 
The next leg of the journey commences with the coastal sail around Finesterre itself but we have seen just how quick the sea mist descends. Within ten minutes you can only see a few hundred metres. The difficulties at sea are obvious. What compounds the problem is that it occurs randomly throughout the day not just mornings or evenings. So a good lookout and a flat sea for the radar are essemtial.
 
Out