Day 18
Top Secret
Feel The Magic Yacht Vacations
Wed 30 Jun 2010 18:00
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Position 38:31.93N 28:37.48W
Speed : 0
Heading: To the shops
We have been happily motoring along for a few days,
as you know by now due to the lack of wind, when at 4am this morning disaster
struck. Our starboard engine suddenly started making a strange noise and then
started belching smoke.
We shut it down and switched to the port engine for
the rest of the night but the port engine is also not sounding too healthy and
isn't revving as it should. In the light of day we discovered that the starboard
engines impeller had gone, which circulates water to cool the engine and without
it we cant run the engine without it overheating.
So we limped into the Azores at 5pm this afternoon,
into the town of Horta on the island of Faial. We called port control just as we
entered the marina to notify customs that we needed to clear and check in but
were told just to tie up next to the fuel dock for now and give them a shout in
the morning as they are all going to watch the Portugal - Spain football game. I
love the island attitude!
We filled our tanks with diesel and were then asked
to move further into the marina. At the moment we are tied up next to a smaller
cat, which in turn is tied up to a smaller monohull, which is actually on the
dock. This marina is pretty full. We haven't had much of a chance to look around
Horta itself but it looks like a very pretty little town. So its now almost 11
pm and we have just finished dinner and are chilling in the cockpit at the
moment trying to figure out our next move. This being part of Portugal the town
has only just seemed to come alive and there are loads of people in the streets
and kids playing and shouting, its quite cool.
Oh, I forgot, the gearbox for the port engine is
also making a clunk big enough to shake the whole boat when you put it in gear
and the starboard engine room is filling up with water and oil.
Rean has managed to install a new impeller but
hasn't managed to secure it properly as several of the bolts are stripped. We
have the number of a mechanic but don't have much hope that he can help us get
going in the next day or two. So at the moment we have to wait and see, tomorrow
we should know exactly what the problems are, what it will take to fix them and
can make plans from there.
So we are still over a thousand nautical miles from
Lanzarote and it is looking increasingly unlikely that we will make it there by
tomorrow as originally planned.
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