Rescue at Port de Mahon, Menorca
Kaimin
John & Pam Clarke
Fri 5 Dec 2014 18:46
Tuesday 11th caught first Tuna about 7.30am and a second one 8 am this always makes the guys feel good and creates much activity on Kaimin it also means we will have fresh fish for dinner. However John’s still not happy with the engine it does not seem to respond to increase of speed, so we stop for a second time and Denzil has another look underneath the boat, but can’t see anything wrong. The engine is started again, but soon stops, Racon filters are checked and found to be full of dirt so both are changed, but the engine still will not start. Next the main fuel filter is changed and engine seems to be O.K. By 9pm we only have 2 knots of wind and need the engine again, but no matter what we do it won’t start however the barometer pressure has been dropping all day and is now 1009 so we know where in for some heavy winds. We need to find a Marina we can sail into and get a mechanic on board.
Wednesday 12th November O.K. here comes the winds South westerly Force 5, Force 6 and still increasing, eventually force 9, 40 knots of wind gusting 45 knots and seas in excess of 10 metres. The winds are good to get us to Port de Mahon but extremely unpleasant and uncomfortable and we are being thrown about all over the place and we don’t know whether we will be able to get into the marina without our engine. As we are approaching the entrance of Port de Mahon we know we will be unable to sail into the marina as the strong winds will be on our nose. We radio the marina and ask if they have a vessel that can tow us in. They are extremely efficient and send a boat out to tow us in and were safely tied up, what a relief, with a mechanic on his way by 4pm.
Thursday 13th November, The guys notice that the engine room has a lot of diesel swimming about in it so start cleaning it out, the mechanic comes back and finds that diesel has been leaking around the filter, this is fixed and the engine seems to respond OK, the barometer pressure is increasing so we will leave again in the morning.
Friday 14th November Were on our way again by 9 am were sailing in Force 4 and 5 the sea states still confused so we are still being thrown about, but it’s OKish. However the barometer is falling again and by Saturday we have increasing winds and seas again we have force 7 winds and waves of about 9 metres, everyone is getting really tired. On Sunday Denzil says he can hear water sloshing about in the bow, from past experience I immediately check the bow thruster and sure enough the sea is coming up through the seal. I check the floor lockers they’re full of water, so we have to start bailing out, we have to do this every two hours. Just remind we what I enjoy about sailing at this particular time were being thrown around the boat like a bit of rag, we’ve got the sea coming in at the bow as well as waves breaking over the cockpit and its raining, but the pressure is increasing.
Monday 14th the winds are reducing and the seas are getting a bit calmer thank goodness, by the afternoon we need the engine on, but it’s still playing up, John is convinced it’s dirty fuel so asks me to start trying to find a marina with good mechanical services. We were intending to go to Estepona, we expected to be there by Tuesday as Malcolm was getting off the boat and Stacey was getting on, but Estepona doesn't have any mechanical services. Sotogrande a marina close by sounds as if they have all the facilities we need including being able to empty the fuel tank and clean everything but it’s going to be Wednesday before we’re there. We contact Stacey to tell her she agrees to find somewhere to stay one night and meet us in Sotogrande, easer said than done as it happens but that’s a story for Stacey to tell.
Wednesday 19th limped into Sotogrande at 11am very relieved to be safe but completely exhausted and the boat looking as if a heard of elephants had trampled through it. Stacey finds us and there’s much hugging. The next few days we will have to be seriously sorting Kaimin out as we don’t want to be sailing to Lanzarote with an unreliable engine and having to bail out every two hours, but hopefully we’ll also have some time to relax and enjoy ourselves.