Just drifting along...

Scott-Free’s blog
Steve & Chris
Mon 10 May 2010 12:35
36:44.676N 28:55.604E
 
As the sun came out and warmed us up nicely we all went for a pre-lunch swim off the back of the boat.  As suspected the water was quite cold, but lovely once we got used to it, so we made the most of our first dip and stayed in a while. We were enjoying the chilling out so much that we decided to stay in this bay overnight.  There had been only one other boat in the bay with us, so we were a bit dismayed when a gulet arrived and tied up, but it turned out to be the quietest gulet we've ever seen with just a few people on board, and by the time we got up the next morning they were gone.   
 
We had a relaxing, chilled out day, watching the goats on the hillside and listening to the lapping of the gentle swell on the rocks.  It was amazing to sit in the heat of the Mediterranean sun and look out of the bay towards the snow-capped mountains. Mary declared that she could soon get used to this! 
 
After a lazy breakfast the following morning we lifted the anchor and set off for a sail around the bay before heading for one of our favourites,Tomb Bay.  We had described it to Pete and Mary who fancied walking up the hillside to the tombs. With a couple of tavernas in the bay,it also meant that my threat of another tuna pasta would not be carried out!  We sailed with the wind for a couple of hours, letting the boat feel her sails again and giving Pete and Mary a chance to become familiar with her at the same time as enjoying the beautiful scenery.  Eventually the wind dropped to nothing,and we wallowed for a while hoping for it to pick up. A thunderstorm rumbled behind us and some rain fell,and we decided to motor to the anchorage.  Pete fancied going through a small gap between two islands so we headed for that, and Steve decided it was a good chance to check the maximum revs on the engine as we'd had both the prop pitch changed and a new rev counter fitted and the latter was being a bit twitchy.So he pushed the throttle forward, and instead of a lot of revs, the engine died.
 
Aha!  No wind.  No engine.  Interesting!
 
Steve and Pete both suggested fuel starvation, and went below to check the Separ filters.  The one we were using was chock full of rubbish,so they switched to the second.  The engine started but wasn't happy and soon died again.  There then followed several hours of headscratching below whilst Steve and Pete tried to get the engine running, while Mary and I kept watch on deck and tried to catch the occasional puff of wind with the headsail.  Fortunately we had plenty of searoom and there were not many boats out,so no problem just drifting around.
 
Eventually the engine burst back into life and we set off again,just as the wind also picked up - to 20 knots!   As we were now doing 6+ knots under yankee alone we switched the engine off.  Mistake. When the wind died again half an hour later,it would not start again. We had alerted the marina we were heading for that we might need a tow, and at that point their rib appeared to see how we were doing.  Their timely appearance meant that we were safely towed into the marina in Gocek from which the Rally will start, so we are set ok if it takes a while to sort the engine.  The problem would appear to be dirty fuel.
 
This morning (Monday) Mary and I took the free shuttle bus into town for shopping and Steve and Pete organised some chaps to look at the engine. It seems that the fuel pump is nbg and needs replacing and the filters and fuel need cleaning.  The pump could not have been forseen but we are a little fed up about the dirty fuel as we had the system cleaned out at the beginning of the winter and thought we would be fine.  Oh well, that's boats for you.  The chaps will be back tomorrow to fix the engine.
 
There are far worse places to be - the marina is in a little bay just south of Gocek and although it's a trek into town, the bay itself is secluded, peaceful and has a beach.  I suppose we'll just have to put up with it...