Saturday 17th June 2017

Last years plans to sail Whisper south with a final destination of Madeira where we would winter her, were abandoned for the second year.  The season started badly with several mechanical faults. The anchor winch needed removing to be taken home for repair; the fridge needed a new sensor; the engine need a new calorifier; the exhaust and engine cooling water needed new pipes; the starter motor needed a new solenoid.  All these tasks are impossibly slow both to trace the fault and to repair in the small confines of a boat.  Consequently the season passed by with several amended plans abandoned until finally the shortened season ended with Whisper's engine continuing to be reluctant to start and even stopping of her own accord, at both unpredictable and inconvenient times.  We hauled her out at Walton-on-the-Naze, recruited an engineer to fix and service the engine over the winter and went home to sulk.  

A new season approached and full of optimism we made fresh plans. The engine was serviced and working; the usual annual preparations completed; a suitable Spring tide chosen and arrangements made with the boat yard for Whisper to be launched in early May.  The plan being to take advantage of any seasonal easterly winds to push us down the Channel to Falmouth, where we would wait for suitable winds to take us to northern Spain and then the Azores for the summer.  Built into these plans were the need to return home for two weddings and our dear friends joint 60th birthday celebrations.  

It was a glorious sunny day as we tentatively waited for Whisper to be manoeuvred out of her winter cradle and into the making tide.  There was plenty of water and time to meander down to the mariner for an overnight stay whilst we loaded our personal belongings and necessary stores.  We boarded Whisper as she gently slipped into the water.  Noel's first task to start the engine.... nothing happened!  Probably an air lock in the fuel system he thought, but with the tide about to turn and not enough room for us to stay alongside the boat yard wall whilst he did this, we needed to move.  The young man at the boatyard leapt to the rescue, fetched the yard launch and knowing the twists and turns of the narrow shallow waterway, proceeded to tow us at speed down the Twizzle to the marina.  We approached the outside pontoon, fenders and lines in position.  Noel lined up for the pontoon, the launch stopped and I stepped off, perfect!  Unfortunately, Whisper had no brakes and being long of keel and with a clean water line and despite getting a midship line secure, Whisper nudged into the launch and the now very slack tow rope wrapped itself around the launch prop! By now the tide was fast ebbing, so our nice young man unperturbed by the disaster jumped ashore to make all lines secure for Whisper.  He was so very apologetic for the graze along our nicely polished hull, despite us telling him it was not a problem, nor his fault, he insisted on polishing it out whilst it was accessible from the launch.  Noel and he then set about freeing the line from the prop.  With the tide ebbing he needed to return to the yard for other tasks before the lack of water made it impossible.  With much pulling, twisting and turning they managed the task with neither of them getting too wet!  

Noel bled the engine without success so the engineer was called.  A diagnoses was made.  The fuel injector pump was jammed.  It was removed and taken to the local fuel injection company for fixing, servicing and finally refitted, but still she would not start.  Those fateful words "the engine will have to come out, so that I can inspect the inaccessible parts" were uttered.  Followed by, "I cannot dedicate time to it until after the bank holiday".  At this point we abandoned ship and left her in the capable hands of the boatyard and went home!  Rather than sit around moping and cursing boat engines etc., we decided on a few days in Wales to visit Noel's school chum of many years and to celebrate his 81st birthday with him and his family and friends.  This was a good move, we had super lodgings in an ancient village inn, the weather was glorious and we both enjoyed hiking the Welsh hills whilst Noel relived the haunts of his youth.  During this time Whisper was towed back up to the boatyard and the engine lifted out - a good time to be absent!  On our return home we found ourselves in the time slot where we needed to be home for the two family weddings and 60th birthday celebration.  The frustrations had dispersed and now we knew the next stage of the problem.  The governor in the engine had seized!  The engineer freed this and overhauled the engine which was then returned to the bowels of Whisper.  The news was good, all was running smoothly.  

We then set about moving stores back on board ready to leave for a few days engine trials before setting off south on Tuesday when the winds were to be from the East for a couple of days, perfect for our trip down the Channel.  

Saturday 17th June

The Engine fired easily first time!  Filling us with optimism, we set off down the Twizzle and into a Harwich Harbour and the river Orwell, picking up a buoy for the night.  We tried the engine on several occasions and although starting first time it was drawing power from two batteries and taking a little longer to fire each time.  

Sunday 18th June

Misery returned this morning when Noel went to do the engine checks and discovered oil in the tray below the engine block!  As well as this, it was taking even longer for the engine to fire up.  As it was the weekend we decided to have fun and go for a sail in the bright sunshine and clear skies.  

Monday 19th June

First thing we called the engineer, who we imagined was scratching his head and saying that he would have another look at Whisper the following day as he had a job booked and no time today.  We had another fun day sailing the river Stour, in what was reported to be the hottest day since 1976.  Perhaps we don't need to sail to southern waters after all, it is pretty nice here?  We returned to the marina ready for the next diagnosis! 

Tuesday 29th June

We had breakfast and once more dismantled the boat and moved items so that the engine was accessible.  It was a cold sunny day, the wind was breezy and as forecast coming out of the north east!  To add to the frustration the diagnosis was not good.  The glow plugs were tested and although two were not perfect, that was not the problem, there was sea water in the cylinder block again, a problem we thought was fixed last summer by replacing the cracked calorifier.  Further investigation showed that the siphon return valve had been installed the wrong way round when this engine was  installed as new.  As many know, you cannot compress water, hence the delayed firing of all cylinders.  The engine leak was found to be the seal between the gear box and the engine block.  A new seal could be fitted, so long as the engine can be moved further enough forward to fit it but the shaft is now possibly worn so any repair might not be satisfactory for long ocean passages.  It did not take long for us to agree that a probably a new engine was the best solution, Noel's trust in the engine has been waning for some time now and there comes a time when enough is enough and we need reliability not worries! However, the moths are getting agitated that they may be evicted from Noel's wallet!

More delay as we wait for news of the cost of a new engine, fitting etc.  First the engineer needs a well earned few days holiday.  Spirits were low for a short while, until the penny dropped that we are onboard, the weather is fine and we have beautiful rivers to sail in.  We shall continue to have fun until the information and decisions have been made, then we will deliver Whisper to the boatyard and return home for a couple of days whilst the work is done.  After all, the grass will need cutting, the washing can be done and fresh provisions purchased and who knows there may still be some strawberries in the strawberry patch! Our aim is to get to Madeira for this winter, we have plenty of time to do this despite the delay and if we do not reach the Azores this year, the islands will still be there to explore next year!